It's been 7 weeks and almost 1 day since our baby girl
Makena Ashtyn blessed our lives. Although the first 48 hours were a little stressful with
Makena in the
NICU and then coming straight home with no practice at anything with the help of the hospital staff, we have settled in quite nicely.
Makena has been a wonderful baby. She eats, sleeps and poops...which is what all babies do right!!?! She does some crying too but nothing a little cuddle, change of diaper or food won't calm down. I wanted to capture a few things about the last 7 weeks since I am just getting this started.
Makena's Arrival - I was 39 weeks 2 days pregnant when Don and I headed to see Dr. Ramos for our weekly appointment on Tuesday May 5
th. We were trying to figure out an induction date because Dr. Ramos wasn't sure I would make it all weekend (she was going to be gone) and she was concerned that I wouldn't be able to deliver if
Makena got any bigger. I was
dilated to a 2 the week before and she was sure I was ready to go. When we got to the office that Tuesday there wasn't any availability at the hospital for the induction until the following Tuesday (the 12
th) so we had gotten used to the fact that it was going to be a few more days until we got to meet
Makena. However, everything changed by the end. There had been a number of woman admitted to the hospital and a spot had opened up for that evening. So in a nut shell, our worlds were a little bit rocked. We were excited, but the sudden change of plans made us a bit emotional. As we left the office, Don and I said our goodbyes as he was headed downtown to finish up some things at the office and I was headed home to do the same for work as well as let everyone know we would be heading to the hospital at 8pm that night. I worked until around 4pm and finally I just decided to hand everything off and be done with work for a few weeks...12 to be exact. I am blessed to have such a wonderful work family. I finished packing and took a shower. Mom, Dad and Tyler were planning to be on there way about 9pm.
So on to the evening...Don managed to get home in time to go get a video camera, get changed and then we headed to the hospital. We got settled into our room and I got an IV. Jeanette (Grammy) and Ron (
Gramps) surprised us at the hospital. We convinced them to go back to our house to get some sleep, because we expected it to be an uneventful night. By 10pm or so they has started to administer
meds to get the process started. I was having contractions when I got there and still at 2
cms. More
meds came at 3:00 am. I had managed to sleep about an hour, which is the last actual sleep I would get until
Makena was here. By 8:00 am I had not made much progress so Dr. R broke my water. The progress was slow all day (it's Wednesday now). By 7:00 pm or so I had finally made it to 7
cms, so Dr. R said she would give me another hour or so and if there was no progress she was going to have to do a c-section. I had a fever and it was continuing to rise which was a sign that both me and the baby were at risk to infection. That switch in plans was very emotional but by 8:00 or so that had all changed. I had made it to 9
cms in just an hour. In another half an hour we were ready to push. Pushing wasn't working so much because
Makena had not dropped past my pelvic bone. Dr. R said we had a couple of options. She thought
Makena's head was tilted slightly which wasn't allowing her to come down, so she could assist in turning her head with
forceps, we could just keep pushing, or go ahead and go to the OR. There was risks with the
forceps because her shoulders could still get stuck, which can be very dangerous. Don and I said a prayer and decided to push a few more times then use the
forceps one time. By God's grace the
forceps worked and
Makena was here at 9:34pm but she was having problems breathing and her collar bone needed to be checked as well as the potential for infection. Don cut the cord quickly after she was plac
ed on my belly and then she was swept off to the
NICU. She weighed 7 lbs 8.6
ozs and was 19 inches long. We found out later she had a hole in her lung. Don went down to the
NICU with her while I was getting stitched up. After Don came back and let the grandparents go through and see Miss
Makena, everyone went home (Thanks everyone for coming.
Makena has a wonderful family that was with us most if not all day!!). At this point
Makena was on oxygen and doing well. During transport to
postpartum, I had a mini-seizure most likely due to the combination of no food, epidural, pain
meds and fever. Poor Don just when he thought the drama was over. Therefore, instead of being able to go to the
NICU to see
Makena, I had to go to my new room for observation. I did not get to see
Makena until 11am Thursday morning. I made Don get up at 6am and call to check on her. I was a bit of a basket case at that point but I did get to hold her after the long wait. Daddy had been down to see her before that. After 36 hours in the
NICU the doctors decided we could all go home which was a shock to us since we thought we were all staying another day. We felt like we were rushed out of the hospital, but all in all we made it home and we were all doing fine.
Week 1 - WHAT A GREAT MOTHER'S DAY AND WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!! Being home on Sunday for Mother's day was wonderful. Both my mom (Granny Bobbi) and Grammy were here with us so not only did I get to spend time with them but I had
Makena. Our Wedding Anniversary was on the 13
th so yet again what a blessing and celebration. Granny Bobbi stayed with us for the first week and a half. We had visits from a number of friends and family. It was great to have the help while getting adjusted to life with a newborn. We both went to the doctor that week and everything checked out just fine. Due to
anemia, I had some issues with continued swelling but Dr. Ramos promised me it would go down after my iron was increased, which of course it did.
Makena did very well that first week. She didn't have much to eat the first 24 hours as we were waiting for milk to come in so I am sure it was a big shock to her. Once that happened she just continued to get better and better. She had lost some weight those first few days but was back on the upward path by the end of the first week. I have to say meeting
Riggins wasn't as eventful as I thought.
Riggins was just happy for us to be home. He was more interested in playing ball then meeting
Makena. He now loves to lick her feet or anything else he can sneak in a lick.
Week 2 - My help went home. Dad and Tyler came to get Mom and to see
Makena again on Saturday. This was the first week of being home by myself with Miss
Makena. I have to say it wasn't as scary as I thought. We had to go back to the hospital for blood work which almost made me cray when they pricked her little heels. We made it through though. I do need to make a note...
Makena made the sweetest noise after she sneezed. She would sneeze a few times and then make this little...ahmmm...sigh. So precious. I wish we could have caught it on video. She doesn't really do it now. They change so fast.
Week 3 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!! Don had a very low key birthday, but I think he thought it was a pretty special one. He spent it with his little girl!
Week 4 - Our small group and other friends brought us meals week 2, 3, and 4! We are very thankful for them and want them to know how much of a blessing it was to have such wonderful meals!! We went to church when Miss M was 3.5 weeks old. It was great to see everyone. Grammy went with us.
Week 5 - UNCLE TYLER CAME TO VISIT. Tyler came to visit so he could practice swimming. We enjoyed having him here for the week.
Week 6 - HELLO TWINKLE CITY--
MAKENA'S FIRST TRIP TO RISING STAR!
Makena,
Riggins and I decided to leave on Tuesday and spend the rest of the week in RS because Don was going to be in Chicago for work and it will probably be hard to get away for that long once I go back to work.
Riggins loved being out there. He spent a lot of it in the water. He loves the tank and it rained a lot while we were there.
Makena got to meet her cousins (Lisa, Tracy, April, Dakota and Weston) and great aunts and uncles (Joy, Bobby, Debbie, and great great uncle Eldon). We went to church with Granny on Sunday before we left, which allowed all of our RS church family to meet her. (I can't name them all, but a few included Janet, Anna,
Olena, Mr & Ms Hill, Jeannine & Dean, Miss Pam, Kelly and Lori, Kathy, and Rita..plus many more). Tara also came by to see her. We were so happy to see everyone!! And we missed Don so back to
Coppell we went...
Makena did great in the car. She slept.
We also got to see Brandi and Hannah. Thanks for meeting us! Makena did not want to open her eyes. Sleepy girl.
Week 7 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALEB, GOODBYE TO THE
STIPPS AND HELLO TO BABY
CADEN! We went to
Sache for Caleb's 3rd birthday on Saturday as well as celebrated the
Stipps new journey on Thursday and Saturday. Uncle John was here for Caleb's birthday and got to see
Makena. Thursday night was the going away party for Jason and Lauri with the Wednesday night small group and Saturday was spent with all of their closest friends at Jason and Bethany's house. We had a wonderful time celebrating their new journey to Missouri. We pray that God blesses you over and over and hope to see you soon. Also we got to welcome baby
Caden to the world on Monday June 22. Congrats to Jenny (mom), Jack (dad) and
Colten (big brother)!!! He is precious! I can foresee many
play dates!
Now we are starting week 8...
