Week 1 (cont.): Back at Home

Here are some photos of Chloe back at home. She is such a precious angel and is so good. These photos just don't do justice to her cuteness.

Week 1: Chloe Glowie – Our Little Glo-Worm

24-hours after she was born the hospital started running tests because she was starting to look Jaundicey. Her bloodwork came back as 6.4 mg/dl (average full-term newborn will have a peak level of 6mg/dl on the third or fourth day of life. Levels usually go down to about 2 to 3mg/dl by the end of the first week), which is a little high but nothing to be worried about.

When we checked out of the hospital 48 hours after her birth, she was up to 11.3, which was continuing to escalate high enough that the Pediatrician wanted us to come back to the hospital the next day for a follow-up blood test. Saturday her bloodwork increased to 15.7, and we went back to the hospital again on Sunday for follow-up bloodwork.

Chris and I waited for the bloodwork to be processed and the Pediatrician called us to say that it had risen to 20.3 and that we would have to admit our baby into the hospital since the levels were increasing to dangerous levels (when the levels get to be over 25 there becomes risk of cerebral palsy and brain damage).

Chloe was such a trooper throughout the whole ordeal. The only time she fussed was when her diaper was changed and her clothes taken off. Never mind that she has had about 12 heel pricks (I don’t mind one or two times of this but to have her heel pricked and her tiny foot forcibly squeezed until enough blood comes out to fill a small vial is really so heart wrenching), and it took the nurses 5 tries to find a vein to place her IV catheter in (in the end, they had to put one in a vein in her head). Unbelievably she did not cry; and even slept during most of this ordeal.

Chris went home to try to get Marshall’s routine back to normal, while Chloe and I got a room to ourselves and she was put into an incubator for phototherapy. The doctor told me to not breastfeed her and to give her formula only until her levels started to decrease. Luckily throughout the day she did a lot of pooping (I think I changed 12 diapers) and by evening her levels came down to 14. We were finally able to go home at 8:00pm on Monday night with an 11.7 after I talked the Pediatrician into letting us continue treatment at home using a Bili-Blanket.

The little girl is still a little yellow, but she seems to be getting better. Luckily the ordeal didn’t affect my milk supply (the hospital’s internet access was down so I had nothing else to do other than pump and watch TV). In fact I think this whole ordeal made her prefer the breast and breastmilk over formula and her pacifier.

Getting checked into the hospital and stripped downGetting treatmentVisitors (Aunt heather and Uncle Dave; Uncle Robert, Aunt Rebecca and cousin Sierra)
After treatment
Ready to go home, again!
Getting treatment at home

Happy Birthday! It’s a Girl!

Chris and I are so fortunate to have two such wonderful children. Chloe is so beautiful and precious. She is just the sweetest little thing ever and so laid back. Chloe is a few ounces heavier than Marshall was, 7 lbs, 4.6 ounces (Marshall was 6 lbs, 13 ounces) and was 20 ½ inches long (¼ of an inch longer than Marshall). Her head was 13 cm wide.

Her head shape is smaller than Marshall’s – closer in shape to Chris. She also has much darker hair (all of the nurses said that they pay to have highlights like hers – it is a sandy brown hair with golden white highlights) and skin color. She hardly ever fusses – only when she gets her diaper/clothes changed – otherwise she is a very content happy girl.

A lot of her facial expressions remind me of Marshall’s, but there are some things that are totally different. She does this “Popeye” look where she has only one eye open. She also doesn’t cry every time she yawns (like Marshall did). If she cries she is easily consoled when you coo at her.

She is a very good feeder, plus my milk came in just before we left the hospital. It is a nice feeling to finally be successful at breast feeding. With Marshall there was so much frustration in his being jaundiced (which made him very sleepy at the breast) and waiting for my milk to come in. But she just latches on and is all business.

Just Ater Chloe's Birth:


Chloe's Visitors:


Misc Photos:

It's Time To Deliver

After my appointment with the Dr. on Tuesday, he said I was still 2 cm and 50% effaced and decided that I should check into the hospital that evening to have me take medication to soften my cervix. Then start the Pitocen (the medication to start the Induction) at 6:00 am Wednesday morning, planning on a delivery in the afternoon (with Marshall I had him 10 hours after a dose of Pitocen, but I was already 12 hours into Labor at the point that they started the medication to speed things along).

We checked into the hospital at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday night and they said I was already having contractions every 5 minutes, but I had not even noticed them. They gave me the medication to soften the cervix at 11:30 p.m. and an Ambien to help me sleep in anticipation of a long day of Labor ahead. But a few hours later, at 1:00 a.m., I woke-up out of my drug induced stupor to complain of Labor Pains and wanted some pain medication.

They gave me something in a pill form (can’t remember the name), and said I was 3 cm dilated. Around 3:45 a.m. the pain was unbearable and I asked for an epidural and they said I was 4 cm. About an hour later they checked me after the epidural because I was saying that it felt like I needed to push and I was 8.5 cm and it was time to call the doctor!

Dr. Greebon had told me in the office that he doing some sort of teaching surgery at Baylor Hospital in the morning and would check on me at 9:30 am. So I told the nurse that they had better call him before he went downtown (there was no way I was delivering to another on call Doctor). Sure enough Dr. Greebon got to the hospital at about 6:00 a.m. and I was ready to push at 6:45 a.m. Fourteen minutes later, Ms. Chloe came out into this world.

This experience was so much nicer than Marshall’s birth. It was fast, there was a whole team of people in the room to assist with the delivery (with Marshall it was just Chris, 1 nurse and I up until the moment he was born – this time we had 5 or 6 people in the room). It was also nice having my Doctor there. I also got to spend almost an hour with Chloe after the delivery (with Marshall the nurse was impatient and only gave me 20 min to nurse him). She probably would have stayed longer but I started to have some clotting and nausea (the clotting and contractions were so much worse, lasted longer and more painful than with Marshall, but I am doing better now).

Week 37 (In Utero): All our bags are packed...ready to roll when baby is.

Well Miss Chloe's room is finally finished. It has turned out to be so cute!

The Braxton Hicks contractions have gotten more and more severe this weekend and I've lost my mucus plug. I feel like I could go into Labor at any moment but am really trying to hold out until next week if possible. We'll see what the Dr. says after my appointment on Tuesday!

I am also so happy - I had been procrastinanting a little, but I finally got all of our bags packed. Whew - one less major thing to worry about.

I think the next posting on this site will be after the baby is born.

Week 35 and 36 (In Utero): Are we there yet? Nope...

Well at these weekly appointments my blood pressure is still very good (120/80), my weight gain is still sitting at 20 lbs, my Step test came back as negative, and the swelling in my legs has not been as bad as last pregnancy (although Carpal Tunnel Syndrome has set into my arms making them tingly and numb throughout the day).

I thought for sure labor was near since my Braxton Hicks contractions were so bad and the baby has dropped low into the pelvis. For the baby's sake, luckily I was not too much more dilated. Dr. Greebon still is taking excellent care of me. For the health of the baby and making sure I get as close to the 17th as possible, he recommended that I go on bedrest so as to try to slow the progression of Labor.

Chris has also been taking excellent care of me in my Larger-than-a-Barge condition. It has been very painful to walk or even lie down, so he has been so helpful in doing all the things I am too tired/unable to do.

Week 34 (In Utero): Weekly visits

So begins my weekly visits with Dr. Greebon. He is much more personable through this pregnancy than the last. The last time I always felt like I was in and out of the office. I think he feels pretty sorry for me this time around though. The heat has been pretty unbearable and has made this pregnancy much more stressful/painful, so we have started these weekly visits a few weeks earlier than the last pregnancy.

Week 33 (in Utero): Finishing touches

Well Chris, Marshall and I have just been so busy these past few weeks trying to tie up all of the little details in preparing for another new baby.

We have made our little trips to the stores/and visitng websites to pick out the rest of the little things we will need for our new sweet baby. After many trips to the Craft store to try to figure out what to put over her crib, I ended up returning everything and settling on some carved wall letters that I can hang over her crib. I also found a rug and a chair to go with some of the artwork that I had custom made for her. Chris was especially excited that he got to "build" his baby girl her first dollhouse (bookcase).

Hopefully everything ordered on the internet will be coming in the mail over the next week or so and I can add some pictures of the finished nursery to the blog later.

Anyone who reads this should also share a moment of silence in memory of our beloved Jeep (and our YOUTH! - considering this time last year we had no kids and will soon have two!) which we had to trade in for a more family friendly "Mommy-Wagon." That car was always the dream car of Chris and I as we were growing up, but we really needed a vehicle with more passenger/cargo space (not to mention A/C in the back). We are very happy with our purchase though. No matter how much we tried to talk ourselves into it, we just could not take the plunge and get a mini-van, despite how functional we hear they are.

One of Chris' friends and former co-workers at GMAC/Homecomings told us of their recent purchase and despite being the type to "copy" other people, Chris and I had to agree that they made a very smart/awesome purchase and we jumped onto their bandwagon. We found a 2005 Cadillac SRX for a really great deal and very low miles (our Jeep was purchased in the same month as the SRX's previous owner and Chris and I had put four times the amount of miles on the Jeep in the same time period). The Cadillac is red and is just so awesome and comfortable. We just love how it will accommodate our new family.

Week 32 (In Utero): On the Doc's Calendar

Well this week I went in for my check-up with Dr. Greebon and he has officially put me on the calendar to be induced. We are going to go into the hospital on the 17th of September to induce Chloe's labor. The doctor said she is measuring just a little above normal and will probably be in the 7lb range when she is born. (Chris keeps saying that she looks like 10lbs - Thanks SPOUSE!)

I am so excited/grateful. Especailly since this has been one of the hottest summers on record here in Dallas.