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My girl decided to come a little early!

Allison • Sun, Aug 15

This is my first baby! 🎀

At 6am on August 14, 2021, I woke up from a Tylenol pm sleep. I thought I was having contractions, so I starting timing. I had on and off of the same sensation on Thursday and Friday, so I figured I should be on alert. These contractions were about 7 minutes apart for about 45 mins.

At the 45 min mark, I decided I would jump in a hot shower to see if they would stop. While in the shower, I felt a possible trickle. I decided to get out, dry off, and monitor this trickle. I go to wake my husband (it’s about 7am now) and tell him I think we need to go to the hospital to get checked. He jumped in a quick shower while I attempted to get dressed. I put a pad on and some sweatpants. I get a BIG gush! Soaked my underwear and pants and left a puddle! This happened three times!

My waters clearly have ruptured. No question there! My cerclage was supposed to be removed next week, but my girl decided to break it early! I’m 35 weeks and 3 days. Because of the cerclage, I knew I needed to get to the hospital ASAP (plus I hadn’t had my gbs swab yet). It’s getting real. I sat on a towel for the 30 min drive, which was smart as I was soaked again by time we got there! 💦😂

We get to the hospital and get checked in quickly. They jumped into action planning getting my stitch removed. Normally, it’s a bedside removal, but since mine ripped and I was 5cm…I had to be prepped for the OR so they could get all the stitch out. I received an epidural and the removed all the stitch in the matter of minutes. Now back to the room and wait for progression!

I never needed pitocin. My contractions were coming fast and close. I couldn’t feel them from the epidural. With the contractions, my baby’s heart rate would drop. They gave me a shot, two separate times, to slow the contractions down. They didn’t slow down, by my girls heart rate was more stable. I got to 9.5cm by 6pm and my doctor decided I should be able to push through to 10cm. So at about 6:15pm, I began pushing.

By this time, my epidural was nearly worn off. I still didn’t feel too much. Pressure in my rectum was my clue that I was contracting. I pushed for almost an hour. A quick snip for the doctor to help me stretch and four big pushes she was born at 7:02pm!

I passed the placenta, got stitched up (only the small cut 🙏🏻), and baby was checked by the nicu team! She was 4lbs 11oz and 18.5in! She was breathing well on her own. They put the cpap on her just to help. She’s nice and pink! Everything is looking promising! I can’t wait to finally hold her! ❤️

Meet Hera Eisley Joy 😍

Update:

I finally got to hold her 17 hours after she was born! I held through her first colostrum feeding via feeding tube! I’ve thankfully collected 53ml of colostrum in 21 hours. ❤️

Update 8/17:

Cpap has been removed! Feeding tube has been moved to her nose. She’s breathing great on her own. Regulating her body temperature on her own. She’s lost 9% of her body weight (which is normal). She passed her hearing test. Tomorrow she gets her blood work and bilirubin tested. She just needed to work on feeding on her own (it’s exhausting for her little body lol) and gaining weight. They’re predicting we can bring her home tomorrow or the next day!! ❤️

Update 8/18/21:

Here bilirubin came back high at 14.9, which we knew she’d be jaundiced. She needs at least two days of light therapy and then they will retest her blood. 🤞🏻 Otherwise, she’s been eating great! We had two good nursing sessions. She prefers the boob over bottles and she doesn’t need a nipple shield. Hopefully by the end of the week we can bring her home! 🤞🏻

Update 8/20/21:

She’s gaining weight!! Her bilirubin came back at 6.9 so no more light therapy. 🙌🏻 She’s expected to be released tomorrow! 😊

24 hours of light therapy…what a difference! Her first bow ❤️