An Unexpected Delivery! Part 2

Emily was admitted into the NICU around 9:00pm on Sunday September 28th. Aside from having a little fluid in her lungs, and being a little premature, she was in perfect health. We finally were able to visit her again (after my spinal wore off) at around 4:00am on Monday.

She was hooked up to 3 monitors (heart rate, oxygen, and breathing) and an IV bag of dextrose. Later on she developed a little jaundice, which is very common in babies, even I had it at birth. Giving her formula and whatever colostrum I could make was the best way to help flush it out of her system, along with laying under the UV light (with these adorable "sunglasses" I might add).

Eventually she started to look much better and her jaundice wasn't as bad. She even started waking up more often and looking around at everything in the NICU. Daddy was able to get this amazing picture of her!

On her 5th day in the NICU they did her car seat challenge, which is when they put her in her car seat and leave her on the monitors to watch how she responds. She passed with flying colors. After the challenge we got the results back from her last bilirubin test and she was all clear of jaundice.

At that point we were able to get her discharged from the hospital! The funniest thing about that, though, was after she was changed out into her going home outfit we had a major poopy diaper episode. I was changing her diaper, and in the middle of me doing that she pooped again ALL over our hands and the bed, and then to top it off, she peed and it got all over her outfit! We were so ready to take her home and in the middle of all the excitement we were trying to clean her up haha, and eventually had to change her into a whole new outfit. Thankfully I brought two!! When we were finally able to get her hooked up into her car seat I was put in a wheelchair with her on my lap and wheeled out to our car.

She was in complete awe of the outside world and we had a very uneventful ride home. I couldn't believe that we were actually bringing her home, after everything we've been through, it was finally happening. She came home weighing in at my birth weight of 5 lbs. 9 oz. but she will gain it all back soon :).

She is now a week old and breastfeeding like a champ every 2-4 hours. She sleeps so well but Daddy and I have come to realize that we are not safe during diaper changes hehe! on more than one occasion, in the hospital and at home, she has rocketed poopy at us. On our hands, on my chest, on Dylan's shorts, but somehow she's still cute even when we're all covered in poop haha.

I am beyond happy that after all of our struggles, the ups and downs and scares throughout my pregnancy and delivery, that we are lucky enough to bring this special little girl home. I love her with all of my heart and every minute, to me, is a miracle.