Finally... the birth story

Ok... almost a month late... but better than never, here is Lily’s birth story.

Our induction date was set for Monday December 1st, so the day before I went to the hospital to have the cervidil inserted to soften my cervix. I started getting irregular contraction just over an hour after it was inserted... they weren’t strong, and weren’t regular so they sent us away- but told us we couldn’t go home as we live an hour from the hospital and a big snow storm was due to come that night. We ended up staying at my sisters house. All day Sunday i was getting contractions, but we had things to do... I went to church and to a Christmas party. After the Christmas party my contractions started to get more regular and more intense. I was ready to go to the hospital when all of the sudden they seemed to go away! They ended up coming back but irregular and not very intense. I went to bed and tried to sleep, I didn’t get too much, but a bit.

The next morning I called the hospital to see if they were ready for me to come in and start the Oxytocin, but they weren’t. They said for me to take the cervidil out and to come in at noon so they could check on the baby. We went in at noon and all was good with the baby, so they sent me home and told me hopefully they would call me back soon. We headed back to my sisters and waited for a call. Finally around 10 pm they said we could come in!

When we checked into the hospital just after 10 they set us right up in a beautiful birthing suit, it was huge- had a bed, a large bench for DH to sleep, a big bathroom with Jacuzzi tub and an area for the baby. They checked me right away and I was just 1cm. The doctor came in and decided to break my water to get things going. At this time DH and my best friend were there- they left the room while he broke my water. Surprisingly it didn’t hurt horribly when he broke my water, was just very uncomfortable. Right after he broke it they set me up on the oxytocin drip- this was at midnight. I started to get contractions right away- way more intense than before. My best friend stayed until just after 2 and we all did crosswords and chatted. The nurse I had was amazing- she never left the room and just chatted with us the whole time. I started to get really uncomfortable around 2 and there was no chance of me getting any sleep- so the nurse gave me some morphine. This helped for less than an hour. At 3am I was checked again and was only at 3cm. They really wanted me to get some sleep because we still had a ways to go, so I got an epidural... again, didn’t hurt as bad as I was expecting and providing some GREAT relief!! I finally slept for a few hours. When I woke up at 5:30 I could feel my contractions big time and they hurt- it felt like the epi was hardly working... the nurse checked me and I was still 3cm... she said they would adjust the epi a bit and I should try to get some more sleep because I still had another 8-10hrs to go. I felt the contractions pretty bad from then on out. At 7am they were really bad and the day nurse who had just started decided to check me and then order a top up for my epidural...we were all shocked when she said I was 10cm... I had gone from 3-10 in 1.5hrs. She said I would start pushing in just over an hour, she started to get everything ready.

We called my parents and messaged our close friends on our BlackBerry’s and got ready to push. At 8:20 I started pushing and it HURT! It hurt so bad I threw up all over (TMI, lol)... I pushed for just over 40 minutes and at 9:02am Lily Grace was born!! It was the happiest moment of my life!!!

Worry!

How much can one person worry?? I have never considered myself a worrier or an overly anxious person... but having a baby has brought all of that out in me. I never thought it was possible to worry so much about one person... is she sleeping too much, is she eating enough, is she peeing enough, is she too hot, too cold? anything and everything possible I can worry about! I don't know how to relax, I try really hard... but it just gets worse.

At first I was really good about letting people pass her around and not worrying... but now I just want to keep her to myself and not have everyone else passing her around and breathing all over her. I don't want her to catch something and get sick.

Speaking of sick, she has been worrying me this week because of that. Christmas night, after a full day of people passing her around she went to be around 2 after her feeding, then all of the sudden I heard her coughing and I picked her up- the next thing I knew she was projectile vomiting all over me, herself and all blankets and clothing in between. She did it again 2 more times on Boxing day. Since then she has been sleeping a fair amount and not wanting to eat a lot. I make her eat because I don't want her to get dehydrated- but I worry. Since she isn't wanting to eat a lot because she falls asleep I have let her nurse, and then pumped out the rest and given it to her by the bottle so I know she is getting it. I don't know if that's a good thing or not, but in my eyes she is getting the milk and staying hydrated, so that's a good thing!! She has been a bit stuffy too- I notice it when she is eating- so we bought some hydraSense, it seems to loosen things up!

I hope my baby girl feels better soon and starts eating good again!!

Hopefully my next update will be soon!!

Things are going great

Its been awhile since I have updated... things have been busy! Lily has been doing great since we have been home! As of Tuesday she is back up at her birth weight and her doctor said she is doing great and the jaundice is still improving!

I couldn't be happier, although slightly sleep deprived, I am loving every minute of being a mom! Lily is wonderful and couldn't be more perfect!!

We have started a blog with pictures of her for our family and friends- if you want to check it out it is snlfreitas.blogspot.com.

There is a big snowstorm here today so we are stuck inside... I wish I could say we were warm inside, but our furnace isn't working! The repair man should be here soon! In the meantime Lily and I are curled up in my bed staying warm together!

Tomorrow we are going to a wedding, Lily's first! I am also getting my hair done in the morning, I can't wait! It took awhile to find a dress to wear to the wedding, but thanks to my best friend I found one that doesn't make me look overly like a cow!

I will try to get better at updating!

Going Home!!

We are going home!!!

She has gained 2oz since we have been here and her billiruben level has dropped from 404 to 224, so that is great!! We should be home by noon today!!

hospital update

Lily is doing much better today, her Billirubin levels are down and she has gained 1.5oz since 4pm yesterday! I have noticed a huge difference in her feedings and her energy level. She is now eating enough that there is nothing left for me to pump, so that is great!!

Her pediatrician came in this morning and said she looks great! Her levels went from 404 yesterday to only 313 today!

They are going to keep her for one more night just to be sure that she doesn't relapse and that she keeps putting on the weight with no formula supplement. I am good with that, I want my baby nice and healthy!!!

My poor Lily is in the hospital :(

Well no birth story today unfortunately... We are in the hospital :(

I knew Lily looked a little jaundiced, and her energy has been really low- we had a pediatrician appointment today and almost as soon as we were seen they had us heading to the hospital for a biliruben test. Well her levels came back at 404, when they should be well under 200. They immediately checked us in and had her put under the bililights. They were also concerned because her weight has dropped to 6.2lbs, when she was born at 7lbs and was 6.9lbs at discharge. They are having me feed her for 15 minutes on each side and then pump out the rest. We then use the pumped milk plus some formula to supplement her an additional 20cc's.

Her doctor came by tonight and said they will test her levels in the morning and weigh her again, hopefully she will have lower levels and will have gained some weight. If she responds well we could be out tomorrow night if we are really lucky... If not, hopefully the next day.

I am staying with her so I can feed through the night- but they don't provide any food for me- so DH brought me some food and snacks. I am soo tired, headachy and just drained. I keep tearing up seeing her in the incubator with the little sunglasses on.

I will update again soon!!

Our Little Family

I don't have time to write the whole birth story right now, hopefully early next week.

But we are doing great! It is amazing being a mom, more than I could ever ask for! They sleepless nights, achey body, and everything else is so worth it... I love this little girl more than I ever thought possible!!

Lily is an amazing baby- she is soo good. The poor thing has had a few upset stomach's, but I am sure it is because of what I ate- I felt so bad for her!!

We have had a pretty constant stream of visitors, but we don't mind- we love showing off our perfect little girl :)

I am going to be starting a picture blog that I will put a link to on the side of this one... it will be a link I can send out to all our family and friends without having to open this one up to everyone.

I will post another update soon I hope!

She is here... we are home! Life is perfect!

She has finally arrived and we are finally home!

I will post the whole birth story later, for now I just wanted to let everyone know Lily is here and she is perfect! She was born at 9:02am on December 2nd, weighing in at 7lbs and measuring 19 inches- which is bigger than everyone expected!!

Things are going great- I am really tired, haven't really slept yet- but that is ok- just running on adrenaline.

Here are a few pics of our baby girl:

Finally checked in

I am now checked in and have IV in and we are in our own room!!

They are going to start the oxytocin in 10 minutes. I was told it will be 10-12hrs from now! My nurse is soo nice- she is just with me all night!

We will update when we can!

mistakes...

Please excuse any misspellings over the next few days, most updates are coming from my BlackBerry and I can't really see what I am typing very well.

Still Waiting

We are still waiting to get a call from the hospital to go in and start the oxytocin. I did go in earlier for some monitoring and an assessment- we were only there about an hour.

Unfortunately the Cervidil didn't do much other than start contractions- I was checked earlier and am still the same amount dilated as I was when they inserted it yesterday. :( The charge nurse earlier had to send me away again because they were too busy to start the induction, but she said I still couldn't go home home. So we have been hanging out at my sisters all day.

I called the hospital again about an hour ago and the charge nurse said there was a really good chance that I would get called in tonight to start the induction- so that is great!! Unless they get a bunch of walk in's in labor during shift change I should hopefully get a call soon!

As for me, I am still getting contractions- they are stronger than they were earlier, and mostly in my back, although my belly is also tightening and turning rock hard.

Hopefully I will soon be at the hospital hooked up to the IV.

I can't wait to meet my baby girl!!

It's 6am...

I have been having contractions regularly, but they aren't too bad... I managed to get 3-4 hours of sleep, waking up often, but still it was sleep!

We had quite the snowstorm/snowfall here last night- so I am kinda glad we didn't have to go to the hospital in the middle of the night!

DH and I have to call the hospital at 7 and they will tell is when to come in- could be right away, could be later. I hope its soon- because all the contractions I am getting are really getting bad in my back- sooo not comfy!

I am still not nervous- just want my baby girl here safe and healthy!!

Will update when I can.