Wednesday- March 4th

5am, nurse came in to take my blood said, “Im glad to see you’re feeling better. I remember taking your blood yesterday and you look much better today”. She had taken my blood bf I got the epidural (read: when I was a demon and my head was about to start spinning from the pain!). Then the nurse came in for vitals, etc and from then on someone was here constantly.

By 7:30 I was up and Gordon helped me take a shower. He had to help me get all of the tape residue off my back because the anesthesiologist put so much tape to keep the epi in. They had to take the catheder out and put more numbing stuff in then reinsert the catheder to finish the epi, so there is a huuuuuuuuuuge softball size bruise on my back where the epi was. (I’m not complaining…the thing worked and that’s ALL I care about!!!). Then I called the school to let them know I had the baby.

8:45am we went down to visit Katelyn and were pleasantly surprised to find that they had taken her off the ventilator. She looked so good without all of that stuff on her face. We still didn’t get to hold her, but the nurse, Melanie, said we’d get to hold her in a few hours. Right when we went down there this morning, the nurse saw me with my camera of course, so she stuck a little bow in Katelyn’s hair. Her hair was nice and soft and pretty because they had given her a bath.

Melanie also told us that they were going to do a chest xray at 1pm to see if the pneumothorax had gotten any better. We went back upstairs after spending some time with Katelyn and Gordon left to go run some errands, went home to take a shower, he went to build Katelyn a bear and then he’d be back. I took that time to try to rest, send some emails, make some calls and try to fill out all of the paperwork they wanted me to fill out for immunization records/birth certificates, etc. I tried to eat the breakfast they gave me: bacon (good), biscuit (good) and “eggs”. Um, not exactly eggs, just so you know. I tried to eat the insta-eggs they gave me, but couldn’t do it. I ended up eating some of the snacks I packed for Gordon to eat while we waited during labor (thank goodness I packed them!). Then I started to fill out some paperwork, but I was so tired, I just wanted to go to sleep. However, it was 11:30 and time to pump. So I did that for 15-20 mins, but kept nodding my head, falling asleep while I was doing it. I was so glad when I finished pumping bc finally I could go to sleep….or so I thought. Everyone kept coming in or the phone kept ringing. There is no rest when you’re in the hospital. My family and friends were calling/texting to check on the baby, of course, the nurse needed my vitals, the business office from the hospital called, the immunization lady came by again to pick up paperwork, the social worker from NICU came by to see us, the lactation consultant came by…etc. Then mom called and was bringing me lunch, so I tried to get some rest. I laid down for about 15mins before they got here and had just fallen asleep when mom got here…I was seriously too tired to eat, but if I didn’t it would get cold and then I wouldn’t eat it at all, so I got up to eat.

Gordon got back around 12:15 pm and brought Katelyn’s buildabears (one for a keepsake all dressed up in baby gear, and one for her to play with…her bear she got when she was born). Then my mom and dad and I went downstairs to see Katelyn and take some pumped colostrum down. Dad went in with me first, because he was going to leave to do a few things. When dad wheeled me down to Katelyn’s bed, and I put her buildabear in her bassinet with her to keep her company. Melanie, the nurse, asked if I wanted to hold her!!!! I was so excited! I sat down and held her. She smelled so super sweet! I just wanted to hold her all day long and stare at her. Her poor little face was still red and splotchy from the tape they used to keep the breathing tube in, but she looked so beautiful! Dad got to hold her for a while, then he left and sent mom in. She got to hold Katelyn and we stayed there for a bit. I had called Gordon to tell him we get to hold her, so he came down, too. The nurse told us that at 4pm, they were going to do a renal sonogram to see if everything looked okay with her kidneys, as the pneumothorax is sometimes indicative of a problem with her kidneys. We went back to the room and Gordon and I both layed down and were able to take a little nap…until the phone started ringing again. Joey called to check on Katelyn; Mechelle and Susan both called, but I didn’t answer it; I was just too tired. Then Dad called, he was looking for mom…I looked over and she was gone. I guess I fell asleep and she went for a walk. Then he called to say he found her and they were going to get us something for dinner if we wanted. They had just brought my dinner tray from the cafeteria, and it was actually something I'd eat (grilled chicken, mashed potatoes and corn...can't mess that up, right?!), so I told him we didn’t need anything, since Gordon planned on eating with them in the cafeteria. So much for a nap.

After I ate, the nurse came in again to check vitals, then Gordon and I went downstairs to see Katelyn. We came back up after a little while, and all went to the cafeteria to eat dinner. Madison wore her “Big Sister 09” shirt to school today and she looked SO cute in it! As they were eating in the cafeteria, Titi Ivonne and Sara came to visit. After they left, it was time for mom and dad to go home and get Madison ready for bed, because she was tired.

Gordon’s work had sent a gift bag for the baby, and it was a stuffed duck, which Madison instantly took ownership of! But Katelyn can share for now. She has her buildabear in her bassinet in the NICU, so Madison can hold onto her duck for her! My parents left right at 7:30 when Amy was supposed to come visit, but it was time to pump again. I got that done before Amy and Raj came to visit bc they were running a bit behind, which worked out perfectly, bc the NICU closes for visitors during shift changes, so we had to wait until 8pm to go see the baby anyways. Once they got here, amy and I went down to see Katelyn while Gordon and Raj hung out in the room. Katelyn is looking so much better every time I see her. She is getting less red and splotchy in her face, which was due to the tape used to keep the breathing tube in place. She was more awake and alert this time around and she also was sucking on a paci, though it was the green one they use that I don’t like. I brought her own pacis to use in the hospital, so I had happened to bring them down with me this evening, so I switched her paci to get her used to using the nuk pacis instead of the soothie ones. I heard her cry for the first time tonight, as she let out a little whine while looking for her paci bc it fell out. After holding her for a while and amy holding her for a bit, we let her rest and went back upstairs. I sort of got in trouble with the nurse, bc she came in to do my vitals at 7:30, but I was pumping, so I asked her to come back in a little bit. She told me to let her know when I was done, but um, I forgot! So at 9ish when amy and I got back upstairs Gordon told me the nurse wanted me to call her (she had also called down to the NICU to tell me to let her know when I get back to the room!). Guess the nurse doesn’t like it when the patients go MIA on her! So she came and did my vitals and brought me (super)motrin and lortab around 10:30. Now that its quiet and I can actually sleep, I’m not all that tired. Of course, now it’s time to pump again, so I’m sure that will make me sleepy since it will cause hormones to be released which make me sleepy! Lol