Hospital Stay (Days 0-3)

10/13
So, about an hour after delivery, most people had gone to the cafeteria to get lunch and it was just my mother-in-law and I in the room.  I was nursing the baby under my gown when I looked down at her and she was completely purple, limp and not breathing.  I pulled her out and she let out a little cry and went limp again.  I yelled at Ann to go get the nurse - my legs were still completely numb.  Rachel ran in and grabbed the baby from me and hit her on the back a few times.  She ran her over to the warmer to stimulate and suction her and administer oxygen and finally she started crying.  Longest 30 seconds of my life.  I was so freaked out and just started crying while sitting in my bed.  I felt so helpless.  Rachel came and brought her over to me just to show me she was ok.  She said that she was going to take her to the nursery just to monitor her and give her a bath.  Everyone came back from the cafeteria at that point and I was still crying.  I told them what had happened and I was just so thankful that Aaden wasn't in the room when that happened because I think I would have freaked him out a bit.  My Mom and Dad were thankful they weren't in the room either.  Everyone went to the nursery to check on her.  She was doing just fine and all of her vitals, including her pulse ox, were great.

Aaden watching her get her first bath

And fogging up the glass :) 

Not sure why Aaron looks so mad ;) 

Our wonderful nurse, Rachel.  We owe her a million thanks! 

At about 3pm, we got to move into my postpartum room.  My left leg was still very numb from the epidural.  I fell in the bathroom because of it, even with the nurse trying to help me!

 All wrapped up in our room post bath.

The little knit hat that was a gift from the hospital. 

Hospital volunteers knit these for all the babies born there.

Grandpa meeting his granddaughter 

 Dr Yager came to check Baby A out and did her assessment.  We talked about what had happened.  He decided that she should stay in the nursery to be monitored through the night.  He said she seemed to be healthy but he just wanted to take extra precautions especially since we didn't know what caused the apnea episode.  He said she had an innocent murmur but that didn't contribute to the episode.  He was very understanding about how freaked out we were.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl 

 

10/14
The baby did well through the night.  She was monitored in the nursery through the night and everything was fine.  She was brought in every few hours to nurse.  My left leg finally started to regain feeling at about 4 in the morning (almost 18 hours after the epidural was removed!).  I was finally able to get up to the bathroom on my own!

On the monitor    

We (well, I) could not decide on a name.  So we had her draw out of a hat.

(The one she drew was not the name we chose for her after all)

Uncle Danny visiting

Pissed.

Gam meeting her 10th great-grandchild! 

Love this!

Aaden visiting again.

Pointing out her hand 

And "ssshhing" us because she's sleeping

Meeting Aunt Kerry 

Emmy 

Daddy and Baby 

So, when Baby A was about 36 hours old, after much deliberation, we finally decided on her name...

Addison Reese :)

We thought Addison sounded good with Aaden and

Aaron really loves the nickname Addie. 

Reese is also Aaron's middle name.

 

10/15

Addison did great through the night again.  She was even able to sleep in my room for a few hours in the early morning. 

Katie came to visit and brought a much needed Starbucks coffee!

Mommy and Addison 

 

I was looking forward to going home later that day.  But - we didn't get to after all.  At one point during the day, Addison looked a little cyanotic to me.  I had Carol (her nurse) put her on the monitor for a little bit.  While her saturation was fine, her heart rate was dropping down into the 80s.  That worried Carol so she called Dr Yager.  He said that it could be normal for some babies to have a low heart rate but that AND the apnea episode made him want to look into things further.  Dr Yager ordered an EKG and decided we should stay longer.  I started crying.  I was ready to go home to my son and I was worried about my little girl.  The EKG came back normal so that was a relief.  Dr Yager came in a while later and said that he had consulted with a few neonatologists in the Bay Area and stated that many of them have seen apnic episodes in newborns before especially in the first few hours of life during the transition period.  As long as there weren't any other episodes, they were confident it was likely an isolated incident and they wouldn't recommend any further action.  The slow heart rate was probably not related to the apnea.  However, Dr Yager said that he could refer us to a few specialists if we wanted and that we could continue to monitor at home if we felt more comfortable doing that.  He wanted us to stay one more night in the hospital though as to not rush us home.  Aaron went home that night to stay with Aaden.  I was torn on what to do in regards to Addison.

 

10/16

Dr Yager called bright and early.  He said that he was able to speak to Apria Home Health and that they could set us up with an apnea monitor at home.  I decided to go ahead and do that after speaking to Dr Armstrong and one of Addison's nurses.  We had all agreed that it was better to be over-cautious than to have something happen and regret it for a life-time.  I thought I would sleep better knowing she was on a monitor too.  So, we had the social worker set up for Apria to come to our house later that day.  I was relieved to be going home!  Unfortunately, Aaron had to work so he didn't get to be with us for Addison's homecoming.

Getting ready to go home! 

Addison weighed 7lbs2oz at discharge.

First time in the carseat

And we're out!  It felt so great to be outside after 4 nights in the hospital. 

At home, finally!  Papa came to visit. 

And grandma stopped by later.

So happy to be home!!  A nurse from Apria came later that day and set us up with the monitor.