Katie...Week 1

Well, Katie arrived at 2:08pm Monday July 19, 2010. It has been a busy week. I went into the hospital Sunday night and they induced me on Monday at 7:30 am. The doctor came in and checked on me, and said that things were progressing really slowly. She said there was a 60-70% chance that I would have to have a c-section, but that we wouldn't know for a long time. Originally I hadn't planned on having an epidural, but due to the high risk of a c-section the doctor requested that I have one so that they wouldn't have to put me under for the c-section. They ended up giving me the epidural pretty early on because the contractions were causing me to throw up, making it difficult to monitor the baby. After they gave me the epidural, I actually took a nap. I woke up around 12:15 and noticed that I was feeling a little pain...it turns out that the epidural was wearing off. I let one of the nurses know, and she said that the anesthesiologist was in surgery, but that he would come as soon as he gets out. About 15 minutes later my epidural was completely worn off and I was feeling everything (that's what I get for not wanting an epidural). Things had started to progress rapidly. The contractions started coming more frequently and were a lot more painful. Of course this caused me to get sick again, which was "a good thing" according to the doctor. Apparently throwing up causes the baby to move down and moves the labor on quickly. I went from 3 cm. to 10 cm. in less than an hour and I was having no break between contractions. I ended up having to start pushing before the doctor got there. The doctor showed up and said "okay, it looks like we need one more good push." just about the same time that the anesthesiologist came into the room (great timing...not). All in all, things went quickly. Labor was less than 7 hours and the actual delivery was less than 12 minutes. I cannot begin to describe how I felt when it was over. Instantly I felt relief, and the nausea that I had felt for the last 9 months was completely gone. Then I got to hold Katie...it was the most amazing thing I have ever felt. I was overcome with joy and love. It was as if, in that moment, I felt what it was like for God to feel unconditional love for me, because I knew that there was nothing in the world that she could do to make me not love her. She was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen, and I wanted to hold her forever. Katie was a whopping 5 lbs. 2 oz. and 18 1/4 inches long. She had a full head of hair and beautiful blue eyes.

We spent the next few days in the hospital and were released on Wednesday. I felt like I had been in the hospital forever and was ready to go home. She had picked up on feeding really quickly and was sleeping through the night. I was having to set my alarm to wake her up and feed her because she was not waking up on her own...little did I know that things were going to change. I got home and felt so overwhelmed. Katie was sleeping all day and did not want to eat, and then she was awake all night and didn't want to be awake alone. She would eat every hour or two and cry the rest of the time (sometimes making me cry too). I decided that we needed to try to keep her awake more often during the day so that she would handle the nights better, and for the most part it has worked.

Thursday night she slept really well and I thought that things were looking up, but then on Friday at Katie's doctor's appointment we found out that she was jaundiced. We had to have this bed set up at the house that had lights shining on Katie. She had to wear a blindfold and she was supposed to be in the bed anytime she wasn't feeding or being changed. She hated it, and it was so hard to see her miserable. Last night was really difficult, and I don't think either of us got any sleep. However, a nurse came to the house today and checked her bilirubin levels, and said she was back to normal. It has been so nice to be able to hold her again and console her when she is crying. Since she was up all night, she has been sleeping pretty much all day. This means that we will have a semi-long night ahead of us, but hopefully we can get her into some sort of routine in the next week or so.

It has been a really long week, but it has also been one of the most wonderful weeks of my life. Katie is so beautiful and so perfect. I wouldn't trade her for the world. I have a lot to learn, but I am ready to do the best I can to care for her. She is my whole world now. I wish time could stop, because I want to keep her little forever. I know that there are joys in every stage of life, but she is so wonderful now and I wish I could keep her this way forever.

Marybeth