Wednesday, September 18, 2013

First weeks at home

Your first few nights at home were rough! 


Everything that we thought we knew from having Makenzie just didn't work with you!  You hated swaddling and the swing.  The only way we could survive was for Mommy to sleep with you on her chest for most of the night!

You suffered from some pretty severe jaundice, so our first week was spent running back and forth to the lab for heel sticks and doctor's visits.  We narrowly avoided a hospital admission.

We eventually realized that you were suffering from reflux, and some Ranitidine helped a bit.  After supplementing with formula to get you through the jaundice, you got very confused with breast feeding and we eventually settled on a special formula that agreed with your tummy.  After the intial newborn weight loss, you started gaining weight like a champ!


 Big Sissy is in love with you and asks to hold you every day when she returns home from school.






Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Birth Story

We arrived as instructed at 0530 to begin our induction. I had to BEG for the induction because I was so uncomfortable and OUT OF ROOM! My last ultrasound showed the baby to be only 7lbs 12oz so the doctor was hesitant. We arrived, got changed, and got the IV started with the lowest dose of Pitocin.

By about 0830, the doctor broke my water and I was dilated to about 5cm. At 6cm (around 10am), I asked for the epidural. I felt like I could stand the contractions, but was not willing to do the pushing without it this time.

 I had warned the anesthesiologist that I had hypotension with Makenzie, but he gave me a large fluid bolus this time and was convinced I would be ok. He placed the epidural and had been gone about 30 minutes when I felt my blood pressure dropping. I asked my nurse to lay my head down, as that facilitates bringing your blood pressure back up. She laid me down just a bit and I told her I was going to pass out soon.

She left the room to get more fluids and Tim was trying to keep me awake. I felt panicked and was trying to deep breathe and calm myself down. I could feel my respirations getting out of control and my pulse begin to race. I remember looking over at the monitor and that was the last thing I recall. My blood pressure was last measured at 60/30 before Tim says my eyes rolled back in my head and I began to have a seizure.

My blood pressure and pulse were unmeasurable on the monitor and baby's pulse dropped to the 70's. I woke up to a room full of nurses, my OB and the anesthesiologist all around my bed. They were telling me to take deep breaths of the oxygen and I remember hearing my OB ask the nurse why my oxygen saturations were "still 77%", then hearing my nurse announce she had pushed the ephedrine (a drug to bring up BP and HR).

 After the ephedrine, my vital signs and baby's came up nicely and they resumed the Pitocin. I was dilated to a 10 by 3:30pm, but I began to feel contractions in my back. I asked the nurse if she was face up this time too like Makenzie and she wasn't able to tell. The doctor came by to check and sure enough, she was headed out face up as well.

He wanted to give me 30 minutes to sit straight up and see if she would turn. She never turned and he let me start pushing at about 4pm. The baby's heartrate began to decelerate at about 4:40 so the doctor decided to assist in turning her with the vacuum while I pushed. She was born at 4:50 with the cord wrapped around her neck once. And to everyone's surprise (except mine), she was HUGE! 10lbs 1.8oz and 22 inches long.
Makenzie and my family were waiting anxiously in the waiting room, and she was immediately in love!

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Today is the day we meet our new baby girl! 38 weeks pregnant and ready to be induced! Headed to the hospital at 0530!