Whirlwind of Wonder

We are proud to announce the arrival of Olivia Ann Marlowe!

This post will take you through our arrival at the hospital, arrival of Baby Marlowe, and our experience throughout our stay at the hospital. 

Olivia Ann Marlowe

Right before they wheeled us back into surgery

Upon arrival into our room-653

 The next pictures are of us right after the c-section. Having a c-section was not in our plan, if you had read our last post I shared my feelings on that....but as I entered the room Blake wasn't able to escort me in. He had to wait until the sterile field was already. I entered by myself (the staff was very reassuring) and received my spinal block-which immediately took affect. As Blake entered I was a little loopy, the anthesiologist assured Blake that was normal because I was so tired and was finally able to relax. Blake sat next to my head & continued to support me throughout the surgery. They let us give one last guess- if our baby was a boy or girl. Blake was sure it was a little lady. As soon as Olivia was delivered Blake went with her over to the warmer to get checked out. He was running between Olivia & I to make sure he was there for both of us. He cut the cord (picture didn't turn out) and brought her over to meet me. We were both so happy! As they say-words cannot describe the feelings of joy.

Our little bundle of joy weighed 8 lbs. 10 oz. They had told us she could weight anything between 7 lbs. 15 oz. to 9 lbs. 15 oz. based on our last ultrasound. She was right in the middle & perfect.

Baby burrito-daddy is a great swaddler

Olivia's first bath & footprints. She was a great participant and didn't seem to mind. She was a very chill baby from the start-nothing really seemed to bother her.

 We had some special visitors our first day-Grandma Lori & Grandpa Jeff. Blake's family will be visiting very soon-Olivia is excited to meet them. Other visitors included The Chesnut family, Great Aunt Lisa, & The Tingwalds. We also received some gifts from far away friends-The Butcher's. We also got a beautiful bouquet from Karen & Scott.

 
 

 So the first two nights of being at the hospital were routine and we enjoyed having Olivia finally with us. However, we woke up the next morning to some news that put a halt on our excitement. I was wondering why she hadn't been brought in for the morning feeding. One of the nurses sat down with us & told us that she was concerned about Olivia's breathing. It was much quicker than it should be and the last feeding during the night was very difficult. She explained that the pediatrician was going to check on her and do some tests-which I can't remember all the names (Blake probably remembers), including a chest x-ray. It all kind of went over my head, all I heard was she wasn't doing well. It made me nervous, but I wasn't too concerned because we hadn't heard anything definite. We were invited down to the nursery since we hadn't seen her this morning, the pediatrician met with us and explained what his concerns were & told us that he was having the NICU doctors come take a look to make sure. He said they were the experts when it came to this and he would rather be safe. The concern from the doctor now made me more anxious. I headed back to our room as Blake hung around with Olivia as the decision to checking Olivia into the NICU was made by the doctors. It was all a little much for me. A little while later, Blake came back in to tell me that they decided to admit Olivia into the NICU-her CRP levels were very elevated and something came back on her chest x-ray. Even though I know it was the best decision, it was very hard to hear that our baby wasn't well. Tears started flowing without control-not being able to do something was hard. Blake was awesome as he was able to tell me & support me as I broke down. I don't know how he was able to do that as he was probably feeling the same way I was.

The NICU nurse stopped down and she explained what was happening, so we could snuggle her, and tell us what we could do. Blake accompanied Olivia and said that he would come back for me after she was settled. During this time one of my nurses came in and sat with me as she saw that I was having a hard time-she was very well trained & this was very much appreciated by me. Blake came back & took me up to her room. Olivia was to get 2 different antibiotics in the course of 48 hours to help with her CRP levels which they were still trying to decide if it was an infection or fluid left in her lungs from birth. Once you're in the NICU it is an automatic 48 hour stay. Fluid left in the lungs is more common in c-section babies because they're not squeezed as much during delivery. Usually they are able to get it out themselves within 36 hours. She wasn't able to do that herself. If it was fluid they told us we would only have to be there 48 hours, if it was infection it would be a 7 day stay.  The next 48 hours were very up & down. The doctors & nurses in the NICU were amazing & very reassuring. They said she was in the best of shape that she could be & they were optimistic. The first morning in the NICU was the hardest-not knowing what was going to happen, Oliva not being able to breastfeed, and having her hooked up to all the monitors & tubes. She was fed through an IV. My only way to help Olivia was to keep pumping to provide her colostrum that Blake would bottle feed to her with supplement. I was supposed to be discharged Friday while not knowing how long Olivia would have to stay in the hospital. Fortunately Blake called our insurance and got myself another nights stay so I could have a bed to stay in, instead of the couch in the NICU. After having surgery I was moving around, just not good enough to withstand a couch made to sleep only one that we would both be on.  Saturday morning Blake woke me to deliver the good news that she would be going home with us!!!!! It was a much better way to wake up than Thursday morning. It was a relief to say that the antibiotics they had her on worked. They think it was the beginning of an infection, that she wasn't able to get rid of on her own. The NICU is a very humbling place and I am so grateful that we do have a healthy baby at home with us. As directed by the NICU because of her stay in there we are to limit visitors because of the season we are in. She is more sensitive to catching colds and such. Even though the person my not be symptomatic they still could risk having her catch something. Sorry to say NO to well intended guests for now.....we can't wait to share her with all of our family and friends, but we will let you know when people may visit. Thank you in advance to respecting our wishes. We just want to keep our baby girl healthy and out of the hospital :)

As we were in the NICU we celebrated a Valentine's Day as a family that we will never forget. Olivia even made us an adorable valentine for us to keep. She truly is a special little girl and we are so lucky. 

Stay tuned as we begin our adventure at home.....I'm sure we will have some interesting first few days, weeks, a lifetime!