Laughter is good for the soul

How Eleanor feels about being under the billirubin light (phototherapy for jaundice) WHICH, great news, she hasn't had to be back under in almost a week! Tanning bed life is so last week. ;)

Peaks and Valleys

We are learning a lot about Peaks and Valleys here in the NICU. We've had hard days and great days. Days when we can't stop crying and days when all we can do is smile. My sister in law, Becca shared a sweet song with me that I turn to a lot these days. I thought I'd share it with ya'll too.

Hills and Valleys  Click and listen. It's so good. 

Two weeks in a nutshell.

So that I can catch everyone up and start blogging more up to date, I'm going to try and fill everyone in, in one post on what has happened the past two weeks, but summarize it the best I can, I'm leaving out lots of little details, so these are more big picture bullet points but I want to get up to date. So let's see, in the past two weeks Eleanor has:

• Made her appearance in the world weight 3lbs 11oz. 16 inches long. at 12:50 on September 16, 2017. A little over two months early
• She was hooked up to a CPAP bubble machine (basically helps her breathe), a feeding tube, IV's, heart rate monitors, oxygen monitors, lots of warm blankets and a cute yellow and white stripped hat.
• Everyday she has been given more and more breast milk. She is currently up to about an ounce of my milk, which I have to say I'm so lucky that that has gone well for me, it's something I can provide to our sweet girl.
• She has gotten lots of kangaroo time (when ben and I get to hold her skin to skin) it's great for their weight gain, helps them have a more stable heartbeat and breathing pattern, helps them regulate their body temperature and comforts both Eleanor and us. It's a stress reducer for us and certainly lifts our spirits when we can hold our girl.
• She was slowly weened off the CPAP machine and now just has a small tube in her nose to help with oxygen flow. 
• She is getting fortification in her milk. Basically a way to give her extra calories to help her grow. Think of it like a protein shake for babies :)
• She is peeing and pooping and loves to save the big diapers for her daddy, who, I must say is becoming a pro at diaper change time (And he loves doing it too)
• She dropped in weight which is normal for any newborn, but has since brought her weight up to 3lbs 12 oz. Grow baby grow!
• She had a few set backs with eating, lots of spitting up and not tolerating the fortifying of milk, but we have since adjusted that and she seems to be doing well again
• Ben and I have begun to learn what every beep and alarm that goes off means and we are quick to fix the issues. 
• She is still learning how to control her breathing, which is common in preemies. They have a hard time regulating their breaths, which is stressful to mom and dad, but from what the doctors say, it's super common and comes with time. 
• We love doing her care time with her. Care time consists of diaper changes, temperature, feeding, hand hugs and seeing her awake. We know she can't quite see us now (she just sees shadows) but when she looks our way we both lose it every. single. time. 
• She is becoming more alert each day and that makes it all the harder to leave at night but we know she is in good hands
• She recently has been able to start wearing preemie onesies. Putting an outfit on her for the first time was the best. thing. ever.
• We got to do our first bath with her the other night. That was so special. It was a sponge bath, but a bath none the less.
• She likes to sleep on her tummy. She is content as can be. Only cries here and there. Fingers crossed she stays that way when she comes home!!

Overall, Eleanor is making the right steps to growing. We know not every day is going to be highs and have been told by the nurses that it's a roller coaster ride in the NICU. There are peaks and valleys and that's just part of #preemielife. 

We are in love with our nurses and doctors. People who have been in the NICU before say they are angels and they are SO right. We leave every night knowing our girl is taken care of, but most importantly, loved and loved hard.

In another post, I'll talk about NICU life so far, but I think this is a good start to our little blog. It's a way for y'all to keep updated and a way for us to look back after she's home and well and reflect on this time in our lives.

We can't thank everyone enough for all the love and support. We have such a village around us and trust us, we feel it each and every day. Keep the love coming. 

Eleanor says thanks for all the love. She feels it too.

Our Journey so far...

These past two weeks have been nothing but a whirlwind of emotions. We welcomed our baby girl, Eleanor Mae a little over 2 months early on September 16, 2017. While we weren't expecting it at all, we are over the moon that she is here and we got to meet her before we planned. I wanted to start a blog to be able to look back on when she is home safe and sound as a way to document the peaks and valleys of life in the NICU. I thought this could be a way for family and friends to stay up to date and a way for me to release a lot of thoughts and feelings I have had so far in this journey.

I'll start from the beginning and try and do a "long story short" to catch everyone up to where we are today. From here I'll try and update every couple days what is going on in Eleanor's world. Please know I am going to try and document everything, so if there are some parts that are too much, my apologies. This is for Ben and I to look back on and reflect. 

It all started on Thursday morning September 14. I woke up around 5 am to a small amount of blood. I went downstairs to where Ben was asleep in the guest room (thanks to my pregnancy snoring and lack of comfort at that point) and barged in to wake him. At that point, I wasn't too scared, but I didn't feel like something was right. I called the Doc on call and they said lay low and come in early for your regular appointment this morning. We waited until 8 and went in to the doctors office where they checked everything out, monitored the heartbeat and her movement, couldn't really find anything concerning, so they said to head home, rest and if anything changes, call.

The rest of the day I spent in bed, sleeping, watching tv and trying to keep things low key. All seemed to be fine until that night when again, I found a small amount of blood. I called the doc on call, Dr. Yoon and he said go ahead and come on to Wake Med and we will see what's going on. 

We tried to be calm, but heading out to the hospital in hopes all was well. We arrived to Wake Med around 10:30 that night and were taken right up to labor and delivery triage, where we would try and figure out what is going on. Once again, we did a check on baby and heartbeat and movement were great. We did an ultrasound and couldn't seem to find out where the bleeding was coming from. Better safe than sorry, Dr. Yoon decided it might be best to get admitted to where we can then be monitored for a few days to make sure everything is ok. I got two steroid shots during that time, just in case she decided to come early to help with her lung development.

We settled in to get some sleep and woke up Friday morning to not much going on. We spent the day Friday enjoying the lovely hospital food, HGTV and quality time together. Friday was uneventful and there was talk from the Doctors that we should be discharged in the morning pending no more blood.

Fast forward to 5am. I awoke to what seemed like a murder scene of blood. It was every where. I tried not to panic and called in the nurse. She called the doctor right away and sat me back down to check for Eleanor's heartbeat. Praise the Lord it was there and Eleanor was calm. I was immediately  taken to labor and delivery where I was closely monitored. I started have contractions and major back pain. A few hours later it wasn't getting any better, so we had the doctor come in and check on things. She did an ultrasound and found some bleeding starting in my placenta (sorry I told you it would be kind of tmi) but I wasn't having much more bleeding from the outside. She decided to do a quick exam and found the reason I wasn't bleeding much more is because I had a softball sized clot inside. My placenta had abrubted. Immediately following that she said, "Katie and Ben, you're going to have a baby today." My response was, "when?" she said, "now". At that moment, a flood of staff came in to prepare me for an emergency c-section.

I can't even begin to tell you the thoughts that I had in that moment. It was a mix of feeling scared, excited, overwhelmed, and most importantly I want Eleanor to be ok. My sweet sister in law, Becca came over and we all placed our hands on my stomach and she said the sweetest prayer over our family and our girl. My nurse calmly got us to take some deep breaths and sweet Ben got dressed and ready to go in to the operating room with me to meet our sweet girl.

The whole procedure is kind of a blur, but I can tell you the moment they pulled sweet Eleanor out of my belly and we heard her cry was the best thing in the entire world. Ben and I looked and eachother and lost it, and in that moment we knew we were in for a long journey, but she was here, she was healthy and ok and we finally got to meet our sweet baby girl. I didn't get to see her right away, luckily Ben got to follow her and snap some pictures, but I had to be taken care of in the OR. After a few hours of recovery, the nurses hooked us up and took my giant hospital bed into the NICU where I got to hold our girl for the first time. It was a moment I will treasure forever.

The journey was just beginning....