A Letter: One Month (1 month actual, 38 weeks adjusted)

19 days old

Dear Bug,

One month old already! As cliche as it may sound, where on earth has the time gone? It feels like we've known you forever but at the same time, it also feels like yesterday you were kicking away in my belly...

34 weeks, 1 day. Baby D's birthday.

After the drama in utero, you made your grand entrance on Thursday, February 23rd - the same birthday as your Aunt Missy and cousin Bethany. And what an entrance it was! After things got rolling, it was only three hours before we met you. You entered this big, wide world screaming at 6:37pm (thankfully the screaming has since been minimal.) Already an over-achiever, you broke records in the NICU for a 34-weeker; you barely needed any assistance breathing, and what you did need was only because they were messing with you. And honestly, who wouldn't get upset being poked and prodded after being kicked out of a nice, warm swimming pool? By 4am, you were breathing on your own and never looked back.

Just born. 4 lbs, 15.4 oz.

One day old.

One day old

Snuggling.

The majority of your NICU stay was focused on lowering your bili levels, teaching you to eat, and snuggling with Mommy and Daddy. At first you seemed to like sunbathing a whole lot more than eating but once you figured out that Mommy = Food, you were a little piglet. On Friday, March 9th, you ripped out your feeding tube for the last time. Over the next 48 hours, you took all of your feeds by mouth (alternating bottle and nursing) and on Sunday you were discharged! Apparently, you were done with the hospital and I don't blame you - we were too! And again with the record-breaking: 19 days in the NICU for a 34-weeker is amazing. You, my sweet Lily-bug, are simply amazing.

Sunbathing

One week old, sleeping in Mommy's baby hat

I got this.

First bath by Mommy and Daddy

Going home! 5 lbs, 2 oz.

It's been two and half weeks since we brought you home and we're slowly adjusting into a nice rhythm of eat (every 3-4 hours, although sometimes you cluster feed), sleep (max record: 3 hours) and snuggle (no time limits there.) Being a "late-term preemie" has its own set of challenges, one of them being that we still have to wake you up to eat every four hours. No sleeping through the night for you, even if you wanted to! In reality, you never let us go that long; you know when it's time to eat, that's for sure.

The first week home was a little rough; no one warned me how noisy babies are! Each little grunt would have me shooting out of bed to make sure you weren't choking (and you grunt A LOT.) After we realized all of that grunting was normal newborn noisiness, your Daddy deemed you "gruntosaurus." We also call you Lily-bug, Bug, Fuss-pot, Fussy-butt, Piglet, little Nugget, sweet Lily, sweet baby, baby-girl, and Lily-bean. Not to mention that your Aunt Brittany has started calling you Tiger Lily. I sure hope someday you realize what your name really is...

Mommy and Bug, two and a half weeks old

Despite the large amounts of grunting, you really are a very, very easy baby. You don't get mad too often and when you do get fussy, you're quick to calm down. The only time you really get upset is when your diaper is dirty or you've decided it's time to eat and we're not fast enough getting you food! You even took your first shot like a champ. One big wail, then I picked you up and you were fine. Such a brave little Bug.

I love watching you - you make the funniest faces! It might be overkill, but there may or may not be over 300 pictures of you in my phone already... par for the course with a photographer for a Mom I guess. It's amazing to watch you learn and grow; you already have great head control and are tracking Mommy and Daddy's voices. And every day you do something new. Just yesterday you smiled your first non-gas induced smile! You little over-achiever, you - it was the cutest thing ever.

First "social" smile

I could just stare at you for hours; in fact, some days I do just that. We end up spending large amounts of our days snuggling. I realize this is probably the only time in your life that I'll be your number one priority, so I'll soak up all the staring and snuggling while I can!

Sad face

Yawn!

Are you afraid of the dark?

So sweet.

So small! Bug with Gramps' hand.

Fishie face

Little Bug, we're so happy you're here and part of our little family. Izzy and Reef are too, but Reef especially. Every day he gives you kisses and looks at me like, "When is she going to be big enough to play?"

First family outing

This weekend we will embark on your first big roadie. I'm a little nervous of over-stimulating you, my little preemie, but it's something you will have to get used to because Mommy and Daddy love to travel. You will get to see your Uncle JC, who is oh-so-excited to meet you, and your great-aunts are throwing you a shower! We are also going to introduce you to your new best buddy, Atticus. I guess if you start getting stressed out, we can always snuggle. After all, it is the cure for such things.

After only a month of leap-frogging everyone's expectations, each day you continue to show us a little more of your personality. I can't wait to meet more of you, my little Bug.

Love always,
Your Momma

One month stats (as of March 28th)...
Weight: 6 pounds, 4 ounces
Height: 19.5 inches
Head Circumference: 14 inches
Diaper Size: Preemie
Clothing Size: Some preemie, swimming in Newborns

First month milestones...
Discharged from the NICU: March 11th
First lunch: March 22nd, Nimbus Brewing
First family outing: March 24th, Sam Hughes Championship Dining to meet Aunt Christi, Uncle Ed and Cousin Nikki
First smile: March 27th

19 days old

19 days old

It's a GIRL! 34 weeks - Birth Story

On February 23rd, 2012 at 6:37pm, Mike+Dianne welcomed their daughter, Lily Kiyo, to this big, wide world.


Baby's Name: Lily Kiyo
Due Date: April 5th
Birth Date: February 23rd
Gestational Age: 34 weeks, 1 day
Weight: 4 pounds, 15.4 ounces
Length: 18 inches

As many of you are already aware, I've been in the hospital for the past four weeks due to PPROM. A short summary: I went into pre-term labor twice. At 26 weeks, I was hospitalized for three days then sent home on partial bed rest with a prescription for Nifedipine. At 30 weeks, they were able to stop labor again but my water broke and I was hospitalized on strict bed rest for the duration of my pregnancy - either I would go on my own or we'd try to get Baby D to 34 weeks. Well, we made it! My induction was scheduled for the morning of February 23rd.

I was wheeled downstairs to L&D at 7:30 where they started my IV fluids and antibiotics. After getting checked (4cm, 80% effaced to start!), the pitocin was started around 8:30 and we just sat and waited. And waited. And waited some more. As Mike said, it was like watching water boil! To pass the time, we each took a quick nap, played Words with Friends, listened to music and chatted with my nurse. The nurse increased the pitocin every twenty minutes or so, and as the contractions increased, I was having more back labor than anything else. They were very regular, but easy to breathe through. I was able to move around as long as they could keep bebe on the monitor, so I stood and rocked, sat on the birthing ball and used a rocking chair. The best relief definitely came from standing, leaning forward and having Mike put pressure on my back. But also, surprisingly, the rocking chair. My nurse brought me hot packs and I was able to use the chair as pressure to keep the heat on my back. Much more effective than Mike trying to hold it there while I danced! Plus I could rock and count through the tougher contractions. 

Throughout the morning, the contractions were very manageable - they felt exactly like what I'd experienced before with the pre-term labor, nothing worse with the pitocin. At 3, my doctor came in to check me and I'd only dilated to 5 and wasn't really feeling any worse (as she said, "We need pain!"), so she broke the forebag of water in front of bebe's head. Holy crap. Within ten minutes, I was still at a 5 but 100% effaced and feeling every little bit of it. Baby Girl had DROPPED and wasn't messing around! I kept insisting to my nurse that I had to go to the bathroom, and after she checked me, I was no longer allowed to get up because "You don't have 34 weekers in the toilet. That's your baby's head." Ooohkay then!

The pressure was very intense; the contractions went from 0-60 and were right on top of each other. Despite the pain, I was able to breathe through them by counting and visualizing the last mile of some of the races I've ran. Mike kept cool washclothes on my neck and eyes, and I squeezed his poor fingers through each one. At 4:30, I was writhing in pain. The pressure was SO intense, I asked her to check me again and if we hadn't made progress, I was giving in. I was only a 6 and the anesthesiologist was called. He put in the epi shortly before 5, but not without commentary on how hard I was to poke. Thanks, dude, I'm trying to sit really still here while having contractions and you find the need to tell me my spine is difficult to poke with a large needle?! Because I was so far along, they did a bolus to get it started and... it didn't work. After a few more minutes, I'm in pain, have completely lost my focus and can't get comfortable; I was writhing from side to side. Mike hands me the clicker and I was so confused, I had no idea what to do with it! "Jeopardy, babe, Jeopardy!" "Oooooh!" Haha. Click. Aaaaand, nada. Seriously? We tried once more and still nothing. It might have taken the edge off, but I still felt everything and had complete control over my lower half - all I felt were some tingles in my toes. That's it. They had the anesthesiologist come back about 6 and they ended up giving me Lidocaine through the epi (yes, the same stuff you get to get your teeth pulled). Apparently that's all it took for me to relax because all of a sudden, the nurse is hitting the emergency button and we had ten people in the room (my doc, NICU team, more nurses). I went from a 6 to a 10 in five minutes and it was time to push! 

I was completely numb and couldn't feel any of my contractions yet I could still move my left leg. So weird. Anyway! My doctor, nurse and Mike talked me through each round of pushing since I couldn't feel anything. Everyone was cracking jokes and I started laughing - which apparently was more effective than my pushing! The doctor kept telling me to keep laughing, which of course made me giggle more. After a final round of pushing, bebe arrived at 6:37pm. Mike saw her and just kept saying, "It's a girl! It's a girl, babe, it's a girl!" over and over - and he even cut her cord. She got 9/9 on her Apgars and was screaming strong and loud. She was doing so well, I got to hold her for a little bit and say hi before they had to take her to the NICU. The nurses kept asking me if she had a name, and I told them we had two options but wanted to hang out with her for a bit before deciding. Then one of the NICU nurses looked at her and said, "She looks like a Lily." Mike and I looked at each other, and I said "Well, that was one of the two options... and she does look like a Lily." And Lily she is! It totally fits her. Little Lily-bug.

Once they got her to the NICU, she was still breathing room air but got a little stressed out after being messed with, so she was on CPAP until about 4am. Since then she's been breathing on her own. Mike got to go visit her for an hour or so while I recovered; I was able to see her around ten. 


I was discharged on Saturday, February 25th - exactly one month after being admitted; Lily was discharged Sunday, March 11th. Considering they warn you to prepare for baby to be in the NICU until their due date, leaving in 2.5 weeks is nothing short of amazing! What a rockstar she is. Once she decided she was done with the hospital, she wasn't messing around. She ripped her feeding tube out on Friday (the 9th), so the nurses decided to keep it out and see how she'd do. Then she proceeded to gain over two ounces in 48 hours so we were discharged Sunday morning! She still has some breastmilk jaundice, but her color improves every day and the neonatologist said she should grow out of it by 4-5 weeks. 


Since we've been home, she's been a little piglet! It'll be interesting to see how much weight she's gained at the pediatrician's tomorrow. She came home at 5 lbs, 2.4 oz. Because the bottle is significantly easier for her to take, and energy stores are one of the biggest issues with wee ones, we're still alternating breast and bottle feeds, but her energy is significantly higher than it was even a few days ago. Yesterday she was awake for an hour and half! And was loving her tummy time. She was scooting across the blanket toward Reef. He was very intrigued.

Mike and I are adjusting to the lack of sleep. The first night was a little interesting; I'm pretty sure she's having a growth spurt because she was hungry every two hours. Last night she settled back into her every 3-4 hour schedule. Because she's a preemie, we have to wake her up to eat every four hours if she doesn't wake us up first but thus far, she's been calling the shots. Of course I've been freaking out at every little noise and get up to check on her constantly but hopefully we'll adjust to those noises soon. Aaaah first time mommyhood. How come no one warned me how noisy babies are?! 


Side note, one of the reasons I wanted to avoid the epi is because I was doubtful it would work; my body and anesthesia have never gotten along. Look who was right? Both my nurse and the anesthesiologist were insistent that I have a copy of my records for my next baby so that they're not starting from zero. It was very sweet though, the anesthesiologist came by to check on me afterward and to apologize that it didn't work. Not his fault, but cute nonetheless. Also, the doctor thinks one of the reasons my contractions were so intense is because even though Baby Girl was head down and engaged, she had rotated from posterior to transverse before turning the correct direction right before being born. Little stinker!

What an adventure. We are totally smitten and are so excited to have the Bug home!


Now for pictures...

34 weeks, 1 day. Morning of induction.

34 weeks, last preggo pic

Just born

1 day old

1 day old

1 day old

Miss Sweetness

1 week old, wearing Mommy's baby hat

Going home! 2.5 weeks old. 5lbs, 2.4oz

Yawn!

Reef checking out tummy time.

Mommy+Lily, 2.5 weeks post-partum.