Zella is just over a month so I thought I'd better start putting into words her birth story. I write this for my memory, so thanks for listening if you want to, if not well don't read it! HA! We'll start with how the week went down and how this surprise came to be!
Monday June 27:
My parents were leaving for MN after taking Henry to speech therapy. After he finished, we went to the mall to grab a bite to eat (close to hospital and not too far off their route). Bethany had gotten in the night before, and she went with me to get blood drawn since I hit 36 weeks and my blood count had been low. We met my parents and after eating said goodbye to my parents and the boys. Although I was going to miss them terribly, from then until the 14th of July I had a LOT on my to-do-list. Moving while pregnant with a 2 and 4 year old was VERY challenging and there was still so much to do to finish moving in, and some projects to finish in the nursery as well as just catching up with housework from having Molly here, Hagen breaking his arm and then my parents here! I was going to be busy. After saying goodbye, Bethany and I went back to the house and got her packed up and then we headed to Rockville to get an item from Buy, Buy Baby. We went out to eat and had a lovely time just hanging out and catching up. We were there for several hours. After we were done, I took her to the metro station and then headed home. After getting home at about 11pm, my feet/ankles were so swollen from being on my feet/sitting all day.
Tuesday June 28:
My ankles were still pretty swollen in the morning (after sleeping in for the first time in a long time! WOOHOO!!!) so I decided to enjoy a day of not doing anything to hopefully get the swelling down and just take a break before being super productive! I binge watched shows on Netflix and noticed that Zella was not moving quite as much as her usual self. After a scare at 30 weeks, they doctors told me to keep an eye on her movements and that even if she just slowed down again to come in and get checked. She was still giving me 10 in 2 hours, but it was just slow... but I thought maybe it's just because I was being really still... maybe she wasn't used to this and she was taking a break too.... After The Mr. got home, she got the hiccups and didn't move after, which has never happened, so The Mr. suggested I call. I called and since it was after hours was called back by the doctor on call and she insisted I come in to be monitored... better safe than sorry she said. We went in and as SOON as the monitors were hooked up, she started moving her normal self again! HA! I felt so embarrassed, but everyone tried to comfort me that it really was better to be safe than sorry, and that I should continue to do so! We were home by about 9pm with a strong suggestion from my doctor to keep my feet up again the next day since my swelling was still apparent.
Wednesday June 29:
Tried to keep my feet up as much as possible, but still knew I needed to get stuff done... so I'd watch a show, then be productive, then watch another show! It was enjoyable to have that luxury AND still be productive!
Thursday June 30:
After sleeping in (so enjoyable!!!), I got up and was fairly productive. I got a call that our chair had come in (Due in Aug. 5th!!). The Mr. luckily had a light day and was home fairly early so we went to Rockville and got the chair. After getting the chair, we went on an actual date!! We went to a delicious Korean restaurant and then walked around the Asian market and bought stuff to make Boba Tea. We got home and were just exhausted, so we got the chair in-but not put together and went to bed.
Friday July 1:
6:00(ish)AM:
I woke up because I thought maybe I had peed myself... but it wasn't a lot and I realized I had just gotten up an hour before and really didn't have to pee that bad. I got up and went to the bathroom and started thinking that MAYBE it could be amniotic fluid. I crawled back into bed and began google-ing how to tell the different between pee and amniotic fluid as I had previously been told that I would KNOW if it was amniotic fluid because it doesn't really leak... So I told myself I'd keep an eye on it... I fell back asleep and woke up an hour later and there was some new liquid... so I got up and went to the bathroom again, thinking that maybe she was just kicking my bladder and seriously was just peeing myself from it! But I wasn't confident in that thought so I wondered and wondered. I finally woke the Mr. and asked him to smell the bed to see if he could smell a urine smell-because I couldn't... He couldn't either, so then I started thinking that MAYBE it could really be amniotic fluid. I continued to hem and haw over it, even after I had several other "peeing on myself" moments throughout the morning. I decided to call the OB office instead of trusting Google. Instead of just getting a "It's probably pee, just wait 'till contractions start" I got a "I'll have the doctor call you back". I got a call back a few minutes later and the doctor told me that I should go right to Labor and Delivery. I asked if I could wait until contractions started and she told me that she would feel more comfortable if I went right in since it's my 3rd baby, and to just test it to see if it even is amniotic fluid. This wasn't REALLY what I was hoping to hear as I was still not convinced it was, and I had already gone in for a false alarm earlier and was thinking that people would think I was the boy who cried wolf!
9:00(ish)AM:
I hopped in the shower, did my hair, packed a hospital bag-JUST IN CASE.... A little more amniotic fluid would trickle out every time she moved, so over the next couple hours I started to actually believe that maybe it really was the real deal! I called our photographer to give her a heads up that there was some possibility I might need to call her today.
10:30ishAM:
Decided that maybe I had put it off long enough and should probably start heading to the hospital. I went and knocked on the neighbors door to give them keys to the house, JUST IN CASE. Then headed to the hospital. The Mr. was giddy and practically yelling out the window to people walking that we were having a baby today!!! I still wasn't convinced! HA!
11:00AM:
We got to the hospital and made The Mr. park farther back so I had to walk, and wanted to go through the front door and not the ER since it wasn't REALLY happening. As we got closer to the front doors, my waters starting flowing MUCH more freely! I walked gingerly, using my dress to wipe up the water that was running down my legs! OF COURSE it waited till I was in public to let me know it was undeniably amniotic fluid! HA! Took a quick picture outside the hospital since I had just hit 37 weeks. Then walked in, and didn't even have to explain anything-they CLEARLY knew the situation and offered me a wheel chair, but I felt like that would be gross and it would just be easier and a lot less messy to just keep walking and doing what I was doing. Once up at Labor and Delivery, I got checked in (while awkwardly constantly wiping my legs...) then I got a wheel chair (covered) and sat in that in the waiting room while they got a room ready. We waited and the doctor that delivered Hagen walked by, and I told the Mr. that. The doctor, Dr. Rojas, heard that and turned around and said he was looking for me. He talked with me and went over what he thought should happen and why. He said that he initially got the call that I wasn't sure if it was amniotic fluid and was going to get me in to Triage to test it, but after talking with me he was confident it was and was going to just go ahead and try to get me into a room. We both decided that the safest option for baby girl was to start pitocin to get my contractions going since I only had until 6am the next day to deliver her without potential serious complications. He was going get me a room, get me checked and then start pitocin, but that we'd be having a baby before his shift ended the next morning! To be honest, I actually was pretty shocked to hear this. It just didn't seem real since I wasn't really having contractions yet!
11:30AM:
We got into the room, got my robe on, peed in the cup and headed to the bed. It was still feeling surreal. The training nurse came in and started my line for the eventual pitocin. After the 3rd try she finally got it (with LOTS of blood everywhere... eeks, worst I've ever experienced), but still had to stab me again to actually draw any blood! HA! Then we waited and waited. Apparently EVERYONE was having their babies! People who were scheduled to be induced had to be rescheduled! EEKS! Our doctor was crazily busy!! Around 1, the Mr. left to go get himself lunch and to let our dog out, he got back just in time for the doctor to check me.
3PM:
After a delivery AND a c-section from the time he talked with us in the waiting room, he came in and checked me. I was only 2 cm dilated, but luckily contractions had VERY MILDLY started on their own. They were consistently every 6-8 minutes apart, but very mild! Texted our photographer. The doctor said that I probably wouldn't even start responding to the pitocin for a few hours so he's wait a few hours to check on us. We waited some more.
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| 3:45PM: Our photographer arrived, Dana Lorentz Photography. |
I was good with taking pictures of the clock in the beginning, but once things started to get going I had other things to focus on so my times are probably not super accurate and things started happening and I was just focusing on getting baby girl into my arms!
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
The pitocin did NOT take a few hours to take effect. Our doctor told us that he did not want any more than 5 contractions in a 10 minute window. If we did, he'd have to pull back on the pitocin some or completely so as not to cause stress to the baby! We did not go over 5 in 10 minutes, but we were RIGHT there... my 5th contraction would just be coming to an end at the 10 minute mark and start up the next just after a new 10 minutes would start!
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
I started off being able to handle laying on the bed, but pretty soon that started to get pretty uncomfortable. We had asked for the birthing ball several times without receiving it, but as I got more uncomfortable and had the Mr. call for it ONE more time! This time we got it. That helped me to be able to move through contractions while still being supported.
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
While on the birthing ball my contractions only continued to intensify. I could tell that they were definitely doing their job, as I could tell that she was starting to make her way down. The pressure started to gain strength. The Mr. and Dana both suggested a couple of times to maybe have the doctor come in to check me as they were pretty intense and close together, and since the nurses weren't even coming in to check on me, it might be that I had to call them to get them in. But I wanted to get through several more, as I was aware that I could possibly go for several more hours like this.
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(Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography)
The Mr. passed the time by watching movies on his phone and checking text messages for me. This photo was taken at just before 5pm. |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
Throughout the time on the ball, as my contractions intensified, my contractions would apparently stop flow into my IV and would set off the alarm on the machine-right in front of me. It was loud, but my only complaint this delivery was that the nurses were not invested in being there, and we had to call them EVERY time it went off, which was almost every contraction. That part I actually got pretty frustrated with. I wish they would have fixed it, told us how to turn the alarm off ourselves or just stayed in the room to fix it themselves right away when it would scream at us!
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(Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography)
The Mr. keeping a close eye on my contraction sheet. |
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(Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography)
The. Mr. keeping a close eye on his movie! HA! It's tough work to be in labor...err... |
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(Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography)
Still able to laugh in the few seconds I would get between contractions! |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
At this point the contractions were starting to get so intense I needed to use The. Mr. to keep myself upright during a contraction. He also realized that it was getting pretty serious and he turned his movie off to help support me bringing Zella into our arms!
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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(Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography)
This is probably one of my favorite photos from Labor. I can see the pain in my face but also the determination to use the pain to get closer to meeting baby girl!! |
Finally at this point, the training nurse was tired of constantly coming back to the room and attempted to fix the IV situation. It did not fix it, but luckily from that point things started moving fairly quickly.
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
As the contractions intensified, so did the pressure. Baby girl was making he way down. Standing up and swaying felt much better, for a while...
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
6:30ishPM:
The pressure started to get pretty intense and was now starting to wonder if I should have the doctor come in and check me. I had Andrew call the nurses in.
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
They training nurse came in and I asked her when they usually send the doctor in for a check, she said not usually until the 3 hour mark, but I strongly suggested that the pressure was starting to get pretty intense and I think it might be wise to have the doctor come in and take a check. So I got to the bed.
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
I waited through a few contractions and the doctor finally came in to check me. Being checked through a contraction is something not high on my things I'd like to have done a lot!
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
After being checked (at
6:40PM) I was at 6cm, and although I was pretty shocked to hear that (I thought I'd be closer to 10), I went from 2 to 6 in 2.5 hours. But the doctor told the nurse that although I was a 6, he didn't expect it to be very long... then he left (What turned out to either deliver another baby or check another lady who delivered RIGHT after us... it was a BUSY BUSY day!!).
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
At this point my contractions are (from my past experiences) very close to giving me a baby! HA! They were different. They were moving her down with each one and I could feel it. She was going to be here soon! So 10 minutes went by and I needed to have Andrew call the nurse(s) back in to get the doctor to be checked again (or to make sure that it wasn't her head coming out! HA!) As they waited for the doctor to come back, The Mr. said they were just standing there along the wall with their arms crossed just telling me to breathe! I'm glad this was my 3rd baby! (I hate to say bad things during such a beautiful time, but the moments those nurses were in were tough. I'm glad it was mostly just The. Mr. and I getting through together, and then the doctor was WONDERFUL when he was around!)
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
6:50PM:
He came back in and I was an 8, but he told everyone to get everything ready, she'd be here shortly. THEN HE LEFT! HA!! Not sure what for, but all we know is that I was not the only one having a baby that night! HA! As he was checking me, the nurse that had been with me told me her shift was done and she was going home! HA! You could tell she didn't want to be there from the beginning and now I had my proof!
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
I was taken aback by the nurse leaving during such an intense time, but after she left I was SOO glad she did. This wonderful nurse came in and she was so wonderful and supportive! And I needed her there, as at this point my body was starting to push on its own. What is up with my body pushing when I'm not really ready to push?? She kept telling me to breathe, but unfortunately if I breathed I was going to be giving in to my body and I would have pushed her out! I fought not pushing for a long time!!! The doctor wasn't even in the room. It is impossible to describe the feeling of your body squeezing out a baby on it's own... you don't have much control over the pressure/sensation. It was beautiful in one regard, but also extremely painful to try to try to fight your body. I just wanted to give in and push her out. Even when the doctor came in, I thought I'd be able to push right away, but I was still only an 8. I had to wait through SEVERAL contractions without pushing to wait for my body to fully dilate! In between I remember apologizing for being so dramatic but that I just really needed/wanted to give in to what my body wanted.
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
FINALLY I was fully dilated! I was given the all clear to push. I barely started pushing and was told to stop pushing. Her head was out. He wanted to wait a bit before letting me push the rest of her out. He had me wait till my next contraction to finish pushing her out. But then she was here. All here!! She was born at
7:25 PM!! I sat up to see her, to make sure she was really a girl. To see how perfect she was. I couldn't wait for them to put her on my chest. I wanted to see her! She was PERFECT!! Her cry was so soft and gentle, but she cried which was so comforting to hear. I couldn't wait to hold her. The doctor waited a good while before letting The Mr. cut the umbilical cord.
But then, I got to hold her!!
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
I just couldn't believe how little she was! But she was soo incredibly perfect! I couldn't believe she was here! Even in the moment, I was so focused on her and in the moment, but at the same time, also really wishing that the boys were there able to see her right then.
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
Delivering the placenta was pretty quick and on my own terms, as I asked if I could push while I had another contraction. And the doctor said if I was ready I could.
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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(Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography)
The proud dad texting our families to share the good news that she was here with us already!! |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
I got to spend a pretty significant amount of time with her before they took her over to weigh and measure her!! I loved every minute if those first moments holding this wet, squishy, tiny, perfect little girl! It felt so surreal. I know she's our third and you'd think that it would feel different or usual... but it was anything but. I just couldn't get enough and it all seemed to new and... surreal for a lack of a better way to describe it!!
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
While they worked with her, I had a moment to myself just to take it all in and I was just so giddy!! This go round I got the shakes before she was born and not after, so I was just taking it all in and wanted to jump up and dance I was soo happy she was here. I just could not have imagined that she'd be here this early!
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
She was out tiny little thing, but I guess that's what you get when you come so early! 6lbs 2 oz and was measured at 20 inches long. The Mr. thought they did a pretty good job, but at her 2 day visit they measured here at 19 and again at 19.5 when they measured her again at the same appointment... so most likely was closer to 19 or 19.5 in... either way, still pretty long for being so little!
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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(Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography)
Such a PROUD daddy!! |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
Once I got her back, we started our breast feeding journey. It was a tougher start this go round than with the boys. She didn't have much interest AT ALL in sucking. We just kept at it and kept at it and kept at it. It wasn't until day 2 that she had a few decent feeds, and almost a week before she took any initiative in eating.
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
After everything was done, I went to the bathroom and got cleaned up and into a new gown then The Mr. got to roll Zella down to our recovery room and I had to be pushed in a wheel chair. I wanted to walk so badly, but they didn't want to let me! So, a ride it was. Once we got to our room, it was a little before 9pm and The Mr. finally left to go get food for me since I hadn't eaten ALLLLL day and I was STARVING!!!!!! He left and got me Chick-fil-a, and it had never tasted so good-even if it was cold because he was SOO excited that he spent a lot of time calling people to let know that our sweetie was already here!!! HAH! He came back and we ate dinner together around 11pm, then he took at quick "nap" and left around 2 am to go let our dog out and actually get some real sleep in a real bed. He came back around 10 am the next morning. Zella and I just spent a lot of one on one time, and it was so enjoyable! I loved every minute I got with her, even if I was exhausted and didn't sleep a wink! The nurse came in around 4am and took her to the nurses station with her and gave me 2 hours to sleep and that was GLORIOUS! HA! (she did that again the second night too, which was so wonderful!!). The nurses really only checked on me 3 times a day, which was so different than my past experiences, but was JUST what I needed. They of course were there when needed and we had our visits from the doctor, and the pediatrician and the hospital photographer, and the lactation consultant, and her hearing test...so it wasn't just complete peace, but SOO much better. We had no visitors and it just really allowed The Mr. and I lots of time to start the bonding process with her before we even got home!
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| (Photo by Mom365) |
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| (Photo by Mom365) |
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| (Photo by Mom365) |
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| (Photo by Mom365) |
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| (Photo by Mom365) |
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| (Photo by Mom365) |
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| (Photo by Mom365) |
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| (Photo by Mom365) |
July 2nd:
I got my discharge approved and all we had to do was wait for her 24 hour PKU test, which would finish too late so we had to stay a second night, which was a bummer for me... but oh well!
July 3rd:
I woke up and started packing our stuff as we were told it would probably be closer to 10 am, but the nurse came in in the morning and told me that as soon as we were ready we could head out! Had I known that I would have woken up earlier and told The Mr. to get back sooner, but it worked out well! I got breakfast one more time, got ready, The Mr. arrived, and we got Zella ready to go home! She wore the same coming home outfit as her brothers, and they were SWIMMING on her! We finally finished up, and I got a ride down in a wheel chair while The Mr. carried Zella in her car seat. We got into the car, and were on the road by 9:40 am! It was great to get home to our dog and to be back in our space where I had more room to move around again!
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| (Photo by Dana Lorentz Photography) |
After all was said and done, it was a very beautiful experience even if things didn't always go as planned... but out BEAUTIFUL Zella Ann joined our world and for that we give Thanks to God for her!!
