Busy being a NICU Mom

Georgiana is 18 days old today. She has come so far in these last two and a half weeks.

When I first got to hold her at 4 days old she was so tiny...now her arms and legs and face have filled out a bit. I'm probably biased but I think she's the cutest little girl ever.

Her recovery has been going great. When she was 9 days old, they took that awful suction tube out and she didn't require oxygen so they placed  an NG tube and she started getting continuous feeds at 1 tiny ML/hr. She even had her first poop which meant everything was working.

Lots of firsts happened. Justin changed his first poopy diaper. I gave her a bath...my first time but not hers. I got to do skin to skin or kangaroo her. They also worked her feedings up and yesterday she was at 11ML/hr and she was given her first bottle. YAY!!!! She did so great with it and drained it dry. Now they're going to work with her every day on taking bottles so we can be ready to go home.

Justin and I are in the unit with her every day...sometimes all day. I've been pumping milk for her so she's been on my breast milk since she started feeds but my supply isn't increasing so we hit the bottom of my supply last night and now she's going to also be supplemented with formula which is sad for me because my body's just not doing what it needs to yet again. I pump every few hours 'round the clock and only get enough for a few feeds. I'm hoping I will do better if they let her try to nurse directly but we'll see.

Grand entrance...

I've had a few days, but I wanted to get this written before details became fuzzy.

Welcoming my daughter into this world at 34 weeks has been an emotional roller coaster. Nothing went as planned but somehow I have this beautiful, feisty little thing down in NICU who has completed half the battle just by being here. She did great and I think it's taken way more of a toll on me than she will ever know.

I honestly can't remember exactly what I wrote in my last update, but Friday morning (January 10th), I had my amnioreduction done. It was long and uncomfortable and they took 2 1/2 liters of fluid from around the baby. It was great, I felt so much better afterwards and the baby seemed to be doing well. We were waiting on results from my 24 hr urine to see if I had pre-eclampsia and if I did, they would transfer me to Atlanta because I would need to deliver.

Well, Miss Georgiana had other plans. A little before 1 o'clock, I went to the bathroom and got back in bed. The nurse who was keeping an eye out on me while my nurse was at lunch came in to put me back on the monitor and the baby's heart rate started dipping dangerously low. They stayed a few minutes to keep an eye out and the next thing I know, I've got oxygen on and there are about 10 nurses in the room all doing something different. They whisked me away for an emergency csection within minutes because priority was getting the baby out! I remember the anesthesiologist asking a bunch of questions before he put me to sleep within minutes. The next thing I know, I'm waking up and someone is telling me I had a girl. They tried to get me to look at her but I guess I wasn't awake enough yet because I opened my eyes again and she was gone. Talk about making an entrance...

It was several hours before I got to see her and they just brought her in on her way to be transported to Atlanta for her surgery at the children's hospital. I got to see her for just a few minutes. She was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I never knew my heart could feel this much love for someone so tiny. She was 3lbs, 8oz & 17 inches of feisty and they wheeled her away.

Justin went with her to Atlanta and surgery was done the next morning. When they got in there, what was diagnosed before as duodenal atresia turned out to be that her intestines wrapped around her pancreas but the solution was basically the same. She came through surgery great. Sunday, the doctors released me to come see her and that's when the toll of the separation really hit me. It is very hard to leave her in the NICU every night. I just want to take her home.

34 weeks

34 weeks.

It has been my goal to make it that far since they told me the baby was like me and had the blockage. Mom made it to 34 weeks with me and I did fine. So, here we are. Hello 34 weeks (yesterday).

I went in for my 34 week growth scan and I was admitted to the hospital. My amniotic fluid level jumped up from 26.7 to a 43.6 (in 9 days), they think I have pre-eclampsia and baby's growth is restricted, so he/she (I still think it's a she...so I apologize in advance if I'm wrong) is small.

I'm currently on strict hospital bed rest...I can't even get up to pee because of the risk of cord prolapse if my water were to break...so yay, I get to pee in a bed pan. They're doing a 24 hour urine catch to measure the amount of protein & determine if I do really have pre-eclampsia...and in about an hour and a half, they're supposed to be coming in to do an amnioreduction to get some of that fluid off.

I'll most likely be in the hospital now until delivery, which will probably be soon due to the growth restriction (and if I do have pre-eclampsia too). So, wish us luck!

Baby, its cold outside!

Winter in south Georgia is just not usually this cold! I can't imagine being in parts of the US where the windchill is like -35 right now. That blows my mind. I will say that we were not prepared at all for this cold front and we're almost out of gas....as in we may run out in the middle of the night with the thermostat set at only 63°. So we've got a fire going to try to combat the cold and the gas company will be out sometime tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm bundled up trying to stay as warm as possible.

Hope you and your family stay warm & cozy wherever you may be!!

This is the year!!

Happy 2014!!!

Yeah, I'm a few days late but that's ok! We're still chugging along at 33 weeks pregnant. Not much new other than I now have an appointment set for every Monday & Thursday from now to February 6th...and that's just at my MFM. Baby-time is creeping up fast and I feel like there is so much still to do! Justin still hasn't put the crib together (at least we have it though). I feel like we're nowhere near ready. I also think we'd have an ample supply of things I think we need if I had been able to work this whole time...but we basically have nothing that hasn't been given to us. Oh well, we have the necessities and that's what's important.

I'll throw in a bathroom mirror bump picture today-for your viewing pleasure.

So, as far as the new year and resolutions and all that jazz goes..my only goals or hopes for this year are that I can hopefully say sometime this year that I'm cancer free and I'll start to regain my health back one step at a time. I also have gone through so much over the last year in 2013 that I just want to work on not taking things for granted. Not my health or happiness for any reason..not people.

We came so close to losing Cam...I haven't really updated on his progress but its slow and steady. He's home now until he fully emerges and is able to use his leg that was broken. His accident and condition has really been a wake up call about how lucky and blessed we are to just be alive and able to do normal things. I will NEVER pretend that we were really close because we weren't, but he's been a part of my life for the last decade (he was only 11 when our parents got together...so I saw him grow up for the most part) and my heart stopped and dropped to the floor when we weren't sure if he'd come out of this. I also get so excited to hear about the little things he's accomplishing daily...like holding his guitar and trying to strum a note.

And finally, 2014 is the year I become a mom (and get to see Justin become a dad). I'm so nervous and excited! I can only hope that we are the best parents we can be to this little baby that we have yet to meet. It'll be a year full of firsts, that's for sure!