Home - Week 2

Sydney is 14 days old today!!!

We started off week 2 with a visit to the doctor.  Sydney was constipated (yeah, not the most exciting thing to talk about but hey, it’s part of her news J) so I called and got her an appointment Monday.  And wouldn’t you know it….as soon as we got to the doctor she had a dirty diaper! LOL!  The nurse (who was male) said she was just like a woman – she knew she was going to be getting weighed so she was trying to shed some weight first…hahahaha!!  The doctor said everything was okay and since the only change was switching her formula from the ready-made that we were given at the hospital to the powder version when we got home, we should go back to ready-made and see how that works for her.  Since Sydney has her two week appointment on 8/31/11 that will be a little over a week and we can update the doctor on how she is handling the ready-made formula then.  And speaking of weight, Sydney is already back to her birth weight!   Her umbilical cord stump fell off Monday so we don’t have to worry about that anymore.

We experienced an earthquake Tuesday.  It was crazy!!  Steve and I were watching TV and Sydney was napping in her swing when the house started to shake.  Steve and I looked at each other and both asked if the other had started the washing machine (sometimes on spin cycle it shakes the house).  Once we realized that we hadn’t started the washer, Steve looked outside and saw the power lines moving and said he thought it was an earthquake.  I grabbed Sydney and we ran outside.  I watched Steve’s work truck rock back and forth.  Then it was over.  We don’t have any damage to the house other than a couple surface cracks on the foundation and a few things fell off of shelves in the house but nothing broken or damaged beyond repair.  Now we are preparing for the hurricane to hit….

Sydney had an appointment today for physical therapy for her Torticollis.  The physical therapist gave us some stretching exercises we need to do with her 5-6 times a day and we will go back to physical therapy once a week so they can monitor her progress.  The physical therapist said since she’s so young it’s good that we are starting the exercises now to “retrain” and strengthen her muscles.

I had my 2 week follow up with my doctor today so he could check my incision.  He said everything looked great.  I can drive again but still can’t exercise until after my 6 week follow-up.  He did say that I could go for short walks so after these storms pass, Sydney and I are going to start taking a stroll in the evenings.

In other news…I FINALLY got my feet and ankles back – no more cankles J and I’m back to my pre-pregnancy weight.  Steve hasn’t gone back to work yet – he plans to stay home until after the holiday.  I ordered Sydney her first STEELERS jersey so we are ready for football season and Steve got her a Redskin jersey – I guess she can be allowed to wear that…LOL.  And, we finally got Sydney’s newborn pictures from the hospital, here are a couple of them:

First Week...

Sydney is 8 days old today…..the first week has been really good.  I’ve been two days now without pain killers – other than Motrin every now and then and going up and down stairs has become easier – I even got to sleep in my own bed last night!!!  We moved her pack-n-play upstairs with us and Steve took over night-shift last night J

Sydney has been out and about meeting everyone and we took her to get her 1 week pictures taken at Picture People yesterday.  She was asleep when we got there so she did pretty decent at first but by the time we were on the third outfit change, she was getting fussy because it was getting close to feeding time.  We were able to get some cute pictures!  I’m still waiting on her newborn pictures to arrive in the mail but here are some from yesterday:

First Days Home and First Dr. Appt

We’ve been home since Monday and things are going really well.  Sydney sleeps about 3 hours then wakes up for her bottle then we start the cycle all over again.  I’ve been staying downstairs since I’m not supposed to go up and down stairs a whole lot so I’ve got night shift and Steve’s been really good about doing most everything during the day. 

We’ve been out and about a little bit.  Sydney had her first doctor’s appointment on Tuesday, 8/16/11.  They said she’s doing well, she’s only lost 3% of her birth weight, and her weight matches the weight when she left the hospital, 7lbs 6oz.  We go back for her two week appointment on 8/31/11.  We will be taking her to a physical therapist on 8/26/11 so they can evaluate her neck muscles and see if we need to start some exercises on those.  We may also get an ultrasound on her hips since she was breech but that won’t be until she's a month old.  We visited with Granny and Paw-paw so Paw-paw could see her (he wasn’t able to get to the hospital) and said good-bye to Grandpa yesterday.  Today we rode to town for some Gus food and stopped by Granny’s work to show her off.  Now, Sydney is sleeping all snuggly in her swing.

Daddy & Sydney at her first doctor's appointment

She's here and we are home!

My going to the hospital outfit

Friday was the big day!  The anticipation that morning was aggravating!  We got up, made sure the house was straight and everything was packed for the hospital then it was a matter of just waiting…and waiting…and waiting.  We left the house around 1130 since we had to be at the hospital by noon.  It was funny when we got there…it was like we were checking into a hotel…we had our bags and a pillow and just strolled up to labor and delivery to “check-in”.  Mom met us at the hospital too.  Once we were all checked in a nurse took us to a pre-op room where they monitored my vitals, took blood work, and then Dr. Kil came and did a final sonogram to make sure Sydney was still in breech position – and of course she was.  Then we just waited some more.  Virginia and Bobbijo and Jimmy came to the hospital to support us too.  I’m glad everyone was there or I think Mom would have gone a little insane J  Once the operating room was set up and ready to go, all the guests made their way to my assigned room for after the delivery and Steve was lead off to wait for the que to come in.  The nurse took me to the operating room and they got me all prepped for surgery. 

They gave me a spinal block…it was the weirdest sensation I have ever felt.  My body went totally numb from about my breast line down and I had a warm feeling in the lower half of my body.  I could move my arms and head and neck.  They made sure I couldn’t feel any pain then the nurse went and got Steve….although it was almost too late!  Dr. Kil was ready to go and had begun to make his incision when the nurse finally came back with Steve!  Once Steve was in the room he stayed up by my head and talked to me while Dr. Kil did this thing.  I was sooooo sleepy too.  I felt like I could have closed my eyes and taken a nap while they were working on getting Sydney out.  I never really felt any pressure or pushing or pulling until they had to get Sydney’s head out.  It was strange to listen to the operating team talk about getting to her.  Dr. Kil had to “fish” for one foot, then “fish” for the other foot, then when he tried to pull the rest of her out she kept squirming up into my ribs…they joked she was trying to run away from him..LOL!  The pressure I felt was Dr. Kil pushing on my chest to basically get her head to pop down and come out.  Once she was out of the womb, a nurse took her over to the neonatologist who checked her over and did her APGAR scores and they worked on cleaning her up.  When I finally heard her cry I was so happy.  It took a minute because they had to suction her and Dr. Kil let the nurse and neonatologist take care of that.  The surgery began at 3pm (as opposed to 2pm) and Sydney was born at 3:09pm.  Steve was able to get some pictures while we were in the operating room and he was able to cut her cord…which was another hot topic.  Her cord was huge!  They said she was definitely getting some good nutrients through it! LOL!  Once she was all cleaned up, they brought her over so I could see her and the nurse took the picture I posted…our first family picture J  Steve went with Sydney to the nursery while Dr. Kil finished up with me.

Once I was in recovery, Steve, Mom, and Caitlin (more great friends showed up to see us – Robby and Caitlin and Rachel) came to see me.  They told me how beautiful Sydney was since they were able to watch the nurse and Steve through the window in the nursery.  I was in recovery for about 45 minutes before they took me to my room.

Once in my room, everyone came in to congratulate us and look at Sydney (she was brought into the room too after she was bathed and her temperature was raised).  Roy and Sandra Fenwick and their sons stopped by to see us and so did Danielle!  It was a great crowd for Sydney’s birthday J

I was feeling tired and I felt like I was hung over from the spinal block wearing off.  I was soooo pale too.  Everyone said their well wishes and let us be alone for a while so I could recover and we could adjust to having Sydney with us.

I was told that I would be up and walking after 5 hours on bed rest…well…not so much.  They checked my vitals every hour and my blood pressure wasn’t playing very nice.  It was a bit elevated before surgery but we expected that and we expected that it would go down after surgery and it didn’t.  It kept increasing….a lot.  The nurse finally had to call the doctor and he ordered blood pressure medicine.  Once that was in my system my pressure dropped but I still wasn’t allowed out of bed.  This made the first night difficult for me.  I wasn’t able to get up to get Sydney out of her crib or change her.  But luckily I married an amazing man who did EVERYTHING for us that night.  Steve is now a pro at changing her, feeding her, burping her, talking to her, and swaddling her…which she LOVES…and honestly I still can’t get the wrapping part right but he’s got it down pat!

We kept Sydney in our room Friday night and all day Saturday.  Once I was able to get out of bed and the catheter was removed on Saturday I felt soooo much better.  I was able to take a shower which made everything 100 times better too.  We had a few visitors Saturday and spent time just figuring out the whole parenting thing. We had an awesome nurse during the day Saturday and Sunday, Beth.  She made everything soooo relaxed because she was so friendly.  She really made our days when she was on shift.  I didn’t feel embarrassed to ask (or show her) her anything.  She just made it easy for us.  MWH does a Daisy award and she was soooo good to us that we nominated her for that.  I hope she gets some kind of credit for at least having a nomination sent in.

Saturday night we decided to send Sydney to the nursery so we could get some sleep and she also needed to have some routine tests done so they took care of those while they had her.  She was in the nursery for about 5 hours.  We were able to sleep most of that but I was up to get my pain medication about mid-way through the night.  I was alternating Motrin and Percocet which really helped with my pain.  Luckily the pain really wasn’t a pain….it was more like I had done 1000 stomach crunches and I was trying to stand up straight…my muscles were just exhausted.

Sunday I was able to get free from all of my IV hook ups (they had to leave them in just in case I needed more BP medication).  My pain was minimal Sunday and Sydney continued to do really good with her eating…she’s a little piggy now J  We sent her to the nursery during the night for a few hours but I got her back in the room around 4am.

Monday we came home!!!  Both Sydney and I were seen by doctors so that we could be discharged.  Around 1130 the nurse came in with the discharge paperwork, I signed us out, and we were headed home!  It’s been nice being home!  My Dad came up from SC Sunday to see us and he’s spent time with us and my Mom has spent time here too.  We’ve been able to Skype with Steve’s parents from the hospital so they have been able to see her when she was just a few hours old “live” instead of just in pictures.  I’m not supposed to go up and down stairs for a while so I’m set up on the couch for a few days.  Sydney is here with me in her pack-n-play.  Cardy doesn’t know what to think about her yet, he’s still investigating her…he’s not too sure about her because she’s still here..LOL..and she moves and makes noise.  He just kinda looks at her then goes about his business.

Everyone is doing good; I’m healing nicely (pain is very minimal), Sydney is eating, sleeping, and pooping like she should be and Steve is still grinning from ear to ear J

Week 39

This is the last week!!!  No more pregnant belly pictures to post after Friday!!  We met with Dr. Kil Monday for the 39 week check-up.  Total weight gain for the pregnancy: 20lbs.  As usual, there’s been no progress – everything is status quo as it has been.  Dr. Kil went over the paperwork for the surgery and that was the last of my prenatal appointments.  We then had to go to the hospital to register for the c-section.  Now that all that is done, we are just waiting for Friday to get here.  We have to be at the hospital by noon and we’ll go straight to Labor and Delivery to get a room where I’ll be monitored for a little while before the surgery.  Surgery is set for 2pm.  We will be allowed to take a camera into the delivery room so we should have pictures of her as soon as she’s born J.  Dr. Kil said that I will probably be in the hospital until Monday.  Only a few more days and she’ll be here!!!

Week 38

We had our 38 week appointment yesterday instead of on Tuesday this week.  We saw Dr. Stadulis who explained the c-section procedure to us and also checked to see if I had progressed any.  And….not so much, which I knew going in.  Her head is still up by my ribs on my right side so I knew she hadn’t moved any.  The c-section is all scheduled for 8/12/11 @ 2pm.  I have to be at the hospital by noon that day and I can’t eat or drink after midnight!  That’s going to be the hardest part!  Since my feet swell daily, pretty bad, and I’m now commuting about 2.5 to 3 hours round trip daily to work (my office was moved to Alexandria a week ago), Dr. Stadulis wants me to start maternity leave a week before my c-section so my last day at work will be 8/5/11.  Our next appointment is on 8/8/11 with Dr. Kil (he’s the one that will be performing the c-section) for one last check and to fill out forms for the procedure.