Gaby is doing her job.

I went to see Gaby this morning. I changed her poopie diaper for the first time. Actually while I was there this morning she pooped twice. That's awesome! (Remember she is pooping out bilirubin. That's a good thing.) I tried to feed her (with a bottle), but she just wasn't into it. She is supposed to eat 40 cc (which is a little over an ounce), and she barely touched it. They had to put her nose tube back in, and feed her through that.

I came back home, and Rachel and I had fun playing outside on her water slide, and her water/sand box. Turns out Rachel and Gaby wore matching outfits.

Here is Rachel with her favorite gesture these days. It looks like she is saying "I don't know" but she does it all the time.


Gaby's future is so bright, she's gotta wear shades.


I went back to the hospital again tonight. They gave me Gaby's informal hospital birth certificate with her little footprints. I think she has my feet.

Gaby had another poopie diaper when I went there tonight. I changed that one too. It was pretty big, considering her size. She is taking her bilirubin expulsion responsibilities very seriously. May I also say she has the skinniest little bottom. (She doesn't get that from me.)


I fed Gaby again tonight (again with a bottle), and she ate really well. I think this morning she was just pretty tired. I'm am going to try nursing tomorrow (with the attendence of a lactation consultant). We'll see how it goes.

First Day Home

Holy cow! I'm sore! I don't know how much of it has to do with my 3 months of bed rest, and how much has to do with recently giving birth, but my arms, my shoulders, my legs, and my abdominal muscles feel like I just worked out for the first time after not exercising for, say, three months or so. My knee is also hurting, but I'm pretty sure that is related to the muscle atrophy from not doing anything for a long time.

Gaby is doing really well. She has jaundice, so she is having photo therapy. Basically that means she lies on an ultraviolet light blanket. She wears a little blue eye shade to protect her eyes from the light. Today her bilirubin count was a little higher, so the nurse expects it to take close to five days before she is off the light. The liver is supposed to break down the bilirubin, and her liver is still a little immature. Eating well and pooping well help her to get rid of the bilirubin, and while I was holding her today she had a huge poop (as huge as a 5 lb individual can produce), so that's good. And I don't even have to change it (yet). She is now eating pretty well (from the bottle, not so much from me). We went to visit her tonight and the nurse told me that she might be moved to the Critical Care Nursery on the 2nd floor. She is the most stable baby of all of them in the NICU (according to her nurse), and they are getting pretty crowded, so she is the best candidate for the move. They get the same care there, from the same staff of nurses. After the feeding, the jaundice, and the ability to maintain her body temperature, she will be able to come home. I don't really know for sure how long that will be, but she is really doing well.

This is TMI (too much information), so you don't need to read it. Remember that this is a record for me and for Gaby when she is older. When Gaby was first born they gave me instructions for pumping. They insisted that even a drop is valuable, and the first day I was literally handing over microscopic droplets to feed her. It was embarrassing. Day two there were like four drops. Still a little embarassing, but they told me it was all good, and to not feel too much pressure. On Sunday they let me try to feed her a little. After that I started producing a lot more milk. Unfortunately I had to go home without a good pump. They gave me a hand pump, but it was less comfortable, and less effective. Even so I was producing a lot more milk. Today finally I was able to rent a nice pump, so things are going better. Even so, nursing isn't going great. I hope it gets easier.

This Day in History

May 17 is an important day. Today is the one year anniversary of when Rachel was sealed to us.


Today also marks the three month anniversary of when this whole hospital adventure began. I went to see my doctor on February 17 because of the pain I was feeling in my abdomen, which turned out to be preterm labor, and up until Friday when Gaby was born, I have been on bed rest ever since. (It's over now, though.)

Last but not least, today is the day I get to go home for good. It would be better if Gaby could come too, but she has a little more work to do. She had planned on me taking care of her eating needs for a few more weeks, but that didn't happen, so she is taking a little extra time learning how to eat on her own.

I went upstairs to see her this morning, and saw that overnight they had changed the location of her IV. First it was in one hand, then it was in the other hand. This morning it was in her head. It isn't too pretty, but the nurse assured me that it was a good secure place, and less vulnerable to her flailing around, which she likes to do.

I thought for the fun of it I would post a newborn picture of Rachel to compare it to a newborn picture of Gaby.

Rachel - 4 days old

Gaby - 1 day old

The major difference is that Rachel was nearly twice the size that Gaby is. Rachel was 9 lbs. 12½ oz. at birth, and Gaby was 5 lbs. 4.4 oz. at birth.

Dr. Horlander came in this morning to see me. It's official - I'm going home. Can I just say one more time, I love my doctors. They have been absolutely great, every one of them.

Yesterday was the Preakness Stakes. Rachel Alexandra (the filly who won the Oaks) took on the boys, and won again. Those Rachels are pretty impressive, don't you think? In case you missed the race, here it is for your viewing pleasure.

D-Day Plus One

D-Day = Delivery Day in case you were wondering.

I was woken up this morning at 5:00 by the nurse to draw blood. There are probably better ways to be woken, and definitely better times. I went upstairs to the NICU to see Gaby this morning. The NICU pediatrician hadn't made rounds yet, but he did come over to talk to me a little. He said that when he makes rounds he goes from sickest to healthiest, so Gaby would be one of the last babies he sees. So that's good. He gave me an idea of when to expect her to be able to go home. He said that on average, babies go home about 25 days before their due date. She was due June 22, so she should probably go home the end of May. Of course this is all contingent on how she does. The biggest issue is her ability to eat and digest her food. Her lungs are fabulous.

Here are a couple of pictures I took of her this morning in the NICU:


Dr. Horlander came to see me this morning. We talked about a few things, and all I can say is I love my doctors. They have all been so great during all of this. She did confirm that I will be discharged tomorrow, so I can go home. Gaby's discharge day is still questionable, but I hope it is soon.

Late last night I went up to the NICU to see Gaby one more time before I went to bed. The nurse gave me a toy to sleep with. It is called a Snoedel (pronounced snoodle). I am supposed to sleep with it against my bare skin for two nights so that it can absorb my scent, then I am supposed to give it to Gaby. It is supposed to help her bond with me, and give her the sense that I am with her. Hopefully I won't get too attached to it myself, and I'll be able to bring myself to give it to her.

Busy Day

The past 24 hours have been rather eventful. On Wednesday I had lots of contractions, and I was starting to feel pressure. I was pretty sure the baby would come soon. On Thursday, however, things were pretty boring. No contractions during my monitoring - nothing. So I figured the previous day had been a fluke. That evening, however, I was contracting during my monitoring. Dr. Wilson had indicated she was ready to stop giving me any terbutaline, and let nature take its course. They checked me out, and I was dilated to 5-6 cm. These measurements are pretty subjective, so they weren't sure I had really changed much, but they decided to move me over to Labor and Delivery watch me over night, then the doctor would check me in the morning.

Both Dr. Horlander and Dr. Bell checked on me in the morning, and by then I was at 6 cm, so they decided to go ahead and let baby Gaby come. Because she was small, they thought she might come pretty quickly. Jeff called his Mom, and she rushed on over, so as not to miss anything. Turns out Gaby was not in such a hurry after all. We waited and waited, and nothing happened. Finally the started me on Pitocin to move things along. At 2:00 or so they thought I was ready to start pushing. Long story short, I now know why they call it "labor."

Baby Gaby was born at 3:19. She weighed 5 lbs. 4.4 oz. (or 2.4 kg). She measured at 19½ inches long. Her lungs look great, but since she is just a 34 week 4 day baby, she still needs to spend some time in the NICU to make sure everything is okay.

Here are a few pictures:

Here I am "before." Little did I know what lie ahead.

Baby Gaby makes her grand entrance, with a high five to the world.

Mommy is something of a basket case, but Daddy is sure proud.

Baby Gaby is giving you a wink. I think she knows something.

Daddy and baby Gaby.

I am now settled in the Post Partum ward, room 346. I'm not sure how long I'll be here, but I doubt it will be more than a couple of days. Soon I will be home (sweet home).

New Baby

Gabriela is on her way! Noelle has received an epidural and the doctor has broken the water. However, Gaby is pushing slowly. I do expect her to make an entrance in the next couple of hours. After Mommy get some medicine to make the contractions more regular.

That's all the news for now.

Chocolate Milk

In the continuing saga of chocolate milk, I got two of them today for lunch. These are the things that make my life exciting.

Dr. Wilson came in to see me this morning. I think she is ready to deliver this baby. She wants to cut me off of terbutaline. Of course today, her day, nothing is happening. This morning when I was on the monitor absolutely NOTHING happened. Even the pressure that I was feeling yesterday was gone. When I get up and walk around it comes back a little, but pretty much goes away as soon as I lie down again. I suggested to the nurses that I go run the stairs, but they threatened to call security on me. So I didn't.

One of the nurses suggested that the pressure I was feeling was just baby Gaby getting bigger and taking up more space. I don't know if Gaby is getting bigger or not, but the external evidence of her existence is sure getting bigger!

Weird Stuff

Dr. Case came in to see me this morning. She didn't really have anything new to say, but I asked her about what would happen when I got to 36 weeks. She said if I'm still 5 cm they will likely send me home, but if I am any bigger than that, they'll go ahead and consider me "in labor" for real, and I guess deliver the baby.

The lady who brought me breakfast must have been new. Anyway I had never seen her before. She did not pick up my breakfast tray, therefore she didn't pick up my menu either. The nurse finally collected it, and faxed my menu to them. Unfortunately they messed up both my lunch and my dinner. The worst of it was I had asked for chocolate milk for lunch, and I didn't get it. How am I supposed to survive?

So for a while there I was having tons of contractions, so many that I was getting Terbutaline shots practically every day, sometimes two times a day. Since Friday, though, my contractions have slowed down quite a lot. This morning was pretty boring, no contractions or anything, but after I got off the monitor, I started feeling pressure. Not bad, but definitely different. Then during my my afternoon monitoring I was having contractions, along with the pressure. I got another Terb shot, and finally things started to slow down. What does all this mean? I have no idea.

As a Mother's Day surprise, Jeff arranged for the Region 4 champion quartet Chatterbox (barbershop) to sing with and to me last night. It was a lot of fun. I think the other patients and the staff enjoyed it too. They did finally get kicked out because a new inmate, I mean patient, was admitted yesterday evening who had high blood pressure, and she needed her rest. It was nice to be able to sing fun barbershop harmony again.


One of the members of the quartet also brought me dinner in the form of a Subway sandwich (with chips and a cookie). It was delicious. I had already ordered my dinner (I do that in the morning at breakfast), so I gave my dinner to Jeff and Rachel. It was meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans. Rachel has always been a little bit suspect when it comes to eating her vegetables, but last night she really enjoyed the green beans a lot. She gave me a bite first, then proceeded to stuff the entire bean in her mouth, then reached for more. She ended up eating probably 5 or 6 beans. She also ate my banana (which I had gotten at lunch and saved for her). She has never had a problem with bananas, but I was very glad to see her eating the green beans.

I am finding it to be extremely frustrating to figure out this whole "real contractions" thing. Last night when I was on the monitor I thought I felt contractions, but it turns out it was just "irritability." (Irritability is like a contraction that lasts less than 40 seconds.) This morning kind of the same thing happened, but the nurse did say I had three contractions during the hour or so I was on the monitor. When the nurse took me off I rolled over and immediately had a very strong contraction. It wasn't painful, but it was definitely strong. As soon as she walked out the door I started feeling some cramping. I called her back in, and she immediately sent me to the bathroom, then put me back on the monitor. Wouldn't you know as soon as I was back on, no more contractions. (There did continue to be a lot of irritability, but I guess that doesn't really count.)

Dr. Schweichler came to see me this morning after all the excitement. I expressed to her my concern about going home before the baby is born, but she didn't think it would be an issue. She figures the baby will come first. I am hoping she is born a week from Sunday. That would give her nearly a full 36 weeks, but I wouldn't have to worry about knowing when to come back. She thought that was an admirable goal. I voted 37 weeks on the poll, and I'm not going to change it, but I'm really hoping that baby Gaby is born on May 24.

Slow News Day

There was so much "news" yesterday and the day before, there is nothing left to write about today. What is crazy is that I had been having so many contractions lately, but I haven't needed Terbutaline since Friday morning. I came close a couple of times, but my monitoring sessions have been rather uneventful. That's good, but it is ironic because the two weeks prior did all the damage necessary to cause me to need to stay for a couple more weeks. Now that the damage is done, the contractions have slowed down a lot.

Dr. Hill came in to see me today. She didn't have anything new to say, but just confirmed what Dr. Alumbaugh told me yesterday - basically that at 5 cm it is not a good idea for me to go home just now.

I am looking forward to a special treat tonight. I would tell you about it, but then what will I write about tomorrow? So tune in tomorrow.

Incidentally, I am 34 weeks today. Yippee!