I feel so behind on my blogging, but life has been crazy this past week! I'm finding it difficult to get things done with the little nugget consuming all of my time, energy, and attention! She is so worth it though, and I am cherishing every second I have with her. I can't believe she is finally here still! I am already wishing she would stop growing.
I am going to try to find time to write a post containing her birth story, but I'm finding it hard to sit down and write it out. Maybe because NOTHING went according to plan, and it was difficult for me to cope with. In the end though, I am just glad she is here and healthy. I couldn't be happier. I just don't necessarily want to relive the labor experience!
This past week has been a whirlwind of change, new beginnings, stress, tears, and lack of sleep. We got home from the hospital on Friday, July 12. We were supposed to be discharged at 11 am, but they kept us until 5 pm because they wanted to monitor her a little longer. They had to perform numerous heel sticks in order to draw her blood to check for an elevated band cell count and high white blood cell count. My poor baby's heels were so beat up looking. Exhausted but happy, we were finally home as a new family of 3.
Rocking in her elapoo
Andy is already such a good daddy :)
Her first bath at home!
Sunday we got to take her over to my parents house for her first family dinner! I don't think anyone put her down. She was always in someone's loving arms. Such a lucky little girl already. To celebrate her birth, we lit a floating lantern ( Just like in the movie, Tangled! ) It was a great night despite being a little sleep deprived. Still getting used to her schedule!
Monday is when things really started to get hectic. I took her to her pediatrician appointment in the early afternoon. The doctor said that everything was normal, and she was a healthy little girl. However, she was concerned because her skin was a little yellow. She sent us down to the lab to get another heel stick ( poor baby ) to test her bilirubin levels for jaundice. When we left the hospital after her birth, they were within the normal range, so I wasn't too concerned. I knew that most babies have a little bit of jaundice, and it generally goes away on its own. However, as soon as we got home, the pediatrician called me and told me that her levels were very high. She didn't want to alarm me, but she said we needed to head to the hospital right away. She let me know that they were going to put her under the bili lights and then check her levels a few hours later. Little did I know what was really in store for us. I packed a few of our things, called Andy to see if he could leave work and meet me at the hospital, and left in a hurry. Andy showed up as we were going through the admitting process, and I felt much better. The whole car ride there I was super stressed and cried because I thought I did something wrong.
Once we were admitted, we found out that the few hours under the lights was turning into an overnight stay. Luckily, I had a few of my things packed, but Andy didn't have anything. Poor guy was a trooper though, and it didn't phase him a bit. I guess being in the military prepares you to go off as little as possible. It was so nice because we got to room in with Eva, but also it was the worst night of our lives. First, they had to do ANOTHER heel stick to test her levels upon admittance. Next, they put in a tiny IV in her little hand after blowing the vein in her first hand. Poor thing had a tiny splint taped to her wrist to prevent her from moving the IV out of place. Then, they stripped her down to nothing but her diaper and strapped these little goggles on her face to protect her eyes. It was so hard to see her lying in the little crib so exposed like that. They instructed us to keep her under the lights for at least 2 hour increments, but I could take her out to feed her for 30 minutes after the 2 hours was up. The longer she stayed under the lights, the better. Unfortunately, she HATED the little goggles she was forced to wear. She kept grabbing at them and pulling them down off of her eyes. This was when we realized that neither Andy or I was going to get any sleep that night. She had to be constantly monitored to prevent her from ripping off her goggles and causing damage to her eyes. We had to watch her cry and writhe under the lights all night. In addition, every 5 hours or so, the nurse would come in to perform another heel stick to check her levels. Needless to say, her heels look even worse now than they did before.
Finally, after spending 20 hours under the lights, her levels had dropped low enough that we could go home. I don't know if I've ever been so relieved. I'm so glad Andy was there to support me as we endured that night. With all the crazy changes in hormones going on, I was a complete mess. I can't imagine how much worse it would have been to go through that alone. Now we are home and doing much better. I took her back to the pediatrician today. I was worried that they were going to have to prick her heels again to test her levels, but the doctor just did an exam. She was pleased with the way Eva was looking and sent us on our way! I am one happy momma.
Kudos to you if you made it through this long post! Here we are at 7 days old:
So happy to be home!
No comments:
Post a Comment