Officially a Family of Five!

I apologize for being so delinquent to update the blog! Things have been a bit crazy the past 3 weeks, as our little bundle of joy came into the world 6-weeks earlier than we expected!  Her due date was June 13th, so our plans have been altered quite significantly!

Rachel Maren Wilkins

Here are the details:

April 29 – May 1: Something was just felt “off” so we went in to Labor & Delivery so that I could be monitored.  As it turned out, I was contracting about every 2-3 minutes, but there was fortunately no dilation. The doctor was concerned with my preeclampsia history and she felt I needed to be admitted to give the baby a steroid treatment (for lung development) and I would go on magnesium. The doctor wanted to plan accordingly in case I delivered in the next couple of days.  So I spent 2 nights in the hospital to get through the treatments.  (The idea is to stop labor long enough for the steroids to have an impact on her lung development.)

May 1 (Wednesday) - I was sent home and put of “official” bed rest, as I hadn't gone into labor.  You can imagine how well bed rest and I get along.  :-)  But I was also in pretty bad pain, as the contractions never did stop the whole time I was in the hospital, nor once I returned home - they were constant.  My co-workers in San Jose, CA were awesome and had meals delivered to our house that week (what a gift that was!)

May 4th (Saturday) - Was having some increased contraction pain and felt like I needed to go in and see if anything had progressed.  They monitored things and I continued to have strong contractions every 2-3 minutes, but no dilation. So… I was sent home. And I felt like I was “crying wolf” – but I also have a high pain tolerance, so was frustrated too. But at this point figured I had 1-2 more weeks of contractions to get through… And praying they would go away. Joe took Samuel to his b-day party celebration with his cousins and while I stayed at home. :-(

May 5th (Sunday) – I spent the entire morning in pain. Signs of labor progress and contractions were getting worse (couldn’t walk and they had moved lower.) Joe called the doctor and she wanted me to come in, but I was stubborn and said “NO.” I wasn’t about to go in, only to be sent home again! Finally around 3pm, I looked at Joe and said: “okay, I need to go in.” So our DEAR neighbors came over to watch the boys, while we headed to Labor & Delivery. The doctor asked why I hadn’t come in sooner – Joe told her it was because I was stubborn. :-) She checked me and at that point, I was 5cm dilated, so we were admitted and headed to our delivery room!  We had an awesome nurse who got right on things and called for the anesthesiologist (I had attempted the "natural approach" with Luke, but quickly realized I really had nothing to prove by showing my pain tolerance - though I certainly admire those who can get through it!)  So, after a much-required epidural (anesthesiologist's are always my heros!) and the ability to be very alert and "in-the-moment" while everything took place, Rachel was born at 10:20pm and weighed 5 lbs, 3 oz (much larger than we thought she would be - we had hoped for 4-4.5 lbs.)  She spent a bit of time with us, but was shortly whisked away to the NICU.  Joe followed her there, while the doctor spent an HOUR trying to get my placenta out (not joking... that was no walk in the park and left me in need of some strong meds!) 

May 5th thru 14th – Rachel spent these days in the NICU. She was admitted right after birth, as she was only 34 weeks, 3 days. She was on CPAP tubes for breathing, a blue Bili Light for jaundice and was being tube fed until she could learn to suck/swallow. We made it to as many feedings/care times as possible (they are 8 times per day) and "re-learned" a lot about caring for a little one.  We loved the nurses and appreciated everything they taught us - and the process of going to the NICU together, especially at night when it's quiet, is sort of special (my mom was at the house and watched the boys for us.)  The boys got special approval and were able to meet her in the NICU - they were thrilled and so gentle with her...  my heart smiled.

Rachel made great progress each day (a little fighter!) And we were able to take her home on May 14th – a lot earlier than we anticipated!

And the pictures...