Settling In

I've been meaning to update my blog for about the last 4 or 5 days, but every time I think about it, I'm just too darn tired! I guess this is what motherhood is all about! It was actually a smooth transition bringing Evelyn home from the NICU and getting her settled in at home. While she does sleep in our bedroom, she's in a bassinet and not with us, and since she got used to a bassinet in the NICU she doesn't have any problem sleeping there. She sleeps really soundly (almost NOTHING will wake her up unless she's hungry!) and she worked herself onto a 4-hour feeding schedule, which lets me get a little extra sleep in between each feeding! I don't know how I'm going to manage being so exhausted when I go back to work, but for now it's all kinda working out.

She's still so little, and a lot of the newborn-sized clothes we have are too big for her. It's so funny to put on a little onesie and see her absolutely swimming in it! On the plus side, she has ALMOST outgrown the premie sized diapers, so we can start using all the newborn size we had stocked up!


Evelyn also had her two-week checkup last week. Her bilirubin hadn't rebounded, so we didn't have to have her readmitted to the hospital, which I was SO thankful for. Also, she had gained weight, from 5 pounds 9 ounces up to 6 pounds 1 ounce! In the 8 days in between her doctors appointments she had gained 8 ounces! I was so proud of her. She's growing so well. And her hair is growing too-it's getting so long!

The dogs have completely adopted her. Bowser is fascinated with her (as long as there's no food in the vicinity, then he doesn't care that she exists). But Daivi, the German Shepherd, has decided that Evie is HIS baby and HIS job and he spends most of his time staring at her making sure nothing is wrong. And he's obsessed with her feet. He loves licking them.


And Bowser has been INCREDIBLY gentle with her, and he is by no means a gentle or subtle creature. Everything he does is over the top, because he's so much larger than he thinks he is. So it's so nice to see him actually being gentle.

Her nursery isn't finished yet. We thought we had another 5 weeks, and since she got home we've been focused on her, but when it is finished, I'll be sure to post pictures!

I've been having some trouble emotionally adjusting to her being here. I won't go into detail here, but I've really been struggling. My doctor put me on a (necessary) medication, but now I'm no longer allowed to breastfeed, which has made me just feel worse. But I know I can't take care of my child unless I take care of myself too, so I have to do what I have to do to make sure I'm healthy. But I have a great support system, and things are looking up. My daughter is absolutely beautiful, and healthy, and I couldn't ask for more than that.

Surprise!

Well our little miss decided she was done and wanted to make her debut early. On Saturday, January 28th, I called my doctor because I was concerned about something I was experiencing, and he told me to go to labor and delivery. When I got there, they said that I had been leaking amniotic fluid for three days and had to be induced. I was really overwhelmed and I just kept thinking, "I'm not ready yet!" I mean, I was only 35 weeks and had 5 weeks left, and 5 weeks is still a long time! But it didn't matter whether I was ready or not, I was gonna have a baby. At about 10:30 Saturday night they started me on Pitocin, which scared me. They did an ultrasound when I got there and told me that the baby was transverse (sideways) and told me that if she didn't go head down I would have to have a c-section. I told them that if it were medically necessary I would do it, but I was going to do everything in my power to avoid that option. Thank God, Evie must have heard me because 20 minutes later she was head down. They told me that I could have the epidural at any time but I wanted to wait until my contractions started. At 2:30 the rest of my water broke (WEIRD experience) and 5 minutes later the contractions started. Only took one for me to decide I was ready for the epidural! The epidural kicked in quickly and I was actually able to sleep through a lot of the contractions. At about 8:15 Sunday morning they told me to start pushing, and at 8:41 she was born! It worried me because I couldn't hear her crying but they told me she was breathing. She was so little! 5 pounds 12 ounces, and 18 inches long. And she was so beautiful! We named her Evelyn Murdock Miller.

I could only hold her for a few minutes because she had to go to the NICU for an evaluation. Thank God she didn't have any trouble breathing and was on room air from the beginning, but because she was so early they wanted to make sure there were no other problems. They moved me to a regular maternity ward room, and I didn't get to see Evie until like 5 o'clock that evening!

Unfortunately when Evie got to the NICU, they found that her blood sugar was low, and she couldn't keep her blood sugar up between feedings. She had to have an IV supplement and they had to test her blood sugar before every feeding. Poor thing had hamburger heels after a couple days because they kept having to stick her. After a few days, unfortunately jaundice set in and it set in hard. She had to be under the bili lights and a bili blanket. Her bilirubin levels went up and down, and then WAY up again. She ended up spending 8 days in the NICU, and it was SO hard on Spencer and I. After I was discharged we got a family room at the hospital and stayed there the whole week. We would go home to shower and that was about it. It was so difficult.


Evie's setup in the NICU

Under the bili lights

Holding Evie wrapped in a bili blanket. She looks like a glow worm!

When it was FINALLY time to come home (Superbowl Sunday!) We wrapped Evie up well and headed for the car.


She wasn't quite sure what to make of the car seat

We've had her home for a few days now and it's SO much easier than living at the hospital. Unfortunately I haven't been healing well (more on that later) but Evie's doing well. It's great to have our little family whole!