Abigail's Arrival & 10 Days in the NICU... (Part 3)

Over the next few days, we were excited to see her blood sugar become normal on its own as she began eating. Unfortunately, we'd hit the weekend and the results from my placenta had not come back yet... meaning we'd be there till at least Monday. John and I began adjusting to the NICU's feeding schedule (every 3 hours) and after my release from the hospital, we began applying (daily) to stay in the Ronald McDonald House. God was gracious to us and granted us stay there every following night till her release. (This wonderful place in itself deserves its own blog post... hopefully I will get to that someday soon.)

At first, Abigail seemed to feed pretty well. But as they kept increasing the amount she needed

to eat, wanting us to force her to eat it all in less than 30 minutes, and still having her eat on the same schedule even when she didn't eat it that quickly... the girl just refused to pack it in (and her daddy and I couldn't blame her). One or two of the nurses really stressed me out about it... until THEY tried to feed her. It was then that they realized something else might be up. The doctor ordered that she be tube-fed

for every other feeding until her strength came up a little more where she could feed on her own for every meal. At first, they suspected she ate like this because she was even earlier than 37 1/2 weeks... but Monday held what I believe to be the real answer.

While the report from my placenta came back okay, the

doctor on call had walked by Abigail's crib and notice her oxygen wasn't up to par. It had dropped into the 80's when he walked by and remained there for about 45 seconds. He ordered an x-ray and the results were what guaranteed our stay for the full 10 days of antibiotics. She had what looked like a respiratory infection / pneumonia, though it didn't look like a severe case by any means. He just

wanted to make sure that she was in tip-top shape before sending her home. He would order another x-ray for mid-week to see how she was healing. While we weren't thrilled with the news by any means, we knew it was best for her.

Mid-week the x-ray was not what we hoped. In fact, it looked worse. This was really the first time I really recall breaking down about the situation. We just wanted to take our girl home... and I was so worried that my respiratory history had been cursed to our daughter. After a little time to ourselves (in other words, time for me to compose myself), we had another opportunity to speak with the doctor. He lifted our spirits some by explaining that sometimes x-rays show a "lag behind" in their results... showing what was there a few days ago instead of what's actually there now. She was eating so well and doing so well by this point, he felt like this was probably the case. We still had a few more days of antibiotics so he ordered another x-ray for Day 9, just to be sure.

While Day 9's (Saturday's) x-ray still hadn't shown the "cloudiness" cleared up, the doctor just kept watching Abigail and saying that "clinically, she's fine". So under the stipulation that we take her into see her pediatrician for follow-up on Tuesday or Wednesday that week, he'd release her on Day 10. While 14 days of antibiotics could've been an option, he just didn't see any reason why she would need it. In fact, he was concerned that with so many other babies in the NICU (that place was full pretty much the entire time we were there!), she might contract something else.

We were completely satisfied with his decision. She was eating well and not fussy or running a fever (nor had she been)... and the fact that we'd have her right back to a doctor within a few days of being home, we were confident that she'd be fine to go home. Okay, I'll admit it... going home sounded so good too!!!

So... after the final run of antibiotics, early Sunday morning, a few feedings (while we waited for all of the discharge paperwork to be processed and we got our stuff packed up/loaded), we finally got to leave the NICU WITH our little Abigail Dianne. No matter the state of the house we came home to, home just felt sooooo good. And now, we could begin the next journey of our lives... Parenthood.

Abigail's Arrival & 10 Days in the NICU... (Part 2)

As soon as we held little Abigail in our arms, we were so excited to share the news with everyone. Everything was fine and she was rushed out of the room to be cleaned up... leaving us time to make phone calls and text everyone our news. (We hadn't told anyone when we went to the hospital so no one knew for sure that she was on her way yet... many had suspicions though.) The plan was for us to make our calls, etc. while feeling returned to my legs, for me to eat something to gain some strength back, take a shower, and meet up in our new room (where Abigail should arrive shortly thereafter).

It took some time for the feeling to fully come back to my legs and feet and get even a little something eaten. In fact, friends and family began arriving before I made it out of the delivery bed. My mom came to say hi to us first but immediately headed to the nursery viewing window so she could see our little girl. Not too much later, she came back, saying that Abigail wasn't in there and was in the NICU. Only 2 people could be back there to see her at a time and John or I had to be one of them. John and I just looked at each other, wondering what was up, so he went to investigate... my mother tagging along with him.

As soon as they left, I worked on finishing some food and getting my shower over with. By the time I finished that and made it to our new room (and had a little more food to get rid of some nausea), John came in to spill the news. I can tell you with a little more clarity now than I could process it then. I was so cloudy as John explained that our baby's blood sugar had plummeted from 46 to 16 - normal is 45-110, causing her to be put on a D-10 (sugar) drip for the next few days... and that the NICU doctor had started her on antibiotics as a precautionary measure (until my placenta could be analyzed for infection). This meant we would be there for at least 3 days, possibly 10 if tests didn't go well.

I could see the worry on all of the faces around me. I knew I should be worried too... after all, I'm her mother. Either I was so cloudy that nothing was fully registering or peace was just ruling over me at that point (or both). I wasn't as worried as everyone around me though - which I felt guilty for. Like I told my mom: "Every time I've dreamed of her, she was early... but everything was okay. I've seen her older than this. I have to believe that everything will be alright."

Abigail's Arrival & 10 Days in the NICU... (Pt. 1)

For those who are curious, here is a summary (though I won't say it'll be brief) of what Abigail's arrival into our lives consisted of. This shouldn't be too graphic or anything... not planning on sharing all details by any means, but at least this way I'll remember some of the precious times in those first days after her birth.

At 36 weeks, my doctor informed me I was dilated at a 1-1 1/2 and 70% "thinned out". She said that she wouldn't necessarily expect me to go into labor that week, but the following week wouldn't be far-fetched. John and I got pretty excited about it... and he began to watch me like a hawk even more than he had been before. We had plans to go to Sallisaw to spend some time with his family that weekend so all we could do was hope that she'd hold off till after that.

Thankfully, she did. We did go in to hospital at 1:30 am that Friday night / Saturday morning because I woke up and could still swear to this day that my water broke... but we were told that it hadn't and "what it will really be like when it does". Still a little hormonal about that. I told John on the drive back to Sallisaw that if that wasn't my water breaking, how in the world would I know when it really was?! The entire rest of the weekend, I chalked up what was happening to my body as my little girl just pushing on my bladder too much.

My next doctor's appointment (at 37 weeks) revealed I was dilated at a 2 and 80% effaced. I'd already been having sporadic contractions for weeks and as low as little Abigail was sitting, the doctor said she'd bet money that this baby girl would arrive before I made it back for my 38 week appointment. She had me make one... just in case... but figured she'd see me before that.

Pretty much as soon as that appointment was over, I began having fairly consistent contractions... the strong ones! I'd been told by everyone (my doctor and the nurses in labor/delivery) not to come in until they were 5 minutes apart for one hour, so John and I began timing them. Over the following 2 days, they stayed strong and consistently inconsistent (ranging from 8-45 minutes apart). They were so strong through the night on Monday night, that I took a Tylenol PM before I went to bed on Tuesday just so I could get some sleep. Still had some contractions that night, but they weren't as bad. In fact, Wednesday morning, I thought they were gone completely! Then they came back and resumed their inconsistent ways.

Finally, Wednesday night, John and I went and rented a movie, picked up some food, and came home to settle in for the night. We made it about halfway through the movie when I became incredibly anxious. I'd started bleeding and, though it wasn't as bad as when I thought we were losing her at the beginning of my pregnancy, it was still enough to worry me. John called the hospital and they told us to come in. No sooner did we get into the car than my contractions became 5 minutes apart... and stayed that way all the way to the hospital!

On this trip to the hospital, I was dilated to almost a 4 when I got there... so they kept me. Oh. And they also asked me if I knew when my water broke because they couldn't feel it. I told them about my weekend visit and the nurses on shift didn't seem too happy about it. (I sure wasn't.) Now that there was no telling when it happened for sure, there was a high risk that our little girl could have an infection... so they started me on antibiotics.

The only thing I will really post about actual labor is this: Epidural's are wonderful!!!!!! After enduring strong contractions for 2 days and then my body going into shake-down mode (which makes them worse), those drugs became my best friend. =) I still respect those who go through labor without it... but... wow! That would definitely not be for me! (Or John, poor guy.)