Luke is a very fun fellow these days. He is saying so many words, and trying to put them together. One of his new favorite words is "pochippies". And here is why:
Early February
Mid-February
Late February
The grandparents visited in January. Luke had such a blast with Uncle Chris, Grandma was the only one Luke would brush his teeth for, and Papa John had some great tips for keeping Elena happy.
Here is Luke at 21 months.
When you say "Smile" to Luke, this is the smile you get.
I just love having my tiny girl in my arms. It's one of the best feelings in the world to have a content sleeping baby in your arms. And she smiled at me this morning for the first time...a real smile, not just gas or in her sleep. We were playing the stick out your tongue game; then I opened my mouth wide, and she followed; then I smiled and she smiled back!! It only lasted for a second though because I gasped, and laughed, and she then got a surprised look.
She is still pretty tiny. She still fits in her little bathtub.
We are so happy now that our little family is all home and healthy.
We had a great Christmas. I got new carpet for the living room. :D Luke and Elena both got lots of great presents. The next few mornings, Luke would be so excited every morning, remembering his new toys and playing with ALL of them.
New Vest
New basketball hoop
New dress
Elena Marie Yarrington was born on November 24, 2006 at 1:16pm. She weighed 5 lbs 1 oz at birth, and was 18.75 inches long. She was transferred to the NICU right away, being that she was six weeks early, and was breathing very fast. Lukckily, she did not need any oxygen or a ventilator, so she only had to stay in the NICU for 10 days.
Now she is home and thriving.
I have been in the hospital over three weeks. No one ever thought I would make it this far, least of all myself. Most people whose water breaks go into labor right away or get an infection within a week.
It is hard to stay in the hospital. The longest days are Tuesday and Thursday, when Luke and Chad don't come, and I start feeling so guilty that I'm not taking care of Luke. But, right now my job is to take the best care of our littlest child. It's hard to remember that when I wake up to some noises, thinking it is Luke rustling in his crib and wanting to go watch over him.
I try to keep busy. I am knitting a baby blanket, which is taking forever. At the rate I'm going, I probably won't have it done by the time the baby comes.
They want to deliver me at 34 weeks. My 34 week date is Thanksgiving Day. I think that is pretty cool, since I was born on a holiday too (although mine was a true holy-day). But, since it is a holiday, they may not want to schedule an induction/C-section that day, and I may have to wait another day. I guess, what's one more day when you've been captive for 6 weeks!
I had an ultrasound this week on Thursday. The baby was estimated to be 4 lbs 7 oz. So, she is 50th percentile, which is the same as she has been the other times she's been measured. This is great news, and it means that my water breaking, and her not having quite as much fluid as normal, has not affected her growth.
However, during the ultrasound she was in the frank breech position, meaning her head was up by my ribs, and so were her feet. This is not good, because if she in that position the day before Thanksgiving, I will automatically be scheduled for a C-section. My doctor said they sometimes try to move the baby externally, but with my low fluid, there is danger in that because the cord can get squished or wrapped, and it would be more difficult for the baby to overcome that at her early age.
Friday I felt a lot of movement though, and I think she may have already flipped around. But that doesn't mean she won't move again.
So, I just keep praying: that baby will be safe and healthy, that I finish this darn baby blanket, that Luke won't remember the time that I'm gone, and that things can go back to normal a few days after Thanksgiving.
So, I've been in the hospital for over nine days now. The social worker says we're supposed to cross off the days and only look behind, never look ahead. I don't know if that really works for engineer-types.
But nothing has changed so far, and that is a good thing. They can't check me for dilation, b/c of the risk of infection, and any woman knows that is a good thing.
I can't really complain, I have all the time in the world to ponder, pray and play on the computer. The hard things are not being able to care for Luke, and Chad too, and it's still very hard to sleep.
I convinced myself though, that not getting sleep is a good thing. That part won't change when I get home, so I've given myself the OK to take naps during the day, since that's probably the only time I'll sleep with two kids at home.
At least I've gotten through the week. Today is Friday, and Chad and Luke will be here soon. And tomorrow is the weekend. Though I will still only have afternoon visitors like the weekdays, it seems like a milestone. In the hospital, every day is the same, so it's hard to keep track of days, and you have to tell yourself that Saturday still is a better day.
And this week, most of the family will come down on Sunday. Doug will be in town, and all the kids are going to visit in their Halloween costumes. So I am very excited for Sunday!
After a busy day Sunday, I'll have 12 Days Down!
This pregnancy has been very different than my first. Little girl wants to make her mark already. My water broke one week ago. So, now I'm confined to a solitary hospital room to prevent infection.
I hope to make it about four more weeks. At that point, they would induce me. The baby would be developed enough that the risk of infection is greater than the risks of delivering early.
Well, as soon as they introduce one intervention, it snowballs from there. If I'm induced, I might be confined to bed for my labor, which means I would probably need pain meds, and I might need the internal scalp monitor...I can't believe it was 5 days before I thought to ask questions about the birth. I guess I am more concerned about the baby's health. But, I was hoping to improve my performance from my first birth, espeically since the baby will be smaller and second labors almost always are faster.
Hopefully my doctor will be able to visit tomorrow, instead of just getting a phone call. My list of questions is huge. Of course I plan on a natural birth again, but I don't even know whether my doctor's will allow it since I'm "high risk".
There is a baby boom (same as when Luke was born), and they said they've been really swamped at the regular hospital with deliveries. The week Luke was born, there were no spare rooms. This time, I'm at a hospital with a NICU, and the hospital is absolutely huge, and they have ante- (pre) partum , labor, and post-partum wards.
So, I need to try to sleep. With a pill, it's pretty easy; without a pill, I get about 2 hours a night. They give me meds at 10pm and 6am, and take my temp at midnight. And day naps are impossible: it is inevitable that someone either needs my vitals, or wants to change my garbage, 10 minutes after I doze off.
Good news: I am in a great hospital. I've heard nothing but good news about the NICU staff. And I'm at 29 weeks, so most likely Baby is past the most critical hurdles of development. And Chad and Luke are doing great at home.
