Saturday, August 29, 2009

Getting Settled


Amazing how times flies. Tomorrow Ellie will be 2 weeks. Already we are noticing little changes in her. In case you were wondering she has mastered getting what she wants. Looks like she had no trouble at all tapping in to what makes Mom & Dad tick. Everything has been going great. At her checkup last Monday she weighed 7lbs 7oz. (she was 6lbs 13oz when she left the hospital). Needless to say she is getting plenty to eat. Sleeping has been pretty good too. She seems to be getting in to a little routine. It's pretty nice for me. Everything seems completely normal and healthy. As for me.... I have been feeling great. Everything is healing as it should and I am well rested thanks to Grandma Hill. It has been so great to have her around to help out for these first couple of weeks. Joey is doing great too. He went back to work on Wednesday and seems to be handling the change just fine. Granted he does look a little sleepier than usual, but all in all he is doing great. There are a few things we have discovered as parents. The main one is never say you won't do something. Inevitably you will do it. I have had so many opinions and things I swore I would never do that have flown out the window. When it comes down to it I guess you just do what works and hope to get through the day without crying curled up in a ball in the bottom of your shower. Luckily I have not ended up like this, but I'm not going to say I haven't been close. All I can say is thank heavens for pacifiers... always burp the baby with a burp rag... and if people offer help, take it. Parenting is for sure not a one person job. With the help of family, friends, amazing spouses, and awesome grandma's these last two weeks have been beautiful. Thanks to everyone. Will update as soon as I get a moment :). Love you!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

A dramatic entrance...

Yes... I realize it is 12:37 AM. This is really the only time I have to give updates. The last few days have been a roller coaster ride to say the least. I'll briefly touch on some the events we have experienced so far. I should start by saying everyone is healthy and safe now, although there were times when Ellie has given us some good scares. Everything was going ok, but I was not progressing in labor... at all. Turn the pitocin up... tons of contractions... no movement, turn it down... no contractions... even less movement. We were ready to endure it the full 24 hours they would allow after the broke my water until the unexpected happened. For some reason... which is still unknown the lost the fetal reading. Nurses are running everywhere, trying this position... and that one. All i can hear is people telling me to breath deeply in my oxygen mask. (By this time I was hooked up to about 8 different machines including the fetal monitor and the oxygen). So I'm breathing... and waiting... and finally they get it back. We all relax and everything is ok. And then came the tears. It scared me so bad, but I knew everything would be ok. Surely that wouldn't happen again. More time goes by... no progression. Lost fetal reading again. Tried to hard just to focus on my breathing and fix whatever was wrong. After what seemed like an eternity they found it again. At this point The nurses get concerned enough to call the Doctor in to the hospital. He arrives and not moments after we lose it again. It took him only moments to determine that we needed to get this baby out NOW! They immediately rolled me down the hall and started operating. Minutes later Ellie was here (12:41 a.m.), but not in great condition. Joey and I didn't find out until the next day, but they actually had to resuscitate her. Finally after the amazing team of nurses and doctors got her going we heard her cry for the first time. All I could see was a head of hair and some fingers move on the table. They took Ellie and Joey to the nursery right after that. I was a little heartbroken to find out that I couldn't go see Ellie until I was able to walk... which wouldn't be until much later that day. They got us settled in our room and we attempted sleeping. Didn't work so well. We rested, but I don't know that you would call it actual sleep. Finally around 6:00 I wiggled my toes and feet enough to where they allowed me to be put in a wheelchair and go to the nursery. Amazing! Meeting her for the first time was so ..... I can't even say. I still can't believe she is ours. After that we figured all would be fine and dandy and we would get to go home after 48 hrs (c-section release time). Little did we know the drama had just begun. It's hard to even recall everything that has happened in the last couple of days because there has been so much. Monday was just rough to be honest. One thing after another. She would just stop breathing, or she would choke on her own spit and turn blue, they didn't think her color was very good... I mean really one thing after another. It was a very scary and frustrating day. I was supposed to be able to feed her at 8 that morning, but then got put off till 11, and then they bumped it back to 3... everything just felt so crazy. After a long crazy day we finally got some answers. They had run more tests and everything was looking better. They determined she had Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension, and anemia. Apparently both of these things are easily fixed, and from our hospital. Such a relief. Then came Tuesday ( I would say today... but now it is 1:03 on Wednesday :)). Tuesday was the best day! So much improvement. She passed every test, her color changed, she became very active, and she finally breastfed for the first time. It really was the best day. Looking back it's hard to even think about all we went through Monday because today has been so great. She still is on an IV with her antibiotics, so we don't get to room with her, but she is just doing great and we spend a ton of time in the nursery with her. Not sure what tomorrow... I mean today will bring. I can only imagine good things. She is doing so great! Not sure when we will be discharged. I'm pretty sure they will discharge me as a patient tomorrow, but there has been talk of possibly keeping Ellie here for 7 days???? In that case I would be staying here as a boarding Mommy as long as they will let me. We should find out more later today. I'll keep you posted as much as possible. I would honestly like to say Thank you for the thoughts and prayers. We feel so blessed and know that it was through the power of prayer, and the grace of the Lord. Hope to have just as good of a report next time I post. I'll let you know when I can. Love you! ~MacGregors

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Today is the day...

I can't believe today is the day. Getting ready to go in for induction this morning. Ate a healthy light breakfast and doing some baby yoga stretches to get my body going this morning. I feel very excited... but amazingly calm. It feels like Christmas morning! Strange to think that we will celebrate this day for the rest of our lives. Strange to think that by the end of today our lives will be changed forever. Can't wait to meet our beautiful angel. Funny side story... 22 years ago my Mom and Joeys Aunt Leslie went in the hospital and had babies on the same day. Yesterday Aunt Leslie's daughter (Brittany) gave birth to her little girl, and today I will give birth to mine :). Following in Mom's footsteps. We have joked about it this whole pregnancy, but I really didn't think it would happen. So crazy! 2 little girls added to Joey's family in one weekend. Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes and prayers. We will update as soon as possible with pics and information. Love you! MacGregors

Monday, August 10, 2009

All my bags are packed....

Wow... life has been crazy! Still no arrival of little miss MacGregor. Not sure what she is waiting on, but by the feel of things she is in no hurry. Still dilated to a 2 on Wednesdays appointment. Other than that really not much news. I have been cleaning like a crazy person, and had a lot of help from my family when they were here for Kirsten & Brock's wedding. It was awesome to see everyone! I hadn't seen some people for honestly the far side of 10 years or more. It was beautiful and we all had a blast! Now just finishing up where Darbi left off an making some last minute organizational adjustments to make my home more functional, and touching up paint here and there (Thanks to all the painters!!!). Other than that I am just taking it easy and waiting for her to give me a sign that she is getting ready. Glad to go back to work today. Staying at home all weekend made me a little baby crazy and rushed. Working really helps me calm down and not drive myself crazy wondering what she is doing in there :). Strange to think I won't be here for 8 weeks. Not worried... just feels kinda funny. Oh... I finally joined face book. If I haven't found you yet please invite me! I really want to be your friend. I don't know if I really get the whole thing yet. Between my phone and the Internet version I have gotten a little lost... posted notes that I didn't mean to... you know just figuring it out I guess. I will for sure be able to post a note about Ellie's birth there because I am more likely to update it from my phone than to find a computer and update the blog. I promise I will write the full report when I get settled down. Ok.... before then. I will make a point to write something as soon after as possible since settling down may not come for at least a few weeks :). mmm... feeling hungry. Going to find something to eat and get back to work. We'll update you as soon as possible. Love you all so much! Thanks for all your kind words and support through all of this. We are so excited to make this amazing transition in our lives. We know it will be much different, but well worth it. Thanks again. Luvs- MacGregors.