A picture update of Phoebe!

1. A successful bottle feeding with Daddy! She's now taking breast milk from a bottle like a champ! Daddy loves this time too!
2. Hanging out with her cousin Linkoln! They are gonna be best buds!
3. Hanging out in Aunt Jami's Hoodie!
4. Trying to laugh at Mommy while being tickled!

Time Flies

Phoebe is six weeks old already! She is staying awake more during the day. She smiles at us and is starting to jabber. She loves to swing and watch the bees spin on the mobile above her. She prefers to be held upright so she can see the world. She is enjoying her carseat for car rides more and more, much to our delight. Daddy enjoys his moments of bottle feeding, too. She's growing up so fast.

She's here!

Phoebe arrived via scheduled c section on Feb 29! She weighed 7lbs 5oz and was 18.5 inches long. Surgery went well. The baby had to go to the nursery for a bottle and some breathing observation. Her blood sugar was a little low. After a bottle and a bath she was doing great. No breathing assistance needed. She hung out in the nursery longer than we would have liked due to my recovery issues. My blood pressure, which had been high for the last month of pregnancy, really spiked after surgery. The recovery nurse was great. David fed me ice chips and I worked on relaxing. My mom and dad came in for a bit too. After a while they brought Phoebe back to me. David got to hold her in the OR before they took her to the nursery. I held her for the first time in recovery. I don't remember anything after that. Eventually they wheeled me to a labor room so they could continue to monitor my blood pressure. I was pumped with lots of meds and was so out of it. Apparently our family came in and met Phoebe at this point. The next thing I remember it was midnight and the nurse was bringing Phoebe in for a feeding. She talked with me and helped me feed her. By the next feeding I was up and walking. We spent the next few days recovering and getting to know our baby girl. Some of the nursery nurses were concerned because she lost quite a bit of weight and was down to 6lbs 9oz when we left for home. They wanted me to supplement with formula in a bottle but I refused. The lactation consultants assured me that she would gain the weight back in time. She probably lost a lot of water weight as I did since I had been so swollen. We finally were releases on Sunday. My blood pressure continues to work toward normal and Phoebe is growing like a weed. She is now weighing 9lbs 8oz and is 20.5 inches long! So I was right not to give her the hospital bottle. See, mama knows best! ;). We are blessed with such a sweet baby!

Good report

So I saw the cardiologist like my OB wanted. He did and EKG and ordered an Echo. All this because my OB was concerned about my blood pressure and she thought she heard a murmur. So the EKG came back normal and the Echo showed a perfectly healthy heart. PTL! The cardiologist has discharged me back to my OB to finish out. The cardiologist feels that the high pressure is just a result of the pregnancy. The meds are controlling the pressure for now. I should be able to be weaned off of it soon after Phoebe makes her arrival! I'm so glad to hear that my heart is strong. The baby has performed beautifully on the non stress test. This shows that the high pressures are not affecting her at this point. Hoping to get a better idea of how and when this baby will be making her debut. I see the OB tomorrow. We'll see what she says! We are so looking forward to meeting our baby girl!

Curve Balls

Well, we've been thrown a couple of curve balls over the last week.  Here's an update:  My blood pressure was elevated at my regular appointment about two weeks ago.  My doc was concerned, but let me go since I hadn't had any high readings thus far.  I was to get my blood pressure read the following week and report the numbers to her office.  I did that and she made me come in immediately, as they were way elevated by this point.  I came in to the office and the nurses there took my pressure again and it was still pretty high.  My doc prescribed a blood pressure pill and ordered some immediate blood work.  She also told me that I would be off work until the baby comes.  I talked her in to reevaluating me to see if maybe I could squeeze in a couple more days of work, but ultimately she decided it wasn't a wise move.  I went straight over to get the blood work drawn.  I went back to the doctor the following day and hear the results of the blood work. Everything was fine  We also had an ultrasound done at that appointment.  It was fun to see the baby.  She was doing great.  She was evaluated on an 8 point test and she aced it!  She was taking practice breaths and her heart beat and cord were looking good.  She has a good amount of fluid in there too.  We did learn that she is in a complicated Frank Breech position.  She is butt down, head up.  She has one foot hugged to her face and the other foot is tucked under her butt.  We need her to flip over.  Anyway, my doc has me on the blood pressure meds, off work, and basically sitting around with my feet up.  I'm trying to take it easy, but its hard to do when there's plenty to be done around here!  So we are trying to take it all in stride as we adjust to these curve balls.  Ultimately, we know that God is in control and he will provide.  Moments like this make it really hard to look past the needs and realities of our natural life, and trust that God has the supernatural power to cover it all.  We are trusting that he will continue to take care of us and make himself real in this situation.  My official due date is March 11, but with these new findings, we won't be waiting that long.  The doctor is tentitively scheduling a c-section for the end of February to deliver this breech baby.  That's not a final decision, but I assume that even if she turns, we will probably be looking at inducing by the end of Feb anyway so we can get her here safely and calm my blood pressure.  David is so supportive and he's been great through all of this.  He even surprised me with flowers (can't remember the last time he ever gave me flowers).  God is good all the time!

Prep work

Washing some baby clothes, organizing hand me downs by size, starting to pack our bags, and generally getting excited! :)

SLEEP

I'm forgetting what its like to sleep through the night...and the baby isn't even here yet!  Maybe my body is prepping me for what's to come.  I wouldn't mind banking some solid hours before Phoebe arrives!  Oh well.  Life will go on.