It's Already November? | Huge Update

My goodness! It has been so long since I have posted an update. I am so sorry to all of my followers. Life has been very crazy adjusting to being a mom! I have really missed blogging though, so it's good to be back!  This fall has brought several changes. This is definitely going to be a pretty big update!

So Marie was discharged from the hospital at the beginning of September. She spent exactly 2 weeks in the hospital, which was amazing! We were so excited to have her finally coming home! We spent one night in the hospital with her, just to make sure everything was okay and then we headed home the following day!

 above: Our first night with Marie

 

Above: Sound asleep in the hospital

Left: Getting ready to leave the hospital!!


































Over the month of September we worked on trying to nurse her, however ultimately we made the decision that we were not able to nurse her. It was not worth the stress that it was causing, both me and Marie. I will do a blog post specifically about this soon!

September 11 my mom came to visit us (My original C-section was scheduled for September 12).  It was amazing to have her with me for 2 weeks!

On September 25, 2012, Kendall and I celebrated 3 years of marriage! My mom watched Marie the weekend before so that we could have a night out together!

At the beginning of October we found out that Kendall had received orders to deploy to Afghanistan. Leave dates were only a few days away, so very last minute we made the decision to move me and Marie back to Illinois to be with family. 2 weeks later we put everything in storage and headed to Illinois!  Kendall left at the beginning of this month for Afghanistan.  Being at home has been really good! Although, at times it's really hard to adjust to not being on my own anymore, I am so thankful for the help with Marie!

Kendall works nights in Afghanistan, which are days here, so we are able to talk a substantial amount each day! That definitely helps the process go easier. I send him all kinds of pictures of Marie as well as videos of her.

above: Skyping with daddy!

Marie is now 3 months old! I can't believe how big she has gotten!! She is now over 10 lbs! She is almost too big for 0-3 month clothing, which I am SO not ready for yet :) She has started cooing and smiling a lot.  She is generally a very happy baby. Yes, we have moments of fussiness and crying, but overall we are very blessed to have such a great girl!

These last 3 months have been incredible, I can't wait for the next few ones to fly by!

 above: Newborn sized clothing was too big!

 Left: So little in our carseat!

Left: Now we are a little chubby girl!

A Week of Improvements

Marie has been doing so well over the last few days! When she first arrived at the NICU she had to breathe with a CPAP machine, however now she is breathing completely on her own.  She is also feeding really well.  She actually gets really upset because they don't feed her enough.  The nurses tend to feed her more than they are supposed to because she would get so fussy.

They have also begun the process of getting her to be able to maintain her own temperature.  She is now able to wear clothing and they watch her temperature throughout the day waiting for her to get warm in the heated bed. Once she gets hots they turn down the temperature of her bed.  Once they get to 28 degrees Celsius they will take her out of the incubator and put her in a regular crib!

On Saturday we began the process of trying to breastfeed her.  She doesn't quite understand it yet, but we are trying once a day for now and once she gets it a little better we will try it more often each day.  We are guessing that the longest part of her stay in the NICU will be from getting used to feeding.

I have been taking several pictures of our little cutie each day! Here are some of the ones I've taken:

Left: Daddy was giving her a bath today :) She hated the bath portion, but was very calm and content after she was dried and in fresh clothing! 

Overall she has been doing really well!! I can't wait til she can finally join us at home! 

Love, 

Erica 

Marie Isabella Gilliam | C-Section Birth Story

Last night at 6:05 pm, our baby girl Marie made her entrance into the world weighing 4 lbs 11 oz and measuring 16 and 1/2 inches.  She was born at 33 weeks.

When I woke up Saturday morning, I thought it was going to be a typical day here in the hospital.  Typically my days consisted of 3 meals, 3 snacks, a non-stress test to look at baby, and getting my vitals checked occasionally.  However, right around lunch time I started getting some lower abdomen pain and some cramping.

After my NST (non-stress test) they decided they needed to further monitor me over in labor and delivery.  Around 4 pm, my contractions got much stronger and my pain continued.  They made the decision that leaving me contracting was not worth the risk of bleeding for me and Marie.  So they started setting up for a c-section.  They didn't want to try to stop the contractions because of the pain I was experiencing as well. They just needed to get Marie out.

Before we headed to the OR for the C-Section, several people came in and asked me a hundred questions. I was a little overwhelmed, but continued to ask the Lord for peace and he really helped calm me down throughout the process.  We headed to the OR about 545 and Marie was born 20 minutes later.  They did a spinal instead of an epidural and I was so numb that I didn't even know they had started the procedure or that anything was happening to me at all. I didn't even feel any pressure like they had said I would.  I was so thankful that the Lord really took care of my nerves and pain as I was very overwhelmed with the process and really could have had to be completely knocked out if I hadn't trusted the Lord.

After she was born they brought her to me for a few seconds so I could see her and then Kendall followed them to the NICU while they sewed me back up. About 6 hours later I finally had feeling in my legs again, so  we went for a little walk and then the nurse took me to the NICU to see my little girl.

It was absolutely amazing that she was so perfect! Although I go home tomorrow, she will probably be here for a few weeks.  They want to get her to be able to breathe completely on her own, to be able to maintain her body temperature, and to be able to feed on her own.  Once she gets there she will be able to come home with us! We can't wait til that finally becomes a reality!

She looks just like her daddy! Hopefully as she grows she will get a few more of mine :)

Love you!
Erica