Baby Nor Nor!

It's been way too long since my last post and I have a ton to catch up on, but there have been a few milestones that Nora has hit that I wanted to mark before I forget.
Last week at about 9 weeks she started to smile at us. She smiles a lot during her sleep and I have never had a baby do this but she will full on laugh during her sleep. Her little giggles are so sweet. But now she is smiling at us when she is awake and her sweet little dimple and wide gummy smile just melt my heart.
On the 23th if aug she started to intentionally make cooing sounds an other cute little sounds.
She is such a happy baby. Now that we have the food thing figured out and her thrush taken care of and if we keep her reflex meds in her she could not be a better baby.
Last night she went 9 hours. She has slept though the night before a few times but for the most part she is a once a nighter.
She is so fun to have around and the girls couldn't love her more. She is everything I felt she would be before she got here!
We love you Nor Nor!

New Baby Nora!

Well it's been a while since the last post and I have a lot to catch up on. 1st and for most we need to start with Nora and her arrival! We Feel incredibly blessed that she is here and healthy and happy. What a roller coaster ride this has been from the beginning to the end. I have talked about our experience with the pregnancy and now here is her birth story.

To back up a few weeks, my mom had been having some health problems that were most likely going to bring her back to the states for some surgery. In talking with her about when she was planning on coming it was 3 weeks before Nora was due. I kept begging her to wait 3 more weeks, but due to other commitments and her and my dad's busy schedule she could not postpone the time any longer. I was fine, a little bummed but fine. I knew she wasn't going to be here from the beginning, but it was just the thought that she could have been here.

At 35ish weeks we decided to make one last trip to Lake Powell before we had our third child. Oh it was miserable. I felt horrible the whole time. The drive about did me in and on top of that my ribs were hurting so much I couldn't sleep and those beds were not made for people that are 35 weeks along. I spent most of my time on the couch and that was not that much more comfy than the bed. So I propped myself up on all of the pillows I could to just get maybe 20 min here and there. The boat was horrible because with the choppy water I felt like Nora would fall out every boat ride. We never went too far do to how choppy things were and just in case baby decided to come early. Stella came at 37 weeks. Anyway it was a bad trip and on top of it I started to itch so bad. It had started just before we had left and I had tried lotion and baths and all of that, but the itching and the side issues were making MISeRABLE! By the time we got home I was ready. (I think it was a first, Me really wanting to go home). Just a few days after coming home, still really itch and really miserable I was not sleeping still! KILL ME! Then I think it was the Sunday we had gotten home... I was sitting on the bed and sneezed. My whole side buckled and I could NOT move! I was dying. I don't know that I have ever been in so much pain. I tried to wake up Kris and he turned over for a sec and then turned back over and went back to sleep. So now being about 12:30ish I called the one person I knew would be up. My mom in Japan. I sat and cried. I was in soooo much pain. She told me I should call the Dr. I am the one who never would want to put anyone out or bug anyone. So I called labor and delivery thinking that the nurses might know what I should do and I knew they would be up. The cute nurse I talked was really nice. She told me that it could be a few things and that my Dr may want me to come in and check things out. She told me to call the Dr on call for my Dr. I told her I felt so bad I didn't want to bug her. The nurse assured me that she was up and that she had just seen her so she knew that she was for sure. I called the after hours number and the Dr called me right back. She was so nice and wanted me to come in, but to go to the ER and once I got there to tell them to call labor and delivery so that a nurse could come and monitor the baby. I had woken up Kris to tell him I was headed to the ER. He wasn't too worried and I think he was a little relieved that he got to say home with the kids. Like who was I going to call in the middle of the night. So I spent the whole night in the ER hooked up to monitors for the baby and even though I they had given me heavy drugs to help the pain nothing was working and there was NO, I repeat NO sleeping. I was so tired. I had gone weeks without sleep and just really kept thinking I'm going to die and just let me do it now... I'm just so tired. So after a whole night in the ER I was diagnosed with Bronchitis... No cough no congestion... WHATEVER! I was now stuck at the hospital! They wanted me out of the room so they could have the room for another patient...ps there was no one in the waiting room?????? But they wouldn't let me go home because I had driven myself there and they had given me heavy drugs! DUMB! I had to get home NOW! Kris had to get to work. So finally I just took off and headed for home. Beat physically, mentally broken, and emotionally ready to give up I came home to deal with my 2 darling daughters almost 5 and almost 3 years old. Kris's mom called not long after Kris had left and said she had heard I was in the ER and she was coming to get the girls. I spent the next 3 days in bed... REALLY! No lie. I got up a few times to help the girls and Kris's mom came to get the girls and Kris would pick them up on his way home. I couldn't move! I couldn't lay on my one side and once down it was almost impossible to get up. Finally the day come for me to go to my Dr appt. When she came in she had seen that I was in the ER and we were talking and before I could even finish she was shaking her head. She said that she thought I had dislocated a rib! WOW! totally makes sense. Her nurse got me into the Physical therapist that day. Once there I was told I had 5 yes folks 5 dislocated ribs. The PT was literally pushing on my ribs with ALL of her body weight. Oh my gosh! I was ready to crawl off the table, but the second they popped back in I felt the relief. There were 2 that kept popping out, but that I could deal with. I went back about 2 times.

Still having all of the itching and instead of getting better it kept getting worse. I had now moved from my NST and Dr appt every 2 weeks to every week. My mom was scheduled to come in on June 15th. I had an NST that morning followed by my Dr appt. The itching was so bad I couldn't even sit still for the NST. When my nurse, Nancy came in to fix the monitors, AGAIN, and It told her I was so sorry I kept moving I just itched so badly. She told me that I should bring that up with my Dr when I went in right after my NST. So once we got what we needed from the monitors I headed over across the hall to my Dr office. Once there we discussed my ribs again and then went right into the itching. I was kind of hesitating telling her about the itching, because what is she going to do. I have itched horribly for weeks now and I'm sure she just thinks I complaining all the time (OK so i do when I'm pregnant). Anyway she said she wanted to do a blood draw anyway checking something else that we had been watching for a few weeks. I went to get my blood drawn and then I had to hurry and get Molly to tutoring and then we were meeting up with my mom and sisters for lunch! Hooray! We met everyone at Cafe Rio... soo good! As we were walking out I pulled out my phone and saw I had several missed calls. My Dr had left 2 messages. She had said that I needed to call her ASAP. Then there was a message from someone else at the hospital. She said "this is so and so and I was calling about getting you registered for your hospital stay tonight". or something like that. I looked at my sisters and mom and said... "I think I'm having a baby." I called the Dr back thinking I would only be talking to her nurse and she said that she had wanted to talk to me. She said that normal liver levels were in the 20 and 30 and my were at 250 and 300's. She said that I needed to get to the hospital as soon as I could and they were going to induce me. What it was is Help Syndrome and Cholistasis. Basically my body was having an allergic reaction to the placenta. The only cure... deliver the placenta. I was only 36 and 1/2 weeks. The Dr. assured me that she would be fine and that we did need to get her here. I was totally taken back. I still had 2 kids to figure out what to do with the girls. My mom had dr appointments and all of her health stuff and couldn't stay. I called Kris to let him know that we were going to be have a baby soon. And he needed to meet me at the hospital. He wasn't answering his phone so I called the office and asked to talk to Kris. When he came to the phone I told him we were going to be have and that I was supposed to be going to the hospital. He told me that he could be there after he was done with work at about 5. So I was on my own. I called my sister in law and she was nice enough to take my kids that night and then my cute friends all pitched in to help out while I was in the hospital. Thanks Brooke, Mel, and Amanda! once I had somewhere for my kids to go I came home and needed to pack for everyone. I was assuming that my kids would be spending the night (that turned out to be a correct assumptions). Honesty I just felt like I wandered aimlessly around my house trying to figure out what the kids would need, and what would I need. My mom and sisters had come to help me pack and get ready, but I was kind of in a hurry and I don't really know what I was doing.

(this was just before I dropped off my kids)

I finally got packed and my family took off. I dropped off my girls and headed to the hospital.. ALONE! As I was carrying in my bags my cute nurse Nancy, that had actually told me to check with my Dr about the itching, was on her way out of the hospital. She was happy to see that we had figured things out and was so cute. I got myself checked in and then everyone got things started. Kris was able to come later that evening when he had finished up at work.

(this was me working though one of my contractions shortly after Kris got there.)

Really from there on things went smoothly, other than Kris spilling my sugar water all over the floor--impossible to clean up and everyone who came in the room stuck to the floor. They had to wait for a bit to give me the epidural and with the pitosin that made it kind of miserable, but I didn't care. I would not be itching anymore and I would have a baby to hold and I would even be able to sleep when I lied down. They did have to put me on a magnesium iv drip thought the whole delivery and then I had to stay on it for the next 24 hours. The itching did take a few days to go away completely. Nora arrived early the next morning June 16 at 2:26 am.

(Nora's First Picture)

She was amazing. We heard her first cry. They handed her to me and she went quiet. Her eyes were open and she just kept looking around the room. She was wide awake and did that for the next hour. She was amazing. I remember right after she was born looking at my Dr and just crying and telling her thank you. Here we were 36 1/2 weeks. All of the drama, all of the anxiety, the fear. My Dr was amazing though it all. She had made it easier. She walked us though everything. Here was the little girl I had been begging God for for the past several months. She was here. She was more than perfect, she was healthy, she was a miracle! I was holding my very own miracle! I was very emotional, grateful, and exhausted. We couldn't have been happier to have OUR little Nora here. She was jaundiced and she wasn't getting a ton better so they put her on the lights the 2nd day and were really worried that she wasn't getting bigger. She was born at 5 lb 10 oz and was dropping and not going back up. The Dr told me I had to start supplementing her or she wouldn't be going home. Well turns out the day we were supposed to go home the Dr wouldn't release her. She was still really jaundiced and wasn't gaining weight. So they released me and kept her. The nurses were great and helped me out with letting me stay in the room and the Dr had agreed that we leave her on the lights all day in the nursery and then supplement her and then at 5 the nurse could call and give the Dr the stats and if they were looking better she would release Nora. So I walked around all day and then hung out in the hospital. The nurses in the nursery were awesome and would let me come in there and just hang out to be by Nora.

(Nora in the hospital nursery under the billie lights)

That afternoon they had decided to clear the floor I was on. They were moving all of the PT to the floor below to reduce cost, being as there weren't a ton of pts. and not enough nurses to cover both floors. They had decided to leave Nora in that nursery She was the only baby in there with the one nurse and then I was the only other person on the floor. It was kind of weird. It was like a ghost town. REALLY! It was Nora, the nurse and myself! I kind of liked it. Finally late that night the Dr decided to release Nora. So I drove myself home with Nora in the same car I drove myself to the hospital... I promise I have a husband.

(Nora coming home)

We got home about 8:30 that night and we were so happy to be home, with a lot to do because I was so not planning on having a baby that early. It was so nice that My mom was here for this. We still didn't get to spend a ton of time with her due to all of her medical stuff... we are glad that she got everything taken care of and that everything worked out great for her! We are glad that this baby is here! It's been a crazy ride from the beginning to the end. I felt like a million bucks after she was born and jumped right back into life. It's all worked out and we feel so blessed that we have been watched over and taken care of.