A rough start...

Some of my good friends who read this blog are concerned and questioning baby girl's rough start into the world.. so, as promised, by birth story:

Monday, June 30, at 11:26 am, my baby girl made her arrival, weighing in at exactly 8lbs and 21 1/2 inches long.

one of my nurses put it best, she decided to go scuba diving without her snorkel.. she swallowed very big several times just before being delivered, her lungs were so full of fluid that she was delivered blue and was not breathing. they took, what seemed like years, but about only about a minute to resesitate her.. she needed oxygen right away.. it was much later in the evening, almost 7:30 pm before I really even got to lay my eyes on her.. I didn't get to hold her long either, they were pushing to get her back on the warmers & I was not feeling well.. too much epidural made me drift in and out for a long long time, it was almost midnight before I had full feelings in my legs..

Because of the c-section and the drugs, I was not allowed to have her in my room since I was alone and my reaction time wasn't what it needed to be.. but by 7:30 that morning, after begging to see her at 2 and 5 am, they finally said they would help me go to the nursery.. there were no nurses who could bring her to me or sit with me, PLUS, they were very concerned and needed her under the warmer more than anything else.. around 8:40 I finally got to hold her at length. I spent most of the day being rolled back & forth to the nursery.. later than night she was released to me because DH was going to be there to visit with us. they too her back overnight.

later on Wednesday, they told me that her billirubin was high and that they wanted to do the photo therapy treatment.. I had a visitor, so I let the nurse take her back to the nursery for me, when I got there, I figured I could just sit with her and wait for the treatment to be done.. it was then that I was told that she needed an iv for dehydration -- she had been a very pokey and poor eater most of the first few days, but I was told that was all normal... I was in tears by the time I saw the iv hook up and then was told that I could not even HOLD her for the next 24 hours since she was so jaundice and needed the treatment... I sat by her warmer as much as I could.. the nurses in the NICU were so wonderful to me.. we were the only baby in there being intensively watched. this hospital really was a God's blessing to me... so the right decision for all of us..

Thursday, I was up early and walked down to the nursery and was told that the blood check was not as good as it needed to be and she would be spending another day getting photo therapy treatment, only this time, she would need to lay on a fiber optic blanket as well as the lights so that she would be doubly treated and that we had to limit the time out to even shorter periods of time.. as in a feeding and 5 minutes TOPS... my smart little cookie figured out that if she acted really hungry, rooting at the blankets & such, that they would take her out and try to feed her as often as once and hour... she would eat like 10 cc, which is NOTHING and then she got to snuggle with me some..

by Friday morning, I had been down for all of her feedings through the night and was just waiting for her blood work.. while I was at the nursing station getting my medication, they were bringing her back to me... blood check was good and she was likely to be released WITH me.. YEAH!
we spent the whole of Friday morning, snuggled up in my bed together.. making up for lost time..

We came Friday afternoon and although that night was rough, she is doing really well.. her weight is up and things are good.. over the course of this week, she has caught her sister's cold, but it seems more like reflux issues... we'll see..
if older dd & I gave my husband gray hair, this little peanut is going to make him bald..

she is a strong and healthy peanut who is going to keep her mom & dad on their toes!
I am just glad that she is here and healthy... everything else will work itself out in time..

If I knew better, I would still be smiling about my new angel..
:) Monique