The Very First Week

Age today: 1 week or 7 days

Age Being Posted: Days 0-6

Date: December 23 - 29

Diaper Size: Newborn... and its a little big!

Clothing Size: newborn

Photo of the Week: Little Strawberry

Milestone: Focus on a face

Development: You're the most beautiful little thing. You seem so fragile. You sleep all the time except to eat. While sleeping you do these little sleep grins. Oh who cares they say it isn't a real smile! It's adorable! While your eating you stare up at me unless you're really hungry then you just look straight forward determined to get all the milk there is!

Concerns: Your little chin seems to tremble while you're eating and I'm not sure why. You also make this weird sound while sleeping like you aren't getting enough oxygen.

Eating Habits: Breast milk, every 1-2 hours during day. Every 3 at night

Sleeping Habits: All day and night. Luckily a bit more at night.

Health: You're still on antibiotics that we have to give around 10am everyday

Special Moments-
Best: When we could bring you home!
Worst: When we got the phone call in the middle of the night saying they were hooking you up to an IV.

This Weeks Observations/Activities: Well, you were born. You got really sick and couldn't come home. You got better but are still on antibiotics and even though we left the hospital we still aren't "home" but at your grandparents house.

Pictures From This Week:

Day Four

Emilynn is doing sooooooo much better! They say that if her blood tests come back all good then she can come home with us tomorrow!

Of course she wont actually be going home now. My idiot husband asked the doctor about having a cat and he told us we had to get rid of it. He said for the next 15 days Em would still be weak so it was worse NOW but still bad to have the cat later.

Number One: I had cats(and dogs and a bird) from the time I was born. No problem.

Number Two: I've read sooooo many studies about the benefits of having pets that to hear a doctor say its bad boggles my mind.

Number Three: Its a cultural thing I think. Everyone here hates cats.

So now his parents say we have to get rid of the cat. Blah. Blah. Blah.

So I purposed the idea of staying at their house the first 15 days so she would be stronger before we introduced them.

They obviously agreed. I know its just a band-aid because they will say we have to get rid of her again after the 15 days but for now it's all ok.

Em will come home tomorrow!

Day Three

Pedro and I are at home now but Em's still at the hospital hooked up to everything.

Tonight we had a rosary for her. Well they did.. Pedro's family. I'm not catholic... but I've been praying for her nonstop.

Today we were at the hospital every three hours to visit her. They are trying to get her to eat so I have to pump.

I'm afraid for her but there are 3 other babies there who have been there more than a month and they are tiny little things. One is as big as my hand..and my hand is small. So I know things could be worse.

If anyone can spare any prayers send them our way.

Day Two

This post is going to be short because I don't feel like posting much.

Last night we got a call around 1 am letting us know they had to put an IV in Em because she was still not eating.

In the early morning we went to see her and by that time she was in a incubator for photo therapy because of jaundice. She had been hooked up to a heart monitor and while we were in there she was put on oxygen too.

Pedro's dad gave her a small baptism and then the doctor talked to us about what was going on.

She has some type of infection. They sent her blood in to be tested but have already started her on antibiotics.

I has to check out of the hospital and we came home without Em.

I'm so worried I can hardly breathe.

I hope everyone is having a better Christmas than we are.

Day One

Today is Christmas Eve... but we aren't headed home yet.

Apparently there are a few things wrong with Em.
1. She's not eating
2. Whatever she does get down comes right back up.
3. Her blood type is O and Pedro is B and I'm A. This gives her a higher chance of jaundice.

And now I'm more afraid than ever. Hopefully she will come home with us for Christmas.

Even though they said I could go home I'm staying the night here. For Em.

Here are a couple pictures from today... for the little bit we got to see/hold her...

Welcome to the World Emilynn Claire

Today the little princess was born at 2:45pm weighing a whopping 6 pounds 3 ounces and measuring a whole 18 inches!

My labor was easy as labors go. Thank God I'm like my mom (6 hour labor) and not my sister (18 hour labor). Mine was 9 hours from start to finish.

Honestly I expected pain. Serious pain. And I'm not saying there was no pain. There was. But nothing like I thought. I wasn't even sure I was in labor!

I woke up at 530 (which wouldn't have been too unusual but I went to sleep at 3) with a weird lower back pain. It seemed to be there and then go away again so I went to the bathroom (well I was pregnant!) And then went back to sleep. I woke up again around 645 with the pain again. It now was noticeably going away and returning so I timed them. Every ten minutes. But still it hardly hurt just a slight pain so I tried to sleep again.

By 730 I decided to wake my husband. He timed them. Every 8 minutes. He continued to sleep between them waking only when I said it started again.

By 9 am it was every 6 minutes so we called my doctor who assured me it wasn't labor and to get some rest.

At 10 it was every 5 minutes and by that time my husbands parents tested us letting us know his cousin went into labor. So we informed them of my back pain which his mom thought was due to our mattress.

By 1030 it was every 4 minutes but still not painful.

I called my mom and told her about it and she said her labor was the same so I called my doctor and told her this. Still not believing me she sent me to a clinic where they would check me out.

At the clinic they attached me to a thing that read the strength of contractions and time between each. My contractions by then where every 3 minutes.

The nurse there then did a tactile 7 times before she believed I was dilated at a 8.

Then she said if I wasn't having the baby there then I needed to go where I was having her because she was coming soon.

We drove to the hospital, got stuck in traffic, yelled a lot then finally arrived at 1230.

I still had contractions and they still weren't terrible.

Around 130 my doctor finally arrived and then broke my water. After that the contractions we're harder and I begged for an epidural.

But I did not get one. The anesthesiologist was no where to be found.

Around 215 I actually felt like pushing with the contractions. So they took me to the delivery room (up until then I was still on the E.R.) around 230 I started pushing and 15 minutes later my beautiful little girl made her debut.

They cleaned her up and gave her to me.

Wow.

Nothing in the world could compare to that feeling...

They were supposed to bring her around 4pm but didn't bring her until 630 because she wasn't eating and they just now rolled her away so I can rest.

I'd love to have her beside me but this will be my last night of uninterrupted sleep for awhile so I'm going to take advantage.

Here are some pictures!