It's a.....

This past Sunday I had a 3D/4D ultrasound done. I was lucky that a friends mom needed to do some training with some of her sonogram tech's. Which means I was lucky enough to find out the sex of Baby #2 early at 16 weeks and for free! Baby was really low, breech and facing my spine which is just like its big sister like to be. In fact Claire was breech and facing my spine when she decided to make her entrance into the world. After a little work to get the baby to show the goods we found out we are having another GIRL! We are so excited!

Now the fun part has begun. I hate all baby girl bedding out there right now as it looks like pink threw up all over it and I can't stand that. So I have decided on custom bedding. We are going with a orange, teal and grey theme. Not sure what I want mobile wise so i'm on the hunt for inspiration for that. I also need to decide on a double stroller that isn't the size of an SUV (I hate big strollers). I'm thinking either a Britax B-Ready with double kit or a Joovy Caboose Too. Those are the big things I am working on. Luckily I have saved everything of Claires and since she has gained weight so slowly she has multiple seasons clothing in every size so I won't need much clothes wise. I really need to make a list of everything I need to get and do. I can't afford to wait to long, we learned that lesson when Claire came before we had done her nursery and Christian ended up painting it while I was in the hospital and I finished it before she was discharged from the NICU.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Oh we also need to work on a name considering Claire didn't have one until 20 minutes before she was born. We are so picky!

Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving was so much fun this year! I have to admit, last year I was having some baby blues. Claire was born the week before quiet early and she was in the NICU. There is nothing harder than having to be discharged from the hospital and leaving without your baby. But having to spend her first holiday with her in the hospital was an extra sting to the heart. So this year Thanksgiving was a much happier day for me. I feel like it was her "first" Thanksgiving since she was actually home, even if it wasn't.

 We had a nice small Thanksgiving at home this year. Which was nice, no pressure just family and we all enjoyed it. In the morning we watched the parade and after that was over my sister and I went to work in the kitchen and my husband and brother in law went to work on the turkey in the back yard. On our menu was fried turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, rolls, rum cake and pumpkin pie. Everything turned out perfect!Only one snafu with a broken thermometer but nothing major. We all enjoy our delicious feast (including Claire). Then spent the evening watching movies.

Our little turkey!

Watching the parade.

Watching daddy and uncle cook the turkey (don't mind the milk face)

Enjoying her feast!

Prematurity Awareness Month

Did you know 1 in 8 babies in the US are born premature? Claire is 1 in 8, weighing barely 4lbs when she was born. She has struggled to overcome some of the issues resulting from her prematurity but with the help of modern medicine, an exceptional NICU and a team of amazing doctors she is happy and healthy.

November is Premature Awareness month. I am thankful for organizations like the March of Dimes that work to help mothers have full term babies and research the problems the threaten babies lives.

Claire's First Halloween

Yesterday was Claire's first Halloween. Its actually also her last "first" holiday though I don't know if I count Thanksgiving since she spent that in the NICU. Anyway as usual I like to go all out! I can't help it, I love any and all holidays! Unfortunately my poor Claire Bear was sick. She has been fighting a horrible cold all week so we didn't take her out trick or treating especially since at this age it would really just be for us anyway. We spent the evening watching Halloween movies and we dressed her up in her costume to help us pass out candy to all the kids trick or treating, she loved that! All in all it was a great Halloween. I cant wait till next year since she will be walking and talking and can truly enjoy this fun holiday.

Happy Halloween from Minnie Mouse

Claire's Story

I realized I hadn't yet shared the story of Claire's arrival yet. I guess I should start at my first appointment and I was 11 weeks along. My midwife noticed I had something abnormal with my uterus, it was separated into two sections. The doctor referred to it as a septated uterus. I was then sent to the high risk area of the hospital that I would be delivering at for them to look at my anatomy and the baby closer to make sure everything was okay. Luckily, the baby was in the larger side of my uterus and looked good. The doctor went over the possible risks that could arise from my anatomy, one of which was that the baby could come early since it may run out of room earlier than 40 weeks.

The doctors felt comfortable with me continuing to see my midwife for my regular appointments, but would have me come every 4 to 6 weeks for a growth scan to check on the babys growth. I felt great and the baby was good and we even found out we were having a girl. Sometime around 27 weeks or so (I don't remember when exactly) I stopped feeling her kick as much. I tried everything to get her to move so I could feel her kick and get my kick count for the day. But one day I didn't, so I went into labor and delivery to get checked out as I was sure she was fine but I needed a peace of mind. Sure enough she was, but we did learn I had an anterior placenta which was acting as a shock absorber between myself and the baby which explained why I wasn't feeling her as much. The doctors said I should still get my kick count in and if I didn't I should come in. A few days later I went the whole day at work without feeling her, so I decided to drive to the hospital after just to get checked again to be sure everything was okay. As usual she was fine but this time my blood pressure was high. They admitted me to the hospital to be tested for preeclampsia. After the 24 hour test was done my results came back okay so they diagnosed me with gestational hypertension and kept me for observation for 3 days. When I was discharged I was told to take my blood pressure multiple times a day and e-mail them daily to my doctor along with weekly check ups and a non stress test for the baby. They told me they wouldn't let me go to 40 weeks but depending on how things went I would be induced between 37-39 weeks. Christian and I both took it in and felt okay about it since I was being monitored so closely and we knew the doctors knew best.

That weekend I panicked as we hadn't done anything for the nursery and only had a crib, dresser and a other non essential things from my baby shower. So we made a list of what we needed and spent the weekend picking up what we needed. On Monday I went to work as usual and felt like things were back to normal. Then on Thursday night around 1:30am, I was asleep when I felt and heard a snap, and sure enough my water had broken. I was 34 weeks to the day as we headed to the hospital to have our baby girl. She still had no name, her nursery wasn't even painted and I knew it was too early. After we arrived at the hospital around 2:30am I was taken to triage to do an ultrasound. She was still breech, as she had been for weeks so they began prepping me for a c-section. About 20 minutes before I went back for surgery we decided on her first, Claire. On November 16, 2011 at 4:44 am Claire arrived weighing 4lbs 4oz. After being cleaned up and standard tests done, they brought her to me to briefly see her before she was taken away to the NICU and I was taken to recovery.

While in recovery trying to move my feet as quick as possible so I could be moved to a room and hopefully see my precious baby girl we decided on her middle name, Lucille. Finally after about an hour I was moved into a postpartum room only to find out it would be 8 hours before I could see Claire in the NICU. But finally I was taken by wheelchair into the NICU where I would finally get to hold her for the first time. She was so tiny and had so many wires on her but she was perfect and holding her that first time was the best moment of my life.

Claire spent the next 22 days in the NICU fighting to be well enough to come home. She battled with bradycardia and couldn't make the 5 day count of being brady free. When she reached what would have been 37 weeks gestation they discharged her on an Apnea/Bradyicardia monitor so we could bring her home. On December 8, 2011 Claire Lucille was finally home.

Breast Feeding & Formula

During my whole pregnancy I had my heart set on breast feeding. The benefits of breast feeding far out weighed the convenience of formula, plus it's free. Unfortunantly, I went into pre term labor which could not be stopped since my water actually broke. And then ended up having a c-section since she was breech. I immediately started pumping as soon as I was moved into the postpartum unit. It took a couple of days to even pump 5mls which was so disheartening, since I felt like it was the only thing I could do for Claire while she was in the NICU. I spent the next several weeks pumping every two hours around the clock, working with a lactation consultant and was even put on prescription medication to try and trigger my body to produce more. Unfortunately having a c section does slow your body's response to produce milk along with having a premature delivery and having a month seperation from Claire while she was in the NICU.

Here I am 7 months into it, and I pump every 3 to 4 hours to be able to give her 1 to 2 7oz bottles of beast milk a day. It's not ideal, but anything I am able to give her is worth it. Outside of her health problems resulting from her early arrival she really hasn't been sick. Which is huge for a premie! When she doesn't, get breast milk (which has to be fortified with formula to 26 kcal) we use Enfamil Enfacare (also fortified to 26 kcal) which is for premature babies.

I hope, if you choose to breast feed that your experience, is the typical experience. Just remember its hard work but it's wBrmorth it even if you can't exclusively breast feed. Hang in there!

Till Next Time!

NICU Must Haves!

My daughter was born at 34 weeks to the day. She spent the first month of her life in the NICU at the hospital she was born in. Life of having a baby in the NICU is rough and emotional. Its one of the hardest things I have gone through in my life. There are several "must haves" for yourself and baby during their stay in the NICU. These are the products that made life easier for us during Claire's stay!

Boppy With a child in the NICU you spend long hours there just holding them (when your allowed to) and once your allowed to breastfeed/bottle feed having a boppy comes in very handy. Plus once you get your precious little one home its becomes one of the most useful baby products you can own.

Receiving Blankets and lots of them! Not only do babies in the NICU spend their days swaddled, the NICU (at least Claire's) made up her isolette and eventually her open crib in her own receiving blankets to make it feel a little more like home for her and us.

Premie Clothes The NICU does everything they can to make sure your baby's stay feels as close to normal as possible. So I recommend bringing in plenty of premie clothes/pajamas. Everyday they would dress Claire just as you would at home. Though make sure whatever you buy has snaps, this is important because of the lead wires and IV's will need to be threaded through and that is difficult with pajamas that has a zipper instead of snaps. Also bring in several hats, maintaining temperature on their own is a big milestone in the NICU.

Bath Soap The NICU encourages parents to be as involved as possible in their baby's care. This includes giving baby a bath. They will have bath time soap, but we found it nice to bring in Claire's own bath time soap and lotion for after. We use Johnson and Johnson's bedtime bath products. Don't worry about a towel our NICU used warm blankets and a warming lamp during Claire's bath time.

Breast Pump If you decide to breastfeed you will need to start pumping immediately if you baby is premature. You will have to trigger your body to start producing due to the premature delivery. Its also very important and helpful to bring any pumped milk you can to the NICU to feed to your baby once they decide baby can start being fed by bottle.The NICU will supply you with pump containers to pump into and bring in (everything has to be measured in the NICU).  Our NICU had two pumps rooms with pumps that I used during the day while I was at the NICU, but the Medela Symphony is the hospital grade pump I use at home. Even now that Claire is almost 8 months old I still have to pump as Claire has struggled to gain weight and is still on fortified breast milk (26kcal) and formula.

Till next time!