So the night before Ella was born, Dan and I had a heated discussion on names. I had thought we had agreed on a name... but apparently I was wrong :) Throughout this pregnancy Dan never wanted to talk about it names... we have time, we have time. Guess what he said the night before we were having our baby? WE HAVE TIME! Ha. Our baby girl was being born the next day, she didn't have a name, and Dan responds we have time. I am a PLANNER and hate not being in control of things... so the fact we had no name-- I was freaking out-- that and the fact I was having a baby the next day-- we managed to get to bed and get a few hours sleep.
Let me say how much I LOVE St. John's. I know I have said it before... but seriously-- amazing. I only had one experience that I didn't love which I will get to-- but overall-- awesome.
As I was being prepped for surgery, it was much different than with Brynn. I was so much more aware of what was going on-- since it wasn't an emergency. Of course the Doctors like that because they aren't all running around, but it almost seemed scarier because I had time to think about it. My Dr.-- I LOVE her-- seriously. She stopped in and gave me a hug, and then next I saw her was in the operating room.
While I was laying on the table getting prepped-- My blood pressure was super low and I felt nauseous. This is a side effect of whatever drugs they had me on-- but what a bizarre feeling. They were able to give me more drugs to help with it-- thank goodness. It almost felt like an out-of-body experience when I had that low BP.
It was time to bring Dan in and meet our baby. Dan loves this stuff-- so he watched and took some pics. :) Finally our baby girl was born! She had no name! One of the reasons we chose to deliver at St. John's was I still got to do skin-to-skin with our baby while in the emergency room. Dan cut her cord, and they immediately put her on my chest while they finished stitching me up. I got to go right back into the same room I began in for recovery-- no switching rooms, and Ella was on my chest the whole time. She latched on immediately when I tried to nurse her-- and I was in such a euphoric state. The whole time in the hospital I felt this way... it may have been the pain meds... but I was on cloud 9.
My time at the hospital was nice! Every nurse I had was amazing-- one I had every day was also a lactation consultant so I think that helped a lot with the nursing. Even thought I nursed Brynn, it still took some getting used to with Ella. We also decided on Ella later that day... her name is Ella Grace. Grace was Elizabeth's middle name... so both Brynn and Ella carry a piece of our girl with them <3 p="">
So I said there was one no-so-good incident at the hospital. Since Ella's Dr. doesn't do visits at St. John's, we had a Resident Dr. from the U-- long story short-- when she was doing her exam on Ella, she started talking about a dimple on her butt and said the words "Spina Bifida." I turned white and my eyes met my moms. Mind you-- we had family -- a lot of it-- in our room at this time. WTF did she just say? I ask her what she is talking about and she says "oh, she is fine, this dimple is closed" blah blah blah. I am sorry-- you don't not say things like that to an anxious mother who has had one daughter that did not survive and has bad anxiety. I was really upset. It was almost as though she was trying to prove to us she knows a lot of stuff-- like "oh, I know what this is, I read about it in my med school textbook." I was able to get over that for the rest of my time in the hospital... but once I was home, I began fixated on it. My anxiety-- includes a bit of OCD. I get ideas in my head and fixate on them and can't let it go. Couple that with the changes I am going through with hormones-- I was a mess. At Ella's first check up-- her poor Dr. got to see me break down! ha. I explained to her what had happened and showed her this dimple, and she reassured me she is perfect and it is nothing to worry about. Dan also had strep throat the first week we were home... so I was stressed about feeling like I was alone with the girls. Anyway, we survived!
Ella was 7lbs 10 oz when she was born. At her one month appt, she was up to 9lbs 2 oz. She is in the 90th percentile for height/ weight/ and head circumference. They do adjust it based on her gestational age since she was born at 37 weeks.
She is a really good baby-- the only time she cries is if she is hungry. We have finally gotten her to take a nuk which helps, and she has been sleeping in the co-sleeper now! Brynn is SO in love with her and has been an amazing sister and big help. It is so fun-- now if we could keep Brynn healthy so I wouldn't be as worried about her being in her face... that would help.
I am going to try and keep up with updating as we reach milestones. I love being able to go back and read about Brynn-- so I would like to be able to with Ella! This week-- Smiles! Ella is smailing a lot at us.
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