Portia's First Month

Adjusting to having a new baby at home is tough.  I never thought how difficult it can be at times; no one and no book can prepare you.  But we are doing well, we have been following a book called Baby Wise and so far it has been working great!  Portia eats when she is suppose to and sleeps when she is suppose to.

Right now we are still having to supplement her with a bottle after we breastfeed.  Since she was a preemie it's hard for her to do the whole breastfeeding thing well right now.  But she seems to be doing well with it.

On Monday, July 25th, when Portia was only 11 days old, we had the scariest moment of our lives!  I gave her a bath in the early evening and laid her down for a nap.  Bill came home and woke her up for her next feeding, but Bill didn't think she looked right.  She felt cold and was pretty lethargic, I just assumed that is was from the bath.  But then she wouldn't wake up to feed and at that moment I realized something was wrong.  Bill took her temperature several times and it was low every time, it was around 95 degrees, we immediately contacted the doctor's office and spoke to the triage nurse.  She wanted us to take it one more time rectally and if it was still low she wanted us to go to the pediatric ER at St. Francis.  It was still low so we packed what we could and rushed to the ER, the pediatric ER closed at 1am and we arrived at 12:45pm.  Portia was looked at right away, Dr. Ethan Warlick was extremely concerned because she was hypothermic, apenic, and seemed septic, he started to run tests immediately.  She had 4 nurses that poked her to draw blood for numerous tests, she even had xrays and a lumbar puncture!  It was so hard to watch because there was nothing Bill and I could do and all Portia did was cry and arch her back.

Dr. Warlick decided to admit Portia to the pediatric ICU at the Children's Hospital at St. Francis.  We arrived over there around 2:15am, she was put under warming lights as we were leaving the ER to help raise her body temperature and once we arrived in the PICU the nurses started an IV and antibiotics right away and they continued to obtain cultures and blood to run more tests til about 5am!  They started the antibiotics immediately because her doctor, Dr. Malik, thought she had some kind of bacteria or viral infection and wanted to start treatment right away even before the cultures came back , to fight the infection immediately. Dr. Malik prepared us for the worse type of infection, which was spinal meningitis, we were so scared, and all that we could do was pray for her healing!

The next 24 hours were the longest 24 hours we had ever experienced.  We just had to wait and see if anything grew on Portia's cultures.  But Portia was responding well to the IV's and the antibiotics.  Thankfully the PICU rooms were all suites and Bill and I were able to sleep and stay in the room with her. Throughout our stay we had so many visitors, we are truly blessed to have such a great support system.  Numerous friends, family, and Lifechurchers came to bring us food, to pray with us, and just to love on us and Portia.  The hardest thing about the stay is that we weren't able to hold Portia the first few days we were there.  She had so many tubes and IV's in her.  She had a feeding tube, an oxygen tube, fluid IV's, and 3 antibiotics going.  Then finally on late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning we had a breakthrough.  On late Wednesday we were able to bottle feeding her, and one of Portia's nurses did the late night feeding at 2am and discovered the bottle nipples we had been using were too difficult for Portia to use.  Meaning she was burning more calories and energy than she was taking in.  The nurse switched the type of nipple and it was a night and day difference!  The nurse said that could have been Portia's problem...she wasn't getting enough to eat and became dehydrated!

We continued to wait for all the test results to come back, and so far the 24 hour and 48 hour tests all came back negative!  Dr. Malik wanted us to stay throughout 72 hours just to make sure nothing came back positive.  The nurses were able to take out the feeding tube and oxygen tube on Wednesday and on Thursday Dr. Malik discontinued her antibiotics because Portia was doing so well!  She was more responsive, holding her body temp, eating well, and gaining weight!  When Portia was admitted she had dropped to 5 lbs 15 oz and when we left on Friday she was back up to 6 lbs 3 oz!  Dr. Malik was truly amazed at Portia's recovery and was thankful that we brought her in so soon because she was extremely worried about her when we brought her in on late Monday night.  Dr. Malik said we were looking at staying in the PICU for at least 7 days and we were discharged in 4 days! 

We were so thankful for God's healing on Portia and for the wisdom her doctors and nurses had.  We were sent home with an apena and heart monitor to monitor her for the next 30 days just to make sure she didn't have any other apenic episodes.  But we are just so thankful to be back home!

This was on Thursday...she was a brand new baby!

We were able to finally hold her and dress her!  Best feeling ever!

On our way home...bye bye PICU!

She's Here!!!

God totally answers prayers!!  I have been praying over the past few days for some relief and Portia was ready to make her presence. 

On Thursday, July 14th, I just got home from my parent's house about 7pm.  I went on a walk and went swimming with my mom earlier that day, and ate dinner with her and my dad.  Bill was meeting with clients out in the Pryor and Foil area, so I decided to watch Twlight when I got home.  As soon as I got up to press play on the DVD player my water broke (which was at 8:30pm)!!  I really thought I peed my pants, but it didn't stop flowing, so I knew it was my water breaking!  I freaked out because I was home alone and had no idea what to do.  I sat on the toilet and started making calls.  I called Bill first but he didn't answer his phone, so I had to text him that my water broke, then I called my mom, no answer, then I called my best friend, Heather, that thankfully lives across the street from me, she answered and came right over!  I called my doctor, but one of his partners, Dr. Coleman, was on call and told me to go to the hospital right away since I was early.  Bill and I decided to use a Doula (labor coach), I had not met her yet because we set up a time to meet on Friday, but I still called her and she said she would meet me at the hospital.

We got to the hospital at about 9pm and I was admitted.  My parents and my Doula, Marlita, were there before I was in my room, Bill showed up shortly after and was so excited!!  We decided to do a natural birth and that is why we hired a Doula, to help coach us through our labor.  When I was admitted I was 90% effaced and not even dilated to a 1!  So I had a long way to go :-)  I did not get much sleep through the night, all the excitement and anticipation kept me up.  I was feeling good through all the contractions through the night and early morning on Friday.  Dr. Nilson came to see me early on Friday morning, he let me know we were on a timeline (since my water broke), we had 24 hours to get her out, and he wanted to see me process quicker than what I was doing.  He gave me an hour from when he saw me to get to a 4, and if I wasn't at a 4 we would start Potocin.  I got nervous because I didn't want Potocin, I didn't want to go from nothing to something really quick.  We did some techniques that my Doula recommended and we got to a 4 and 100% effaced within the hour!  So Dr. Nilson allowed me to still go natural!

I still progressed slowly, I was at a 5 at around 11:30 am then a 6 shortly after, but I stayed at a 7 for several hours and I was worn out!  A 7 was tough to deal with, the contractions were pretty intense and accompanied by fatigue and hunger it was not a good combination. We changed laboring positions often but nothing helped, I was losing my focus to work through each contractions very quickly.  I wanted to get my epidural at around 2pm but I continued to work through it.  Around 4pm, my contractions were getting further apart (7-10 mins) and I was still not progressing past a 7 and I was ready to be done with the fatigue and pain, I wanted rest. 

I went through 20 hours of natural labor, looking back I still can't believe I did it.  And I could not have done it without my amazing Doula and my incredible and supportive husband!  At 4:30pm I received my epidural and was finally able to sleep and relax.  I still felt each contraction but did not feel any pain, it was a nice relief.  After 30 minutes of receiving the epidural I was still at a 7, so I started Potocin to get moving.  I progressed from a 7-9 very quickly, then a little after 6pm I was finally at a 10!!!  I only had to push for 20 minutes, 3 times, and I gave birth to a precious baby girl!  She was 6 lbs 9 oz and 20 1/8 in long!  Pretty impressive for being born at 35 weeks.

I was not able to hold her right after, since she was born before 36 weeks she had to be taken right away to the NICU for tests and observations.  But after they cleaned her up, they brought her back to me for a quick 5 minute hold....my heart melted the first time I held her!  She just kept looking at me, it was amazing!

Portia stayed in the NICU for 6 hours and she did great on all her tests.  So she was able to stay in the room with us.  We were discharged on Sunday afternoon, they noticed that her bilirubin count was high so we took her home with phototheraphy lights.  She only had to stay under the lights for 2 days!  Now we are adjusting to life as new parents.

We are so thankful for all the prayers and support that we received.  Portia is truly a blessing and miracle from God!

Our Last Ultrasound

July 11th was our very last ultrasound.  Over the past 3 weeks I have only gained 3 lbs, so the meal plan for the gestational diabetes has been going well.  Portia weighs 7.1 lbs now and Dr. Nilson said she isn't coming for awhile, even though she has been head down for several weeks, she had not dropped yet.  I have been pretty miserable the past few days....I am super swollen, Bill calls my feet "Shrek feet", and the last few nights I have slept sitting up.  This has been the hottest June and July in Oklahoma, the heat is not getting to me too bad, I just think it makes me more swollen...yuck!  I am to the point now where I am just ready for her to come!  I have started doing squats, walking, and swimming to try to get her to drop, so hopefully that helps :-)  We will see...LOL

Week 32 and Counting......

Right before our 32 week appointment, I found out that I have gestational diabetes.  Which stinks, but I am thankful it is something with me, that I can control, and nothing wrong with Portia.  I will have to go to a nutrition consultant to get on a strict meal plan and then I will have to check my blood sugar levels 4x a day!  And hopefully moving forward everything will continue to go well.

Our 32 week appointment was on June 20th.  Everything looks good, but the excess fluid is still there and Dr. Nilson took updated measurements of Portia, and she is measuring at 35 weeks and weighs 5.6 lbs already!!!!  Yea that's right..my baby is huge already!  And you can tell in the ultrasound pics because she is a chubby monkey :-)  With gestational diabetes, the babies grow bigger and faster....I started the meal plan this week and I am really hoping that it will help with her weight gain.  LOL I would really like to do a natural birth but now I am super nervous that she may be a 9-10 lb baby.

We go back to the doctor on July 1st, pray that the meal plan is healing and Portia's weight is maintained :-)

30 Weeks!!!!!

Our 30 week appointment was on June 6th and some things have changed.....good news is my placenta previa is no longer a concern, it finally moved up, but there are some new concerns.  Dr. Nilson found that there was excess fluid around Portia, which could mean a few different things.  1.  I may have gestational diabetes (I did pass my one hour test) 2.  Something is wrong with Portia, like with her kidneys or intestinal/digestive tract or 3. It could be nothing at all.  90 % of the time it is nothing at all, but to say the least, it wasn't a very exciting appointment, but we did get great ultrasound pictures!  The next step we have to take is I have to go in for a 3 hour glucose test and depending on the results we would move forward from there.  Please keep me and Portia in your prayers!!

And yes..in these ultrasound pictures...Portia's eyes are open!!  It's amazing!

Baby Shower #2

At the beginning of June we had Portia's second baby shower.  It was hosted by Ashley at my parents house.  It was a lot of fun and it was soo good to see everyone!  Portia got soo many great things...tons of bows, her bedding, tons of clothes, and all kinds of essential goodies.  We are so thankful to such great friends and family.

27 Week Appointment

Well so far, everything has been going great.  We had a great 27 week appointment, Portia weighs 2.7 lbs and looks great!  Ha, we finally got some good ultrasound pictures this time :-)  She has been growing and moving around all the time!  It's soo neat to feel her move!  We are almost finished with her nursery.  We just have the ceiling to paint and then put her furniture together!  And I will post nursery pictures as soon as it all comes together.

So our next appointment will be in 3 weeks instead of 4 now!  I just can't believe she will be here in just a few months!  The time has truly flown by.  June is going to be a busy month....we have my 2nd baby shower in Broken Arrow, all the baby classes, and maternity pictures!  So looking forward to it all :-)

Enjoy the new pictures of Portia!

Baby Shower Time!

Last week I had my very first baby shower!!  It was out in Collinsville with Bill's family!  Sue, Bill's mom, put on a great shower and of course Portia was spoiled!  She had a beautiful cake, that was very yummy, and she received sooooo many clothes and gifts!  Some pictures are below and you can see how big she is!!  At 27 weeks.

Happy 6 Months!

Wow!  I can't believe that I am already 6 months pregnant!  It seems like yesterday Bill and I were finding out that we were being blessed with a pregnancy!  But we have came a long way.  We painted Portia's room this past weekend and we are so excited to set up her furniture and finish the final touches over the next couple of weeks.  We decided to paint her room with a teal accent wall, which teal is one of our wedding colors, we wanted to have something fun and bright that wasn't pink :-) And I will post nursery pics as soon as it starts to come together.

We went to the doctor on the 18th, and once again Portia was being shy for the camera :-)  So I don't have any new ultrasound pictures worth sharing, she was all over the place, but she is doing great!  She's growing, LOL you can tell by looking at me, and she's moving around all the time!  It's so crazy to see my stomach just bounce and pop all day long, but it's so neat to feel her move!  It makes me smile and so happy every time I feel her move!  It makes everything so real!

We feel so blessed to be pregnant and to have a precious baby girl on the way, we would appreciate your continued prayers because Portia is an answer to so many of our prayers. We are looking forward to meeting her in just 3 months!  Here is a picture of me at 6 months (24 weeks and 2 days).

Half Way There!

So it has been awhile since my last post....I had a five week break between my ultrasound appointments.  I am now 20 weeks and 1 day today!!  Yea, half way there :-)  We are getting ready for Portia's arrival....we have cleared out the two front rooms to consolidate stuff so we can have a nursery! We just picked up her furniture this weekend, her bedding is in the making (courtesy of my mom and grandma), and we have started to get items from her registry!  We have been so blessed!  I don't have any new ultrasound pictures to post....she was being shy this ultrasound, keeping her back and butt to the screen the entire time. But she is doing great!  We did our big 20 week ultrasound last week, with all the measurements, and everything is looking great!  I have been feeling her move around more frequently, which is so neat, and Bill got to feel her move for the first time today!  He is soo excited!  Below are some pictures of me and Portia at 19 and 20 weeks.  The second one is from my best friend, Heather's baby shower this past Saturday.  She is at 33 weeks and I'm at 20 weeks.  She's having a girl also, so they will be best friends :-)  More to come soon!

It's Offical....Baby Bennett is a Girl!!

I had my 14 week ultrasound on February 14th and Dr. Nilson confirmed again that it is a girl!!!  We are so excited!  Her heartbeat was 157 and she is about 3 1/2 inches....so she's growing!  And you can see in the ultrasound below that she already has a good looking profile!  Last week Bill and I went on a company paid trip to Puerto Rico.  It was a blast!  We all 3 had  a great time in the sun and on the beach.

Snowy Days

It has been snowing off and on in Oklahoma the past week!  With 14-20 inches of snow in some cities throughout the Tulsa area.  These are some pictures from our house!  With being cooped up in the house for several days we took a baby bump picture :-)  This is me at 13 weeks.  So last night I felt something really neat....I felt Baby Bennett move for the first time! It felt like a little bouncing ball!

Approaching the End of my First Trimester

I'm excited to be on the verge of heading into my second trimester! :-)  Baby Bennett is definitely growing.  I don't think I have a cute baby bump yet....LOL it just looks like I ate too many donuts :-)  At our 11 week 3 days ultrasound Baby Bennett measured at 2 inches!  And this ultrasound was my favorite so far.....Dr. Nilson is 97% sure Baby Bennett is a girl!!!  She was soo excited during this ultrasound, she was bouncing around like crazy!  So we had the chance to see her head, back, bottom, hands, and feet.  So amazing!  She already has such a personality!  We have decided on a girl's name, Portia Faith....still thinking, but pretty sure that is what we will go with.

Baby Bennett is Starting to Look Like a Baby

At our 3rd ultrasound at the beginning of January, just 2 weeks later, the growth of Baby Bennett was sooo amazing!  It's starting to look like a baby!  Baby Bennett is now 1.79 cm!  Almost triple the size of the last ultrasound!  We feel so blessed to receive an ultrasound every visit because seeing the growth every few weeks is just incredible!  We got our 1st 4d ultrasound, which was pretty neat, and the baby's heartbeat was 182 beats per minute.  Dr. Nilson said I should go ahead and paint the walls pink :-)

The Most Amazing Sound in the World!

We went back for our second ultrasound 2 weeks later and we got to hear Baby Bennett's heartbeat!  It was the most amazing thing to hear!  It was beating so fast!  117 beats per minute.

First Ultrasound

Our first ultrasound was at 4 weeks 3 days to confirm.....and sure enough a baby peanut was inside!!  So amazing to see a little thing like that turn into a baby!  What an amazing God we serve!

The Best Christmas Present

This year Christmas came early for us.  On Monday, December 6th we found out that we were having a baby!  I went in for blood work on Friday and didn't hear anything that afternoon, so I really didn't think much about it.  Then Dr. Nilson called me at 7:30 am on Monday with the best news ever! I was pregnant!!  I couldn't believe it!  Bill and I had been praying for this day for over a year!  With the past year's struggles of unsuccessful fertility treatments, we knew this baby was a true gift from God!