Jodee Elle

Wow! What a surprise we got this week as you all know! Here is a rundown on the day :) Monday morning Sidney and I decided to bake some cookies. So, standing in the kitchen with Sidney standing on her chair "helping" me just before 10am, I feel a pressure and a gush. I had to stop and think. First thing I did was call Byron at work and told him "Um, I think my water just broke". Obviously it was quite a shock considering I was only 36 weeks pregnant. So, of all weeks to have a baby, my parents and 2 sisters from in town here were on their way to Salmon Arm for camping. So, I called Tracey and asked her if she'd be able to take Sidney as my water had just broken. So, that taken care of, I called the midwife and she asked I meet her at the hospital so they could assess me and make sure my water had actually broken. So we agreed to meet in an hour. So, call Byron again to tell him to forsure come home. Called his mom to arrange for them to take Sidney for a few days and packed a bag for Sidney and myself. With only 30 minutes to do that was quite confusing. What to take? What is needed? Yeah, not what we had planned. So, Byron came home, we dropped Sidney off and off to the hospital we went. I was not having any cramping at all, just a BIT of tightening. So, check into the hospital, meet the midwife and she confirms I'm in labour. I was tested for Strep B and came out positive this time, so I had to make a decision whether or not to take antibiotics. I opted to as I was early and to help prevent the baby getting sick. I really didn't want to take antibiotics as the dosage starts REALLY high and with me having Crohn's, I risk a flareup. Oh well, I will happily sacrifice my body for my baby! So, it was decided to start an IV, which hurt like heck as my midwife needed a refresher on how to do it and it was in the hand, so double ow! Anyways, they hooked me up to the moniter and found out I was having slight contractions but I wasn't feeling anything. So, they transfered me to a room and around 1:30 hooked me up to Oxytocin. They started me slowly as I was having about 3 contractions every 10 minutes which I was barely feeling, just a tightening. So, the day drags on and there's not much to do but sit and wait. You can only walk in a loop around the maternity ward so many times before you're bored, so you just again, sit and wait. One midwife was in and out all day checking up on my progress and as time came closer to 6 which was the midwife on call shift change, my contractions got a BIT more uncomfortable. So, I wasn't doing too much around this time, so the 2nd midwife went home for a sec and went to pick up the on call pager, so the nurse at this time had suggested I drape myself over the top of the bed. I was more than eager to try anything to get this baby coming, so up on the bed I went. Within 15-20 minutes I was definately starting to feel some pain and had to concentrate on my breathing with Byron pressing on my lower back with each contraction. This was around 7:25-20pm. Wow, did things go fast from there! It was kinda scary though b/c baby's heart rate had dropped a few times and the nurse was on the phone constantly talking about what was going on. I was too distracted at this point to really know what was going on, but I remember them telling me to switch positions as "baby doesn't like this position" so I had to keep moving. They had given me oxygen to breath in which was actually a really nice distraction to remember to take those deep breaths into! Byron kept pressing my lower back through each painfull contraction. At one point in all this, the nurse hit the panic button and a whole bunch of people came rushing in, including the midwife. My contactions were on top of each other at this point and they were telling me not to push as I was only 9 cm dialated. Grr, that was frustrating! It's not the nicest thing to deliver early and the worst words to hear are NICU and paetiatrician. Not nice to think of your new baby having anything wrong with them! So, all in all, at 8:02pm, our precious Jodee Elle (pronounced "L") was brought into the world! We truly thank God for this as there are a few problems early babies can have, but our little girl was doing amazing! She weighed in at 7lb 3oz. Wow! Wonder how big she would have been if she was full term...nah, let's not think about that! Jodee is doing great so far! She's nursing beautifully, her weight as of the midwife check today is 6lb 13oz, but not looking at all jaundiced! Yeah! When Byron and I were set up in our room on Monday before Jodee was born, we prayed to God to keep baby and mom safe and He truly answered our prayers! After she was born, we thanked Him for this amazing gift He gave us and a healthy one too! It was so neat to see Sidney with Jodee on Tuesday. She actually cried when we took Jodee from her! Byron's mom worked on her to pronouce her name, so she says it clearly! So, we had to wait until 24 hours after Jodee was born to be discharged from the hospital b/c she was so early, so we were so bored on Tuesday! We had a few visiters so that was nice, but besides that, we had nothing to do! Byron went home for a bit that afternoon to shower and hang out for a bit, so I was on my own for a bit. I had a friend and her sister come for a visit which was great! So, we had to wait until 7 for the midwife to come and discharge us, then wait until a nurse assessed me and Jodee, then do the carseat check, which we almost failed due to Jodee being so little, but a nurse put a rolled up blanket in the buckle to tighten it up a bit, so just before 9 we headed home! Yeah!!!!!!

Today was all an at home day. Byron went to pick up Sidney from his folks so she hung out with us for a few hours today which was really nice. She's spending the night at Ray and Tracey's as Byron has to work tomorrow and I'm NOT ready to have Sidney and Jodee on day 1 together and no Byron. So we'll get her home tomorrow night. A friend brought a meal for us tonight which was really yummy and GREATLY appreciated. I didn't have time to stock up my freezer!!

Well, gotta go, Jodee needs me and it's time for bed, so have a great day tomorrow and I'll give lots of snuggles to my little girl for you all! Will post pix another day, bed is more important for me right now. 'Night!