Home…

Our first few days home have gone pretty well.  We headed home Sunday, while Caroline stayed another night with Grammy and Pops, so we could tackle the first night with only one girl.  Maggie slept 3-4 hours at a time in her crib…I actually got some decent sleep!  I didn’t sleep much at all in the hospital because of the horrible bed.

Our biggest challenge again has been nursing.  Maggie seems to be able to do it, but by the time my milk started to come in, she stopped wanting to eat as much.  We now know it’s because she has jaundice.  I noticed she was a bit yellowish on Monday, called the pediatrician Tuesday and Wednesday, and finally Darren was able to get them to work her in yesterday.  In addition to ME having a nasty sinus infection, baby girl has been sneezing some gross green stuff…making it hard for her to nurse when she’s stuffy.

We did our newborn/family photos on Wednesday afternoon, and Caroline acted up quite a bit because of the lack of attention. :(  She was a much better helper yesterday, though.

Yesterday, I had to go in to my OB/GYN to get my blood pressure checked and it was HIGH!  160/95!!  We originally thought my high bp was just due to the pregnancy, but perhaps not.  I left with a prescription for bp meds and instructions to take until my 6 week checkup. :(  I also met with the lactation consultant, who thinks Maggie should be able to latch just fine, but agrees that the stuffiness is interfering.  She also suspected jaundice, before we actually confirmed it at the ped’s later in the day.  I was told to feed every 1.5 hours and pump in between every feeding.  My milk supply is MUCH better this time, but still just enough to keep up with 30cc feedings every 1.5-2 hours. 

We got to the ped’s office around 3:15 yesterday, and finally saw the nurse practitioner around 4:45.  She sent us to the hospital’s outpatient center around 5:45 for a bilirubin test, which confirmed Maggie’s level was a 17!  She was at 6.7 in the hospital.  She has lost almost a pound, down to 6#3oz from 7#2oz.  She NEEDS to start gaining weight to help fight off the jaundice.  I was thinking what a great sleeper she has been (6 hours straight one night).  Turns out, this isn’t a good thing.  I had to wake her every 2 hours last night to eat.  She’s just not hungry enough to actually wake up. They think this might be because she was just shy of 38 weeks when born.  We go back today to weigh her again, and maybe do more bloodwork.  We’ll know then whether she’ll have to use the bili-light.  Praying she won’t have to be admitted to hospital!!!

So…I think that’s pretty much all.  It sounds pretty bleak as I type it out, but I feel pretty good about everything.  I know for SURE this would not be the case if this were my first baby.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m emotional and have broken down a few times, but overall it’s manageable.  Darren has taken over LOTS of stuff to help as well.  He basically does everything for Caroline right now, in addition to a new aversion to having any dirty dishes in the sink.  I swear he’s been running the dishwasher twice a day! ;)  He spent 3 days home this week, heading back to work yesterday.  He’s just been incredible!

Lastly, I’ll close with some pictures from our family/maternity session from last month.  Jon and Emily also took our photos this week, as well as they will take Maggie’s 6-month and 1-year photos.  I am HUGE in these pictures, but I’ll just have to learn to deal with it and maybe I’ll look back fondly, even though I’m so fat! ;)  But Caroline is absolutely hilarious is some of these, too.  Love her so much!