It's a Girl!

Finally, I am not pregnant anymore!  Wahoo! I am starting to feel my old self re-emerging and I am very grateful.  Since I didn't go to church today, I was able to do a lot of baking and cooking. I reclaimed my kitchen and it felt so good. 

But you can see that I have been out of commission for quite a while. So there is a lot to update in this blog. 

My mom came into town a few days before my scheduled C-section. She was one busy grandma with the addition of three new grandchildren, Danny, Paul, and my babe. She stayed with us one night and then headed down to Provo to spend some quality time with new mama Catye, her youngest daughter.  It was nice to see her and spend some time with her. Julia was especially excited for grandma to visit.  Julia sure liked to get lots of attention from her. They played dolls and had some good bonding time together.



I headed to the hospital super-early in the morning on Monday, September 30.  I had to be there at 5:30 am to get prepped. I was pretty nervous about my C-section. I had to get one since I had already had 3.  I asked Rinar and Jamie to give me a blessing the night before and I know that it really helped me to not be so anxious.



After all the prep work, I was finally ready to walk into the operating room at about 7:45am.  The anesthesiologist, Dr. Peterson, was fabulous.  The spinal block did not hurt at all and he really talked me through everything as all of the medications coarsed through my veins.  It was not easy. The first needle was no problem, the very part I was worried about.  But once I was all numb, my body did not like all of the medications he gave me. I felt nauseous and on to the point of self-destruction. It really did not feel good.  I didn't vomit, but I felt like I was on the brink. Finally, once they began to operate, my body settled down and then it was great. 

After a significant amount of tugging and pulling, the baby emerged.  Everyone in the operating room was excited to see what it would be, a boy or girl. 

Finally we had our answer at 8:10am.

A girl!!



Meet Noelle Stephanie.  She weighed 7 lbs. 3 oz. and was 20 inches long at birth.  And can you believe all of that hair.  A perfectly full head of hair, a uniform coif, thick and dark.

It took a while to sew me back up, but before I knew it I was being wheeled away to the recovery room, floating on a drug-induced cloud.

Rinar went to check on Noelle and then came back to tell me that she was not doing so well. She was having trouble absorbing enough oxygen. They had to give her an IV and antibiotics and a pulse-ox monitor.

Oh great. Another one of my kids in the NICU. Drat.

I went to my room soon enough and then started to feel really crappy. I vomited several times, but finally started to feel better once all of the medication started to wear off.

After she was monitored for a while and stabilized, I was able to hold my little girl. And she is just so darling.

 

And daddy's little girl, for sure.

It was also fun to have some visitors, like Melanie. Aren't they a cute pair?

And my kids were excited to see their new sister.

I stayed in the hospital until Friday, drinking a ton of water, cuddling and feeding my baby and working on getting mobile again.

The plan was to go home on Friday morning, and everything was looking good. Then Noelle decided to scare us all and turn a little blue in the middle of the night.  They put her on an oxygen cannula and I got the bad news at about 3:00am when I went looking for a baby to feed.  It was not good and I did cry a bit.

I let Rinar sleep, though, and told him that Noelle would not be coming home with us when it was morning time.  I was discharged and Noelle stayed.  Fortunately, she stabilized and we were able to take her home the next evening on an oxygen tank.  So she has been home now on a leash, stuck in our bedroom and will be for another week or so. But Noelle is doing fantastic. She is growing and eating and looking like a good little baby.

Our family is very blessed.

I think I have always known for a few years now that I was supposed to have one more girl. The thought had crossed my mind many times. It was no fun being pregnant and I was pretty darn whiny about it, but I absolutely love the result...and not being pregnant anymore!