Thanksgiving from a Mom with a newborn

I am so thankful for this amazing little girl asleep in my arms, as I type one-handed. I am thankful for her first 3 weeks in this world and for how well she is growing. As we brought her home from the NICU, Jim commented many times how grateful he was that her only problem was reflux. After spending 3 days in the NICU with some babies with serious medical issues and getting to visit my friends baby who was delivered at only 26 weeks on Halloween, we couldn't help but put reflux in perspective.

I am thankful that we have 4 loving big sisters. I am grateful that Emma and Megan are happy to hold Johanna even if she is crying. I am grateful for Jim who lets me crawl into bed while he rocks Johanna to sleep at night and then takes her in the morning if she doesn't want to go back to bed after her early morning feeding, so I can get a few more minutes.

I am thankful for my brother Will and sil Heather who hosted a sit down Thanksgiving Dinner for 42 people. I am thankful for the ability to see my family regularly and for the connected group we have grown into. I am thankful for my amazing group of nieces and nephews who are anything but average. I am grateful for all of visitors who came to welcome our little Pumpkin.

I am grateful for the soft skin on Johanna's neck and her fluffy hair. For her long fingers that curl around mine while she is eating. I am grateful for her smiles and gurgling noises and the delightful grins they elicit from her sisters. I love the way she pulls her legs up, tucked in tight when I lift her to my shoulder. It is such a temporary time and I am grateful for the messy, loud, tired and silent moments.

Jim declared that Johanna is our luckiest baby, she has 6 family members to love on her every day.

A different kind of addition

Our little precious addition joined our family 2 1/2 weeks ago and since her birth we also started on a different kind of addition. We finalized plans for expanding our living space after a long decision process and the construction began on the same day our little Pumpkin came home from the hospital. Nov. 6th trucks and crew arrived at our house while I was with Johanna in the NICU and Jim was at home with the big sisters. I talked to Jim on the phone and could hear jack-hammering in the background.

The crew jack-hammered and removed our back patio and the stairwells. Then the backhoe excavated 5-6 feet of dirt. The backhoe was just finishing up as the whole family arrived home with baby Johanna. The noise was finished for the day and we had a huge hole where our patio once was and we had a mountain of dirt in the yard.

After the hole was dug the next step was pouring the footing. While they were pouring Jim went out with a St. Joseph figure, Patron Saint of Families and asked the crew to add him to the foundation. They did and made sure he was upright in the concrete. Since the footing they placed wall forms and then a boom truck arrived which had a huge crane that went over the house and they used to pump concrete into the forms.

They put in gravel, and the sump pump system and once it was inspected they then back-filled against the outside wall. Today they removed the mountain of dirt from the backyard. It was been a sporadic coming and going of trucks and machines and workers. Next week the framing begins!

Soccer Tournament

We had amazing weather last weekend, perfect for a soccer tournament. Rachael and Emma's teams both had single elimination playoff games. Emma's doctor said that he didn't think she should play with the broken arm, so we erred on the side of caution and Emma got to be a team supporter on the sideline. Her team's game ended after double overtime with a lose, but they followed the game up with a pizza party at the coaches house.

We went to Rachael's game and they played really well. Rachael was involved in a number of plays that concluded in goals. Rae isn't the fastest kid on the field but boy can she sprint when she needs to. Rachael played center defense most of the time and played with intensity every time an opposing player came her way. The coaches relied on Rachael as a team leader who could help the younger girls on the team with position and backup. Her yellow team won the game so we went home for lunch and prepared to return to the field for the next playoff game. Rachael had really given her all and was exhausted, so she relaxed.

The Hess family came down to meet baby Johanna so they joined us for the 2nd game. We had a blast cheering for Rachael and her team and they won that game as well. Rachael was on her way to the championship game on Sunday afternoon.



The weather was again beautiful Sunday afternoon when our whole family headed to the field once more. It was a close game and Rae's team played really well. Rachael's competitiveness kept her focused and she yelled encouragement to her teammates and the occasional battle cry during a fight for the ball. The game was tied and we all hoped it would end in regulation time but it went to overtime and then to penalty kicks. After the first round of kicks it was still tied so 3 more girls were chosen for the next round of kicks. Rachael was in that group and made a strong kick that the goalie bobbled but got under control. The other team missed there kicks but Rae's team but 1 in, so after the last girl a cheer went up for team yellow. We were all so excited and I was glad even Johanna got to be there to share Rachael's moment.

In the NICU

Johanna's birth was great and similar to her sisters. Her first night was also very much like her sisters. The post-partum nursing staff came and checked on me every few hours, the techs came to check my vitals and the well baby nursery nurse brought Johanna to and from my room every few hours. It is not a system conducive to sleep, but when Johanna was ready to go back to the nursery before midnight I called the nurse and asked that they do everything they needed to then, so I got 3 hours of consecutive sleep. The nursery brought Pumpkin in to me to eat around 2:30AM and she ate well, they then brought her back around 5:30 AM, but Johanna was sound asleep. I decided after an attempt to wake her to just enjoy her. So we snuggled until 7AM when they came to get her so the pediatricians could do their rounds. I fell asleep and expected Johanna back around 9AM.

I was woken up at 9AM but instead of baby Johanna it was the neo-natologist. She started in explaining that Johanna had stopped breathing twice (apnea) while she was in the nursery and that she was now in the NICU. It was a lot to take in but I tried to ask questions and get info. I was worried what I would see when I went to see her, but I was reassured to know that she didn't need to be intubated and was still in a regular crib. The doctor was great, calming but realistic and gave me lots of info. I called Jim after she left and started to cry. I was tired and emotional and just really wanted to see our baby. The NICU called in the next few minutes and asked if I wanted to come over to fed her. Yeah! I quickly found my way over and scrubbed in. Johanna was alert and hungry and it felt so good to hold her and feed her. She had an IV line in her arm which was taped to a board. She had heart and respiration monitors stuck to her chest with little wires that came out of a little outfit they had already put her in. And she had a pulsox monitor taped to her foot. None of it was scary and the nursing staff was great.


Once we knew that Johanna was stable and was just being observed our biggest question was "Why did it happen?" They wanted to rule out infection so they sent cultures off. The NICU doctors expected if everything looked good we would be there for 3 days, if she had an infection it would be at least a week. The NICU doesn't let siblings come to visit so now when Jim brought them to the hospital they had to hang out in my room. It was really hard for them to not be able to see their sister and to be in a small room for so long but I was really impressed at how well behaved they were. The first day in the NICU Heather came and sat with the girls keeping them busy and fed while Jim and I went back and forth from the NICU. We had a number family come to visit and it as a nice distraction for the girls and for me. Instead of heading home on Sunday, our plans shifted and we decided that I should stay on at the hospital so I could nurse Johanna and be with her. It was my birthday so Jim and the girls brought me cupcakes and homemade cards, they really wanted to celebrate and it made me feel special in the strange situation. I was relieved to find out the hospital lets moms stay two extra days so I would have until Tuesday to be with Johanna. My biggest wish was that she and I would go home together.

  

Jim did a great job with the girls and arranged play dates and visits with friends for Monday since school was closed. All of them needed a fun relaxed day. Jim got things ready at home for our new addition project that was to start on Tuesday and came to hang out with Johanna and me at the hospital. We met a different Dr. in the NICU and we went over an echocardiogram and chest x-ray. The echo showed a hole but they determined that it was a small common one that was not negatively impacting blood flow or pressures, and the chest x-ray was clear. Pumpkin's 1st two cultures also came back clear. It became clear that Johanna had reflux and they suspected that the reflux might have caused the apnea. They gave her a prescription for Zantac which we started that day. There were a few oxygen level alarms that went off on Sunday but the staff thought it might have been a bad contact on the sensor and after it was re-taped the alarms stopped.  We continued to get good news on other tests and the NICU staff started talking about discharge for Tuesday. 

 Tuesday morning when I went to the NICU, Johanna's IV was out and she had been given a bath. Johanna was sweet smelling and I was anxious to take her home. On my next visit all of the sensors were gone and the monitors said discharged. They brought Johanna to my room and she and I got ready to go home. I got her dressed in the little pumpkin outfit we had picked out for the special occasion. That morning Jim took Emma to Towson to get a new cast for her broken arm and then brought the whole family to the hospital to pick us up. Em, Rae, Meg and Bridget were all so excited to see Johanna and hold her again. We were all thrilled to be going home together.

Johanna's Birth Story

Our baby Pumpkin arrived on Friday, Nov. 2, 2012. We couldn't be happier.

When I went to my OB appointment on her due date 10/31, I was 3cm and after talking it over with my OB and the hospital we scheduled to get things started on the 2nd. My OB wasn't scheduled to come in until 6PM so when the hospital wanted me in at 1PM, we determined that we would get things going slowly.

I arrived at the hospital with Becky and Emma at 1:00 and we went through the admitting process. I made sure the nurse understood that I was hoping to help labor get started by only breaking my water and that I wanted to avoid other medical interventions. The nursing staff was great. I did need to get in IV going right away because I tested positive for Group B Strep and needed antibiotics in my system before they broke my water. That took 2 tries but I got the antibiotics.

Jim and the younger sisters all arrived at the hospital at 2:00 and came into visit. They were very well behaved. My girls were concerned for me and didn't like the machines and tubes but they could see that I was doing just fine. Bridget didn't like the smell of the room and preferred to be in the waiting area. Over the next 2 hours we just waited. Mary arrived and she, Jim, and Becky took turns with the girls in the waiting area. A little after 4PM they broke my water. It took a little while for contractions to start and they were very mild. I could talk through them and enjoy the company of everyone in the room. Jim took our 4 girls to get dinner and returned to find me still pretty comfortable.

Contractions got more consistent as Magaly and Heather arrived but they were still mild and I got to catch up with everyone as I rocked in the rocking chair. I really love having a close family and I was so excited we had so much support. Rachael, Megan and Bridget came to check on me every once in a while, sometimes together and sometimes individually. They were so sweet to me. At about 7:30 I started having strong contractions. Everyone in the room could tell the difference and Becky ushered the 3 younger girls back to the waiting room. Emma was very good throughout the day and had just the right touch at the right time. It was wonderful having her there. Jim, having seen me labor multiple times, knew it was getting close and made sure I did what was comfortable. He got me over to the bed because I was obviously in transition. I stopped talking except for one word here or there. I closed my eyes and focused on getting through the pain. My OB came in to check me at 8:00 and asked everyone to leave but Jim and Emma, and I just about cried when she said I was 5cm. There was no way I was going to be able to labor at that pain level for a long time. I think hearing that really made the pain harder to deal with. The OB team left the room because they had another mom delivering but my nurse Jan stayed. Mary and Becky came back in the room. I was so uncomfortable on the bed so I moved to a sitting position on the side of the bed. I remember saying "ow" and breathing and bouncing my leg. I drew into myself.

At 8:17 Johanna was born. No doctor, no prepared bed, just a room full of loved ones, Jim's capable help and our nurse who guided her out. I went from 5cm to delivered in 17 minutes. My OB and the staff showed up, wrapped her up and I got to hold her. Johanna was alert and big eyed but she wasn't crying much and her color was more purple than pink so they moved her over to the warming bed. The room was a mess so it took a little while to get me, the bed and the room cleaned up enough to have people in. Johanna immediately looked better and Jim and Emma kept her company. 

When everything, including Johanna and I, were cleaned up Rae, Meg and Bridge came into the room. They were quiet and gentle and waited for a space to see their little sister. It was so wonderful to see the love on their faces. The Aunts came back in as well and got to enjoy our little Pumpkin.

 

 

Pumpkin weighed 7 lbs. 14 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long. She looks so familiar and so new. I love her!  

Halloween

Prep for Halloween this year was full of contingencies and lots of tentative planning. We have spent Halloween with the Brinks for at least 5 years and this year we wanted to do the same, but anytime we talked about it there was an understanding that it all depended on baby Pumpkin. Her due date didn't seem to make any difference to our little Johanna so we were able to do all of the normal Halloween activities.

We also had hurricane Sandy come through 2 days before Halloween, so instead of making trips for last minute costume needs we were hunkered down in the house, cleaning up water and hoping Johanna didn't try for the "most dramatic delivery" story. We were blessed to have power throughout and enjoyed having the girls home from school. We used to time to carve pumpkins and hang out together.

The little girls were nervous that school would be closed on Halloween and they wouldn't get to have parties and do the parade but everything worked out and the weather was pretty nice. Jim and I went up to school to see Bridget and Megan in the parade. I put on a bumble bee costume to add to the festivities. Bridget was all smiles - so thrilled to see us. Megan too enjoyed the whole afternoon but Megan got off the bus in tears because she lost the Black Widow  icon that velcroed to her belt. Immediately Rachael came to the rescue and offered her icon from her Black Widow costume.

Emma meanwhile was still working on her Mockingjay costume in the basement gluing feathers and cutting fabric. So last minute, but we had just enough time to do some cool eye makeup and send her off to her friend's house. Rachael struggled to find shoes to go with her costume and was torn with disappointment in her Black Widow costume and really wanting to be a part of trick or treating. The smell of sugar won out.

The Brinks came over and so did the Krispins from across the street. I was so happy to have Emma and her girl friends come to our house for trick or treating before the group headed out, so she could see everyone and they could see her. Jim then lead our happy crew out for trick or treating and I stayed home to hand out candy. It was fun to see all of the neighborhood kids.

The holiday did not disappoint.