Emmeline's Arrival

Well, so much for my hopes of an easier recovery this time around...

Emmeline made her debut on Tuesday, February 28th at 7:54 AM. Our little spitfire was wailing before they even had her out of my tummy. Curiously I did indeed have polyhydramnios again. When they opened the sack the pressure release actually shifted her and they had to use the vacuum on her hairy head to get her out. They measured about 3 liters of amniotic fluid when all was said and done. My doctor commented on it several times.

I was surprised to hear that she weighed in at the same weight as Quintin, 8 lb 10 oz. But even more surprising was her length; 22.5 inches long. Giant baby! She's certainly started out long and skinny.

I was not fond of the yucky meds I had to take. Even though it was kind of cool that I could feel my feet but no pain, in general I felt awful; general disorientation, nausea, and I was vomiting during the procedure. Let me tell you, that's not fun when you're flat on your back! It took me hours to feel undrugged. I had to have others put her on me in recovery and try to breastfeed because I was so weak and shaky. Much to our delight she latched to the nipple shield right away. I was so excited. She defiinitely got some colostrum in her first few days, the normal way.

My recovery was horrid. Much worse than last time. My stomach was so bloated afterwards I looked like I was still about 6 months pregnant. This alarmed me, plus it hurt to even touch my stomach. In addition my GI system stopped, this was what caused the bloating according to them. I was in so much pain I was terrified of what would happen when it started working again. All the staff and doctors were telling me that all of this was common for a repeat C-section...everything was stretched out more. None of my friends every said that. I was so hot from hormonal something the first day I could hardly handle having a sheet over me, poor Ian was freezing. Plus being on my back for so long I was itching like crazy. I was also lucky to get even 4 hours of sleep a day while in the hospital, and once I got home. I was several days after I got home before I got a decent amount of sleep. Lucky for me my ob is LDS, so he and Ian gave E and I blessings after the delivery.

I was afraid to leave the hospital before some of those things started acting normally again. They had started the blood thinners again about 12 hours after the procedure. They took the staples out Friday morning and I started leaking blood in my incision Friday afternoon (during the echocardiogram they were doing on Emmeline to identify the heart murmur they had heard that morning). This also had not happened before. All they did was apply a pressure bandage and call it good. Well, it didn't turn out to be good. I've now been back to the doctors office (1 hour away) about 4 times for the incision to be checked and re-bandanged. It continued to bleed out and actually opened back up again. I got so sick of paper tape residue on my tummy! Luckily it hasn't gotten infected and won't. They say it's a 2 week set back, I'm now at the point I should have been when I came home.

Emmeline's breastfeeding abilities deteriorated after a few days. She chewed instead of sucking so I relented and gave her a bottle. Luckily I only have to pump 4 times a day to keep up with her needs. We've been to lactation and now also a cranial osteopath to try to help her. She's still chewing, but we are hoping for improvement, soon. After two weeks she's already 1 lb over birth weight. I'd say she's getting enough to eat! I'm also back to pre-pregnancy weight so I'm happy. Once my GI tract started again my tummy went away.

The cardiologists at Children's Hospital said E's heart murmur was nothing to worry about after saying otherwise before we were discharged. Good news; just wish we hadn't had to drag all of us to Seattle to hear it.

So Momma and baby are doing much better. I feel like I can finally relax and start enjoying my children now. Dr. appointments are all done. Quintin loves his new sister. He couldn't stop talking about the baby for the first week or two. What a relief.

This next week is her baby blessing. :)

Ups and Downs

UP: My friend Desiree asked me recently if I'd be willing to pose for her photography hobby practice. Sure! I wouldn't mind maternity photos! She's going to do newborn photos as well. So here's her awesome work sprinkled throughout my post!

DOWN: Lately I've been baffled at the number of my friends who are suffering with spousal abuse. It has been a challenge to "let go" and not try to solve their problems or rescue them. It's also been a bit overwhelming to not be bogged down with the sadness and frustration that their situations stirs in my heart for women I love. This year has truly been a multitude of opportunities for me to glimpse the problems of different marriages. ~adding to my overall perspective, I guess. I pray that they will find peace and resolution, soon, as well as divine intervention.

UP: At the last check, Emmeline's polyhydramnios is better. Here's hoping she doesn't have muscle problems!

DOWN: I found out the morning of my baby shower (T minus 10 days to baby) that a boy in Q's nursery class had been diagnosed with whooping cough. AND he had been vaccinated. Thus began several hours of phone tag with my Ob's office, the county health department nurse and Q's Dr office. Plaaaah! Not coincidentally Q had started some strange symptoms that VERY morning. His nose started running, the phlegm in his throat was actually altering his voice! I was terrified of the implications. My OB had explained how fatal pertussis is to a newborn. I didn't want to be quarantined from my little boy, or anything like unto it! The CHD nurse was extremely thorough and helpful. She arranged for Ian and my Dr to prescribe antibiotics immediately, then advised on how to get Q's antibiotics since his Dr office was NOT responding, nor would they according to her. He and I packed up and went straight to the Everett Clinic Walk-In where they deliberated on his insurance vs. our precarious situation (ie expecting baby). They decided to take him, but we then had to sit in the waiting room for 2 hours to be the last on the list to be seen. They had asked for him to wear a mask (pshaa!) and keep away from other people ( double pshaa!). Right. My 2 year old social butterfly? That didn't happen. Anyway, since I had the CHD recommendation EVERYONE took us seriously and did exactly as asked. We all got our antibiotics so ENSURE baby E's safety on her arrival. Interestingly, I learned that most vaccines are only 80-90% effective. So, even though we had all been vaccinated, we could still get it.

What a stressful afternoon that was! It got so late that Ian actually had to meet me at the clinic to take Q and pick up our prescriptions so I could get to the baby shower on time! And it was raining so hard we were drenched just getting to the car. Two days later Ian got REALLY sick...good thing he was already on meds.

UP: Desiree also put on my baby shower! What a dear! She put a lot of work into it as well. Her decorations were adorable, lots of yummy homemade food, and great activity. Instead of the traditional silly games she prepared a craft. Everyone got to decorate a onesie with iron-on fabric. I thought it was awesome, and they were all adorable! Some very creative ladies came!

UP: Also, my cousins Carl and Chris from the Portland area surprised me by coming up that night! I was shocked to see them walk in the door! I got to meet their baby Chance, as well as Ronin, Pete and Sarah's new baby. Sadly, I couldn't hang out with them the rest of the weekend since we had the whooping cough scare, so they partied with other relatives the rest of the weekend.

Thank you Desiree for all your work! It was all beautiful and very well done!

UP: On our last visit to Children's Urology for Q we learned that his dilation is actually reducing. Yeah! Not much left to worry about there. They will still monitor him, but nothing to worry about.

These are pictures of the amazing blue spotted hermit crab in the Whale floor aquarium.

Oh, and I forgot...UP: I died my hair purple. I've always wanted to do a fun color and since I had nothing coming up I would feel silly doing with purple hair I did it. It was fun. And temporary.