in honor of Holli turning ONE MONTH today, i wanted to share her birth story and photos. i documented her story in a journal during her hospital stay, so that is how it will read.
December 9, 2011
It is a foggy morning– 34 degrees outside. I showed up at 5am with IT'S A GIRL! balloons and a birthday cookie cake for Holli. The nurse came in around 7:30am to administer Britt's IV and it was quite an issue. She pricked Britt 3 times until she finally got it in! What a way to start the day... Once the IV was in (at 8am) they started her on some fluids and then the pitocin. Nurse Carrie (we love her) came in and contractions began to get much closer together. Dr. Ferrara came in at 9:25 and broke her water. Britt was 90% effaced and still only dilated to a 2. Contractions began to get stronger and more painful. Britt said explaining the contractions, "It feels like bad stomach pains like when you have to go to the bathroom and you’re not sure if it is going to come out your mouth or your butt.”
I still laugh at the description.
When her doctor came back in to check her at noon, Britt asked for an epidural. The anesthesiologist came in at 12:30 to administer the epidural, and AGAIN, they pricked her THREE times to get it in the right spot. After sticking it into her blood vessel, she began to get blurred vision, a headache and she and the baby’s blood pressure dropped. They had to send in another anesthesiologist, and thankfully, he got it in right away. They inserted her catheter and Britt explained to us that, “They shove it up your pee hole!”
Again, I still laugh at the description
After 2 hours, we were finally able to go back into the room and see her. Nurse Carrie came in at 3:30 and checked on her. She is now dilated to 6-7 cm. She put Britt in a different position to try and speed up the process. Dr. Ferrara came in at 4:15 and at that point, Britt was dilated to an 8 and the doctor could feel Holli’s head! At 5:22 Britt was dilated to a 10 and the nurse removed the catheter and Britt began PUSHING!!
Holli Kelvie is born at 6:56pm!
7lbs. 1.9oz and 19” long
Our first glimpse at the babe while they are drying her off
Skin to skin all snuggled with her momma.
At 8:51pm they moved Britt to a private room and baby Holli was sent to the nursery for blood
work and an IV since she was born with a fever of 100.6. The NICU nurse, Chelsea (whom I went
to school with) came in to check on Holli. They administered the IV and a series of antibiotics as a precaution for bacterial infections. It’s now 9:22 and we are all waiting in Britt’s room for Holli to
come in from the nursery. James still hasn’t held her.
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| Here is a shot of her through the nursery window after she got her IV. Poor baby. |
Around 10:30pm Chelsea wheels Holli in and James finally gets to hold his baby girl.
Chelsea gives Holli her first bath around 11pm
And then it’s our turn to pass her around and love on her.
We all leave the hospital around midnight only to dream about seeing her tomorrow.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
What a day yesterday was! Holli is SO CUTE and she was dressed in a Christmas onesie for all of her visitors today.
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| She made it just in time to meet Santa! |
Britt and James sleep most of the day (having a baby is hard work!)
While they were resting, mom and I decided to have some fun.
Nanny and Ryan wanted nothing to do with it.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Traumatic morning and big change from yesterday. The pediatrician stopped in at 9:15am Holli will need to be placed under the photo lamp for 24 hours. Her blood work showed her belly-Ruben levels at 13.78. When I arrived at the hospital before 11am and the nurse had just taken Holli’s IV out due to her needing Phototherapy for Jaundice. Nanny, Papaw and Tim were already there and said it was so sad to see Holli cry like that and Britt too. Papaw said he’s been through 3-generations and it never gets easier. (They were all upset and crying)
9:25am the phototherapy started. Nanny, Papaw and dad headed back to Houston after lunch. We are so glad they were able to be a part of this special time. We love them so much.
12:30 the lactation nurse, Deborah came in and really worked with Britt. She explained that the hematoma on Holli’s head from the suction of the vacuum at birth is most likely why her bilirubin count is so high. The kidneys and liver need to move the old blood out of her system, and some of the blood was in the bruise and needed to be flushed out.
As of 12:40pm Holli weighed 6.13lbs which is 3.8% down in weight from birth. According to the nurse, this is a good thing.
Now that Holli is under the photo lamp, she can only be removed for 30 minutes at a time, and only for feeding.
The pediatrician showed James how to feed her with the 5-french tube (pretty cool method). She would take 10cc of formula at a time and still be hungry. So James had to give her 10cc more. She is one little PIGGY.
The OB on call stopped by and told Britt she placed her on antibiotics yesterday since her white blood count was elevated. Britt will be discharged today, but Holli will have to stay another night. They are moving Holli to the pediatric ward and James and Britt will have a room to stay in now that Britt is being discharged and Holli is now the patient.
1:20pm Britt is discharged and will move to pediatrics once a room becomes available. Holli will be discharged tomorrow after 9am Lord willing. The doctor has to check her white blood counts to make sure the infection is gone. It not, she will have to have an IV for another round of antibiotics.
2:45pm Nurse Renee from the nursery is here to help them move to Holli’s room. The baby becomes the patient. Sad :(
3pm Holli is all settled in her new room, B470 with Nurse Emily. Once they took off Holli's diaper and glasses was when you could really tell how jaundice she was.
8:20pm Holli is weighing 6.12 lbs. Big girl :)
Kathy came up and stayed until almost 2am. Kathy and mom traded off feeding Holli with the tube while Britt and James got some sleep. Britt tried nursing from time to time but her milk still hasn’t come in and Holli was hungry! Mom stayed the night so she could feed Holli while Britt and James slept. They had to wake Britt every 2 hours so she could pump to trick her body into thinking she was nursing so that her milk would come in. It was a long night...
Monday, December 12, 2011
6am the lab tech is here to take blood from Holli to test her bilirubin. Cross your fingers it’s good so she can go home.
7:30am Holli got her walking PAPERS! Blood count looks good, bilirubin level is 9.8 – Good enough to go home! They are giving Holli her first 1 of 3 hepatitis B vaccines and she will have to have a follow up appt. with the pediatrician on Wednesday to double check her levels.
Side note: Infant temperature of 100.4 or below is normal. Anything over 100.4 in an infant is fever.
11:30am They are discharged and heading home!!!!
Here she is finally snug in her home!
Holli, I can't believe you are already a whole month old! It seems like yesterday we were
just meeting you for the first time.
Thank you for all of the joy you have already brought to our lives.
We love you so much!!
Here's the big girl at ONE MONTH!
Happy 1 month, sweet baby girl!
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