Welcome To The World Tyson Keith!

My Special Guy

Welcome to my blog about my son, Tyson. How do you start a blog like this? How do you try to put into words what your son means to you? Well, I better figure it out because he is 6 weeks old and growing up so fast. My cousin, Corey, has done a blog about her daughters for years and initially I did not want to copy her idea. I had decided that instead I would document Tyson's life by writing a journal. However, my husband, Heath, changed my mind. He wanted a blog so that his family members, especially his sister who lives in Nebraska, to be able to "see" Tyson grow up and hear his stories. As you can tell, I relented and "Ty Time" has been born, so to speak. I aim to post weekly entries about Tyson, but motherhood is extremely busy, so we'll see how it goes. It is called "Ty Time" in honor of Heath. Right from the beginning, Heath will sit down with Tyson and go over what Tyson has learned during that particular day. Heath calls it "Ty Talk Time!" So now you all can have your own "Ty Time!" (I dropped the "talk" since you are all reading)

"Ty Talk Time"

For all of my family members, the following will not be new information but I would like to put down into words what led up to the birth of Tyson. Heath and I got married on July 22, 2001 and have been married for 9 years. (Side note, Tyson was born on October 22, 2010 - both on the 22nd - which I seriously just figured out the other day!!) Heath and I tried to get pregnant for about two years. We had initial fertility testing done but they could not come up with a specific cause of why we would not get pregnant. To say that this was difficult is an understatement. Heath, being the manly man that he is, handled this much better than myself. While we were trying to get pregnant, day by day, I was okay. It was not like I was severely depressed, but the day that I would get my period was a different story. It was very hard to know that another month of trying had gone unfulfilled. Until you go through infertility yourself, you do not have any idea what it is like. All of your friends are pregnant and having kids and everywhere you look, there are children to remind you of what you can't have. So if there was any doubt, Tyson was very much wanted and prayed for. We had a plan in place with my OB-GYN to have my fallopian tubes "blown out" this past June if we did not get pregnant before then. Even though we were still trying just as hard as we ever had, I think I pretty much had given up. In my mind I thought that I had to just make it to June and then we could take the next step. And in the great example of the Circle of Life and God's timing, the day my sweet grandmother went to sleep in Jesus, on March 10, 2010, we found out that we were pregnant. It was wonderful news that got our family through a difficult time.


Overall, my pregnancy was fantastic. I hardly had any nausea at all and the small amount that I did have was taken care of with Preggie Pops. They are a sour candy that really does help with nausea. The fact that I am a candyaholic has nothing to do with it! I did have some weird side effects from the pregnancy, including a painful kidney stone and carpal tunnel syndrome in my dominant left wrist. Other than that, the pregnancy went uneventfully... until week 35. First of all, Tyson was breech and they were getting to be concerned about that fact. I had a "Version" scheduled for 10/20/2010 to try to turn Tyson. I had been told how painful this procedure was, but I really wanted to try to have a vaginal birth, so I was game to have it done. But 1 week before the Version, a friend was trying to do a 3D ultrasound on me and discovered completely by accident that my amniotic fluid levels were low. Because of this fact, the Version had to be canceled. I did not have any symptoms of the low amniotic fluid - Tyson was measuring fine and I did not have any leaking fluid. My level was at 7 cm and the normal levels are between 7-25 cm. 5 days later, I was at 5 cm and was put on bedrest. To some people, bedrest might sound nice but I promise you, it sucks. And I only lasted 3 days! I can't imagine lasting 3 weeks, but I wanted to so badly! 3 days later, on Thursday, I was down to 4 cm. At 9 pm that night I was called by my OB-GYN and told that I needed to have a C-Section the next day. Heath and I just had to laugh (we ended up crying later) but first we laughed. We are people who normally have things together but we were not prepared for this. We had the first of three baby showers scheduled for that Sunday, so we did not have hardly anything for the baby! We had the nursery painted but that was it. Our plan was to have the showers, see what we received, and then buy the necessities for Tyson. Well, our plans went out of the window and we had to just laugh. There was nothing else to do!

Heading to the hospital...

The big day arrived! Friday, October 22. I had never had surgery before and that fact alone was scary, but it was nothing compared to worrying about the baby. Heath and I both said, we just wanted him to come out screaming, but we were preparing ourselves for the worst case scenario. You never know how it will turn out, even if he was just 3 weeks and 1 day early. Well, our dream came true and he did come out screaming. Heath was lucky that he was able to watch him come out, leaning over the surgical drapes. But I will never forget my first memory of the glimpse of my son. As the nurse brought him from the surgical table over to the infant isolette, she showed him to me along the way. He was bright pink, arms stretched out wide, his eyes open and he was crying. The image is tattoed onto my brain and my heart. I remember always wondering how you can have an instant connection to your child, even though you have carried them for 9 months. I always thought that you would need to "get to know them" as funny as that sounds. But even before I held him, just the sight of him, filled me with such love and pride that it is astounding. Heath was able to go over to the isolette, take pictures and then was able to hold him. Heath brought him over to me and said, "I think he looks like a 'Tyson' to me." We had been trying to pick out a name forever and could not agree. Girls names had been easier for us but we had finally narrowed it down to either Madden or Tyson. I preferred Tyson slightly over Madden but I liked both of the names. But I felt like Heath should make the final decision because the baby was a boy. I don't know why I felt that way, but I did. It was unfortunate that I felt this way because Heath has trouble making decisions and needs to mull things over and over. I did not want the decision made at the hospital, but because of all the drama leading up to the birth, that is exactly what happened. But Heath declaring his name was a sweet moment between the three of us that I will always remember.

Our first moments with Ty

Tyson was 5 pounds 8 ounces and 17 1/2 inches long. Not too bad but he had a difficult time breastfeeding in the beginning. He could not hold a latch, was not sucking effectively, and would fall asleep immediately when starting to eat. He went down to 4 pounds 13 ounces when we left the hospital. I had become so worried about him. It would take me 1.5 hours to get a 15 minute feeding in, because he would do a couple of sucks, and either scream and come off the breast or fall asleep. It was exhausting and depressing because I knew he was not doing well. They ended up starting us on a nipple shield and that made all the difference in the world. That was another moment that I will not forget. It was just Tyson and I sitting in the hospital bed, and he started sucking like there was no tomorrow for a full 15 minutes straight! I just started crying out of pure exhaustion and relief. I was also so proud of him that I could burst! He has continued to do well and is putting on the weight now. At his last appointment about 2 weeks ago, he was supposed to be 6 pounds 9 ounces to maintain the 1 ounce per day gaining that he should be doing. But instead he was 6 pounds 12 ounces! Another proud moment, I was psyched! I don't have a baby scale, so I don't know what he is now, but he is feeling heavier and heavier and growing out of his clothes so fast.

One of our latest pictures of Ty at 6 weeks old

Our large, extended family was fantastic and was able to come out for Tyson's birth, despite the last minute notice. The staff at the hospital were a bit overwhelmed with the constant stream of visitors that came to see Tyson. My recovery nurse had a "plan" in place for where the visitors would be waiting and when they would be allowed in. All of that went out the window, then we were wheeled into our room from the OR and there were already 6 family members waiting for us in our room! It was obvious that Tyson was very loved right from the beginning and we were so thankful for all of the support.





Our hospital stay went fast and we were psyched to get home. We had the interesting task of introducing Tyson to our dogs, Reeses and Snickers. They are high maintenance Miniature Pinschers, who were our first "babies." They were very curious about Tyson when he came home and never tried to go after him at all. But then reality sank in and they realized that their rank in the household had changed drastically. For days, Reeses and Snickers were very subdued and had the saddest eyes you have ever seen. Heath and I specifically went out of our way to spend time with them and to reassure them but they were still devastated. As you can tell from the following pictures, they can be jealous. I had Tyson sitting on the boppy and I took his picture. I then picked Tyson up and Reeses went immediately into Tyson's spot! Snickers seems to ignore Tyson most of the time but Reeses has now started licking Tyson whenever she can. I think Reeses has become protective of Tyson. Last week, two people came by the house and she growled at them. Reeses has a heart of gold and has never, ever growled at anyone before. Day by day, they are getting back to their old selves and probably realizing that Tyson is here to stay!

The puppies with their sad eyes

 

She really climbed in this blanket by herself! Progress!

In closing, I will leave you with some of my favorite pictures of brand-new, only a few days-old Tyson! Tune in next week for the summary of Tyson's first 6 weeks!