It's been one week...

I cannot believe Elly is already a week old! Time flies, but we are loving every second of it.

A lot has happened since Elly was born eight days ago.

When she was born, her APGAR scores were 8 and 9 - which is excellent! Unfortunately she failed her newborn hearing screening in both ears. They scheduled us for a follow up in January.. but yesterday we got a call saying that they had a cancellation and that we could come in today. We took it. It was a long 3 hour test, but she passed and had excellent hearing in both ears!

We were told by a few nurses that Elly being small in utero combined with my low fluid at the end could indicate that around week 34 Elly started suffering from IUGR, or intrauterine growth restriction, meaning that she was no longer growing properly. They have no idea why, or what could have caused this. Unfortunately, since she was still in breech position they had no other option than to perform the c-section. At my 37 week appointment my doctor had mentioned he thought she might be head down because she had the hiccups and they were so low in my abdomen, unfortunately she either flipped back around or her hiccups were that strong - and after seeing her hiccups firsthand, I would definitely say they were just that strong. :) Either way, I have no regrets about what happened and I am not disappointed at all that my "birth plan" did not go at all like planned. I'm just glad we have a happy, healthy baby girl.

Also while in the hospital Elly became jaundice and her bilirubin levels went from 11 to 15. This became a concern, but not too much of a concern to keep her in the hospital an extra week. Instead her pediatrician sent us home with a bilibed. This is very similar to a tanning bed for babies, but it's job is to get rid of the yellowing in her skin. The only downside is that she has to stay in it all the time, except during feedings and diaper changes... that means if she starts crying we just have to sit there and watch her. It literally breaks our hearts. Luckily she is taking it like a champ and has not really been fussy at all. AND, we get to take it back tomorrow (!!!) and then we can hold her all the time.

Her weight also dropped. At birth she was 4 lbs. 7 oz. She dropped to 4 lbs. 1 oz., and only made it back up to 4 lbs. 1.2oz. by the time we were discharged on Sunday. Tuesday she saw her pediatrician and was up to 4 lbs. 1.6oz. and today she was up to 4 lbs. 2 oz., so she is gaining weight.. yay!

I am a firm believer in breastfeeding. This was also one of my biggest concerns. However, it is working out wonderfully. Since she does have such a low weight I have to pump and we supplement her with the pumped milk through a syringe and we have to feed her every two hours. It's obviously working because she is gaining weight.. and we did it without resorting to formula! My plan is to breastfeed for as long as possible, with the goal being 12 months. After speaking with the lactation consultant she thinks this is a great idea, and the absolute best for Elly and myself.

Mom and Dad are doing great, just extremely sleep deprived. Brent is such a trooper and gets up every two hours for her feedings to sit with me and keep me company. Since our bed is so low and she is on the bilibed we have all been camping out in the living room, but it's nice to be together as a family. I am up and moving around great. The nurses were all impressed at how quickly I bounced back from the surgery.. I was up and out of bed the day after and had IV pain meds taken out because I wasn't really feeling much pain. I'm also proud to say that I've already lost 17 pounds (!) and am on my way back to my pre-pregnancy weight... without much effort, yay for breastfeeding. :)

The cats have been very curious, but have not tried to get too close to her.

I have a ton of pictures, but they will have to wait for another day.. Elly is hungry. :)

Thanks to everyone for the congratulations and well wishes! We really appreciate all of the love and support.

The Birth Story

Emmeline Cambria Johsnon
November 3, 2010 // 5:34 pm
4 lbs. 7 oz. // 17 inches

To tell our birth story we have to go back to last Thursday, October 28. We went in for our follow up ultrasound to re-evaluate her size and position. As you may have noticed, I never posted on the outcome of the ultrasound. I noticed from their measurements that she was still measuring small, and she was still completely breech with over half of her body cuddled up in my right rib cage (face, both arms, and both feet) and her butt planted right on my bladder. Since U/S techs are not allowed to give out information, they said our doctor would receive the results on Monday or Tuesday and would discuss them with us them. We just assumed he would discuss them with us at our next appointment, which was scheduled for November 3 and I would write about it then after having a better idea of what was going to happen.

Well, Monday (November 1) rolls around and I get a phone call from the OB office. When I answer, it is the doctor himself...

Not the receptionist to remind me of my appointment.
Not the nurse to say the doctor received the ultrasound report.
But the doctor.

My heart sank.

He said that Elly was now measuring four weeks small (at our ultrasound two weeks ago, she was measuring two weeks small)... so she had not grown at all in four weeks. He said everything else looked fine, and that my fluid levels were great but he wanted us to see an ultrasound specialist at a hospital in Saginaw.. and he wanted it done this week.

Our appointment with the specialist was set for Wednesday morning, 8am. Which meant we were leaving our apartment at 6:30am to make it there on time.

She did the ultrasound and noted that the baby was small, measuring around 5 lbs. but there were no noticeable complications... except that my fluid was very low. This scared me, because our doctor had just told us my fluid level was great... but it had apparently dropped in a matter of a few days. The specialist said she was calling our doctor and recommending the baby be delivered TODAY. And because of the positioning and the low fluid, it would be done by c-section.

I was told to not eat or drink anything and to immediately report to the OB unit in Mount Pleasant.

So, we drove back and went straight to the hospital. I got registered and we went up to the OB unit and were put in the triage area. The doctor came in, along with several nurses. It was determined that I had made no further progress in dilation and that my water had not broke, it was just getting low. The doctor agreed that Elly would be coming out that day... unfortunately, it would not be until later that night because the hospital had experienced a power outage Wednesday morning and the OR schedule was backed up. We were told to expect our c-section to be around 8pm. This was at 10:30am... long day is long.

Well, around 4pm we finally got moved into our own room and at 4:30 Brent decided he was going to go get himself some food since neither of us had eaten all day (and now I wasn't allowed to eat). Shortly after he left Elly's heart rate dropped to 77 bpm then only rose to 84. Two nurses came rushing into my room, put my bed into a flat lying position, threw an oxygen mask on my face, and told me to roll onto my side. They couldn't find Elly's heart beat. They told me to try my other side. Still nothing. Finally to sit on my hands and knees. Still nothing. At this point the doctor was in the room as well, already in scrubs saying that we were going in NOW. I started freaking out because Brent had JUST left and now we were prepping for surgery. I started crying and my mom was frantically trying to get a hold of him. Finally, he made it back just in time. He got in his OR outfit and we headed back.

Once in the operating room I got prepped for a spinal (basically an epidural, but it is just one heavy dose rather than a continuous flow). After that was done, Brent was allowed to come in. The procedure after that took about 15 minutes. Unfortunately, while the procedure was fine, I was not. I was fine, laughing and joking and talking with Brent. Then all at once my body felt like I was being suffocated, my lungs started burning and I realized that my legs were just dead weights and I started panicking. I started to fight against the arm restraints I was in and I started screaming and crying, even though everyone was reassuring me that everything was fine. Around this time they pulled the baby out and I heard Elly crying. Brent lost it and he started crying and telling me how much he loved me. It was a wonderful moment. Too bad I was still acting like a freakshow and had to be sedated. I don't remember much else after that until I woke up an hour later in the recovery room.

They took me back upstairs where I was reunited with Brent, Elly, and my parents. I remember crying because Elly was absolutely beautiful.

The rest is just a blur... I can't believe that she's already a day old... I still can't even really believe she is here, and she is ours, and she is so perfect. We love her soooo much already.

We are happy to report that she is very healthy, but loves to make everything complicated.

I will update later with fun stories of everything we have encountered since her birth, but for now we are still camped out in our recovery room at least until tomorrow or Saturday! Elly and I are doing just fine, and Brent is doing everything he can to make sure we are taken care of.

I love my family. <3.

All My Children

We went in for our 37 week appointment today, and everything was great! My blood pressure is still low, no weight gain, and size is still good.

Important updates: I am about 2cm dilated (!!!) and I am GBS negative. Both of these things made us very excited. Obviously 2cm is good progress, but some women are 2-3cm for weeks before they actually go into labor, so it doesn't really mean too much. Still exciting. Being GBS negative means that I will not have to be given antibiotics through IV during labor, which means I do not have to go to the hospital early once I go into labor.

Unfortunately, he thinks that she may still breech. He felt around on my stomach and said she may be head down, but he could not say for sure. He scheduled us for another ultrasound Thursday (tomorrow!) night!!!

We also had our first non-stress test today (NST). A NST is where we get hooked up to the fetal heart rate monitor and the uterine activity monitor, and I am given a clicker to record her movements. She was being extremely stubborn at first, but eventually started to cooperate. I think she knew she was making daddy late for work and she didn't want him to go :). After about 35 minutes, they said that she was doing great - we had lots of movement, and her heart rate held steady around 156 bpm.

Our next NST and appointment are scheduled for next Wednesday! And while he will not give anything specific, he says he guessed I had about one to two more weeks... which would put us right around our due date if she cooperates and things keep progressing like they are. :)

On an unrelated note, our furbabies have decided that they love mommy's new rocking chair.

For those of you who are new to the blog, these are our furbabies.

Leela is on the left. We just adopted her from the local animal shelter in September. She is one and a half years old. She came in as a stray in April, and we brought her home with us after seeing her and playing with her at the shelter for several weeks.

Kenji is on the right. We adopted him from the shelter in May 2009. He is two and a half years old. He also came in to the shelter as a stray, and was there for about seven months before I finally convinced Brent that we really needed to bring him home.

Full Term

October 27... Brent's 25th birthday and my pregnancy will officially be considered "full term." :)

We will go in for our 37 week appointment.
Our doctor is scheduling our final ultrasound.

The end is so close!!! I can't believe that in 21 days (or less) I will be holding my little girl.

Brent is also very excited. He already loves her so much, it makes my heart smile. This past weekend we went to one of my good friend's wedding. When she walked in with her dad and they passed by our pew going toward the front of the sanctuary he grabbed my hand. I noticed that he was starting to tear up... after we sat back down he looked at me and said the tears were because he was already thinking that one day that would be him walking Elly down the aisle. This obviously made me tear up as well. :)

Almost There

I am now over 36 weeks, and into the final month of my first pregnancy! It has been a crazy roller coaster with lots of ups and downs, but it will all be worth it in a few weeks when we are holding our little girl!

Yesterday was our appointment, and it went really well! Everything looked great - my weight gain was good, my blood pressure is still low, and my size looked good. We heard Elly's heartbeat and it was strong, it makes me tear up every time. Then I look over at Brent and he had a smile on his face that's just as big. We love her so much already!

Our doctor decided that since I was still measuring fine and her heartbeat was so strong that we really didn't need to be hooked up to the monitors yesterday, but said that he would definitely schedule an ultrasound at next weeks appointment. I was also tested for GBS, so hopefully the results for that come back today.

Today is going to be filled with my mile-long to-do list. I have a bunch of still I want to get done, but have had no motivation the past couple of days... however today I woke up feeling ready to go :)

When Brent gets home from work I will have him take an updated belly pic, I'm getting BIG.

Big Day!

I am happy to announce that Brent and I are officially married!

The day was absolutely perfect, the weather was gorgeous, our amazing friends were there to celebrate with us, and we could not be happier.

Birth Plan

First of all, thank you so much to everyone who commented, called, or texted me about my last entry. Everyone's love and support means so much to me and I really appreciate it.

Now, to answer a few questions that were asked... mostly about my birth plan and how I feel about it being changed.

Even before I found out I was pregnant I had a pretty good idea of how I would want my birth plan to be, after I got pregnant and I started reading information and attended a childbirth class it did not change my mind... but as most of you know I am pretty stubborn (I do have to take the blame for Elly already developing that trait) and I am not afraid of a little pain.

So, here is how I wanted it to happen: I wanted to do go through most of early labor at home - it's more comfortable and I can eat food other than ice chips and popsicles. However, since this is my first and I don't know what to expect I figured I would probably end up having Brent take me to the hospital when I was only around 3-4 cm dilated, which is good but still makes for a long labor in the hospital. I wanted a completely natural vaginal delivery. I do not want to be induced, unless medically necessary. I did not want any pain medications and I most definitely did not want an epidural - I am not afraid of needles, but I would love to be able to get up and have a shower after I give birth. I also did not want an episiotomy (where the doctor cuts instead of letting you tear naturally). That was the plan...

After we went through our birthing class we learned a few things about our hospital, the main one being that almost everyone gets induced for convenience. Either so your doctor can deliver your baby (we go to a woman's clinic that employs four OB's) or so it is convenient for you. Okay, so I am not going to be induced just to have my doctor deliver my baby. That would be nice since we have really gotten to know him, but we have spoke with all four doctors in the practice and they all seem very nice and I'm sure any of them would do a great job. So, problem one solved.

As far as the rest of it, it depends on her position. Our hospital will not vaginally deliver a baby who is breech so that option is out. They will try the inversion procedure once, which I have opted for if necessary, but if that fails the only option is a c-section.

I obviously do not want a c-section. The healing process is longer and I will have to wait a few hours after delivery to even hold Elly (sad face!) BUT if it comes down to it, I am okay with this option. I want her to be healthy and happy and if that requires a c-section then that's what it's going to be. I will probably be upset, but not everything always goes as we plan it. Plus, I have had time to mentally prepare myself for it so that helps.

The doctor and the nurse who instructed the birthing class both gave me ways to try and get her to flip naturally. I have tried a few, and will continue to try them for the next couple of weeks until our ultrasound. These included exercises, flash lights, and music... most seemed funny to Brent and I, but whatever works, works and I am willing to try anything.

In other news, we finally got Brent's car up and running and have the car seat installed (!!!) so everything is almost ready for her arrival! I have all of her clothes washed and put away. Our hospital bags are packed and sitting there waiting. and we are so excited to finally meet her! I'm sure I will continue to go crazy cleaning every inch of the apartment from now until delivery, but the hard work will pay off once she is here and I do not feel like doing anything. :)