Mike and Music

Posting here has been a little light lately, because we’ve been very busy with our newest addition to the family, but I wanted to give a quick update.  Michaela is doing great!  Her bilirubin is down and she seems to be jaundice-free.  She has lots of energy and she’s eating like a velociraptor.  Mike and I think she’s going through or on the verge of a growth spurt, which is pretty exciting!

We’ve settled into a routine of feedings and diaper changes and cat naps.  Mike usually takes the first two or three night feedings (depending on when I go to bed) and I take the middle-of-the-night/wee-hours-of-the-morning ones.  This morning, I was up at 1 a.m., 4 a.m., and 7 a.m., I think, and then Mike took over while I slept in a bit.  I feel really lucky to have such a good partner; I don’ t know how single parents do it.

The most interesting thing about our new routine is something I never really thought about before, or during, my pregnancy: what Michaela’s every-two-to-three-hour schedule means for my schedule.  One of us has to be up every two to three hours to attend to her needs– obviously.  On the surface, that doesn’t seem like much, but what it means in real life is that every two to three hours, we have to put in an hour with her.  It takes time to feed her (especially now that she’s eating a lot!) and to change her diaper, so if I’m up at 1 a.m., for example, I don’t get back to bed until 2, and then have to be up again at 3.  That’s where the lack of sleep comes into play!

That said, it’s amazing how quickly the days pass.  It feels like at least once a day, I look at the clock and am shocked to see it’s several hours later than I thought it was.  And that’s actually a really good feeling!

Mike did such a great job narrating our first couple of days in the hospital that this post is going to seem pretty boring by comparison.  My memories are pretty hazy, but this should provide an idea of what our hospital stay was like once Michaela was born.

After I gave birth, we spent several hours in our Labor & Delivery room, then were transported to a recovery room. There was a constant flow of people in and out of our recovery room. Nurses checking my vitals and my blood pressure, nurses checking the baby. Doctors checking me, doctors checking the baby. People to collect linens, people to drop off and pick up food trays. Especially on our first day in that room, it felt like Grand Central Station!

The medical team had run some tests on Michaela and eventually it came out that she was jaundiced, which happens when you have too high a level of a substance called bilirubin. Jaundice is common in kids, especially preemies, whose livers haven’t developed sufficiently by the time they come out. After one night in our room with us, Michaela had to go to the nursery to be under “bili lights,” which are lights that break down the bilirubin. In the scheme of things, being jaundiced isn’t a big deal. And considering all the problems preemies can have, it’s really wonderful that was all she was dealing with. Further, we were in a hospital, surrounded by caring nurses who really went out of their way to be good to me and to Michaela. But it was still pretty stressful (to say the least).

Michaela went under the bili lights on Sunday night at about 11 p.m. (I think; it’s all a blur), and they left her under the lights until about 6 a.m. on Tuesday. Even though I had been cleared for release, my doctors kept me admitted so I could tend to Michaela; every two-to-three hours, Mike and/or I would go down to the nursery to feed her, or bring her to the room to feed her.

Tuesday morning, Michaela’s bilirubin level was down enough that we could take her off the bili lights, with the knowledge that we’d have to go back to the doctor in a day and a half to have her tested again. We got to spend some time with her on Tuesday, which was the nicest thing in the world after her being so far away from us for so long. Mike went home and cleaned up a bit, brought me a change of clothes. Michaela and I took a nap together and hung out. It was a good day. That night, at about 9 p.m., we were released and got to bring our baby home. FINALLY!

All told, Mike and I were in the hospital for six days. That’s a long time, and I can’t express enough how strange it was to be there “spur of the moment.” But it was definitely worth it, as we ended up with a gorgeous, sweet, healthy baby– just in time for Christmas.

Here are some photos that Mike took during our time at the hospital.

When we first got to the hospital, I was shown to “High Risk 1″ and given a bunch of drugs… and jello!  We were later moved to a nicer, more spacious Labor & Delivery room.

After many, many hours of labor, Michaela was born at 12:17 a.m. on 12/12/09.

She weighed 7 1/2 pounds.

Daddy, as you can tell, was thrilled.

The nurses brought her over and we had some skin-to-skin bonding time.

Later, in our recovery room, Michaela and I took a little cat nap.

Michaela was jaundiced and had to go under the “bili lights” in the nursery.  They gave her some very fashionable shades to protect her eyes.

Our first family photo!  I was sooo tired, as you can tell, and still being monitored very closely (note the blood pressure cuff).

The outfit Michaela wore to go home is the same outfit Mike wore home from the hospital 33 years ago.

Finally!  After six days in the hospital, I was wheeled out.  I’m not sure I’ve ever been so happy.

Mike wrote the following when we were at the hospital waiting for Michaela to make her debut.  I’ve edited it only slightly, and I’ll warn you, it may be TMI for some readers (though it’s not graphic or anything).  The following actually only covers our first 24 or so hours in the hospital; I will post about the rest of our adventure later.

Thursday, 12/10/09

This morning we had a doctor’s appointment at 10, and a non-stress test (NST) at 11:30.  We left the house running late, and ended up at the doctor’s office at 10:15.  Music’s blood pressure was up pretty high, and coupled with some other problems she’s had over the past few days (swelling, headache) the doctor was concerned.  The doc ordered a blood test and a urine test (seems like every time Music pees we’re saving it for something), and sent us over to the NST lab.

We did our NST, and the blood pressure was still a little high (but better), and we were waiting for the labs to come back.  Eventually they did, and the doctor at the NST lab sent us home.  The nurse phrased it in such a way as to imply that “this time” we were going home, and we thought it odd that she was implying that we just barely made it into the “go home” category.  We were contemplating going out to lunch on the way home, and were walking toward the elevator when the nurse from NST came running down the hallway… apparently our OB saw the labs and called over to keep us there… she wanted to induce!

We checked in to the hospital around 1pm, and got all set up – Music got her first dose of misoprostol around 4:05pm– her cervix was soft, 50% effaced, and 1cm dilated.

I went home to round things up (we had nothing packed, and had brought nothing – we were just going to the doctor!) and returned around 7pm with a bag, our computers, our cameras, and my video camera.  Several hours later, Music got another dose of “miso” to help move things along.

Friday, 12/11/09

1am, no more miso… Music is a tight 2cm and 80-90% effaced.  They’re starting her on Pitocin.

We got moved from “High Risk 1” to the much bigger and nicer “LDR 10.”  This is where we’ll labor and deliver.  It’s much nicer!  Fake wood floors and so much more room.  Our own private bathroom, and all the things to welcome Poppy into the world.

At 7:45am, our OB came in and checked us again – still 2cm, bag of water was tight, so she broke it with a crochet hook-looking thing.  Lots of water, clear in color, smells like chlorine!

I sensed it would be my last time to get out of the room and get something to eat (up until that point the contractions had been pretty painless), so I ran out and got some breakfast while Music tried to get some rest to prepare her for labor.

To be continued

We’ll post a real  entry later with additional photos and details, but in the meantime, here are a few quick shots of the addition to our family, Michaela Lee.  She was born at 12:17 a.m. on 12/12/09, weighing 7 lbs 8 oz and measuring 20 inches long.  After six long days in the hospital for her mommy and daddy, we were finally able to bring Michaela home last night and are so happy with our early Christmas present!

Mike and the baby in our fabulous nursery.

A close up of daddy’s girl.

Mike and Michaela catch a few Zs at the hospital before we were discharged.

I am thrilled to announce that the baby’s room is finished!  Mike did an amazing job on it, with help in the last few days from his mom and dad, who flew in to attend our baby shower (more on the shower later).

I’ve already posted a few shots of the before, which involved Mike closing up a door between the tv room (henceforth known as the baby’s room) and the guest bedroom, so I’ll skip that.  Once the drywall was up, he primered the two walls that would soon be covered by an amazing  jungle scene.  Then it was on to the big project!

(Note: These are only a few shots of the process.  If you want to see more photos– not too many, I promise!– visit my Facebook album.)

We picked out some gorgeous colors to represent the sea and the sky, and Mike applied them first.

Next up was a green color, representing grass.

Mike then used his laptop and a projector to project pictures of a giraffe, lion, turtle, monkey, and tree onto some plywood.  He cut those shapes out with a jigsaw, then prepped (skimcoated and primered) the wood before turning it over to Nana Laura to draw on and paint the detailed animals (and tree).

Slowly but surely, all the animals were done.  Mike did the tree, I did the turtle, and Nana did the monkey, giraffe and lion.  Then Mike’s dad helped Mike mount the wooden figures to the wall in the baby’s room, creating a 3-D jungle display.

Here’s a shot of the men strategizing as they figured out the best way to mount the figures.

Once they had that figured out, they put up the animals and the room’s decor was complete (except for a few details we’re still working on, like a rug and maybe a couple of framed pictures for the other two walls).

The room looks amazing.  We are so excited for the baby to get here and to be able to spend time with her in that gorgeous space!