Oh, Yes, There Will Be More Pictures

I couldn't help but throw a picture of Marbury with Santa Claus...I think even the baby giggled a little at that one...

More Pictures

As promised, more pictures

It's Been Two Weeks And All Is Well On The Ohio Front

They say that the first two weeks are the roughest. You know what? They’re probably right.

Okay, I finally have the time and brain power to sit down and write about the last two weeks. First of all, Miss Elizabeth was born via c-section (with all that entails), but it wasn’t as bad as you may think. Since it was a planned c-section, I only had to recover from the surgery, which again for me wasn’t too bad. I would say at this point that I am almost 100% back to normal; of course, it still hurts to cough and sneeze, but hopefully that pain will fade with time. The c-section itself wasn’t too bad for me. They did a great job numbing me up, so I didn’t feel any of the pain of the surgery itself, but I did have the dry heaves during the surgery (which sucked in its own special way but I really wanted to throw up but there wasn’t anything to throw up). My mom was able to come into the operating room with us, so Frank was able to keep me from completely freaking out, and Mom was able to keep an eye on the doctors and actually see them pull Elizabeth out. She said that it took them a few seconds to get her going, but once they sucked the fluid from her, Elizabeth started crying so loud. They took her out to test her and to make sure she was okay, and since I had both mom and Frank with me, I sent Frank to go with Elizabeth and make sure that she was okay. I had mom come and sit with me while they were closing me up. Apparently, they felt that I needed a lot of staples, so I had like 50 staples to keep everything closed up.

After they got me all closed up, they wheeled me into a recovery room so I could rest while the epidural wore off. Frank and Elizabeth came in a little while later and I was able to hold her while we were waiting for a room to open up for us to stay in. The rest of the day was spent trying to breastfeed Elizabeth, waiting for them to give me permission to eat, and to free me from being trapped in the bed. Actually, that was the worst part of this day. I think that they forgot to schedule me for a lunch, so I didn’t get a chance to actually eat anything until like 5 pm in the afternoon.(and I kept feeling ill because I was hungry; when I finally got some food in me, I felt 100% better.)

The next day we were able to recover even more, and I was able to get out of bed and wander around the room. I wasn’t quite ready to run around the ward yet, but I was getting better. That night a number of our friends were able to stop by and say hi to Elizabeth, hold her and make sure that we were doing okay. It was great to see everyone and let them see the creature that I had been carrying around for 9 months. Elizabeth was great about the whole deal and slept through most of it. The rest of the hospital stay, until the last day, was pretty uneventful, as more family and friends stopped by and I got my confidence and strength back.

Christmas Eve…. So, early Christmas Eve the nurse comes in indicates that Elizabeth’s doctor had signed off on her release. We were waiting for my doctor to stop in and check on me. While we were waiting on the doctor, the nurse came back into the room and removed the 50 plus staples. When my doctor did come in around 8:30 he was a little upset by the removal of the staples. He had wanted them to stay in until Tuesday, but he was happy at how good the opening was healing. He said that I was going to be able to go home today. I was excited; Elizabeth was cleared and my doctor was working on clearing me so I would be able to take Elizabeth home and spend Christmas Eve with my husband, my folks and my sister. The nurse then brought Elizabeth back in after she had been taken off for weight check, and she mentioned that she had lost a pound. When Elizabeth’s doctor came in to check on her, he said that she was going to be able to leave soon. We asked him about the weight loss, and we could tell that no one had told him about it. He left the room, and when he came back he suggested that we start giving her some formula to supplement the breast milk that she was getting. He was also worried about her being a little jaundiced. He said that he was going to have her retested at 11 am and then we would go from there.

After the 11 am check-up her test results indicated that she needed to go under the bilirubin lights to help reduce the level of jaundice in her system. So, we spent the afternoon taking turns feeding her, changing her, and keeping her from pulling off her eye mask. They retested and weighed her again at 6 pm and the nurse kept saying that she was going to have to stay the night. So, we sent the folks home to bring back the delicious dinner that they had been making for Christmas Eve. Awhile after they left, the night nurse walked in and had the best news I had heard all day. Elizabeth’s weight was up two ounces and her bilirubin count for the jaundice was down. Her doctor said that she could go home. So, finally we all were able to pack up and head home. I was so excited and happy.

Christmas Day… We got to spend the morning with the family and Elizabeth got to open her first Christmas presents. She got a beautiful baby ring from Grandma Bette and Grandpa Wayne and got a super cute baby’s first Christmas outfit from her Aunt Susie. After that afternoon, the family had to leave and we were alone with Elizabeth. I think that we did a great job that second night home, and when we took her the day after Christmas for her visit with the pediatrician, he said that she looked good and to keep doing what we were doing. She was back up to 7 pounds 13 oz. and that we didn’t need to bring her back until her two week checkup.

On Friday, the hospital, as part of the follow-up care, sent a nurse to check up on both Elizabeth and my recovery. She said that we were both doing fine and that Elizabeth’s weight was back over 8 pounds (actually 8 lb 2 oz). So, she was well on her way. The yellow from the jaundice had left her eyes and her skin had lost its yellow tinge.

Things that we have noticed… So far, she prefers to sleep all day and likes to be awake at night. Hopefully, she will grow out of that. She equally likes the formula and the breast milk as long as you put it in a bottle with a semi fast nipple. It you try to put it in a bottle with a slow flow nipple, she either falls asleep or gets incredibly angry. Also, she doesn’t like to have a dirty diaper; if she soils her diaper, she lets you know right away. Of course, she doesn’t like the process of getting a clean diaper, so I am not quite sure how to solve the problem. But if we have time and can tag team on the diaper change, you can distract her from the process by feeding her at the same time you are changing her. She also loves to be held. I think that she would be most happy if we could hold her 24/7. We have been reading to her (Frank read “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” to her last night; he read poetry by Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Robert Frost, and Langston Hughes the night before), and we have been working with the black and white flashcards that the nurse left her. We also talk to her a lot. We know that she doesn’t understand what we are saying (thank God), but hopefully she likes the sound of our voice enough that it doesn’t matter.

New Year’s Eve: We took Elizabeth with us to a New Year’s Eve party at a friend’s house. She was the hit of the party. Everyone wanted to hold her, and since she loves to be held, it worked out well for her (for me too, honestly, because she had a ton of people looking out for her, so I felt like I could take a little bit of a break). Frank made a sash for Elizabeth that said “Happy New Year 2007” and one for himself that said “Old and Busted 2006”. Hopefully, the pictures turned out and I’ll be able to get them posted to the website.

She had her two week check up on Thursday (1/4) and she was back up to 8 lbs 7 oz, so hopefully by next Thursday we will be able to let her sleep until she is hungry instead on insisting that she wake up and eat every three hours day or night. I go to my doctor tomorrow and, hopefully, he will say that I am healing well and that I can drive again. This not driving is a hard thing for me.

What else to report… Frank is holding up as best as he can. I think the best thing about her being feed by bottle (whether it be the formula or breast milk) is that Frank can help feed her and get this bonding time with her too.

We’ll get some more pictures posted later tonight….