Welcoming our beautiful baby girl

It's hard to believe it's been almost two weeks since we went to the hospital to be induced. I can remember most of the activities of January 15th and 16th but I'm sure Jon-Michael can fill everyone in on those that I don't. I've been on alot of medication over the past week and I'm slowly coming off all of the pain meds.

On Wednesday, Jan 14th we deceided to do some last minute shopping before the big day. We met Jon-Michael's parents to pickup Abbie and had dinner at Jason's Deli. We wanted to keep Abbie's routine as normal as possible and decided that she would go to school on the 15th and only miss the 16th.

We got up early on Jan 15th and got Abbie ready for school. We told her that uncle Johnny (my brother) would be picking her up and bringing her to the hospital and that she would be going home with Grandma and Pop Pop for the weekend.

We were told to call the hospital prior to making the driving to confirm they had a room available for me. I called as we took Abbie to school and they said to come on over. This was it...the nerves were setting in and I was upset that my mom couldn't be there with me as well. Jon-Michael and I arrived at the hospital around 8am and I was taken to LDR14 (my home for the next 17 hours or so). I was induced at 8:50am. At 11am the Dr. Sanjani checked and said that I was at 2 cm (which was very disappointing seeing that I was 1-2 when I arrived). We were told that if I hadn't progressed by 4pm or so that they would stop and re-start the process on Friday. Thank goodness that didn't happen.

My aunt Doris and uncle Marvin came to see me around 11:30am (since my mom couldn't be there my aunt thought she should be). I allowed them to stay in the room until around 12:30pm and I asked Jon-Michael to have them along with my mother-in-law leave. The contractions that gotten worse and it's really hard to have conversations going on around you when you are in that much pain.

Around 1pm or so I was checked again and had only progressed to 3 cm. I told Jon-Michael to go home and get Lucy (our Chi) and take her to the vet for boarding. I was certain nothing would happen while he was gone and my in-laws were in the waiting room if I needed someone. Around 1:30pm my mid-wife Suzanne said she was going to break my water. I didn't think they were going to do this until later but I knew Jon-Mike wouldn't mind missing this. The nurse said that I could have my epidural any time at this point. I wanted to wait until Jon-Mike got back and really tried my best but couldn't. The contractions were coming faster and stronger. The nurse went ahead and gave me some pain medicine through my IV which helped but not for long. I told her to go ahead and make the call for the epidual and she helped me through that process.

Well you've heard the story that the epidural didn't work. I'm not sure if that was my case or not but throughout the night I was given additional pain medicine to help me manage the pain.

At 9pm we were told that within the hour it would be time to "push". Those were wonderful words to hear. Although I had taken cat naps throughout the day I was exhausted. At 10pm it was time. I pushed for 3 hours using every technique and nothing was working. Kyleigh was not ready to make her appearence. I guess it was around 1am that the decision was made to have a c-section. The doctor said that she was being stubborn and asked which one of us she was taking after. Jon-MIke just laughed b/c he knew she was taking after me. This was the last thing I wanted but the best thing for both me and Kyleigh. I don't remember alot between 1am and when she arrived other than I was shaking so bad b/c I was nervous. As they wheeled me into the OR they had Jon-Mike put on his scrubs as they prepped me for surgery. I will say that he looked good in his OR attire (I wish someone would have taken his picture).

At 1:45am, January 16, 2009, Kyleigh Elizabeth DeBona made her appearence. She was beautiful. She had a head full of dark drown hair, dark eyes (not sure of the color yet but probably brown like her daddy). Weighing in at 7lbs even and 20 3/4 inches.

Jon-Mike stayed with her as I was put back together and taken to recovery. I think it was around 3am when we were taken to our mommy/baby room (#2163) which was our home until Monday, Jan 19th.

Big Sister Abbie is very excited about her little sister. She loves holding her and helping me get diapers, wipes and clothes from the nursery since I can't walk up and down the stairs right now.

I've recovered well thus far from the c-section. The doctor is still very concerned about my blood pressure and I've been placed on blood pressure medicine as of 1/23/09. After taking the medicine for one day I had such a headache that the Dr. on call told me to stop taking it. Kyleigh is doing great as well. She was born with a "bruise" under her left eye which the doctors were unsure of what it was. Fortunately, after a visit to our pediatrican and a pediatric eye doctor on Wednesday we were told that it was a clogged tear duc. We are so thankful that it was nothing worse. We are having to massage her eye every 2 hour to relieve the fluid build up and giving her eye drops to stop the infection but she looks so much better now than she did.

We decided to go ahead with our baby ahower on Saturday 1/24/09. Kyleigh made an appearance towards the end of the shower and everyone enjoyed meeting her. We got lots of goodies and enjoyed spending time with friends and family. Tara, Tanya and Saundra did a great job.

More pictures coming soon.

January 15th

January 15th seems to be the big day. After our appointment with Dr. Allaire today, he was comfortable with me being induced. He checked to see if I had dilated which I had (1-2 cm). We were instructed to call the hospital tomorrow morning to make sure they had a bed ready before we made the trip over. If they do we will be going back into the hospital to be induced.

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers and we will update everyone just as soon as possible.

Update

I wanted to send everyone a quick update.

I'm offically on bedrest but now from home. They released me from the hospital mid-morning on Monday with strict orders to rest which I'm trying to follow. The OB on call at the hospital ordered some more lab work this morning and since nothing had changed since Friday other than my blood pressure going up and down he decided to send me home. I go back to see Dr. Allaire on Wednesday and it looks like the ball is in his court right now unless I go into labor on my own. Dr. Allaire would rather I be at 38 weeks before Kyleigh makes her debut so we will wait and see what he has to say. If he doesn't send me back to the hospital I will go back to my OB on Monday for a non-stress test (a monitor of the babies movements and heartbeat).

I'm glad to be at home and out of the hospital. The staff was great at the hospital but it's always better to be resting in your own house. I'm also glad to be at home because my mom goes into the hospital on Wednesday for hip replacement surgery and I know me being at home will put her mind at ease for her surgery. At least I was packed for the hospital and now I'm even more prepared with everything we need to take with us.

I will keep everyone posted as the week goes on. Oh and when the big day arrives I will be delivering at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville.

It started out as just another Friday...

Friday, January 9th...started out as just another day. I was planning to go to work for 1/2 the day and then head to my doctor's appointments. Work was going fine, a pretty slow day which I enjoyed b/c I have alot to get done before going out on maternity leave. My crew at work threw me a surprise baby shower which was wonderful. We got alot of stuff for Kyleigh and Abbie got a couple of presents too. We got gift cards to Target, a pooh rug for the nursery, clothes, baby soap and lotion set, hooded towels and much much more. I left the shower on my way to the doctor by way of my house to drop off lunch for Jon-Mike and to make a quick pit stop.

My first appointment for the day was with my OB/Mid-wife Shelley (1:45pm). They called me back and did the normal routine: weight (I had gained 2 1/2 lbs) not too happy at this point, checked my blood pressure (I didn't realize they didn't share the results until later), urine check (normal - no protein present) and the test for Strep B. My only complaint this week was that I was swelling again, feet, legs and hands and I couldn't get it under control. Shelley looked at my swelling and my blood pressure (138/90) yikes! and instructed me to go to the hospital (WHAT). The lab at the Doctor's office would not be able to get lab results back on a Friday afternoon and she didn't to get a complete blood workup completed, thus the reason for the hospital visit. She said plan to be at the hospital a couple of hours. I informed her that I had an appointment with Dr. Allaire at 3:30pm and she said she would call him and ask if he could see me at the hospital. As she is calling Dr. Allaire I called Jon-Mike and told him to come on over to the hospital and I called my mom for her to pick up Abbie at school.

Shelley returned to the room and instructed me to go to Dr. Allaire's office and then go to the hospital. Dr. Allaire was waiting for me when I got to this office. He checked my blood pressure (160/?) yikes!! The ultrasound was good, the fluid was down and they could tell me that Kyleigh is weighing 7lbs 7ozs and has a head of hair. He reviewed my sugar results for the week and said everything looked good and said I want to see you back in a week IF YOU DON'T DELIVER THIS WEEKEND...WHAT...Needless to say it's been a crazy weekend.

I got to the hospital at 4pm and after registering I was walked back to room AP7 which has become my home for the weekend. I told the nurse that I was told I would be at the hospital for a couple of hours and she said "sorry to tell you but you will be here overnight". Great, this was not the way I planned to spend my Friday night. Dr. Allaire had requested a 24 hour urine screen which started about 5:30pm. The nurse thought the results would be back on Saturday evening and that we would know something at that time. Dr. Allaire also requested that they monitor Kyleigh every 12 hours so after shift changes I'm hooked up to the monitor to listen to her activity. She been "very active" as the staff describes her. Very strong heartbeat and even causing me to have contractions. I'm on a diabetic diet which sucks. Breakfast is fine but lunch and dinner are...well hospital food sucks.

Saturday evening has come and gone and it's about 2am. Jon-Mike was able to hook me up with a wireless connection here at the hospital and thus I'm writing to let all of you know what's going on. My parents came by last night to visit for a while and Abbie stayed with my brother and sister-in-law (who are expecting as well). My in-laws came to visit today and were nice enough to go and get me a grilled cheez sandwich from Zaxby's for dinner (yummy). My hope is that on Sunday morning I will be sent home. Sleeping in the hospital isn't much fun and I really want to see Abbie. I've talked to her on the phone and I feel she will be a little disappointed if I come home still pregnant but at this time Kyleigh is still baking in the oven. Basically I'm waiting for the doctor to tell me (1) you are going to be on bedrest in the hospital, (2) you are going to be on bedrest at home, or (3) go home, back to work and take it easy. If I don't go into labor this week I will come back to visit both doctors on Friday.

I guess that sums up the events of this weekend. I will keep you posted on my status as the beat goes on!!!