Home at Last!

We finally made it home yesterday (Fri. July 27) after being in the hospital since Monday (July 23). Four nights in a hospital with minimal sleep is rough. However, finally meeting our baby girl made the hospital stay tolerable. She is beautiful and we love her to death!

It started on Monday when we went to the hospital at 2:00 p.m. so that Aubree could have a balloon put in to help get the labor started. The balloon caused cramping but the cramping didn't last for too long. That night Aubree and I hardly slept because we were so excited (and it's difficult to sleep in a hospital). The nurses woke Aubree up at 4:00 a.m. on Tues morning so that she could take a shower before they started the medicine that would make the contractions really start. The nurses started the medicine at 5:00 a.m. The contractions started but they weren't too bad (by the way, I keep saying that this stuff wasn't that bad but bear in mind that this is merely my perspective and Aubree would probably say I have no idea what they were like). Anyways, at 8:00 a.m Dr. Micus came and broke Aubree's water. Due to the balloon and the medicine she was already at a 4. Everything looked really good. Dr. Micus said that Aubree could have an epidural whenever she was ready. After her water was broke, the contractions started getting really bad. Aubree was in a lot of pain and she decided that she was ready for the epidural. Aubree was nervous about getting the epidural but the pain was so bad that she was ready to do whatever it took to get the pain to stop. After the epidural she felt much better. Apparently the anesthesiologist is a favorite among the laboring mothers since he takes their pain away and Aubree was no exception. She gratefully thanked him for the medicine. Our parents (Papa, Nana, Oma, and Oupa) were able to come in and visit for a little while. We watched a movie and talked as the contractions continued without Aubree feeling them. She progressed to a 5 sometime in the afternoon. Later she made it to a 6 but she was progressing much slower. At 7:00 p.m. Dr. Micus told us that Aubree was still at a 6 and that she was probably going to have to do a c-section. She said that she would wait a couple of hours longer to see if Aubree would progress farther but she didn't think waiting would help. Aubree did not want a c-section but it seemed she had no choice. So, she decided to not wait any longer and to go ahead with the c-section. To make matters worse her epidural started to wear off and she could feel the contractions again. Aubree said it was the worst pain ever. She couldn't get anymore medicine until they got her in the operating room. I came to the operating room after they got Aubree ready and sat with her as they did the operation. At this point I must say to those of you betting against me that I did not pass out during the epidural or during the c-section. Jayda was born at 8:00 p.m. on the dot on July 24 of 2007.

When she came out she was making noises but not really crying. I was able to walk over and see her and she looked very pretty. We knew something was wrong when they said they had to take her to the nursery instead of bringing her to Aubree so that she could see. They said that she was having trouble breathing. I stayed with Aubree as they finished sewing her back up. Afterwards I went to see Jayda in the nursery. They put Jayda under a bubble to help her breathe. Since Aubree had yet to see Jayda, I took a picture to show Aubree. Aubree was moved to a room for the night and Jayda had to stay in the nursery. The on-call pediatrician came to see Jayda. They ran many different tests to make sure everything was alright. During the night they slowly turned down the oxygen to see how she would do on her own. She responded well and sometime early in the morning on Wed. they turned the oxygen completely off. I spent this night going back and forth between Aubree's room and the nursery to check on Jayda. This was a very scary night spent praying that everything was going to be alright.

By the morning Jayda was off the oxygen and all the tests had come back positive. The nurses thought she should be able to come to our room soon, however, they had to wait on our pediatrician's approval. On Wed. morning about 9:00 Aubree was able to go down to the nursery to see Jayda for the first time (other than the pictures and videos that I had been bringing to her). Around lunch time on Wed. our pediatrician checked Jayda out and cleared her to come to our room. We were very excited to finally have her with us. Jayda still had to get antibiotics through an IV every so often. Both Aubree and Jayda were getting checked out all the time.

Getting a baby to breast feed doesn't sound like it would be a hard thing to do. Unfortunately, it is more difficult than it sounds at least at first. Most of Wed. afternoon and night were spent trying to get her to eat. Wed. night was much better having both Aubree and Jayda in the room. Once again we got little sleep but at least this time we had our little girl with us. Thurs afternoon we finally got the whole breast feeding thing working. Ever since then Jayda has been going to town. Thurs. also offered some memorable first time diaper experiences that we will never forget. Thurs. we also found out that Jayda had a mild case of jaundice. They told us that so long as it didn't get any worse the jaundice was not a problem and was common in many babies. Thurs. in the middle of the night (about 2:00 am - so I guess technically Fri. morning) Jayda's IV where they were giving her antibiotics came out and we were told they were going to have to put a new one in. Thankfully, they decided that she didn't really need anymore antibiotics and were going to wait until the morning to see if it was alright with the doctor to leave it out. Aubree and I both felt so bad that the poor girl had so many tests, IVs, etc.

Friday the pediatrician came by and said that Jayda was looking really good and that she could go home. Dr. Micus also cleared Aubree to go home. I was so happy not to have to spend another night in a cramped hospital room trying to sleep on a fold out chair with a mattress that was made in the 1970's (the mattress literally felt so bad that I contemplated sleeping on the floor instead).

Friday afternoon we packed our room to go home. We had accumulated a lot more than I thought in a 4 day period, not to mention a new baby. Anyways, Jayda cried when we put her in her car seat but enjoyed the car ride home. Aubree sat in the back with her to keep her company on the ride home. We finally made it home Friday around 1:00 p.m. It was very nice to be home. Since then we have been adjusted to trying to catch up on sleep and adjusting to life as a 3 person two dog family.

More posts to come on life with a newborn.

-Jacob