Ella, 2 weeks old

A few pictures of little Ella. How about these pink booties? My Nana sent a few knit items and these are the first pair that fit her tiny feet. They stay on so well! I'm in love with the booties.

A long update

Long story short, I went back in the hospital last week. I got discharged Sunday, Ella got discharged Tuesday, Thursday afternoon Ben and I went to my work to drop off my FMLA paperwork and I started having some scary symptoms. I had the worst headache of my life, one of the big symptoms I was supposed to be looking for, and shortness of breath, not as severe but reminiscent of when I got sick post partum after last pregnancy and had fluid in my lungs. I had been GAINING swelling since my discharge rather than losing it, and finally I called my doctor and asked for a stronger diuretic which didn't help at all.

So... scary symptoms, I called the doctor again and they directed me to labor and delivery. I was hoping they would listen to my lungs and say there was no fluid, and it was just an issue with my asthma or something but that's not what happened. I had a chest x-ray, and an EKG just to double check that everything was OK with my heart and the x-ray didn't show a ton of fluid in my lung (and the EKG showed everything was normal). My heart was a little enlarged from the excess fluid so I was put on IV Lasix to shed the fluid. And I did. I lost about 15 pounds in 24 hours. That's crazy! Since being home I've lost another 11 pounds of swelling. So I only have a few more pregnancy pounds to go (yeah!). I felt better the morning I woke up in the hospital, it was so easy to breathe. And every day it gets easier, and I feel better.

Ben stayed home all last week with me, which was not his original plan but Thursday morning I told him I wasn't feeling well and I thought he should stay home, and once they determined I was going back in the hospital he took off Friday.

My Mom came in Thursday night and she and Ben took both girls to the doctor for their appointments (2 year apt for Betsy, 2 day discharge for Ella). Then they all came to pick me up from Labor and Delivery! We spent the whole weekend at home and my Mom, Ben and I split the night duty for Ella. Betsy really got to know her little 'ister.

I think I underestimated a bit on how much of an adjustment going from one child to two would be. I thought bringing Betsy home was really easy once I was not longer sick, and she is such a well behaved kiddo and understands that Ella is her baby 'ister, so I just thought this would be about the same level of adjustment. One one hand, this IS only my first week out of the hospital and every day I 1. lose swelling, making it easier to get around and 2. I feel better every day. At times I feel 100% better, but when my ibuprofen wears off I remember I had a baby 12 days ago! As the bruises from the blood pressure cuffs have faded away, the tape residue from my epidurals and IVs are finally gone, Ben is back to work, I can drive and Betsy is back at daycare. And the best part is Ella and I getting to know one another.

I feel like our bonding was a bit delayed because of the time we spent apart while she was in the hospital and then I was. This down time we have now is what I wanted. The 2 am feedings, figuring out how to get a burp from her, giving her baths when she's thrown up on me over and over (and finally getting a shower 8 hours later when Ben comes home).

Betsy comes home from school between 4:30 and 5 everyday and I've been feeding Ella right before she gets home so we can have Bets/Mommy time for a while. It works nicely, Betsy gets a bath right away to wash away some of the germs, then she eats dinner, and we usually draw, and she LOVES to help with the baby. She is great at burping Ella, and she brings me diapers, and sings songs to the baby when she's fussing.

I haven't taken nearly enough pictures but here are a few from this weekend, and I promise to take some more soon!

Betsy meets Ella

Yesterday Ella was discharged from the NICU at about 3:30. We got home at 4 where we were met by Grandma, PawPaw, Betsy, Cousin William and Aunt Mary! Betsy was SO HAPPY to meet Ella. She totally 'got it' and understands that Ella is the baby that was in my stomach before I went to the hospital. She alternates between calling her Baby Allah or Abby (her baby cousin is named Abby, though that Abby is VERY blond and Ella is NOT).

Betsy loves to touch Ella's hair, her hand, and sit right next to her. It makes us a little nervous as Betsy is used to playing rough with kids at school, but this morning she was very sweet and gentle and I'm sure it's just going to take a few days for Bets to understand the protocol of what to do and what not to do around 'Baby Allah'.

More Ella pictures and updates!

Ella is doing even better today! She had high billiruben levels (which means she has jaundice) but she was put under the lights today for treatment. We were thrilled to come in and see her little arm was FREE from the IV! The IV looked so painful that Ben and I were both thrilled to see her without it. The only monitor she's still on is the heart rate monitor that all NICU babies are on. This afternoon the nurses planned to do Ella's hearing test and administer the shots she needs to get before discharge, so she is ready to leave ASAP tomorrow! We will call at 8 am and get an idea of when she can leave.

These are the only pictures we have off our camera because Ella was taken back to the NICU so quickly. I took a couple this morning under the billi lights but mostly we've been taking pictures with our iPhones because they are easier to carry into the NICU and less startling for Ella.

That's all until tomorrow, when we get to bring her home, introduce her to her room, her puppy, her house and more friends and family!

Ella's arrival

Thursday night we checked in for my induction, it only took a few minutes. By 10:10 I was hooked up and the doctor had given me medication to start the labor process. By 3 am I had progressed from 2 to 3 cm and I was fully effaced. By 5 am I had made it to 4 cm and I got my epidural. I quickly progressed to 10 cm, it took about 5 hours. All of a sudden Ella's heart rate was dropping and several doctors rushed in and determined she was probably laying on her cord. They had me turning from side to side, and roll over to my hands and knees. That was pretty amazing considering you're not supposed to feel your legs with an epidural! I still felt things, just my contractions weren't painful. The doctor's decided I could start pushing and they really encouraged me to make it quick as Ella was in some distress. I pushed for less than 10 minutes and she arrived! The last push they gave me some help via the forceps and as a result Ella was a little beat up when she came out. Ella arrived at 11:22 pm, 20 inches long and weighing 7 lbs 13 ounces.

Ella spent some time with the NICU nurses in our room (because of her distress during delivery) and they thought she was fine. We gave her the first bottle and noticed her coloring didn't look great, so they took her blood glucose levels, determined they were low and took her back to the NICU quickly. Once there they determined her blood oxygen level was not staying high enough.

We don't know a whole lot about what's wrong, they've taken many chest x-rays and we finally got the answer that there is not pneumonia in her lungs. Also her daily tests show she is not fighting an infection. Finally yesterday we got to start feeding her bottles and she has steadily increased how much she's eating. In the evening they removed a tube to her stomach that was relieving her stomach gas. Today we came in to see her at noon and were surprised to find they had taken her off the oxygen tubes, that was SO nice to see! No tubes in her face at all!

They still have her IV in and are giving her antibiotics and a very small amount of glucose. When I called a few minutes ago they told me they decreased her glucose from the IV, so she's improving even more.

It was pretty sad to leave without Ella, but getting to feed her yesterday and today and cuddle for a nice long time made me feel SO much better. I barely got to hold her at all on delivery day, maybe 5 minutes. There is hope she can come home tomorrow and it keeps me from being too bummed out about being home without her. Plus seeing Betsy and Madison made me feel a little better.

Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers and if you'll keep Ella in your prayers we are really happy to see her improving and hoping we can be together as a family of four (and a 'nauzer) very soon.

(Hopefully) LAST pregnancy update!

Last night my doctor called and told me my test results had (again!) improved. She reminded me how weird I am for getting healthier these last couple weeks when at any moment she has expected me to turn into a ball of swollen high blood pressure. I know. Bizarre! I mean, getting sick postpartum was bizzare last go round so she should have known I would be doing things backwards this time.

This means I did NOT get induced today BUT she is a little concerned about my 5'4 self giving birth naturally (my hope) to a bigger baby. SO she says there is currently a spot open Friday for induction, but since I'm not looking 'ready' for the baby to come out I'll call tomorrow night, make sure my room is still open, if it is I'll head into the hospital where there will be 'ripening of my cervix' happening before starting the real induction Friday morning. Apparently 'cervix ripening' isn't painful so they'll do it overnight so I can hopefully get some sleep, though if they take my blood pressure as often as I predict they will, I doubt I will sleep. Dr. G says she's hopefull if we start this process tomorrow night at 10 pm, that I will have the baby by Friday at 10 pm.

That's the news! My blood pressure has been really good today so I've been out running a couple errands, and picking up around the house a little bit. This morning Big Sister Betsy and I went out for a super-special only child breakfast at our favorite place (Chick Fil A i.e. Chicken). We ate Chicken Minis, we laughed, she talked about 'Cwitmas', and the twee in the corner of the restaurant, and about Sahntan coming down the chimney, and I reminded her about baby 'Cheezus' and his birthday. It was a really special time that I wanted to savor with my blabber mouthed big girl.

That's the news, please send fast and painless (haha, HAAAAAAAAAhahaha) labor vibes my way on Friday!