Pictures Of Allie

 

Please click on this link to see other pictures of baby Allie: http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=b536dc7a0a181331&sid=0BaNGzFq5atnFA



Baby Allie Has Arrived!

My phone rang at work on Tuesday mid-afternoon, it was my sister. We have been planning her visit for the last several months and we knew she was excited to be here for Allie's birth. Well, the phone call wasn't good as she spent the early morning hours in the hospital. She was diagnosed with Viral Meningitis ... what horrible timing. Makayla took it the hardest but understood that Aunt Dee needed to get better. We are looking forward to her rescheduled visit in April! My parents were on their way back from North Carolina so they were able to be here. Makayla really wanted to be at the hospital the day of Allie's birth but we needed someone to watch her while we were in surgery. We were very thankful my mom could be here!

We entered the hospital at 8am, I wasn't able to eat or drink anything for 8 hours before my surgery and could only take my morning pills with just a little water. My mom waited in the waiting room while Dwight and Makayla were with me. It took the them 4 times and 2 nurses to put in my IV. I moved my hand just a little bit and felt this gush of liquid run from my arm. When I looked over, blood was pouring from my hand and all over the bedding and floor. Makayla took one look and said "I'm outta here" and made a mad dash to the waiting room while Dwight called the nurse. Apparently the cap wasn't on tight so they adjusted it and all was well.

Surgery was scheduled at 10am but there were two other c-sections ahead of me and they were running a little behind. It was weird walking into the operating room instead of being wheeled in a bed like I was with Makayla. While in the operating room they gave me my epidural and then catheter. Dwight then came in by my side. It took them a while to cut through all my scar tissue and at 10:52am on March 1, Allie Lynn Swanson was born healthy and a full head of hair. She was 8 lbs, 6 oz and 20.5 inches long. After Allie was out, the tied my tubes and was wheeled into recovery for about an hour. While in recovery they immediately brought me Allie, I wasn't able to have any visitors other than Dwight and Makayla. Makayla was super excited to meet her new baby sister.

After an hour in recovery, they wheeled me to my room and played twinkle, twinkle little star (something the hospital does when a new baby is born and the mom is being wheeled to her room). I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful staff to take care of Allie and I. My friend Paulette stopped by after work with a Casey's taco pizza in hand, unfortunately I was on a clear liquid diet for the evening so I wasn't able to enjoy it. Thankfully I love it cold, Dwight brought me a few pieces every day for lunch. A delivery of flowers from my sister arrived in the afternoon. Around 9pm my nurses came in to get me to stand up. After my nurses put me back in bed, they left and I felt this gush. Thinking my catheter fell out, I called for the nurses to come back. It was actually blood, once they stood me up to clean up my bedding it ended up being all over the floor, my tubes, my legs, socks, etc. I don't remember bleeding after I had Makayla. I'm still bleeding but not as heavy or bad. They told me to watch for any blood clots bigger than the size of a quarter and it shouldn't last longer than 6 weeks. My sugars were great but my blood pressure was high and continues to be high. They upped my dosage of medication and actually made a follow up appointment with my family doctor, which was last Friday. She upped my medication again and I am supposed to continue to monitor it at home with a follow up appointment in two weeks.

The next morning they took out my IV and my catheter, I was able to take a shower and start to feel like a normal person. Makayla had me up and walking around the hallways. Over the weekend I had many visitors and Dwight would bring Makayla and my mom over for frequent visits. Makayla would fight nana for holding rights through my hospital stay, she was and still is a very proud big sister.

On a snowy Monday morning we were able to start the paperwork to head home. My nurse was able to take out my staples and filled my prescriptions (for blood pressure and Ibuprofen for pain, thankfully that is all I needed). Allie did lose weight and by the time we left the hospital Monday morning she was down to 7 lbs, 7 oz. Once a baby loses over 10% of their birth weight the hospital gets a little concerned. This is what happened to Makayla as well. A home health care nurse was scheduled to come to our home that Tuesday and then we needed to follow up in our pediatrician office that Wednesday.

On Allie's follow up appointment she had gained some weight and weighed in at 7 lbs, 10 oz. They wanted to see us back again, our appointment is Monday. On her Monday appointment we will also stop by the maternity floor to deliver all the wonderful nursing staff chocolate chip cookies and a thank you note.

Stay tuned for pictures, just need to upload them from three different cameras, two phones and one tablet. :)