When I last left you on the blog, it was the night before going to the hospital to meet Lucy. Well, so much has happened since then!! Thanks to everyone for the kind words and prayers for us that morning! The Lord calmed my nerves and we were feeling good as we prepared to go in very early that Monday morning.
Last moments being pregnant!
Checked in and ready to go!
My anxiety did increase a little the closer we got to the surgery...the nurse who couldn't get my IV started wasn't helping either. I still have bruises 3 weeks later! I had my iPod loaded with encouraging songs and listened as we waited to go back to the OR. When the anesthesiologist came in to check on me, he said I could take my iPod to the OR with me! Probably not a big deal, but in that moment, it was a comfort for me. Looking back now, it seems silly that I was more concerned about the c-section than about Lucy considering she was going to be 3 weeks early. I just didn't know...
These two songs were at the top of my playlist:
Chad ready to come back.
Walking to the OR rather than being rushed back on a bed was much better this time around. Everything was much more calm. One thing I have learned - my body does not handle epidurals or spinals very well. With the epidural for Mya and with the spinal this time, my blood pressure drops and I get really nauseous. Thankfully the anesthesiologist and I had talked about this during pre-op, so he was ready with meds and oxygen when my blood pressure dropped. Then we were all set and about 10 minutes later...
Miss Lucy Grace!
After they cleaned her up, we had about five minutes with her. At this point, she was doing great - no concerns.
Our little peanut - 5lbs 11oz., 18 3/4 inches
While I was being taken to recovery, she was taken to the nursery for a bath. While she was there, she started have trouble breathing. She was retracting (chest pulling in, instead of belly going out when she breathed) and her oxygen stats were in the mid-eighties to low nineties.
They wanted to let her calm down and put her under an oxygen hood to help her breathe. At this point the pediatrician told us that if her condition didn't improve soon, he would need to send her to the NICU at a local children's hospital to get her the care she needed. Again, looking back, I probably would have given more thought to delivering a baby at 37 weeks in a hospital with no NICU facilities. However, since the amnio results were good, we didn't think there much risk for her having trouble breathing.
She was born at 8:12 AM and shortly before noon, they decided to send her to the NICU. By the time the transfer team arrived, her stats were better and she wasn't retracting anymore. However, the ball was already rolling.
Watching her leave was awful. I had seen her in the OR, but wasn't able to hold her, feed her or be with her before she left. Chad left and went with her. Thankfully since both my parents were here, my mom stayed with me while my dad held down the fort at home with the girls.
Later that night my parents took the girls to Westchester to see Lucy.
While all of the other babies in the NICU were much smaller and more serious cases than Lucy, it is never fun to see your child hooked up to machines and a feeding tube. If you know me, you know the thought of my child having formula was weighing heavily on me!
Sweet girl!
Moving from the isolette to regular bed!
No more feeding tube!
Waiting in the hospital from Monday to Wednesday felt so long. I was the only patient in the OB unit and since my parents were in and out taking care of the girls and taking what I had pumped to Chad, I was alone a lot...which made everything even more emotional. Thankfully my doctor released me a day early so that I could go to Westchester to be with Lucy.
Finally!
We were really hoping to go home that afternoon, but they were still waiting on test results for Lucy. The test was a blood culture checking for a lung infection. No one thought she had an infection - it was just a precaution. However, since it was a 48 hour culture, they wouldn't release her without the results, so unfortunately she had to stay another night.
You need to go home to rest after you have a c-section - not to another hospital. I was such a wreck - physically and emotionally. I knew my baby was fine and just wanted to take her home. The nurses in the NICU were great, but their job is to take care of and closely monitor tiny and often sick babies. One nurse told me I wasn't pumping enough and wasn't very encouraging when I was trying to nurse Lucy (which is a hard task after 3 days on a bottle). She finally said, "I just think its easier to give the bottle." Well, I'm sure it is...
There wasn't a place in the hospital for Chad and I to sleep. I didn't want to leave Lucy because I hated the thought of her getting a bottle again, even if I pumped. Finally around midnight, it was clear I needed to sleep. There was only one hotel around that had a room. It was not exactly clean and there was no hot water. After a couple hours sleep and no shower, we headed back to the hospital to the exciting news that we were going home! It took most of the day to be discharged, but thankfully the nurses were much more understanding and generally left us alone. Knowing we were going home was amazing, but made us very aware of all of the babies around us that were going to be there for so much longer. We pray for those little babies and their families that they will be able to go home soon!
Getting dressed for the first time! She wasn't a fan!
Finally going home!!!
Best feeling - showered and sleeping together at home...even if we were surrounded by moving boxes!
First bath, like getting dressed - she wasn't a fan!
Our first week home was filled with doctors appointments - two weight checks for Lucy and a trip to the ER for me. Given the circumstances and stress of the week, I wasn't surprised when the diagnosis was mastitis. Thankfully we made it through that rough first week and now everyone is doing great!
Love all these photos!
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