This September, we welcomed another precious baby girl into our little family. As most of you know, Anna is our second baby.
My pregnancy with Melanie was pretty normal and her delivery was seriously a peice of cake. I was so spoiled. I was induced at 41 weeks. I received an epidural before anything happened (literally, it was the first thing they did), so I didn't feel a thing the entire time of the delivery.
This time around was a whole lot different...
First off, I'll be honest, this pregnancy was the pits. I was SUPER sick the entire time. There was rarely a day where I didn't throw up. I would lose weight instead of gain it. I had hive episodes where my body would break out in them. Doctors said it was "anaphylactic shock." My body would turn completely red and bumpy, it made my hands, feet, and tongue swell up. I had many hospital visits and one of them I was taken to by ambulance. My body was so weak and sick I had no immune system. I literally caught every illness I came in contact with. Towards the end of my pregnancy I even ended up catching a parasite. One day I noticed I had a pretty bad stomachache and there was quite a bit of blood when I went #2. I went to my OB and he had me take a bunch of tests. I got a phone call with the results and had to be on really strong medication to kill it asap. Basically, these parasites eat at your colon. He wanted me to take this strong medication for a week to be sure the parasites were gone before the baby came. Since the meds were so strong, it made me even more sick. After about a week of taking them, my stomach felt better and I was starting to feel a little better overall. Then... BAM!
On the evening of September 8th, I was feeling INCREDIBLY sick again. I was 37 weeks pregnant. I was in and out of the bathroom with diarrhea and throwing up. My hands, feet, and lips were swelling. I was sweating bullets. Then my lower back started hurting really bad and I was feeling contractions. They were getting stronger and coming about every 4-5 minutes. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, I started feeling itchy all over and noticing that bumpy rashes were appearing. I knew soon I would be covered in them. With all of this happening at once it was an obvious decision that we needed to go to the hospital. My parents took care of Melanie and we were on our way to the labor and delivery building.
I threw up in the car multiple times on the way there (good thing we brought a puke bucket) and when we got there, my contractions definitely had gotten worse. Walking from the car to the labor and delivery building was an experience. I stopped a few times and leaned up against parked cars to get through contractions. Once we got there the nurses were quick about getting me into a room. They saw that I was covered in hives and swelling up so they went into freak out mode on how to treat me with being 37 weeks pregnant. They monitored me and the baby. The worse I got, the worse the baby got. They treated me for the hives and I started feeling a little better, but I was still having contractions. This time the nurse said they were about 1 minute apart. The baby's heart rate was dropping way too low. The doctor said if this happens again (the anaphylactic shock), there's no guarantee that the baby will be alright and her heart rate won't drop again. So he decided that it would be best for the baby if she just came then. So the nurse came in and said that we were going to have a baby. Before she came in to tell us the news, I kind of had a feeling that we weren't going home.
Melanie was at my parents' house so we "Face-Timed" her to tell her that her baby sister was on her way!
She was excited! :)
After already going through labor on my own, they progressed it by breaking my water and giving me pitocin. I got an epidural... Hallelujah! But once they added the pitocin, everything was going so fast. The epidural medication was having a hard time catching up with how fast the labor was going. I didn't feel too much pain. There were still a few contractions I had to breathe through, but it was all manageable. Mostly, I felt a lot of pressure.
I was dilated to a 4 on my own and two hours to the dot from when they gave me the pitocin I was completely dilated and ready to deliver. I felt like I needed to push, but the nurses told me to wait until the doctor got there. The nurses got the room all ready for delivery and the doctor came in. I pushed once and followed with two "half pushes." She was out within a matter of seconds (literally).
Almost 3 weeks early, on September 9th at 12:53am, Anna Rose Hope was born. She weighed in at 6 lbs 11 oz and was 18 & 3/4 in long. She was absolutely perfect! :)
The nurses noticed she wasn't letting out full cries and that she was grunting a lot. I didn't think anything of it, but to their trained ears it was something more serious. Her lungs weren't fully expanding when she breathed. She had fluid in them.
They worked with her for a while hoping they could take the fluids out and she would start breathing normally on her own and we would hear loud cries... It didn't happen and they had to take her to the NICU.
She had pneumonia and they started her on antibiotics.
I never realized how hard it is for parents to have their newborn baby in the NICU until it happened to us. After delivering, I only got to hold her for a matter of minutes before they had to take her away.
We weren't allowed to hold her which pretty much broke my heart. All I could do was hold her little hand and tell her everything was going to be ok.
They had her on oxygen and a feeding tube just to help her out a little bit.
Our Dads were awesome and stopped by to visit and helped Dallan give Anna a blessing.
Dallan and I visited her in the NICU everyday, multiple times a day.
Then her breathing was improving and I finally got to hold my baby. :)
You know what they use to stick bows in baby's hair? Elmers glue. Who would've thought...
Dallan brought Melanie to the hospital to visit me. Which I really loved. I missed her a lot. She wasn't allowed in the NICU because she was too young so she didn't get to meet Anna yet at the hospital. But she would meet her little sister soon enough.
Dallan went home to be with Melanie and so she could sleep in her own bed. That left me at the hospital so we Face-Timed eachother. He would also send me pictures of them which I loved getting. :)
Another visit to the hospital to see Mommy. :) I love her.
Anna's bilirubin count was too high and she was pretty jaundice so they put her under the special lights.
Her breathing continued to improve and they were able to take her completely off the oxygen.
She was pretty happy about that too... :)
Since Melanie couldn't be in the NICU to meet Anna, we Face-Timed and she was at least able to see her.
Anna's breathing improved, she was finally able to keep down food, and her bilirubin count was improving. She got the clear to go home! All she needed to do was to pass the car seat test. She had to sit in her car seat for an hour and a half to make sure her breathing was still ok while she was in there.
She passed!
We got to take the feeding tube out and dress her up to take her home! :)
Melanie was at my parents' house patiently waiting to meet her baby sister. She was SO excited. I've never seen such a small child so happy to meet her baby sister. It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen. The love she has for Anna is truly real.
These pictures are my favorite because they aren't staged or fake. They are Melanie's true emotions towards what was happening. Pure love and happiness for her baby sister.
First family pictures of the four of us.
This little girl sure made me sick during pregnancy and gave us a scare when she was born, but she's here and doing well. We are truly blessed to have her in our family.
Melanie just adores Anna and is such a good big sister. As they grow it'll be fun to see them play with one another and not only be sisters, but become friends as well.
I love these little girls with all my heart. They are my whole world. I am blessed and grateful that my Father in heaven trusted me enough to raise them and call them mine.
Right now, things are a little crazy and hectic. I have a two year old and a newborn. Sleep is nothing but a fond memory. I've seen the sun rise everyday for a month. I've shed many tears. I'm doing my absolute best to take care of these two girls. I'm still adjusting. I just have to take it one day at a time and I'll get used to it. I made a promise to my Heavenly Father that I would do this, that I would raise these sweet spirits in righteousness and I know that He will help me.
Right now, these little girls depend on me for EVERYTHING. To feed them, clothe them, bathe them, change their diapers, take care of them when they are sick, kiss their owies when they are hurt, tuck them in at night, read them stories.. I can go on and on. One day, they won't need me to do all these things for them anymore. I need to enjoy this time I have with them while they're still little.
I can't think of anything that makes me more happy than being called "Mommy."
