Evan, Aidan, Bella & Sophia » October 2008 Journal Entries » AboutMyBaby - online baby scrapbooks, photo albums, videos, birth and pregnancy announcements

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Fri, Oct 24, 2008 12:43 PM
Evan had a follow up dental visit at Children's Hospital today. Dr. Dock applied a fluoride treatment to his teeth. He also gave us instructions for applying fluoride to his teeth at home (since he obviously is too little to do a mouth rinse without swallowing just yet). Evan was such a trooper, he did everything the dentist said, let them poke and prod his teeth. I am very proud of my little boy!

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Fri, Oct 24, 2008 7:43 AM
Day 15 - Sophie's cord fell off today! I guess the silver nitrate that Dr. Hein applied yesterday did the trick!

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Thu, Oct 23, 2008 12:41 PM
Happy 2 weeks old Sophie! Today I had to take Sophie back to the Ped. I thought for sure she had an umbilical cord infection (foul odor and stuff seeping out of it). Dr. Hein said she has an umbilical granuloma. He used a swab of silver nitrate on it and said it would clear it up right away. It does, however, stain her belly button a gray/lead color for many, many months. She didn't feel any pain during the procedure and I am hoping her cord falls off soon. She is back up to her birth weight exactly - she weighed 6 lbs. 10 oz. today on her 2 week birthday!

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Tue, Oct 21, 2008 9:38 PM
Sophia - 12 days old
She is back up to her birth weight! WOO HOO! Dr. Hein could not believe it. She gained 9 oz. in 5 days, which is a LOT! She weighed 6 lbs. 9 oz. today (ok, 1 oz. shy of her birth weight, but it's close!). Last Thursday (5 days ago) she weighed 6 lbs. 0 oz. Way to Grow Sophie!

Bella also had her 2 year checkup today. Unfortunately, she got her MMR shot and flu shot and also had her finger pricked for lead/anemia testing. She was not happy. She cried so hard and long that she made herself throw up on me and the floor. Her lips were quivering for the longest time. Bless her heart. She weighed 29 lbs. 0 oz. (70th percentile). She is doing great, her speech and behavior is that of a 3 year old instead of a 2 year old. Dr. Hein was very impressed at everything she said and did while in the office. :)

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Mon, Oct 20, 2008 7:47 AM
Slawek returned to work today. :(
It will be a difficult day, that's for sure.

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Mon, Oct 13, 2008 9:59 AM
Today we get a break. Thank goodness the boys went back to school today. Bella is over playing with mamaw, papaw and Carson. It's just me, Slawek and Sophie. Hopefully I will have some time to actually rest and take a nap today. I am still super sore, having trouble standing up straight.

Sophie is a champion nurser. My milk came in yesterday (day 4). It came in a LITTLE late on the evening of day 3, but not much. So I stopped the SNS completely on the night of day 3 and haven't used it since. Sophie is nursing great and I am even having a little extra to pump for her.

Sophie has her awake time from 11 pm - 3 am every night, which is tough. I end up just holding her and sleeping sitting up. Last night I slept in the recliner downstairs instead of our bedroom, which worked much better than trying to get up and down in bed. Things are going well, just need more sleep.

:)

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Debbie in Oregon: Congrats to you all. Sophie is just perfect, beautiful! She's getting acquainted with her new surroundings, she'll get settled soon. I'm glad Bella has a sister now, I'm sure they'll be very close. Thank you for sharing!

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Sun, Oct 12, 2008 2:59 PM
Ok - 1 question.
How to mother's and father's of 4 manage?

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Sat, Oct 11, 2008 11:57 PM
Well, this has been quite a challenging day. We still aren't in bed. The kids took to Sophie really well. Evan smiled and kissed her. He seemed so proud of her. Bella was totally in awe. She is in love with her "little sister," as she calls her. Aidan is giggly and over excited about her. I think he thinks she is his new pet or something. We are exhausted, the kids are adjusting well, and we are glad to be home.

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Sat, Oct 11, 2008 9:56 AM
I am being released! Dr. Brady gave me the okay to go home today and Sophie was just released from the hospital Pediatrician (the same Pediatrician who saw Bella 2 years ago, coincidentally). And even better news - Sophie's weight has stabilized. She weighed 6 lbs. 1.875 oz. this morning, so she is up .875 oz. Hopefully that means she is on the road to gaining weight and not losing anymore weight.

We are packing up and looking forward to introducing Sophie to everyone at home.

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Fri, Oct 10, 2008 10:45 PM
Sophia lost more weight tonight. She now weighs 6 lbs. 1 oz. I am using the SNS, so there is nothing more I can do. Please pray that she gains weight soon and that my milk comes in asap.

Today is a rough day for me. The morphine has totally wore off and I am in a lot of pain.

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Jill and Mike: Hey Guys...............

Congrats!!!!!!!! Of course she is beautiful, needless to say. Sophie is the first one to look just like Slawek, his little clone. You need to stop worrying about ounces lost as these can sometimes go up to a whole pound. She will fatten up just fine when your milk comes in. WOW 4 kids................are you guys done yet???? Can't wait to see her in person.

Love all,
Jill and Mike

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Thu, Oct 9, 2008 10:58 PM
Sophia lost weight, she weighed 6 lbs. 6 oz. tonight at her weigh in. I hope my milk comes in soon. I am feeling ok.

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Thu, Oct 9, 2008 6:01 PM
After being in labor yesterday afternoon (started around 4 pm at work), I started to arrange my desk and organize things. I just had this *feeling* it was coming. We had dinner at a cousin's house and came home. I never noticed anymore big contractions. Went to bed around 10 pm and was sleeping in bed with Bella. Around 2:15 pm, got up to go pee and went back to bed. Then at 2:32 pm, a huge gush happened. I knew what it was. I jumped up out of bed and ran to the bathroom floor just to watch the gushing water. I ended up climbing into the bathtub and just stood there watching it gush. Called Dr. Voss (who was on call) and was told to come in ASAP to deliver our baby girl.

Arrived at the hospital at 4 am. Yeah, not exactly "ASAP" like Dr. Voss said. I had to take a shower, get dressed, drive to the gas station to buy some Tums (Slawek drove), get my camera gear loaded into the car, etc. Priorities! I was hooked up to a monitor which clearly showed I was in labor. Then they decided to do a ferning culture to be sure it was my water that ruptured. Just as they went to swab for the ferning test, I gushed another huge amount of amniotic fluid everywhere - like towards the guy's face! Everyone laughed and said, “ferning test not necessary.”

I had my favorite anesthesiologist! I knew any of the Maternal Fetal Medicine specialists at my group were awesome doctors, so it did not matter to me who did the c-section. However, I immediately started asking, “Who is the anesthesiologist working this morning?” when we arrived. I was told “Tom Martin” and I started dancing! Yippee! My fav! (You know you have enough kids when you have a preference of nurses, doctors and anesthesiologists that work in the hospital!) As usual, Tom did a great job – the best!

At 6:01 am, Sophia Renee (nickname Sophie – and Renee is my middle name) was born into the world. She weighed 6 lbs. 10 oz and had a 1 minute apgar score of 6. She just could not breathe. She really REALLY struggled. Her 5 minute apgar score was 9. The nurse in the operating room called the Pediatrician from the NICU. This Pediatrician said Sophie was fine and just in “transition” from the c-section. 1 hour later, we didn’t know if we should believe him (as she was obviously very stressed), and the nurse decided to call a different Pediatrician. This Pediatrician decided Sophie should be in the NICU and off she went. Sophie was held for a total of 8 hours in the NICU. And one of the worst things that happened is that they fed her a BOTTLE of formula (well, 26 cc/ml of formula) without asking me. My mom was there in the NICU when it happened (I had to go back to my room, as I have been uncontrollably vomiting all day. (I had a bad reaction to the morphine and have throwing up everything from ice chips to water at least 20 times today). So my mom was in the NICU and said, “No, Christine is breastfeeding – do not give her that bottle of formula.” The Neonatologist came by and told my mom that in order for her to pass the “tests” to get out of the NICU, he is requiring 2 formula/bottle feeds to see how she responds. I was devastated when I was told the story after it was TOO LATE. I had tried to nurse her in the recovery room around 7 am and she couldn’t do it. She was struggling too much to breathe to even attempt latching on. And here they are making a decision to give her a bottle of formula without even asking me? It was too late. Mom ended up letting him. Oh and I missed it. No photos of that, I wasn’t even there. About 1 hour after the feeding, I showed up. I was informed about the 2nd formula bottle feeding and quickly hunted down the Neonatologist to tell him we are not doing it. I explained I would rather nurse Sophie. He said that wasn’t good enough for him because I am not producing milk yet (barely getting a small amount of colustrum when pumping the 3 times I have pumped today already). The Neonatologist said he has to see how her breathing is on a “more full stomach.” So I asked if I could buy an SNS (Supplemental Nursing System), have her latch on and fill the SNS with formula. He looked at me and said he would agree to that. So, I quickly had to hunt down a SNS. I did, and it only cost me $14 in the hospital! Not bad! And guess what? It worked like a CHARM!!!!!!!!!! She latched on right away and the SNS was awesome. She drank 22 cc/ml for me all while being latched on successfully and nursing like a champ ~ and she passed her tests to get released from the NICU. She came up to the Nursery here around 4 pm or so and was given a bath, warmed up and given to me. She nursed again since then just perfectly. She actually is nursing MUCH better than Bella did initially. She's a spunky lil thing!

I am feeling fine at the incision site. I refused the Percocet, as always, and am taking 800mg of Ibuprofen every 6 hours. It is working just fine for me. Too bad I am not keeping it down much, as I am uncontrollably vomiting. It’s horrible. The morphine is killing me. They put some type of morphine in my epidural (starts with a "d" - Dormof?)! Never heard of that before, but that is what I was told. I can’t even go 10 feet down the hall in a wheel chair without puking my guts out. Can’t get out of bed, nothing. It’s really, really rough. I feel so dehydrated. They are making me leave my IV in for fluids until tomorrow since I can’t hydrate myself with liquids. Hopefully this stops ASAP. Oh, and I had to have my cervix stitched again (like Bella’s delivery) because Dr. Voss could not get the shirodkar cerclage out without tearing some tissue. It was gross. He showed us the stitching with my cervical tissue attached and both Slawek and I thought we were going to get sick. Bleckth.

Everyone is doing well. Sophie is a petite, tiny little thing. She has a small little head and petite, dainty features. VERY different from my Bella. We’ll see what she looks like when she is a little older. We are so in love. She is such a calm, sweet, dainty baby. I think she looks a LOT like her daddy.

Lots of pics are now loaded in the Sophia Renee album!

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Mon, Oct 6, 2008 1:36 PM
I just got back from my twice-weekly Non Stress Test & Ultrasound.

I actually started crying. I am in so much unbelievable pain. I asked that my Perinatologist come in during the Ultrasound to see if my uterus has ruptured at my c-section scar. Of course he said he wouldn't be able to tell that on my Ultrasound, but I am not bleeding and Sophie is doing good on her NSTs, so more than likely it has not ruptured. I sighed and explained that I didn't understand because I am in excrutiating pain around my cervix/c-section scar area. Ever since this weekend if feels like someone is stabbing me with a hot knife.

He looked on the Ultrasound and said, "You have no cervix left and the baby's head is resting on your stitches. You only have a matter of time now."

I said, "WHAT? She's head down?"

He said, "Oh yeah, this week she IS head down."

Saturday night I was lying down and totally felt her flip, except I assumed she flipped from left to right (but was still breech). It felt to me like she just rolled over to the left side. Apparently not, she is definitely head down and her head is resting on my stitches since my cervix is gone at this point.

Dr. Marcotte explained that my water could rupture any moment. Her sac is resting on the stitches, which could slice through her sac or cause a tear. So, it's a matter of time. And if I do make it to my c-section date on 10/16, I should prepare to be in some pain between now and then. If I start bleeding, I am to call and go in asap.

I'm still holding out and saying I won't deliver until my c-section date in 10 days. 10/16 or BUST!!!!!!!!!!

Oh and she was reactive on her Non Stress Test today, and has plenty (normal amount) of amniotic fluid.

Note to self: Get the hospital bag in the car asap.

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Laura: Christine,

Thinking of you & praying for a quick & safe delivery.

Hugs,

Laura

ashlee: oh I so know the pain you are feeling!!! im sorry, 10 more days, that is crazy.. I had my lil 9/30/08 I went in for a normal dr's appt and I was 5-6 cm dialated so off to the hospital I went... glad sophia is doing good in your tummy...

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Thu, Oct 2, 2008 8:42 AM
36 WEEKS!! My goal for all pregnancies! WOO HOO! I made it!

Your baby is now considered full term. He weighs approximately 6.5 lbs (2950g) and his total length is about 21 inches (47cm). Your baby's crown to rump measurement is about 14 inches (35cm).

By now, your baby's head may have engaged into your pelvis.

You may feel that your baby occasionally has hiccups from his "practice breathing".

Though your baby is considered full term, he is still growing and developing both his body and his brain.

He is still laying down fat at a rate of more than half an ounce every day.

My Pregnant Body
Your baby will probably "engage" in your pelvis this week, but this may happen slightly later, especially if this is your first pregnancy. This is when your baby's head drops down into your pelvis.

Pressure on your ribs and internal organs will ease when your baby engages. This is known as "lightening" and breathing and eating usually become easier again once this happens.

Your uterus is putting increased pressure on your bladder, though, so you will probably have to go to the bathroom even more often!

Your baby is still growing, so even though he has dropped, you will probably feel his feet on your breastbone again before the end of your pregnancy.

You will probably not gain much more weight during your pregnancy, but you feel pretty uncomfortable by now.

You're probably wishing this baby would be born already!

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Wed, Oct 1, 2008 8:42 AM
IT'S OCTOBER!!!!!!!!!

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