Over the Hump

So THIS is how its supposed to be!
Things are finally settling down. My rash is slowly, but surely, clearing up. Itching is at a dull roar. Mia is on a good feeding routine. Eating every three hours during the day and sleeping 4-5 hours at night between feedings. So we are getting some good sleep. We even have spent a few nights relaxing in front of the tv and making up with our animals. Mia is just awesome. She is so strong! She wiggles and squirms and pushes and pulls. She holds her little head up like a pro! She coos and oohs and cackles. I am telling ya, at 2 weeks, this girl is going to town!

This week, we are working on outings. My friend Cindy is in town this week to help me ease into a couple of these hurdles that for some reason seem terrifying to me. Taking Mia out in the car on errands..etc. Today was a test of wills, nerves, and patience. We had a small outing planned. Mid morning Dr. appt for a weigh in then a quick trip to Target for some supplies. Yesterday's outing to Walmart was a success, I am feeling confident this will go smoothly. All is planned out carefully. I will feed her right before we leave, so that she is happy and full and we will be home by the next feeding time. out we go.

So far, so good. No meltdowns in the car. Love the car, they fall right to sleep.
Dr. appt went well, she is now over 8lbs. (should be with all she eats!)
Dr. then drops the doosie. Her newborn screen came back "insufficient", they couldn't get a reading. Needs to be re-done. Must go back to the medical center lab (20 miles away) and give another blood sample.
uh-oh. Ok. We could still make it home before feeding time if we hurry.
Fast forward 1.5 hours. Lab personnel are totally inept. Taking forever. Waiting...waiting....
Feeding time fast approaching. Please just let her sleep a little longer. Finally, we are called back. She sleeps through the undressing, the alcohol swab. Then THWAP! A prick in the foot.
Mia's eyes pop open! WAIL!!!!!! Getting the sample takes forever, WAIL!! WAIL!!
SCREAM!! SCREAM!!! By this time, she is in full blown freak out. Get to the car. Into the car seat. Screaming at the max. I fear she is going to choke herself.
I crawl in the back, take her out of the car seat and try to console her. Finally, she drifts off to sleep, we make it home ok.

So much for easing into outings.

Light

Our hang-out

Could there be light at the end of the tunnel?

Last night was good. We actually watched an entire movie (Twilight - awesome) while Mia slept in between feedings in the pack n play. Feeding schedule is still a challenge, but it is working out ok, without any major meltdowns, and we both got some good sleep with Mia only waking up once at 2am for a feeding.

Went to the dermatologist this morning and he gave me a monster shot of prednisone that is supposed to last 2-5 weeks. I am praying hard that it does the job. They warn me that there is the possibility it could come back after that. Please, please God, don't let it come back. Again, this is where the mind is a powerful thing. I WILL stay positive.

In the meantime, I am sending positive healing vibes through my whole body. And in the spirit of positive thinking....how can you not think positive when looking at this face?

P.S.

We decided to plant a tree to commemorate Mia's birthday. A Magnolia tree that will flower pink leaves every March that she can see from her room. Go Daddy!

Onward and upward!

A New Day

Yesterday I was overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with this awesome responsibility. Overwhelmed with emotions. Overwhelmed with guilt for my poor animals who have been so neglected. I miss them terribly. Overwhelmed with the urge to cry at every moment. When will my body finally heal and I can finally take a warm shower? Wear something other than loose pjs? Or even just be able to wear a bra? Will we finally get into a comfortable routine? Will we ever be able to sit in our family room and watch a movie and be a family again? Go out to dinner? Yesterday was just plain hard.

Today, I have a better outlook. The house is quiet. Just us chickens. I caught up on my favorite blogs, and gained a slightly new perspective. More positive. In love with our beautiful daughter. Excited for our new family.
I still long to get out of the house, take Mia for a walk around the property, enjoy the spring flowers. Get out of our bedroom and spend more time in the rest of the house. I am praying for warmer weather.

I thank God every day for Gabe. I would be lost without him.

Have an appt with the dermatologist in the morning. Hoping he can give me a miracle shot. Going to go by myself, get out of the house, refresh.

Parenthood - week one

Ok so I finally have a quiet moment, while the little bean sleeps to give a few details of our journey into parenthood.

Mia is just awesome. We can't believe we made this precious little angel. It truly is a miracle of life. You can sit and stare at her all day long. She is such a joy.
We have had a very tough first week home. I have been dealing with some major complications from delivery that has made taking care of Mia very challenging for me. Gabe has been tirelessly working to pick up the slack with feedings, etc. while being very concerned about me. We have had our share of meltdowns this week from the stress of it all, but I am very hopeful that things will turn around soon.

Labor and delivery went fairly smoothly. Once they started the petocin around 6am on Thursday morning, Mia wasted no time. By 11am I was dilated to 7cm and getting close. By 12:00 the contractions were full force and I was begging for the epidural. That is when everything went haywire. I am in full blown contractions, they are trying to put the epidural in and telling me not to move (laughable), my water broke and Mia didn't like the position I was in and went into distress. The nurse was having a hard time finding a heartbeat. All this happens within about 30 minutes. Gabe was doing great keeping it together even though he was pretty stressed out and I think I was breaking his hand while I was getting through those contractions. After the epidural was in and Mia was stabilized, I was able to have an hour or so to recover a bit and calm down. The nurse was absolutely amazing. She was calming, soothing and knew exactly what to do. Leaving me be for that hour was crucial. By the time I was ready to push, I only had to push for 45 minutes. Everything was going great until Mia decided to come out with her arm across her face and gave me a nice size tear. My doctor insists its all fine, but I have since discovered that this particular tear is considered a fairly significant complication. eeek. Seems to be healing ok though.
All of this was a cake walk, however, for what I was about to deal with.

Woke up Friday morning with a rash on my back. By the time we left the hospital on Saturday, the rash was all over my entire back and moving rapidly. I was on fire. Apparently, I am having some sort of horrible reaction to something they did during the epidural. Agony....pure agony. Picture the worst case of poison ivy you ever saw and double it, and that is the rash I have. Pain, itching, the chills...I had it all. And all the while I am trying to breastfeed Mia. By Sunday, I am at the end of my rope. In tears, I call the doctor, who works me in on Monday. She took one look at the rash and called a dermatologist. He puts me on some topical cream and says it will be a few days. The next couple of days, things seem better, but lack of sleep and no appetite, plus the stress of the rash, and my breastfeeding efforts have gone down the drain. Guilt settles in. Meltdown. Then, the icing on the cake. Friday morning, I wake to find the rash has moved completely to my front side. All OVER my chest and torso, arms, neck, face, head and continues to move very rapidly. Terrified that I am going to go through another week of agony, I freak out. Time for a meltdown. 6am trip to the ER. Breastfeeding is officially called off. Now i am on some pretty high powered steroids and hopped up on Benedryl all day. Makes caring for Mia even harder. Needless to say, it has been a very tough first week home for all of us. It is now Saturday, and the rash seems to have stopped spreading. I am praying that things will turn a corner soon.

On a more positive note, Mia is doing great. She had her first check-up yesterday and got a clean bill of health. She was pretty jaundice when we brought her home from the hospital, but now that we have her on all formula, the jaundice has cleared up nicely and she is back to her birth weight. So we were happy to hear that.


Through all of this, I am so very blessed to have an amazing husband with whom I am more in love with than ever. He took over with Mia immediately like it was second nature to him. He has been making sure I get decent sleep to help me recover. When he is not taking care of Mia, he is working on the basement remodel or chores around here. He is running on 4 hours of sleep on average. I worry about him, but there isn't any stopping a man on a mission.

My parents have been a great help this last week as well. Mom and John were here the first week and my Dad and Linda are staying with us through the weekend. It has been a tremendous help to have them here.

All in all, we are doing pretty good. It could always be much, much worse. We can only hope that week 2 will bring a change for the better.

Introducing...

Mia Helen Schnelle

Born March 19, 2009
1:29pm
7lb, 9oz
21 inches

Mommy and Daddy are doing well. Baby Mia is amazing.

More details and photos to come!