Friday, February 1, 2013

Molly May

[Insert excuse for not blogging for over a year here]

We were blessed this last October with a beautiful baby girl.  Our life has been crazy and hectic ever since, but here is an update about Miss Molly May. Sorry that this is an incredibly long post.

On October 26, I was supposed to work the first of four nights in a row. I wasn't too pleased about it, but had four days off in a row after, which I was planning to get ready for our baby.  I had a horrible migraine all day and finally called off work due to it. I spent the night on the couch, nursing my migraine.  It finally went away around two.  At around four am, I started  having some contractions.  I didn't pay any attention to them, because I wouldn't be 37 weeks until Sunday (this was Saturday morning).  Finally, at 6 am, I told Carl that I was going to bed (he had been sleeping on the couch).  At this point, I was wondering if I was in labor, but decided that if I couldn't sleep, I wasn't in labor.  I slept until about one, when Carl got up (he was working the 2-midnight shift). I told him that I was still having Braxton-Hicks contractions. We joked about how I might be in labor and then he went to work.  I dozed until about 3, still having contractions and finally decided to get up and drink a bunch of water to make my contractions go away.  I made it to the bathroom when my water broke. I paged Carl and then called my mom and told her I thought my water broke.  Carl finally called me back (he had been stitching somebody up when he got the page). I still wasn't timing my contractions (stupid, I know).  We talked for a few minutes about what to do next.  He asked me about my contractions and how far apart they were.  I told him I wasn't timing them, but I had had three in the time we were talking.  He said "Um...we've only been talking for five minutes. I'm coming home now."

While I waited for Carl, I threw some stuff in a bag and called my mom again to let her know I got a hold of Carl. Carl finally came home and, being the doctor that he is, had brought home a pair of sterile gloves and checked me.  I was dilated to a 3. We drove to the hospital and I continued to have contractions about every two minutes. 

We got to the hospital and checked in.  They had me get into a hospital gown in triage and the attending came in. It just so happened that it was the OB I had started my pregnancy with before she went on maternity leave. She checked me and declared that I was at a 4 and that my water really had broken. She also told me that I would need to get the antibiotic for strep because my test hadn't come back yet. They moved me to another room and hooked me up to the monitors.  They told me that because my water had broken, I couldn't get up and walk around. I was disappointed because I had hoped to walk around to help get things moving. 

About a hour later (around 5 or  6), I got an epidural.  The contractions weren't unbearable, by any means, but were starting to get uncomfortable.  When they offered, I took it. Surprisingly, they wouldn't let Carl stay in the room.  They said they had too many dad's pass out. They kicked Carl out the whole time I was getting the epidural.

After they placed the epidural, they waited about an hour before coming in and checking me.  I was at a 5. They said my contractions weren't as consistent so they wanted to start some pitocin on me. They started with the lowest dose.  A while later, they came back in and said they might have to turn the pitocin down because my contractions were coming right on top of each other. The contractions settled down a bit and they ended up not turning down the pitocin.

At around 11, the resident came in to check me before she went to bed.  I was at a 9 1/2!  The nurse ran around trying to get things ready.  Within a half hour, I was ready to push. 

After one push, the monitor quit picking up contractions.  I wasn't quite sure what the contractions should feel like, so I ignored a lot of contractions.  They fiddled with the monitor, but ended up relying on Carl and the nurse to feel my belly contract.  They missed a lot and it took a while for me to figure out when I needed to push. I wasn't trusting my body because the nurse wasn't feeling contractions!

The resident left to go deliver a more complicated delivery and let the nurse keep pushing with me. After a while, the nurse finally decided that the baby would be delivered in the next couple of pushes and told me not to push while she called for a doctor.  That was probably the hardest thing I have ever done. 

When the doctor came in, Molly was delivered in two pushes at 2:43 am on October 28.

She weighed 6 lbs 3 oz and was 17 1/2 inches long.  She was breathing too fast at first, so they wouldn't let me hold her for a little bit.  They finally gave her to me to see if I could calm her breathing down, but told me I couldn't feed her.  That didn't work, so they took her back to keep an eye on her and called the pediatrician. Once the pediatrician checked her out and gave the okay, they gave her to me for keeps.

Getting checked out by the nurses
 
First looks

In the hospital, we struggled with breast feeding. Molly lost too much weight, getting down to 5 lbs 7 oz and we had to supplement with formula.  Her bilirubin levels were too high, so they ended up keeping her for a few days under lights.  It was nice; they let me stay in a room free of charge so I could stay with her. 


Feeding her a bottle

Under the bililights
Carl drew eyes for her Halloween costume

This was a blessing, as our help (my MIL) had just landed in Denver when we told her we were going to the hospital.  Tropical Storm Sandy also hit Cleveland while we were in the hospital. We lost power, but we didn't know for how long and had to throw all our food out.

We ended up leaving the hospital on Thursday, Nov 1. It's been a tough time. Molly never nursed well and we ended up switching to formula.  She also has colic and tough time sleeping (which is why I haven't written this post before this!).  Even with all the trials, we still love our Molly!
Ready to go home!
Finally home!

The aides made an awesome bow out of two hats






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