Birth Story and first update

I am sorry to take so long to post this but you can imagine how crazy things have been since Brooklyn's birth.

Saturday, September 26
I had been having contractions the previous night (not terribly painful) but they died down once I was able to sleep. On Saturday morning, the started back up again (but again, were very tolerable). At 9am, they started my NST and though some of my contractions were showing up on the monitor, most were not. We assumed that they were just "Braxton Hicks" and didn't think any more about it. By late afternoon, the contractions were becoming a bit more regular and a few began to feel crampy. They decided to put me back on the monitor to see what was happening but once again most of the contractions weren't showing up on the monitor.

The on-call doctor, Dr. Wotherspoon, decided to do an internal just to see if the contractions were doing anything but I was still at a 2 - the same that I was when I was put on hospital bedrest a week and a half prior. She decided that the contractions weren't anything to worry about but went ahead and transferred me to L&D for observation because my abdomen was tender to the touch - a possible sign of infection. This would have been about 6pm. My best friend, Krista, had come up to see me earlier and offered to take the girls for the afternoon so that Paul could be with me for a couple of hours. Paul arrived right as they were transferring me back to L&D.

For the next hour, my contractions all but disappeared. I could feel some tightening but nothing showed on the monitor and nothing was crampy or painful. Around 7:50pm, my contractions began picking up again and started to feel very much like real labor pains. However, even though they'd moved my monitor several times to see if they could pick up the contractions, most weren't showing so we were just "waiting" to see if I was in labor. My contractions continued to worsen and by 8:30pm, I was in agony. I called for my nurse (who was wonderful) and asked if there was anything they could do. I had the option of tylenol or percoset because labor had yet to be confirmed. I chose the percoset - which did absolutely nothing. Within a few minutes, I was feeling like the contractions were coming one right on top of the other. I began getting frustrated and called my nurse back in to ask her what they could do. Dr. Scarrow, the attending OB, ordered a blood draw to check for infection and an IV to start Stadol to help me rest, since the percoset did nothing. What I really wanted was an Epidural but that would have to wait until the IV was started and Elizabeth had checked my cervix to see how far (if at all) I was dilating. Keep in mind - labor had yet to be established. Elizabeth started placing the IV and drawing the vial of blood before securing it. (IVs are NOT easy to sit still for when you're having contractions.) In the middle of the blood drawn, I felt a tremendous amount of pressure and lifted my rear end off the bed. To my shock and amazement, out came Brooklyn. There was no doctor present, no labor established and I was still wearing those gorgeous hospital issue net panties.

Paul, Elizabeth and I were stunned for a few seconds and then the room went crazy. Elizabeth yanked the call light right out of the wall in hopes of getting someone's attention and then had Paul yell down the hall for help. The room became a scene of chaos. A nurse began rubbing Brooklyn with a towel to (I'm assuming) clean her off and stimulate her. She was breathing well and even let out a precious cry. Such a relief to Paul and I. As Paul and I sat there and just stared at her in amazement, the nurses scrambled to find the necessary equipment to clamp and cut the cord and get Brooklyn transferred to a warmer and the NICU. There was no warmer in the room due to lack of confirmation of labor. For the first time ever, I felt energized, rather than exhausted, after labor.

Dr. Scarrow came in to deliver the placenta (I know, TMI) and check to make sure that I was doing alright. She had to be pulled out of a C-Section in order to do this. Elizabeth cleaned me up and we waited for the NICU to stabilize Brooklyn so that we could go see her and then be transferred back to my room on the floor. Elizabeth wheeled me into the NICU a short time later and Paul & I spent a good 15 minutes just staring at our precious little one. I ached to hold her but because she had been intubated, that would have to wait. We went on back to my room and I finished getting cleaned up and had my first meal since breakfast. It was now after 11pm. Paul made himself comfy on the recliner and I climbed into bed to try to get some sleep. While sleep came quickly for Paul, I felt wired. I could not stop thinking about Brooklyn and decided that, at midnight, I would go to see her in the NICU. I spent the next 3 hours by her bedside, just watching her sleep and asking her nurse a million questions about what they were doing as far as monitoring, what to expect in the coming days/weeks, etc. At around 3:30pm, I headed back to the room to get some sleep.

September 28
By 11am the following morning, Brooklyn was given her second round of surfactant (to help open her lungs) and taken off of oxygen. Two hours later, she was taken off of the ventilator. At that time she was transferred to a normal incubator and moved from the isolation room to row 1. By Monday she was started on photo therapy (billirubin was high) and began feedings every 3 hours by stomach tube. Monday evening at her 7 o'clock vitals, Paul and I were able to hold her for the first time. She was SO tiny and so perfect.


Discharge & Status Update
Monday was very challenging for me because, though she was doing so well, I was being discharged and the thought of leaving her in the NICU and going home where I could only see her 1-2 times a day was torturous. I bawled all over Becky and Paul but pulled myself together long enough to pack everything up and head home. It was actually relieving to be home after nearly 2 weeks on hospital bedrest.

Since then, I've made a routine of going in at least once in the evening at her 7pm vitals/feeding. Born at 3 lbs 12 oz., she was down to 3 lbs 9 oz. by Tuesday night. Up until last night, her billirubin count had gone up a little each day as well. Yesterday evening, I went in to do our "skin-to-skin" where I am able to hold Brooklyn against my bare chest and really snuggle with her. (This has been a blessing for my milk supply.) I pumped after our cuddle time was over but decided to remain at her bedside until her next vitals/feeding time so that I could see how much she weighed (they weigh her every 24 hours, during the night shift). As a side note, when I arrived at the NICU at 7pm, I thought I recognized her nurse. After talking with her a little bit and going back through Raegan's pictures from birth, I realized that Kara, her nurse, was also Raegan's NICU nurse after she was born. How neat is that? Especially with over 150 NICU nurses on staff!

Anyway, back to Brooklyn. At her 10 o'clock feeding, Kara weighed her and she'd gained 2 grams! Definitely an improvement over the 4 ounces she lost in the past 4 days! Her billirubin count had dropped 1 point from the day before and she even made a concerted effort to take her pacifier again. I am so proud of how well she has done so far! The cultures that were taken when she was born have all come back negative. Yesterday they did a lumbar puncture to check for infection in her spinal fluid and that culture takes 72 hours for results. God-willing, those cultures will come back negative as well. Because of my membranes breaking a 11 days before her birth, they are still giving her antibiotics as a precautionary measure.

Her feedings have gone from 3 or 4 milliliters on Monday to 15 milliliters as of 1am this morning. That is half an ounce!! Not bad for such a tiny squirt! The fact that they are increasing her feedings so quickly is a wonderful sign! As is the fact that she no longer has to be continuously monitored as far as body temperature is concerned and they only have to check her blood pressure every 6 hours instead of every 3.

As often as is possible, I will try to post her daily stats (feeding intake, weight, etc.). It may just be a one or two line update but I will do my best to keep everyone in the loop as to her progress. God-willing, we will be able to take her home long before her due date of November 25th! Please keep your prayers coming!