Monday, November 8, 2010

Siblings

After all of this birth stuff, Lou Lou said, "When your water breaks, how do you get it all back together?"

On the day Sweetie Pie was born, Bear said on the phone, "Mama, I know you were at 3. I don't know what these numbers even mean, but what number are you on now?" When I called him to tell him it was a girl, the first thing he said was, "Mama, did you ever make it up to ten?"

New Baby/Crazy Week

So our new baby is 8 days old. She came 5 weeks early. Her blog name is Sweetie Pie. She weighed 5 pounds 3 ounces and was 19 inches long. Here's a rundown of our week...

Sunday, October 31, 2010 - I woke up suddenly at 4:50 a.m. and felt that my water had broken. I went to the hospital and by 8:30, I was dilated 3 centimeters. I was having contractions but they weren't painful and were irregular. By 3:00 p.m., I was still 3 centimeters. My plan was to have a doula in there with me to help me work through the labor rather than having pain medicine. My doula called me early that morning and said that she couldn't be there because she was awaiting knee replacement surgery. She had given me a few tips during my earlier phone conversation so I tried these during the labor and they really worked. I cried when I found out she wouldn't be there but things turned out alright. Although the labor was painful and intense, I worked through it better than my other labors. I worked on my breathing, concentrating, and relaxing my muscles. I was excited that I made it through with no pain medicine, although I did ask for some at one point. By the time I asked for it, it was too late. Once I got to 6 centimeters (around 5:00 or 5:15), the labor went very fast.

At 6:12 p.m., I had been pushing for maybe two minutes. I prayed aloud that I would be through by 6:15 p.m. The doctor joked with my husband that he loved a girl with a sense of humor. At 6:15 p.m., the baby girl was born! Yay!

She was working to breathe so I didn't hold her or nurse her. They had her on a heart monitor, respiration monitor, and temp. monitor. I pumped through the night. I held her for two minutes the next day (Monday) while the nurse changed her bedding. In a few hours, the doctor came in and said her lung had collapsed and they were sending her via helicopter to the hospital in Greenville. I immediately asked for an early discharge so I could go with her.

On Monday night, I came back home to help out with getting everybody ready for school the next morning. Basically, she continually had relapsed lung collapses on the right side. I came home again on Tuesday night.

Early Wednesday morning, she had her last collapsed lung. She's been getting better ever since. She got her chest tube out on Thursday and then I got to hold her for the first time (for more than two minutes) on Thursday night. We did kangaroo care (skin on skin) as I sported my new Walmart button-down shirt.

On Friday, she started trying to nurse. She has done pretty good with that. They weigh her diapers and check her blood sugar to make sure she's getting what she needs. She came off of her IV on Saturday.

Today, the only thing keeping her here is her body temp. When she learns how to regulate her own body temperature, she'll be on her way to home. All the kids and Jimmy came to see her yesterday, and that was good and a little bit hard. I think she'll be home soon, hopefully by the end of this week.

Visitors...
Halloween - birthday - Carolyn S., MaJe, Papa J, YaYa, Mama C, Dawn S., Tracy P., Aunt Sue
Monday - Freda D., Kathy D., Nel W., Crystal C., Carolyn S.
Tuesday - TiTi, Pam G.
Wednesday - Tobie G., Laura H., TiTi, Papa
Thursday - MaJe, Bonnie G.
Friday -
Saturday - Donnie and Pam G., Paul and Michelle C., Nolan and Payne
Sunday - all the kids and Jimmy, Tracy P., YaYa