It kinda all started on the 25th of January. We went in at 1am because my doctor had said if we had 6 or more contractions in an hour for 2 hours to go in and get checked. Well at that point we were 3cm dilated and were assured that she was head down based on the location of where they could hear her heartbeat. Well we stayed for a couple hours and got checked again. No progression so they sent me home. So at our next appt, that following Monday (the 28th of January - which was my due date) my doctor said if you don't have her within the week on Monday we will see how you are doing and talk about inducing. Well then Friday night rolls around. I had been crampy all day and just as the clock stricks almost exactly 2 hours before Reed was to get home from work I started to have contractions 5 mins apart. They said prior to this to not come in unless they are like this for several hours. So we arrived at the hospital at 12:05am on Saturday February 2nd 2013. As the midwife is checking my cervix she noticed that baby was breech. So she grabbed an ultrasound machine to verify and called a Dr. in for a second opinion. Unfortunately, she was breech. This meant a Cesarean Section (C/Section). They had said had they known she was breech they would have done the c/section a week ago. I hadn't had an ultrasound since before my 36 week appt. If it had happened then they would have taken the chance to flip her then. They didn't want to chance it because we were already overdue by 5 days and there wasn't as much amniotic fluid as they would like to have when flipping a baby. So they asked me when was the last time I had eaten and then started getting everyone prepped for delivery. We asked Randy and Brian Nye to come and give me a blessing because the last thing I wanted was to have a c/section. I was soo nervous in the OR. They took me back first to get me prepped. I'm must say I am not a fan of a needle being stuck in to my spin. Luckly I didn't have to have the needle stay there like I would have, had it been an epidural. From the time they finally brought Reed in, 7 minutes later we had our baby girl. She was and is beautiful!!!!
Elisabeth Linden Hill
6 lbs 6 oz 19 inch 2:39am February 2nd, 2013
She has a full head of hair that definitely had a tint of red in it. It's a little darker now but we suspect that her hair will at least have a red glow in different lighting. She looks like, eats like, and sleeps like her Daddy, which I am thankful for because I don't know what I would have done with a picky baby like me. I'm already picky enough. She has no problems eating.
Our first family picture.
I didn't get to sleep after that. Once we got to our room Reed conked out in a matter of seconds. So I had already been up since 9am the previous day because of school so by the time Reed woke up I had been awake for over 24hrs. Then she had her first fit. Since she was born via c/section she didn't get the chance to have all the amniotic fluid that was in her system pushed out during delivery. So she ended up choking on it and going blue. I had just handed her off to Reed before it happened. She had a clear discharge from her nose and mouth - which Reed wiped off and then it looked like she was just playing with her drool and stuff. Her mouth was still moving, but then Reed realized that he couldn't hear her quick, shallow breathing anymore. He turned his head and put his ear closer to her face to listen, but nothing. When he pulled back he saw that she was starting to turn blue or "dusky" as the staff called it (gray/blue). So he stepped outside the room and called for a nurse. She came in and was able to get her breathing again, and suctioned out some stuff from the back of her mouth/throat and nose with a bulb syringe. That was not our nurse, just one that had been within earshot. About 10 min later our nurse came back on her rounds and noticed that Elisabeth was still a little blue but got her back to being pink soon after. She still ended up getting her vital signs and her oxygen levels taken while the nurse called the doctor to report and to see what she had to say. So several hours go by and I try to feed her but she had finally just been awake too long and just wanted to sleep. Once again around 3pm I hand her off to Reed and she starts turning blue. So we pull the call light cord out of the wall which instead of just a light that says I need assistance, an alarm goes off and every nurse and doctor in the area comes running to the room. They got her breathing again and then called the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Doctor to come take a look at her. He said two strikes your out she will be going to the NICU. So we once again asked Randy Nye and this time Milo Anderson to come and give her a blessing. It wasn't until after that, that I finally got some sleep. It may have only been 2 hours but it was sleep nontheless. They immediately started running tests and hooking her up to IV drips, heart/breathing/oxygen-level monitors. They drew blood to check arterial gas levels, total blood count to look for white blood cells (which would indicate that her body was fighting off infection), a blood culture to see if any bacteria would grow, and started her on two different antibiotics just in case. They also inserted an NG (Nasal-Gastrointestinal) tube down her mouth and suctioned out what they said looked like amniotic fluid, and then inserted another one down each nostril (to check for blockages), leaving one in place down her left nostril in case they needed quick access to suction out more from her stomach. Reed stayed with her for several hours while I slept. Her right nostril is a little smaller than they would like but she seems to be doing just fine now. She has a saline lock, which basically just gives them constant access to give her any medications that she might need via I.V. but without constantly having her hooked up to an IV bag. the NG tube was removed last night by the nurse, and by now that saline lock should be out since she has now been in the NICU for 48hrs. without episodes, without anything growing in her blood culture (so no more need for antibiotics), and because she is nursing well enough that she doesn't need IV fluids to stay hydrated. Her blood test results should be in now too which means we are one step closer to going home with our little girl. I have been discharged but will be staying in a hospitality boarder room so that I can still be here to go feed her and visit her in the NICU. Tomorrow morning she will be having her picture taken and then the discharge process will begin. I am sooo excited to have my little girl here with us to hold and care for and be part of our lives. Here are some more pictures of her during our stay here at the hospital.
In recovery
In our room
Down in the NICU
Uncle Bryan
Auntie Christine with baby Mikayla kicking at Elisabeth
The next four are some of Reed's favorite pictures of Elisabeth. :)
But this one takes home the gold!!!
The blankie Granny and Grandad gave her.
We took a couple of videos of her but I will have to load those to facebook because the blog doesn't like to let me load videos.
We are soo excited to have our little one finally here and we can hardly wait to take her home.
