Our Little One

Needless to say the past few weeks have been unexpectedly eventful!  I am going to try to summarize what has happened….   I will do this in two sections… the first telling about how our little one joined us in the world and then a shorter section simply telling what has happened since her arrival. 

~ Scroll down to the bottom if you just want to see pictures!

ENTERING THE WORLD WE LIVE IN

On Saturday, February 19^th, Jon and I left our house around 8:00 AM to attend a birthing class at the Women’s Hospital in Grensboro. The class began at 9:00 AM with a discussion of what you do not want to see happen before 37 weeks of pregnancy.  One of the topics we discussed was what it looked like when one’s water breaks…

Well, low and behold, at 9:30 AM I felt an odd kind of “pop” inside of me and went to investigate… It did not take us long to realize what we thought had just happened.  At this point we were not sure exactly what to do.  I was 35 weeks to the day and my water had just broken while sitting in a birthing class at the Women’s Hospital.  Now, most people would probably think that is a wonderful location for one’s water to break, but for us it was not.

All throughout the pregnancy Jon and I had been traveling back and forth to Chapel Hill NC for my prenatal checkups.  This is about an hour and 20 minutes from our home but it is also the location of the only free standing birthing center in North Carolina; this was where we wanted to have our baby, not at the hospital in Greensboro. 

So, we called the Birthing Center midwife and explained what had just happened.  I told her that I thought my water had broken but at the same time I felt completely normal and was not having any contractions yet.  She told us to go ahead and come to the birthing center so we could check out what was going on. 

We explained to her that we were currently 30 minutes away from our home and did not have anything with us.  She said we probably had time to go home first but to move with purpose.  At this point I got in the car and Jon went back into the hospital to grab all of our stuff.  He told the class instructor that something had come up and that we needed to go… and off we went.

It took us about 35 minutes to get home.  By the time we arrived it was obvious that my water had broken and that we were soon going to have a baby. I called the midwife again and she told us to just meet her at the hospital in Chapel Hill instead of the birthing center (all birthing center babies born before 37 weeks are born at the hospital that works alongside the birthing center).

Jon and I quickly packed a bag, grabbed the car seat and began our drive to Chapel Hill.  We stopped for lunch at Chick-fil-A on the way and arrived at the hospital around 1:00.  I was having a few contractions at this time but nothing major.  My midwife warned me that they might have to induce me, but that we would check and see.

As of 1:30 I was 3 centimeters dilated and still only having contractions randomly.  Soon my contractions to start coming more consistently so they did not have to induce labor!  All of my contractionswere all in my back… I never once felt a contraction in my stomach.  Because the back labor was so intense I had to be up walking around to deal with the pain.  The pain honestly was not that bad when I could be up and moving around but it became unbearable if I tried to sit or lay down. 

 If our little one had not come as quickly as she did I may not have been able to have a completely natural birth without the aid of pain relief.  Not because of the contractions, but because I was quickly becoming too tired to walk around and when I had to lie down then the pain was horrible.  However, by 5:50 OM our little girl was a part of this world! 

Even though our daughter was born in a hospital, the only people in the room were my midwife and a nurse.  The entire labor and birth process worked exactly the same as it would have if we were in the birthing center, the only difference was location.  As soon as our daughter was born, the NICU team looked her over and gave us the “thumbs up” to be able to keep her with us!  No nursery or NICU for our little one!

A GLANCE AT THE PAST TWO WEEKS

Saturday, Feb 19 – Our little girl was born at 5:50 PM. 5 lbs 7 oz and 18 inches long

Sunday – You would think that one would be able to rest in the hospital but that is far from true!  Sunday began our journey of several days of around the clock craziness with dr’s and nurses in and out of the room constantly.  We still had not decided on names at the time of our daughter’s birth… she received her name today, Abionah Grace Forrest.

Monday – Like most babies, Abionah had to fight jaundice…. Since she was 5 weeks early her case was a little stronger.  Her bilirubin levels were a little high so they put her on a bili blanket Monday night to help break up the bilirubin in her body (the waste product that causes jaundice). 

She looked like a little glow worm 

Tuesday – The bili blanket had not helped enough so on Tuesday afternoon we put Abi under bili lights (like a tanning bed) to help break up her bilirubin.  Abi had to wear little foam goggles to protect her eyes, but she kept pulling them off. This was a LONG night as one of us had to watch her constantly to make sure her eyes were not exposed to the light.

  

Batman's new sidekick!  

Wednesday – Abionah was taken off the bili light in the late morning (her bili levels had come down to 7.6).  We were discharged in the early afternoon.  She weighed 4 lbs 12 oz at this time.  We arrived home around dinner time.  We were very glad to finally be out of the hospital!

Thursday – Abi had her first pediatrician appointment; her weight had continued to drop over night (most likely as a result of the jaundice which makes her sleep and thus makes nursing hard).  She now weighed 4 lbs 8 oz.

Friday – A second pediatrician appointment; Abi’s weight was back to 4 lbs 9 oz! 

Saturday – A good friend of ours, Sharlene Ferren, who is a nurse and mother of three, came to help us over the weekend.  This was a huge blessing as Abi was 5 weeks early and I had lots of questions!  It was great to have a nurse around the house!

Sunday – We have been told to keep Abi away from people as much as possible.  Flu and RSV are particularly bad this year and since Abi is premature her immune system is even less developed than a full term baby.  Our pediatrician said to try to keep her away from people as much as possible until the end of April!  This is difficult for us as Abi is a huge part of our life now and we want to share her with people!  Yet at the same time we know it is what’s best for our little girl. So, Jon went to church while Abi and I stayed home. 

Monday – Third pediatrician appointment; Abi had maintained her weight over the weekend but her biliburin levels were back up to 13.8

Tuesday – Abi spent several hours sleeping in the sun today to help break up the bilirubin in her body.  Fourth Pediatrician appointment – Abi’s weight was still 4.9 but her bili levels had begun to go down and were now 12.6!  What a blessing!

Wednesday – Abi was looking sooooo much better today!  The jaundice makes a babies skin a yellow color and Abi’s color was finally beginning to look a little more “normal”.  As her jaundice went down she started to become a different child!  She became much more alert and was actually awake during nursing… though she still sleeps almost all the time.

Thursday – We checked Abi’s weight again; she finally started to gain weight!  She was 4 lbs 10.5 oz.   What a blessing!

Friday – Today, is finally a day at home… we are looking forward to sharing the weekend as a family!  We will check Abi’s weight again on Monday. 

Here are some pictures of Abionah Grace.  Hope you enjoy them!!

Getting ready to come home!

She is almost too small for the car seat.
What looks like a blanket covering her is actually a burp cloth...

She loves having her hands by her face!

Abi is currently the same size as the Bible...

Sleeping in her daddy's arms

After her first bath at home

Jon's school ID is a "normal" name tag size.
This gives you idea of how small she is!

You can't tell, but she is wrapped up inside of there!