Lily arrived Friday, November 18th at 7:03 am, weighing 7 lbs, 3 oz.
Her c-section was scheduled for 7:30 am Friday, and I was pretty anxious (see previous blog post). I was able to go to sleep at about 11, but woke up again at 1 am feeling strange. Thinking it was just anxious butterflies in my tummy, I went back to sleep. Those were no butterflies. At 3 am, I was awakened by close to the worst pain I've ever felt. There was no doubting it was a contraction, and not one of the annoying ones I'd been having for the last month. Poor Mario (way too many stories start with those two words lately) woke to me screaming I was in labor. I think we were dressed and in the car with mostly packed bags within 5 minutes. He made the usually 40 minute drive to the hospital in 25. I called the Dr on the way there, so the nurses were waiting for us and confirmed we were in fact in active labor. Lily did not want to show up on our schedule or do things anyone's way but her own. I wonder if this is any kind of forecast for the future.
The delivery went beautifully. No problems, minimal pain, and most importantly, lots of loud cries that brought tears of joy to our eyes. Neonatology took Lily for all of 30 minutes before declaring her healthy. That's right. perfectly healthy! Lily even came out hungry and knowing just what to do to eat right after being born!
I had a rough, rough recovery with Avery, so was prepared for the same with Lily. I kept waiting for the pain and crying to set in, but they never really came. We spent three days in the hospital enjoying Lily and introducing her to Katie and Avery when they came to visit. Avery didn't like her very much, but at 21 months, this wasn't a huge surprise. She yelled "Mommy, no! No baby! Bye bye," and tried to push Lily out of my arms. This relationship may take a little time and work.
On the fourth day after Lily was born, we packed up our things and headed home. We were so excited picking up Avery from our friend's house, but I started to feel strange on the final stretch home. My head started hurting, I was dizzy, and I had flashing lights in front of my eyes. Unfortunately, I was familiar with this set of symptoms from when we had Avery. We, along with my doctors, has been carefully watching for them for months. Sure enough, I took my blood pressure when we got in and it was 180/123. Not. Good. I tried lying down for a half hour. Wishful thinking. We called the doctor, who ordered us right back to the hospital stat. Mario and I were both terrified. We called friends who met us on our way to the hospital and took poor, confused Avery home with them.
We were admitted to the hospital, where I gave a ridiculous amount of blood and in return, received an equally obscene number of pills. I had an MRI to make sure the preeclampsia had not done any damage to my brain. Thankfully, it had not. By late afternoon the following day, my blood pressure was finally down if I stayed quiet and still, but we still didn't get to go home. We both missed Avery terribly and had had enough hospital to last us the rest of our lives. Oh how we prayed to be able to take Lily home.
Thanksgiving morning brought answered prayers. My doctor came in and released us. We picked up Avery again, and got home just in time to meet friends who came to our door with a full Thanksgiving dinner. Thank you Smiths!
Overnight, I started to feel badly again, and my blood pressure shot up higher than we had ever seen it. Friday morning brought Dr's orders to return to the hospital, be admitted to icu, and start treatment with magnesium sulfate, which is reportedly a tortuous experience. We called out the troops to pray this time before we tearfully climbed in the car and waved good-bye to Avery. God answered, big time. First, there was no room in icu, so we were sent to antepartum instead, where I was allowed to keep, and continue to feed Lily. Then, my labs came back better than expected and the dreaded magnesium sulfate was indefinitely postponed.
We are still in the hospital, but doing much, much better. We will be here until I look stable for at least 24 hours, but Avery and Katie are safe and happy, Lily is healthy, and I am well cared for.
We've been warned we may have a rough several weeks or even months ahead getting me back to normal, but this thanksgiving holiday, I am still so, so thankful. I'm thankful for the Comerfords and the Shanks for loving on our sweet Avery when we couldn't, and for the Voricks for letting Katie be part of their family at their farm for Thanksgiving week. I'm thankful for my husband, who has
stayed by my side for well over half a decade and walked so closely through the last weeks and months with me. I'm thankful for doctors who have been part of allowing us the privilege of meeting and parenting Lily. I'm thankful for support from family, and I'm thankful for the opportunity to chronicle this journey here and experience all the love, acceptance, and prayers I've received from you who read it. Most of all, I'm thankful for Jesus, to whom we have prayed so fervently over the last 9 months. Without knowing Him, and being able to trust, albeit imperfectly, that He is in control, there would not have been any joy in this journey.
I will post when we are safely home, but after that, I may take a little break from blogging and invest the time in mothering and getting well. Please continue to remember us in your prayers as we try to heal and adjust.
I hope each of you had a holiday as rich in thanksgiving as ours.
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