Lila Gail's Arrival (Part 2)

Friday we spent mostly going back and forth between my room on the 3rd floor and the NICU on the 1st floor. We realized quickly that Kaiser should have installed more automatic doors in the Women's
& Children's Center because at 3am there was nobody to help open doors for Ken to wheel me through.

Not only did we have such little time between feeding (because of travel time, time for me to get out of bed and use the bathroom, feeding her which took 60 minutes sometimes) but in the morning with hopes of breakfast after feeding her, a social worker came in, a clerk from the Birth Certificate office and the lactation consultant came in. We missed the lactation consultant who was upstairs when I was downstairs in the NICU.

By Friday afternoon we still had no answers as to when Lila would be joining us in my room. Ken and I became increasingly frustrated with the NICU doctor who we only met once. She informed us, along with some of the nurses on our floor, that once babies are admitted to the NICU they rarely (4 babies in 4 years) are sent back upstairs to their moms. We were angry. We told the nurses they needed to get the doctor to come back and that from what we'd gathered there was no reason for Lila to be in the NICU.

The nurse came back after paging and calling doctor saying that because of the IV fluids that were regulating her blood sugar that they couldn't release her. Our only choices were giving her formula to regulate her blood sugar or to put another IV in. I told them no formula that they would need to replace her IV. Realizing that we were not going to get her out of there we focused on trying to both we released on Saturday.

By late afternoon the NICU had a plan. They would check her blood sugar at 5pm right before her feeding and if it was above 55 they would send her upstairs with me. It was 74!!! They also wanted to recheck it before her next two feedings to assure her blood sugar was stable. What really ticked us off is that she never had low blood sugar, even at birth. It was only because they had started the IV that they were worried about taking it away. Ridiculous!!!

It's a good thing that she was released that afternoon because I was in so much pain I don't think I would have made it through the night getting up to feed her every 3 hours. We spent the evening/ night getting my pain under control. I could barely get out of bed to use the bathroom which was only 4 feet from my bed.

We decided to stay until Sunday to manage my pain and try to get some rest. Right...rest in a hospital!

Friday night Ethan came to visit his sister for the first time. He looked a little out of sorts when he first came to the door, but ran to my bed to cuddle with me. He sang "Happy Birthday" to her and kissed her head. I think he thought it was weird that his mom was in a bed and looked so tired and worn out.

The rest of Saturday and half of Sunday we tried to relax. My mom came to help with Lila Saturday morning and my sister stayed on Friday night to help with nursing and to let Ken go home for the night and half of Saturday. Lila nursed very well and we finally met up with the lactation consultant who told me I was doing it all right and congratulations that we made it out of the NICU without formula. She said she was surprised someone in the NICU didn't just give her formula. Yikes! I guess we dodged a bullet on that one.

Overall, our hospital experience, minus the NICU doctor, was a good one. We were ready to come home though.

 Our 1st photo as a family of four

 Lila & Daddy

 Uncle Tim & Lila

 Mommy & her babies

 The Dean's

 Grandpa & Lila

More about that in my next post.

Lila Gail's Arrival

 
On Thursday, December 6th at 1017AM we welcomed Lila Gail Dean into the world. I had an elective scheduled c-section because we believed she would be a big baby.

Having a c-section is so much different than a regular birth and not just for obvious reasons. It was great to know what day she would arrive, get up take a shower, put my make up on. On the other hand, it was nerve racking because I knew how many hours and minutes it would be until surgery.

We arrived at 7am and waited two and a half hours for surgery. The prep time actually went faster than I expected it to and at the last minute they almost bumped my c-section for an emergency c-section.

As I walked into the operating room I started to get really nervous and shake. I wanted to run out of there, but had to keep focused that this would be over soon and I'd have my baby girl. The next 15-20 minutes went by very fast and very slow all at once. They had me sit on the edge of the gurney while they put the spinal epidural in. After numbing the area, they started to put the needle in and I felt it so they had to stop to numb it more and from there on I didn't feel anything. My legs were numb within minutes and I was laying on the operating table, shaking.

Once they started surgery, Ken came into the room and I think my eyes told it all. I was scared and the shaking gave it away too. The anesthesiologist told me what they were doing during surgery, minus the bloody details. As they got closer to taking her out I heard the doctor say, "She's a big one" and then "We might need the vacuum" and then within 30 seconds they pulled her out and she started screaming. I immediately started crying because every mother's relief is to hear their babies cry for the first time knowing that they are okay. They showed her to me and Ken over the drape and then took her over to the warmer to weigh her. Ken said he felt torn as to where to go. He went over to be with Lila for awhile. 

Lila Gail Dean 8 lbs 11 oz & 21 inches long

We spent the next few hours in recovery. I started feeling nausea and eventually threw up which was interesting considering I had just had surgery on my abdomin. Lila nursed for the first time like a pro and we were moved back into a room in Labor & Delivery that we would stay in until a room was ready for us on the Mother & Baby floor.

While in the room Lila started grunting a little and coughing up amniotic fluid. It's very common for c-section babies to get amniotic fluid stuck in their lungs because it hasn't been squeezed out like it would in a regular delivery. They decided to observe her and eventually to admit her to the NICU to make sure all of it came out and promised we would most likely have her upstairs with us by the next morning.

The rest of the day I felt awful. I experienced nausea, incision pain, and was sweating a ton. On top of that my baby was in the NICU without me. Ken stayed with her and by 4pm had a good report. Within an hour of being admitted to the NICU she was having no problems. We were encouraged that she would be with us by the next morning.

I painfully got out of bed and into a wheelchair to go down to the NICU that night around 8pm to feed her. I planned to come back the next morning to feed again because they told us they were giving her nutrients through her IV. I don't know why I didn't wonder what "nutrients" meant. There's only two things that babies can really have for nutrients - formula & breastmilk. We told them no formula & no pacifiers.

Around 1am, 2 hours after Lila should have had her scheduled NICU feeding a nurse called me and said, "Are you going to come feed Lila? She's been screaming for over an hour." Crying I got myself up out of bed and into the wheelchair and we headed down to the NICU to feed her. From then on we had to come to the NICU every 3 hours to feed her and only on the NICU's feeding schedule. By the time I'd finish feeding her and get back to my room 60-90 minutes would have gone by, then it would be time to do it again.

I'll blog about Day 2 in a bit. I need to go feed Lila.

Ethan & Lila's Room

Here are some recent photos of Ethan & Lila's bedroom. It's going to be an interesting challenge putting a boy and a girl into the same room but I figure with neutral colors and separate sides of the room we can make it work. They only sleep there anyways. They are going most likely be roommates for at least another 5 years when we can buy a new house.

6 more days...

We will meet Lila in just 6 days. After speaking with my OB we decided that a scheduled c-section was the best plan. December 6th at 930am I will go in for surgery and walk out with a baby girl. I'm a little nervous, but overall happy to have a good plan. I'm hoping that recovery is much smoother than it was with Ethan's delivery. These last few days are dragging on but hopefully things will go faster next week as we get closer.

We are ready for her. I've been working on getting things washed and put away for about 6 weeks now so mostly everything is done. I finished my Christmas cards about a week ago and they go out on December 1st. Out of the long list I made a month ago (about 50 things) I only have 6 or 7 left. Almost all of my Christmas gifts are wrapped and under the tree too! I'm hoping that we can just focus on the kids once Lila arrives and getting into a new routine and not all the Christmas stuff.

My 30th birthday is on the 14th. Our plan is to celebrate, just me and Ken, around New Year's. It will be our first date after Lila arrives. I'm planning on having Coconut Shrimp and a Wallaby Darned at The Outback. Plus, a steak, mashed potatoes, salad and bread. Yummy!!! I figure on my actual birthday things will be very low key. We'll probably have dinner as a family at home and cuddle up to watch a movie together.

A couple weeks ago I went out to celebrate my 30th birthday early with an old friend from Kindergarten whose 30th birthday was a few weeks ago. We went to Black Angus for dinner and sat there for 4 hours talking. It was so nice to talk without kids and to get out.

Here we are:

Our lives are about to change a lot, but I'm looking forward to it. I'll try to post photos of Lila as soon as she arrives on Thursday. This photo is from a week and a half ago. I'm now 38 weeks and 3 days.

36 weeks...

Lila was breech for about 6 weeks and at my last ultrasound at 34 weeks they told me she had turned head down. Most people would be happy with this, but not me. I was actually hoping that I would need a c-section. I had a horrible delivery and recovery with Ethan and I honestly think that recovering from a c-section will be easier (not easy, but easier) than going through what I did with Ethan. Also, at my last ultrasound at 34 1/2 weeks Lila was already 5 lbs 14 oz and with a half a pound expected to gain every week we are looking at an 8 1/2 to 9 lb baby with a head measuring over the 70%.

I talked with my doctor last Monday and she said that I can choose an elective c-section if that's what I really want. We will meet with her sometime next week or early the following week to go over the pros and cons and to most likely schedule the c-section for a week before my due date which is December 11th. In reality, Lila could be here in a little over 3 weeks (around December 4th).

We've been working hard on getting things ready for her although if she came today we'd have the most important things done. All of her newborn and 0-3 month clothes are washed and put away, blankets, burp clothes, etc are all washed and waiting to put away. We've mostly been working on reorganizing the kids room to make room for her things and to make it more functional. Today we'll be putting up picture frames, including a large photo frame that was in my room as a child, Ethan's Giant jersey photo and a new shelf for Ethan to hang his hats and put his piggy bank & photos on.

Last week Ken put the double stroller together. Ethan loves it! It's hard to get him out of it.

He loved having 2 cupholders and a place to put a snack or toy. That's something his current stroller doesn't have.

Here are some current belly shots of me at about 35 weeks:

 It's scary how big I am, but it's all baby or so I've been told.

 "Whoa Mom! Watch out! You are gonna hit somebody with that thing"

I'm very ready to be done being pregnant. I'm very uncomfortable, have a lot of pain in my back & hips and well, everywhere, and to top it all off I caught a cold 10 days ago and I'm finally starting to get better. I'm hoping to enjoy the last few weeks with only one child, but I'm looking forward meeting Lila and seeing how life changes once she's here.

Ethan's new bed

At the beginning of October we saw a great deal on a twin mattress for Ethan. Although we hadn't intended to move Ethan out of his crib until he was actually climbing out we jumped at the deal. Ethan did very well with the transition for the 1st week. He didn't get out and would sing to himself until we'd come get him in the morning or after nap. After that he started becoming more difficult to get to stay in the bed. For the most part he stays, but nap times have been difficult lately.

We're happy we moved him. I think it's better that we're dealing with him getting out of the bed now than when Lila comes. Once he's asleep he doesn't get up at all and he still mostly stays there until we get him.

Here's some photos of the day we got his mattress delivered:

 Helping daddy take the plastic off.

 Testing it out.

 "I love my bed!"

 Making the bed for the 1st time.

 He wanted to go to bed for the night at 530pm just so he didn't have to leave the bed. We somehow convinced him to come downstairs for dinner.

He now calls the crib "baby's bed" and we've moved the mattress up and added Lila's bedding so he no longer has the option of sleeping in there. I think he's started to realize something is happening soon as Lila's stuff begins to creep into his room. I'll try to take photos of their room once we get the frames and shelves on the wall today.

Halloween

 This year Ethan was Spiderman. He didn't really know who Spiderman was so Ken started playing old videos on YouTube for Ethan to get familiar with the character. I don't know that it really helped. Half the time he hated putting the costume on, but sometimes he'd put it on long enough for us to get some photos of him.

This year we went to a pumpkin carving party at my friend Melissa's house with five other families from our playgroup. It was a blast and we even got photos of the kids all in their Halloween costumes

 Ethan & his buddy Grant.

 8 toddlers between the ages of 15 months and just over 3 years old. It was a crazy night! There were also 3 babies between the ages of 3 months and 7 months.

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This year was a lot of fun because Ethan was able to say "Trick or Treat" and "Thank you". He seemed really into for the first 15 minutes then I could tell he got tired. We trick or treated for an hour around our neighborhood with some of his friends and ended up at Nana & Papa's house last. It's become a tradition at our house that my parents and Ken's parents come over for pizza from Papa Murphy's and then we go trick or treating and Ken's parents hand out candy.

 Ethan & Nana.

 Waiting patiently for his buddies to be done getting candy from a house he'd already been to.

 Ethan, Emily & Addy trick or treating.

 There was a special spider pumpkin so we had to grab a photo of him with it.

 Trick or treating buddies.

Enjoying a piece of candy before bed after all that tiresome trick or treating. No that soda is not his.

It was a great Halloween season this year. We didn't make it up to Apple Hill because I couldn't do that much walking, but we headed over to Goblin Gardens with our playgroup and Fog Willow as a family for the 2nd year in a row. We can't wait for Halloween 2013 when we'll have two trick or treaters :)

Baking with Ethan

A couple weeks ago Ethan and I attempted to make sugar cookies. When I saw make, I mean we bought the already made sugar cookie dough and rolled it out and then decorated our cookies. We had a blast and Ethan made a huge mess which I guess is a good sign that he had a great time! Here are the photos from our adventure.

Ethan was very good at finding just enough spots on the rolled out cookie dough for his airplane, car and other cookie cutters. When Ken got home that night they decorated the cookie with orange vanilla frosting and Halloween sprinkles. He did very well and didn't lick very much of anything while doing it.