Since she is already almost a month old... I figure I better formally introduce her for all of you who aren't able to physically meet this precious little bundle of joy!
This is Madelaine "Lanie" Kate and she was born {unexpectedly} on Oct 3rd at 1:39am weighing in at 5lbs 6oz and 18 inches long.
The Arrival
After having been to the hospital at 34 weeks for monitoring after having contractions my OB did a fetal fibernectin test which came back negative indicating I would not go into labor in the next two weeks {ha!}. I was very uncomfortable for several nights and barely slept at all on the night of Oct 1st. I spent the morning at a MOPS meeting complaining about how uncomfortable I was getting {um yea... since it turns out I was in labor!}. Later at a friends house she convinced me to call my doctor if things got any more painful, so by the time my husband got home from work and my contractions were 4 minutes apart I decided that I needed to call the doctor. {I didn't want to call because just the week before he had told me I wouldn't go into labor in the next two weeks so I felt like a wuss complaining} My OB was unavailable but his office sent me to be monitored at the hospital "just in case." When we got there, they confirmed that I was in labor {wouldn't you know I was in the 5% of women for whom that fetal fibernectin test was inaccurate?!}. They gave me a couple of shots and some pills to stop my contractions, which only slowed them down for a few minutes before they continued building and it wasn't long before they realized they couldn't keep me from dilating and this baby was coming like it or not. I did not enjoy labor much :-P My contractions were very close together from the beginning and eventually they were right on top of one another with not much of a break. Because they were attempting to stop my labor, by the time they had given up, the anesthesiologist was gone and we had to wait for him to be called back, I was nearly fully dilated by the time I got my epidural which unfortunately was not as good as my epidural with Q and thus I could feel almost everything anyway.
When Lanie Kate was born, I was relieved to hear her cry and to see that she was bigger than Q had been. We were hoping that she wouldn't need as intensive care as he did, but unfortunately, being born at barely 35 weeks, her lungs hadn't produced enough surfactant to fully function properly so she had to be intubated which required a transfer to a NICU with a higher level of care than the hospital where she was born had.
NICU
I had to recover post-delivery alone, with no sweet baby to coo at. Husband was on duty watching over LK while I got sewn up and slept off the effects of the epidural. Eventually I was able to get up and go see her in the nursery and we found out she had to be transferred. Husband, who at this point hadn't slept all night and had barely slept the night before due to my uncomfortableness, followed the ambulance up to the new hospital where he stayed by her side in the NICU until I got released that evening and he came and got me. {Q was with our friends until my mom got into town to keep him}
At first, Lanie was on a ventilator, receiving medicine via IV, and in an incubator to help regulate her temperature. Within a day she was off the ventilator and on a nasal canula instead {progress}. She had to stay on antibiotics for a week because they had to finish the dose, which meant lots of IV site changes and needle pricks for our little girl. Within a few days she developed jaundice and spent a couple of days under bili lights to help lower her biliruben. Within a week she was off all medical interventions except for a feeding tube which helped supplement her meals because she wasn't strong enough to eat them all on her own yet. We spent another week in the hospital while she was "learning to eat" her full meals.
Meeting Quinn
The day before she got to come home, Lanie got to meet her brother Quinn. My mom brought him up to the hospital to visit and at that point she was doing well enough to leave the nursery and come to the room where I was boarding for a little while. Quinn was great with her; so gentle and loving. We didn't know then that the next day we would get to bring her home!
Home
After 24 hours of eating all her meals on her own and gaining weight, Lanie was ready to come home! We were so delighted to have our family reunited after 15 days in the hospital. I was blessed to be able to board at the hospital so I could feed her and spend time with her. Hubby had the tough job of going back and forth because he couldn't miss school indefinitely. Everyone was much happier once we were all under the same roof again!
Meet Lanie Kate!
Lanie is just the sweetest baby imaginable. She has the sweetest temperament and rarely cries. She eats roughly every 3-4 hours and after each feeding she is generally wide awake and smiling. She seems to be very perceptive because she will smile at appropriate times as if she senses when something is funny. She can definitely read me like a book and picks up on if I am stressed or frustrated and will mirror my emotions. She loves to be held and cuddled, especially in the middle of the night... haha! She does well in public and crowds but we have learned to be careful not to overstimulate her as she won't go to sleep for hours if she gets too stimulated. Keeping her in the ergo carrier in public works well not to over stimulate her as well as fulfills her snuggling desires :-)
Life as a family of 4
Lanie has fit right into our family so seamlessly that we still feel like we are holding our breath waiting for it to get difficult. We've been able to pretty much pick right back up with our family's usual activities like small group, church, and get togethers with friends. I've managed to figure out how to go about my usual routine of taking care of Q, walking the dogs, grocery shopping, laundry, cooking, cleaning, and seeing friends while still fitting in her feedings and such. Quinn so far has been an exemplary big brother, not showing signs of jealousy and being a very patient helper when mommy is busy with the new baby. When I put him in the car first before getting her, he will remind me "Lanie! Lanie!" just in case I might forget her I suppose :-P And if she ever fusses he will tell me she needs her "Paci! Paci!"
Life is certainly busier with two little ones. I often feel like my whole day consists of feeding one, or the other, or trying to get a bite of food in my own mouth! But we just feel so blessed to have two precious, amazing little ones as part of our family!
*I am sad to admit that I haven't actually taken any "real" pictures of her with our nice camera... only iphone pictures, since that is the easiest thing to grab. She has had professional newborn pictures done that we look forward to getting back soon.
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