Miss Aoife Elaine decided to make her debut five weeks early. She has her mother's patience. Weighing in at five pounds even and 18 inches long, we are so in love with our little pipsqueak. And what a pipsqueak she is. She is ever so dainty, though I'm sure if she's anything like her sister, she'll chunk up in no time.
We had a fabulous weekend lined up. Friday we walked around the mall window shopping, bought a couple new games to add to our collection, and spent the evening playing and having a blast. Saturday we had a couple basketball games to finish up the season, and then we ventured out to Provo Beach Resort to take Claire on the carousel. Claire and I had actually spent the entire week before Aoife's arrival simply playing and spending time together. We went out to the zoo one day and Claire had her first carousel ride. I felt awful that Ross missed out on such a fun day and thought we'd try one closer to home so Ross could be a part of it too.
Sunday we were supposed to have Ross' brother, Jake, and a friend over for a fatty feast of a dinner. I was really excited about the ribs, potatoes, stuffing, and apple pie. But it didn't end up happening.
A few days prior to Aoife's birth, I had a suspicion my water was leaking. Though, at the beginning of this pregnancy I vowed to myself I wouldn't go to the hospital unless I was positive I was having a baby. Saturday night during family prayer, Ross said something about me knowing what my body was trying to tell me. An hour later I was on the way to the hospital to get tested to see if my water was indeed leaking. I arrived at about 8.I honestly thought I'd be on my way back home to to enjoy what was left of the evening with Ross. After I had picked up that fresh pineapple I was craving. Brooke was my nurse and did the initial test. The positive was so faint, she decided to wait a half hour and redo it. I was also already dilated to a 4, and she could feel the bag of water, which was pretty loose.
Brooke came in to check on me multiple times during the waiting period. I was having several contractions and started to feel sick. She told me she was pretty sure I had a high leak and that I was probably staying. I called Ross to give him the list of what I wanted in the hospital bag and had him find someone to stay the night with Claire. (Thank you Uncle Jake and Uncle Adam!) Brooke came back to do the second test and it was definitely positive. My water had been broken for three or four days and I had no idea.
It was a little strange being told "You are having a baby tonight" when I really wasn't planning on anything happening for a few weeks and didn't feel like I was in labor.
By the time Ross arrived at the hospital, I had been moved in our deluxe delivery suite and has prepped for the IV. My midwife initially said they were going to give me antibiotics and try to hold her off for as long as possible, probably delivering her in the morning sometime. Not too long after I had the IV in, Brooke came in to tell me my midwife, Sue, was actually coming in to break the rest of my water and start pitocin to get her out as soon as possible. They were worried about infection because my water had been broken for so long and decided she'd be better off out than in.
When Sue came in, I had dilated to a 6 1/2. I was in labor and would have had the baby whether I had come in to get tested or not. After she broke the rest of the water, the epidural guy came in, bless his heart. He got it in pretty quickly, however only my legs and butt cheeks got numb. Sue thought Aoife would be here in an hour, maybe 2 at the most. She was right. A couple hours later I started having contractions that made me think I was dying. It was honestly the most excruciating pain I have felt and I thought I was going to rip the handle bars right off of the bed from gripping them so hard. Luckily they only lasted a couple minutes. When Sue came in to check on me, Aoife's head was right there!
It only took a few pushes and she slid right out at 2:27 AM. I guess that's the blessing of itty bitty premie babies.) I got to hold her for just a couple minutes while Sue sucked out her nose and then she was whisked away to the respiratory specialist. After a few minutes of working with her, he came over to tell me she was going to be taken to the nursery to be worked on, which we fully expected. She was put on a CPAP machine to apply pressured oxygen to help keep her lungs open, got an IV to get some antibiotics started, and had about a million labs drawn while she was hooked up to monitors to measure her oxygen levels, heart rate, and breathing rate. Ross went with her and stayed for a few hours.
She was on the CPAP machine for a few hours and administered a medicine called surfactant to help open her lungs more. At 10:30 she came off of the machine for good and I finally got to hold her. She was so tiny! My mom flew in that afternoon to help us out. It was such a blessing to have her and know Claire would be taken care of and spoiled rotten.
Tuesday Aoife got put under lights because her billi levels were going up. We left the hospital that morning. When I went in to talk to Aoife's nurse, I found myself just sobbing. It was weird leaving the hospital and leaving something behind for who knew how long. It was HARD.
Wednesday she was off of the lights and I could hold her again! By Thursday she was off the IV and had taken one whole feeding by mouth, though it wasn't until Friday we hit a turning point. I decided to switch to bottles for the two feeding that I get to come in for. Since making that change, she has been taking her entire feedings and doing wonderfully. It's been such a blessing to see her progress. We also got to take Claire in to finally meet her new sister. Because of the IV, she had to stay in the nursery and Claire couldn't go in. They let us use an empty room and wheeled Aoife in for some family time. Aoife was wide awake and she and Claire checked each other out for a while. Ross got Claire to touch her, though only with one finger. She wasn't too sure about the baby and didn't want to hold her. We tried helping her, but every time Aoife got too close, Claire pushed her off of her lap. She gave her sister a good bonk, which Aoife didn't care for, but over all Claire did great and it was so fun introducing them.
Sunday her Dr. decided she was doing so well, she was going to double her feedings. Now, every other feeding, she gets a bottle instead of using her feeding tube. Those went well yesterday, so this afternoon they're going to try one back to back feeding and see how she does. She is also now receiving fortified milk, so she gets more protein and calories to fatten her up. Hopefully if all goes well, we'll get to take her home in just a few days, rather than the week I was anticipating.
I have really felt the Lord's hand as well as everyone's prayers through all of this. In the beginning I had a really hard time. I blamed myself for her being born so early, wondering if it was the entire pineapple I had eaten the day before, or my not knowing my water had broken DAYS ago, or this or that. I sobbed every time I went in to feed Aoife. It got to the point where the nurses, and Aoife's doctor were getting worried. Between the physical therapy, billi lights, helmets, and NICU visits, these two little girls are building me a stronger backbone.
We love our dainty little pipsqueak, and even though the doctors and nurses think she was more like a 34 weeker, her timing couldn't have been better. Aoife is doing wonderfully and is known throughout the hospital for being a sweetheart, though with an attitude. She is famous for pulling out her feeding tube and taking off the monitors. The hospital administration as even come by a few times to see this bossy girl. Her nurses often get tired of fighting her and leave her feeding tube out until it's time for her to eat. She is just like her sister and knows exactly what she wants. Every one of her nurses have said she is the sweetest baby and so good and easy. Even when she's awake, she doesn't cry and just looks around. I was so worried about having a colicy baby, it's a relief to hear each time I go in. Let's hope her disposition doesn't change when she comes home!
