Welcome to the world Finley Mae!

On Sunday October 21, 2012 we welcomed our precious girl Finley Mae Brown into the world. She was 6lbs 5oz and 19 1/2" long. It has been the best 6 weeks with this sweet little thing!

So as I mentioned in my last post I had to be induced at 37 weeks due to cholestasis of pregnancy. It was kind of nice knowing the exact date that our baby was coming so we were able to prepare for it. Ryan and I spent the day before going to breakfast and a movie, then enjoyed some time with my parents. The next morning we went to Labor and Delivery at the brand new Kaiser in Anaheim at 8:30am after a surprisingly good night of sleep (thanks to benadryl). The next several hours were pretty uneventful. We had to wait in triage because all the rooms in L&D were occupied, so they hooked me up to an IV and we sat for a while. Finally around 11:30 we were able to go into our own suite! It was such a nice room!

They started me right away on antibiotics because I'm GBS positive (not a big deal), then we waited a while because I had to be on antibiotics for a couple hours. Once I got a couple rounds in me, they finally started the pitocin around 2:00 to try and start my contractions. They checked me and I was 4cm dilated and about 70% effaced. She said I could pretty much get an epidural as soon as I started having consistent contractions. They slowly increased the Pitocin and I didn't really feel anything for a long time. The next few hours were pretty slow and pain free! The nurse had to keep increasing the pitocin because I wasn't contracting a whole lot. But they were getting close enough together so I just asked for the epidural because they were increasing the Pitocin again and I knew it was probably going to start hurting really soon. So the anesthesiologist came in and gave me the epidural while Ryan watched in awe. He was really interested in watching it. As soon as the epi was in, the midwife came in and broke my water. The next couple hours were also uneventful...contracting a little more but still not enough. My epidural worked well on the right side but I was starting to feel some pain on my left side so I knew when I was contracting. It was still manageable though. Finally, around 9pm the midwife came in to check me and said "Okay you're at a 10, let's start pushing!" I was so surprised! And very excited to get the show on the road! So we kicked out all the family except our moms and I started pushing. Almost an hour and a half of pure exhaustion from pushing..our little girl finally came!! Ryan got to help pull her out/catch her which was pretty cool! She had a full head of brown hair and was very purple! She was also a little quiet so we had to wake her up a little to get her crying. But I fell in love!! And was also very relieved to have her here and healthy! :) Daddy cut the cord and I got to hold our sweet little girl!

We only spent 1 night in the hospital and slept a lot the next day. I learned a lot from our little girl in a short amount of time. 1) She loves her hands near her face (cutest thing ever!) 2) She spits up/chokes when laying flat (scared me to death several times the first week when I would wake up to her gagging on fluid) 3) This girl has some lungs! She was very loud once we got her to cry. Thankfully she doesn't scream like that very often, but when it does happen grab your ear plugs! 4) She had very good head control from day 1! If I put her on my chest or up to my shoulder she holds her head up and looks around. 5) She is very cuddly! She loves being held/swaddled/kissed, which is good cause we like to do all these things with her! and 6) She already throws tantrums by shaking her head back and forth and screaming when she doesn't like something.

Proud Daddy

All ready to leave the hospital

 Isn't this the sweetest picture? Daddy is wrapped tightly around her finger!

4 days after we left the hospital Finley's pediatrician noticed she looked a little jaundice so we went to have her labs checked just in case. He called me and said her levels are way too high and we needed to head to the ER right away, and to make sure we get seen right away. Talk about one stressed mama! Since I just finished peds in nursing school I know that jaundice is really common in newborns. But apparently her bilirubin levels were to the point that they start getting really worried and they said it can cause brain damage if not treated right away. So we get to the ER and they give her an IV and poke her a bunch of times to check her levels again to make sure they weren't increasing. Thankfully her levels went down a little, so they gave her lots of fluids and put her under the lights and her levels kept dropping. We were able to go home the next day, but it didn't end there. We ended up having to take her to get her blood drawn probably 10 more times to check her levels because they kept fluctuating. Thankfully after a couple weeks her levels were finally normal and we were able to relax! It was the saddest thing watching her get poked and sit under the lights without being able to hold her! I'm so thankful everything turned out okay. I admire those parents who spend lots of time in the NICU with their little ones!

I also had my own health issues because I tore and got an episiotomy and apparently pushed it too hard after the delivery (because I was in NO pain the first few days). Around the time Finley was in the hospital for jaundice, I started having way more pain than I had the first few days after delivery. I could hardly walk down the hallway or go to the bathroom without wanting to scream! It didn't help that we were going to dr's appointments and to the lab every other day so I wasn't able to just relax at home with our baby! I finally saw my midwife and as soon as she checked me she said my stitches opened up and it's not good! She had to get 2 other OB's to come check me because apparently it doesn't happen very often. The first told me I needed to go the ER to get restitched! That just sounded awful! Then the other OB came in and said they can't restitch it but I needed to be on antibiotics to prevent an infection and he said I needed to go home and sit on my butt and do nothing! So thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law, I was able to sit at home for a few weeks and do nothing but spend time with Finley, which was just what we needed. I am finally feeling well enough to get out again. And we were able to establish this whole breast feeding thing (it's not easy!!). THEN...because of my antibiotics, we both ended up with thrush!! Oh my gosh, I swore it was never ending! Thankfully it's affecting me more than Finley, but man it hurts so bad! But we're fighting through it and still breastfeeding and loving every minute of it!! I would much rather have gone through the delivery 10 times than have to deal with all the pain I've been in the last 6 weeks! But of course it's all been worth it! :)

Anyway, since it took so long for me to update the blog, and since this is already long enough, I'm just going to fill you in with pictures.

She's just so teeny!! Even now at almost 6 weeks her newborn clothes are still big on her!

How you doin?

As of today, Finley is now at 7lbs 9oz, which is great because she dropped down to 5lbs 13oz after birth! Anyway, It has been the best 6 weeks of our lives thanks to this perfect little girl! It's been amazing watching her grow everyday and I already can't believe she's over a month old! Anytime I'm feeling a little overwhelmed or exhausted all I have to do is look at her and I'm back on cloud 9. I am really trying to appreciate every minute with her because she's already growing too fast. Ryan and I just stare at her and wonder how we got so blessed to have such a perfect baby!

It's been a little too long since I've posted anything, so here is a very short update on our lives over the last 2 months...

School - I just finished half of my 3rd semester in RN school, and this rotation we did Pediatrics which was awesome! I felt like I was in my element taking care of kids. Life has flown by since summer ended and that's because school has kept me insanely busy. Now I can enjoy a few weeks (or so I thought) of relaxation and getting ready for baby girl! I don't have to go back to school till March 25th! I'm so blessed to get so much time off with her :)

                                                        Me and Meagan at school

                                 My awesome clinical group. We had a luncheon after our last day and they surprised me with cupcakes and a diaper cake that they all put together for me! I am going to miss my classmates!

Other than that, Ryan has still been working, we got to go on a couple boat rides over the last couple of months, I got to spend time with my parents and Mindy and the boys, I have been very angry about this darn weather (it was 95 today, 10/17), and baby is still cooking away!

 

This is sort of a bitter-sweet post for me because this is the last post before baby girl is here. About 2 weeks ago I started getting insanely itchy, especially on my feet and at night time. There were a couple nights that I woke up to go to the bathroom and I couldn't go back to sleep due to the itchiness. So of course I google "itching in pregnancy" and it says itchiness is common, but if it's severe it can mean you have liver issues, which can cause stillbirth if not caught in time! Now I'm not really one to freak out or worry over little things, but this kinda had me a little scared. So I got my bloodwork done and sure enough, my liver enzymes were  elevated, meaning I have an increased amount of acids in my body. Apparently that can be toxic to the baby, so in this situation they usually deliver as soon as you reach full term, 37 weeks. So I had an appointment a few days later and the doctor tells me "okay I have you scheduled to be induced Sunday, October 21st at 830am!" Let's just say my blood pressure was off the roof after that and it took a while for me to accept the fact that we were going to have our baby in 10 days! I was so not prepared, mentally or physically. I had just finished school and didn't have anything set up. A few days later I had another appointment and my midwife checked my cervix to see if I was dilated. We were very surprised when she said I'm already at 4cm and 70% effaced! Usually when people are 4cm they're in labor begging for an epidural. So since I was scheduled to be induced 6 days later, she stripped my membranes at the same time. That was not the most comfortable thing in the world! But she warned me that that can stimulate labor, so I should be prepared in case baby comes earlier than Sunday. So I went home and organized all our baby stuff and got ready! It's been 2 days since my appointment and I still haven't had any contractions or signs of labor. Needless to say, it's been a pretty overwhelming week but we are so excited to meet this little girl!

I had my baby shower last weekend and got spoiled! I am so grateful to have so many great friends and family!

I can't believe I'm 36 weeks pregnant! The last 8 months have gone so fast! I have actually really loved being pregnant, except for the heartburn/reflux, insanely sore gums, peeing my pants anytime I sneeze, and watching the scale climb. Although I'm very proud to say that I've only gained 25 pounds, and 4-5 of those have been in the last week due to fluid retention/major swelling of the feet! Ryan has had a great time making fun of my feet and cankles calling me "Swoll." But I think I'm really going to miss being pregnant. I love feeling her move ALL day long, and I sure hope she isn't this active when she gets here.

Wish us luck this weekend!! I'll be updating again when I can with pictures of our new baby!! :)