Ellie's First Few Weeks

....were hard!!! I never thought having a newborn was going to be easy, but oh my word it was much harder than I expected. At the hospital, right after she was born, she had some blood sugar issues and they called the pediatrician in at 5am. He then ordered a blood sugar test before every feeding...so my poor baby was pricked every 2 hours. It was horrible. That made me so anxious about feeding her, which sounds terrible, but I knew if it was time to feed her she would also be getting her blood taken. Breastfeeding was also hard, partly because of the c-section, and partly because I had no idea what I was doing! I think I must win some prize for the most visits by the hospital's lactation consultant! Seriously. Bless this lady's heart! I tried to joke later, as I had 4 people hovered around me, that it takes a village to breastfeed a child. Ha!

Looking back now, I think part of the problems I had with breastfeeding had more to do with the hormonal imbalances of just having had a baby. I was very emotional. I cried over everything. My mom stayed a week after Ellie was born, thank goodness! I was a wreck! At our first pediatric appointment, Ellie had lost more weight and they thought she looked more jaundice. We had to take her to get blood work, and I started pumping to give her more food. We took her back for a weight check at the end of the week and she still hadn't gained weight. I was devastated! It took over 3 weeks for her to gain weight, and 4 weeks for her to return to her birth weight. I was so stressed out! We supplemented with formula, and as much as I hated doing that, it really did the trick. After 6 weeks she gained weight like a pro! Looking at her now, I cannot believe we ever had weight issues! She is my little chubster!

My OB told me I would be emotional for the first two weeks after delivery, but I didn't think it would be that bad. It was awful. I don't think I have cried so much in my life. I was worried and scared all of the time, and every little thing made me cry. The lack of sleep didn't help either. When my mom left I thought life was over. Ha! Not really, but I think that is how I acted. I cried about her not being here for weeks. Occasionally I still do! Probably around the 3rd or 4th week my emotions settled down. I was still a nervous wreck, but I wasn't as emotional about it.

Ellie had horrible reflux...I didn't medicate her for it, but I was terrified about her sleeping on her back. She hated it anyway....she hated being swaddled, and she hated sleeping flat. We think she hated the swaddle because she was never cramped in my uterus...she was free to move and swim until the very end! So we bought a Nap Nanny, and that worked really well for us until week 6. At that point she just decided she didn't like it....she made so many noises, almost like she couldn't settle into a deep enough sleep. I think she would have slept a lot better if I wasn't constantly hovering over her! At almost 8 weeks we moved her into her bedroom, and without me being there, and in her own crib she started sleeping like a champ! She slept two nights in there before we had the scare of our lives and spent the next 10 nights in the hospital....but that is for another post! Here are some pictures of our sweet baby from her first month...

Ellie and my dad

Ellie and Dr. Rowe

Ellie loves her daddy!

Relaxing in her bouncy seat

1 month birthday!

Ellie's Birth Story...Delivery

Boy am I glad this part of our story is over! Dr. LeBlanc scheduled my induction for October 19th, but I was to go to the hospital on the 18th to get the whole process started with cervidil. If you don't know what that is, you don't want to. It was awful!!! By the way, have I mentioned how much I love my OB? I chose her after I found her on the Christian Medical/Dental Association website. It was so important to me that my OB was pro-life; I wanted a doctor who would see my baby AS A BABY, and not just a bunch of cells. My OB also happens to be Ron Paul's daughter! Don't believer me?? Check this picture out...she is in the gray blazer...

Anyway! We went to the hospital for our registration appointment at 2 on the afternoon of the 18th. We were supposed to be admitted at 5, so after the blood work and paper work we went to get something to eat for our 'last meal'. We were told to call before going in, and when we did they told us they were full and we should call back around 7. So Mike and I went home to take a nap, and we didn't end up going into the hospital until 9 that night. They inserted the cervidil and started the IV. When I was admitted I was about 50% effaced, and dilated to a 1.5. The cervidil didn't do a darn thing! I was the exact same the next morning when they started pitocin.

They started the pitocin around 6 am on the 19th, and also started giving me antibiotics through the IV because I had tested positive for Group B Strep (which will be part of another post, so remember this!). Around lunch time, Dr. LeBlanc came in and I was around a 3 at that point so she went ahead and broke my water. I was having lots of contractions, and tons of pain in my back and tailbone. I waited a couple of hours and then got the epidural. I was so terrified of the epidural! Seriously....I dreaded that more than anything going into the whole labor process! It was not nearly as bad as I was expecting, but it didn't work. I wasn't sure exactly how long it was supposed to take, and how much I was still going to feel so I didn't say anything for awhile. I finally had to say something to the nurse because the catheter hurt so badly. They allowed me to go without it, but I was still having horrible pain in my back and tailbone. A CRNA came in to give me some extra drugs in the IV, but they only helped temporarily. After the nurses switched shifts, the new nurse checked me and said I was a 6. She called Dr. LeBlanc to come in, and much to all of our dismay the nurses's 6 was actually only a 4. Boo. I was in so much pain still, and told Dr. LeBlanc about it and then she realized the epidural hadn't worked. This was around 8pm. I wish the nurse would have realized my pain meant the epidural hadn't worked! Ha! So I got another epidural....which I find humorous since that was the thing I was dreading the most! We all kind of hung out at that point, and then when I still wasn't progressing at 11pm Dr. LeBlanc decided to go ahead and deliver via c-section.

I was disappointed, but also very relieved. It took about 30 minutes for them to get the operating room ready and then back we went! It was such a long day! All I remember from the c-section is the shaking and the dry mouth. Oh the dry mouth! It was horrible! I kept asking the CRNA for anything liquid, and after she told me she would get fired for giving me something I informed her I wouldn't tell anyone! I thought I was being very nice, but she still didn't give in. I remember (and this is gross, but I think it is funny) hoping Mike would give me a kiss so I could have some of his saliva. Haha! And the first thing the CRNA said when I was seeing Ellie for the first time was, "I bet you want to lick her, don't you?". Hahaha! Hilarious! Ellie was officially delivered at 11:49 pm...almost 18 hours after being induced.

I remember the first time I really got to see her was around 3 am when they brought her in to my room, and I could not get over just how perfect she was! I looked at Mike and asked him how on earth we had the cutest baby in all the world...how were we so lucky?! Just look at how beautiful our little baby girl was!

Proud Daddy!

First family photo!

She's a beauty! (pardon my double chin)

The next couple of days, and several weeks for that matter, were pretty tough, but I will save those for another post! Ellie is such a sweet baby, and Mike and I are so thankful she is all ours!! God is so good to us, and there were several pretty amazing things from my pregnancy only He can get the credit for. Even though I had high blood pressure that developed into pre-eclampsia, Ellie and I were spared many of the 'side effects' of those conditions. Many babies with high blood pressure mommies have size issues...often times they are underweight and have health issues. Ellie grew perfectly the whole time she was in utero! Many high blood pressure mommies do not have enough amniotic fluid which can cause serious issues. I had too much amniotic fluid for a fourth of the pregnancy, and Ellie swam freely until delivery! Both of my doctors foresaw an early deliver and a preemie in the NICU....Ellie went full term and was able to go home with us! We cannot thank God enough for these many blessings! I pray we can show our gratitude to Him in raising Ellie in a home where He is glorified!

Ellie's Birth Story...My Pregnancy

Three months late is better then never, right?? I love Ellie's birth story...it is so nice to think about it all now that we are done with it. Ha! My pregnancy was rough, but the precious little miracle we got to take home at the end of it all is so worth it. I want to always remember it, and I love talking about how God used all of these circumstances to bring me to rely on Him fully.

The pregnancy started out great; I had just lost around 15 pounds when we found out I was pregnant, and my PCP pulled me off of my blood pressure medicine as soon as I took a positive pregnancy test. I was so elated, and was very hopeful I would go the whole pregnancy with normal blood pressure numbers. For the first 9 weeks my BP was perfect, and I felt great. I had very little morning sickness, just some dizziness that went away pretty quickly. In week 10 I started getting some headaches so I decided to take my blood pressure. I don't remember how high it was, but I know it was high enough to cause me to panic and call my OB. She had me come in the next day to discuss medication. She also declared my pregnancy a high risk pregnancy and set me up with a high risk doctor we would see off and on throughout the pregnancy. Little did we know these two people would become so important to us....and would hold such a special place in our hearts!

After about 12-14 weeks of trying different medications we finally found a combination of two different prescriptions that would regulate my blood pressure. I felt great! The summer went really well until Labor Day weekend. I started getting headaches again, and my BP numbers kept climbing. I called my OB the Tuesday after Labor Day, and they told me to head to the hospital because the 24-hour urine test I had done the week before came back with high protein numbers. In the hospital I did another 24-hour urine test that confirmed I had super-imposed preeclampsia. We were told on Wednesday that we would be at the hospital until Ellie was born. I was devastated!!! The nursery wasn't done, the house wasn't clean, I still had two showers to attend, and spending months in the hospital sounded like torture! I didn't know that the doctors didn't think we would make it very much longer at that point. My OB had us tour the NICU, and that was one of the scariest days of my life. I could not imagine having to leave our little princess in the hospital. I cried during the whole tour. It was awful! Later that week they had me do another urine test, and at that point the protein had gone down significantly and we were able to go home on bed rest. Mike and I were thrilled! I don't know if we have ever been happier to see our house!!! I knew I had to have someone with me full time so I asked my mom to come stay with me. This year is the first year my mom has worked full time since before my older sister was born....figures!!!

For the next 7 weeks I was on strict bed rest, only leaving the house for doctor's appointments. My mom stayed, and I had so much fun with her! We played cards, watched TV, she cleaned out our sock drawers, and so much more! I had a blast....I still wish she was here with us again! While I am sure I got on her nerves plenty with my never-ending questions, I can honestly say she didn't get on my nerves once, and I really enjoyed all of it....minus the bed rest part, of course.

I saw both of my doctors once a week until delivery. My OB was not going to let me go past 37 weeks so our induction was scheduled for the 3rd week of October.

Next up: Ellie's Birth Story...Delivery (you know, when I get around to it!) Here is a teaser picture...