One Month!

Violet you are one month old today!

This is the best she would let me do...LOL

At your one month checkup you weighed 8 pounds 13 ounces and were 21" long.

The doctor said your weight gain was just right. Not too much and not too little.

You wake up every 3-4 hours at night to eat and you are staying awake more and more during the day.

You love to be outside and go for walks around the neighborhood. If you get fussy we take you outside and you almost always stop fussing and close your eyes to sleep.

You love to have your hands on your face and wear your mittens.

You really don't notice Elly too much yet but she is very sweet with you. She'll wag her tail and sniff you when we get home and she runs to you sometimes when you cry. She is a good big sister.

Here are some of my favorite times from this past month:

 This was the only family photo we took at the hospital...Ha!

Our smiling happy baby:)

 

Meeting Grandpa Jack for the first time

 

She's not too sure about bathtime yet...

 

With Daddy on Father's Day

 

 Daddy reading me a book

Visiting Lila & Cole for the first time

Violet's NICU story

So two days after we left the hospital we got the news that we had to return for a stay in the NICU for several days because of Violet's jaundice levels. Turns out that Steve and I have incompatible blood types and this was just an unfortunate side effect. Any future children we have could have this issue as well.

I thought we were just going to the hospital for a bilirubin check but, after we waited for her results, they sent us right upstairs to the NICU to be admitted.  Her levels were a 22. You have to be admitted at a 19.

Then I thought we would just be there for a few hours and the nurse says "Oh no honey, you'll be here for days!".

Cue my tears.

About four people immediately began hooking her up to monitors and settling her in under lights. The doctor was already in there but I don't think I heard a word he said. They told us to go downstairs and get some lunch while they got her situated and we complied. I cried nonstop all the way to the cafeteria, all over my hamburger and all the way back upstairs.

And then I saw this.

And my tears stopped.

My trooper of a daughter was livin' it up. She didn't seem to mind the extra attention at all.

And as long as she was ok. I was ok.

Fortunately they were able to offer us a room at the Ronald McDonald house in the hospital so we could stay close by. Our routine consisted of nursing Violet for about an hour, going back to our room to sleep for about 1 1/2 hours and then getting back up to go to feed her again. Nonstop. For three days.

Our little superstar:)

I did not wash my hair. I did not put on makeup. I had milk stains on my clothes. And I did not care one bit.

This was my realization that I was now a mom.

Finally going home to stay!

Violet's hospital stay

**I'm still trying to do some catch up here with Violet's story. It's taken some time to get used to our lives with a newborn so blogging just took a back seat. But we are just so happy and loving every minute with our sweet girl and I want to make sure I keep up with her journey on here as much as I can**

I'm going to be honest....

I was a hot mess in the hospital.

I want to apologize right now to everyone who visited us while we were there and I had a nervous breakdown in front of them.

I was super delirious from not having slept in two nights and as soon as they finally got us in our postpartum room they took Violet away from me for 3 hours because they were afraid there was something wrong with her breathing. They tell me that chest X rays are going to be ordered, etc... basically freaking me out.

Needless to say, a doctor finally came to talk to me and turns out there was not a thing wrong with her and they didn't need to do any tests. I found it all a little ridiculous in the end but was so grateful to have my healthy baby back in my room. Then, they tell me about her jaundice. That her levels kept going up. That they were going to take her away from me again and put her under the lights. I banned all visitors at that point. It was all too much.  (Meanwhile they didn't end up doing this either but as you well know, we ended up back at the hospital anyway)

Long story short, I know how excited everyone was/is to meet Violet but the hospital visits just weren't what I hoped they would be. I'm grateful for everyone who wanted to come celebrate her and apologize to those I kicked out or told not to come.

We are in a better routine now and will welcome visitors if you would like to come see her.  

Here are some highlights from her stay...

Snuggling with my baby girl

 Violet is 1 day old and already eating from a spoon! We were spoon feeding her Colustrum to make sure that she got it as sometimes preemies have trouble getting used to nursing.

She loved to be swaddled:)

Heading home!
 (I can see now how jaundiced she looked but at the time we had no idea!)

As they were wheeling me out of the hospital holding my baby girl, we came to the hallway and I immediately began bawling my eyes out. I hadn't even thought about it until we hit the hallway. But I believe that hallways have memories and this one slapped me in the face.

My arms weren't empty this time.

The nurses escorting me out stopped and asked if I was ok. It took me a minute but I explained to them that my arms were full. Last time I left that hospital they were not.

I have thanked God for her a thousand times but I'm sure none were as raw as that moment.

Thank you Lord for memories, bitter and sweet. Thank you for allowing me to know how big of a miracle she is. Thank you for letting our arms be full where they were once empty. Thank you for new life. 




 

Violet's Birthday

Well like anything that we try to do around here, Violet's arrival was not without its drama.  Her birth story actually starts with a car accident....

On Monday, May 27th, Steve was on his way to play golf (which he reluctantly set out for after feeling guilty for leaving me home by myself but I assured him my mom was close by so it was fine) when he calls a short time later to inform me he had been rear ended while pulling over for an ambulance. Everyone was fine but his bumper was severely damaged. He filed his police report and went on to his golf game.

This same day, Steve's cousin Sarah was being induced to have her son and my mom had called me around 6:00  pm to check in and I told her that I was jealous that Sarah got to have her baby today because then she would get relief from being pregnant.

Watch what you say people...!

During this same conversation, I had to let my mom go because of my ever pressing pregnant bladder. It was at this time that I noticed what I thought was leaking amniotic fluid and then some spotting.  I immediately called my BFF Candice (who is a labor and delivery nurse) and asked her if I should call my doctor and she said to go to the hospital instead. Steve ended up calling me as soon as I hung up with her to tell me he was on his way home and I said "Oh good, we're going to the hospital".

Well a short time later he calls back and informs me that he is stranded on the freeway because his bumper decided to fall off.  Fortunately my dad was close behind him so he picks him up and Steve abandons his car on the freeway and makes arrangements for someone to come get it. Meanwhile, my mom has to come pick me up as I haphazardly try to pack a hospital bag. We finally leave and meet up with Steve and my Dad at his house and then we finally head to the hospital.

This is a screen shot from my phone. note the time and date. That's right, 10 minutes before I actually needed the hospital bag I made myself a note to pack it. Nailed it!

We checked into triage and got set up on monitors about 8:00 pm and they say they will monitor me for one hour to see if I'm truly in labor. Since I was 36 weeks and 6 days, they couldn't do anything to help me along. If I was 37 weeks, they would. At this time, they had checked me and I was 3-4 cm dilated and 80% effaced.

Meanwhile, Candice had called up to the hospital to check in with the nurse and I get a text from her telling me that I am having contractions 4-5 minutes apart.

What???

I didn't even know I was having them and she's texting me from home telling me I am.

The nurse comes in and says yes you are having consistent contractions so they were going to take me to labor and delivery and watch me for four more hours to see if I progress on my own.  Candice then calls to tell me she is coming in to take over for my nurse.

I'm starting to get sketchy on alot of things from here. It's the middle of the night and it appears I'm going to have a baby that I really didn't feel ready for. I know that I had started to feel some contractions but it wasn't anything I couldn't breathe through.  I ended up getting an epidural not too long after that so I never had any hard labor.

My doctor finally made it to the hospital and agreed we were going to have a baby and offered me a C-Section if I wanted it. Everyone had the mind set she was going to be a big baby and also she knew my previous history and wanted to make things as smooth for me as she could. I was very undecided on what to do so she said take 2 hours to think about it and then we'll decide.

Fast forward 2 hours to 10:45am on Tuesday, May 28th. Candice had been with me the whole night and it appeared they were going to make her clock out at 11:00am. She came in my room and told me this and said we've got 15 minutes to get this baby out! Well she checked me and turns out, I was ready to push:)

And boy was I ready. She wanted me to do practice pushes to see how I would do and Violet wasn't wasting any time. And of course, my doctor was in surgery.  Candice then calls for a delivery team and they respond, "We don't have one". Turns out everyone went into labor at the same time.

Alrighty then...

Then I remember what can only be described as a Friday night sitcom drama situation.  Steve and my mom are holding my legs and Candice appears that she is going to deliver this baby herself. At the last second, I hear a doctor in high heels running down the hallway into my room just in time to catch my baby. Then a delivery team runs in just in time to clean her up.

And then was our moment. 

The moment that I had dreamt about for years. When our baby would be born and I would hold her for the first time.  I had told them that I wanted to hold her as soon as she came out. They put her on my chest facing away from me but she held my hand with her little fingers, gripping for dear life. I finally got to turn her around and look into her eyes and say the words I had rehearsed in my head for months.

"Hello baby, we've waited so long to meet you".

And then she sneezed.

Right in my face.

All the nasty delivery junk. Right. in. my. face.

And I remember a collective "EWWW" from the room. I can only imagine my look.

God has always had a sense of humor with me. And I'm so glad He does. I know I'll never forget that moment...

Then they weigh her and tell me 6 pounds 14.8 ounces and 20" long.

What??? Where's that big baby everyone was freaking me out about? I guess another three weeks and I would had found out.

Things are really a blur for me after this. I hadn't slept hardly at all and her delivery happened so fast. I know Steve got to cut the cord but I don't remember him doing it. I do remember us seeing this full head of curly black hair and thinking, "If I didn't see them pull her out of me I would never believe this is my baby!" Thankfully after she got a bath later that night her hair straightened out...

 

Look at that hair!

Violet Mae Yager was born on Tuesday, May 28th at 11:32am.

She was delivered by the arms of my best friend and handed into mine.

She is named Mae after her sister Lila Mae.

She weighed exactly six pounds more than her brother Cole.

I look into her face and I see them. They are all there together in this tiny little girl. They are closer to me now than they ever were.

Her story is just amazing to me. And it's only just started. I can't wait to see what He does from here...

Visits with Violet

Well as most of you already know, our little Violet has unexpectedly already graced us with her presence:)

There are so many stories I want to tell and details to document and I hope to be able to do that soon but, after our also unexpected stay in the NICU over the weekend, we need some family time to situate our routine and give our girl some normalcy.

We are so anxious to show off our little girl but she has been through a rough week and right now we want to give her some peace. We are working hard on reestablishing a feeding schedule with her which is So Important for her to fully recover from her jaundice. We don't want to jeopardize that or readjust her sleep cycles in any way by putting her off her schedule because of visitors.

After this, we hope to invite people over to visit, however, our doctor has recommended that she not be around small children for at least a month.

We want to thank everybody for all their support and prayers for Violet this past week. We are just so excited that she is here and that she is already so loved.