As most of you know by now our sweet little girl decided to come int the world 5 weeks early... and surprising all of us... this is the story of how that day came to be!
To begin this story I have to go back to my 28 week dr appointment. At that appointment we discovered I had Low Amniotic Fluid... which requited me to have ultra sounds every week and close monitoring. So each week I would go in for my now normal visits and have ultra sounds where they would measure the fluid around Caroline. From 28 weeks to 34 weeks everything was "stable". Meaning my fluid levels were low but they remained in the 7's... which was ok. At my 34 week appointment Everson said if they dropped in to the 5's we would possibly be having a baby. So fast forward another week... 35 week appointment... I went in and the unexpected and unplanned had happened... my fluid levels had dropped below 5 and were in fact 4.3! So Everson sent me to the high rick OB I had been seeing for another set of eyes to check me over and after her evaluation we decided it was time to have a baby. As scary and afraid I was to bring a 35 week baby into the world my head was spinning about all the things we hadn't done yet to get ready... to get Ben ready... to get me ready! But ready or not God's plan was for November 25th to be Caroline's Birthday and we were on our way to welcome our sweet girl into the world!
I came home immediately and packed a bag for myself and Ben's things and my dad came and picked him up and Jay and I were off to the hospital. We arrived around 2:30 or so... don't really remember time at that point, and I was rushed off to pre-op! Apparently they were all waiting for me!!! And a few short hours later Caroline took her first breaths and cried the sweetest sounds a mother could hear! My c-section wasn't as bad as everyone had prepared me for... which I am very grateful! I had wonderful nurses and doctors overseeing my care and for that I'm very grateful! That way I could focus all my time and energy on Caroline.
Now we knew being she was only 35 weeks she would be going straight to the NICU. It is mandatory for all newborns 36 weeks and early to have a minimum 24 hour stay to be observed so away she went with daddy right by her side! And for the first hour of so Caroline did awesome! But then she started grunting... which means she was having trouble breathing and so they put her on oxygen and eventually had to increase the oxygen flow to assist her blood oxygen levels. I remember seeing her for the first time in the NICU... she was so tiny and hooked up to so many wires! I am so thankful for the love and care she received there! Her nurses will forever hold a special place in our hearts!
So after 5 days on oxygen she was finally of off all oxygen support! Sunday... which was also going home day for me. As hard as it was to leave our sweet girl and go home we found comfort in knowing she would be home soon... time... time was all she needed to get stronger, gain more weight and keep her stats up! That Sunday was also the first time I was able to nurse her and she did awesome! Better than Ben did! A "natural" is what the nurses called her! She also got her very first bath, and I was able to wash her hair! It was the small things that were little victories. So we went home that Sunday night hopeful she would be home by the next weekend.
Then Monday morning when I arrived in the NICU the nurse told me she had a heart drop, which bough her 5 more days in the NICU. Monday was a rough day... knowing it would be Saturday at the earliest for her to come home and now the worry about more heart drops weighed heavy in our minds. But we still had faith that God plan was perfect and she would be home in our arms in his perfect timing.
We continued through that very tough week with the love and support of family, friends and the amazing nursing staff at Memorial Hermann The Woodlands. Not sure what we would have done without everyones encouraging words and prayers! Benjamin was passed around like a hot potato and struggled with mommy being gone so much... which was another very hard thing. And since I was nursing every chance I could I had to wake up in the middle of the night to pump to keep my milk supply going.... that week will forever be the hardest week of our lives, but we are forever grateful it was only a week and that next Sunday we received the call that Caroline would be released!
Coming home day had finally arrived! We arrived at the hospital anxious and joyfully ready to begin the next chapter... home as a family of 4! So by noon on December 6th, 11 days after Caroline made her way into the world, 5 weeks early, we were headed home!!! It was one wild ride and as we look back and reflect on those crazy days of our lives... we will hold strong to our faith and the love God showed to us each and everyday! I will say it again... it was the hardest 11 days of my life, but I know I will count those days as precious moments where we prayed a little harder, loved a little stronger, gave a little more and will praise Jesus for our happy and healthy baby girl! A perfect little miracle He has entrusted us with and we will raise to glorify him.
