Welcome Colbie Marie!

Monday January 25th
We went to the hospital at about 6 p.m. because I felt like junk. I’d been sleeping all day, had a headache and my blood pressure was pretty high (which is bad news with preeclampsia). By the time we got to the hospital my blood pressure was back down and I thought for sure they would send us home. They ran some tests, and by 9 p.m. they told us we were staying. Holy cow! They said the earliest we’d have a baby was afternoon the next day. They started me on the magnesium sulfate (which makes you feel terrible!) and we took it easy for the rest of the night.
Tuesday January 26th
By the 3 p.m., I was only at a 2, so they broke my water, started me on pitocin, and gave me an epidural. When they broke my water, we found out that she had passed the meconium in the womb, so when she was born they had a respiratory specialist in the room. By 10 p.m. I was to a 5, at midnight they joked around that they had better check me again incase I had jumped to a 10, and I was! I pushed for about an hour and at 1:20 a.m. on Wednesday January 27th Colbie Marie Perez was born. She was 6 lbs 7 oz and 19 inches.

The doctor had to put her finger in her mouth quickly to make sure didn’t take a breath before they could make sure she hadn’t inhaled any of the meconium. Since she was early too, our first question was if her lungs were okay, and the second question was, “What is it?!” No one believed that we hadn’t caved in and found out the sex, but we were tough and held out.

Wednesday January 27th:
Colbie is one tough cookie! The doctor had to use the vacuum, so when she was born she had a large hematoma on the back of her head (blood filled sack). It was just a little sensitive, but not too big of a deal. As it started to shrink the blood had to go somewhere, so it did give her a little jaundice, so that’s why she looks somewhat yellow in her pictures. It has completely gone away now. She wasn’t eating very well. Probably a result of the magnesium in her system still, it made both of us lethargic. They weren’t sure if she was tongue tied either, so they called in a sucking and swallowing specialist. She didn’t have to have her tongue clipped, and as soon as the magnesium wore off, she was good. The doctor also heard a heart murmur. After a couple of days of still hearing it, he wanted to be sure that it was nothing and scheduled an echocardiogram at EIRMC a week later. The pediatric cardiologist gave her a clean bill and said it should clear up on its own.
I had to continue to be on the magnesium sulfate for 24 hours after Colbie was born to make sure I didn’t have any seizures from the preeclampsia. It had been since Monday afternoon since I had eaten and my chicken broth tasted amazing!
Thursday January 28th
I noticed a pop in shoulder when feeding her. They gave her an x-ray and found out she had a fractured collar bone. It doesn’t seem to bother her much, it just limits which clothes she can wear since we have to pin her sleeve to her shirt so she can’t raise it above her head.
Friday January 29th
Finally that evening (after 2 good feedings) they let us go home! We loved our experience with everyone at Bingham Memorial but 4 full days in the hospital was more than enough!

Now we’re home and getting the hang of things. I think she’s started to get her days and nights in the right order. She’s been a fantastic baby so far, sleeping 5 to 6 hours at night so far (knock on wood!). We have to keep her arm pinned down for another two weeks. She has been quite the traveling girl. With all of the doctors appointments, nights home have been a rare occurrence. Hopefully I can find the time to keep this blog updated! I can remember to feed her, but not myself=)

Thanks everyone for coming to see us and for checking up on us!