2 Month Check-Up and Surgery

My surgery is scheduled for this Friday (8/21) at 1:30pm. I am starting to worry about it and can come up with at least 1,000 things that could go wrong with the surgery. This is the nurse talking here. LoL! I am worried about the pain and wether I will have good pain control. I stocked up on chicken and beef broth and soups, because I don't know what my diet will be like post surgery. Ohhhh I don't know. I am such a control freak and the thought of me being put to sleep and losing control is driving me crazy!! Phil is taking a couple of days off to help me with Mady and Callie. I have to pump and dump for 24 hours due to the anesthesia. I am only going to be on pain meds that are compatible with breastfeeding so I don't have to worry about that. I don't know what else to do to prepare. Any suggestions that I might not be thinking about?!?

Mady had her 2 month check up today. She weighed in at 9lbs and 9ozs. Her head circumference is 15 inches, and she is 21 and 1/4 inches long. She is 25 percentile in all measurements which means she is a peanut =o) She got 2 shots plus an oral medicine. She is doing really well with the shots...not too fussy. Everything else is fine. They are thinking about changing her zantac medicine, but we are going to see how she does with a med increase first. She is sleeping about 6 hour stretches at night and eats about every 3 hours during the day.

I'm going back to work on September 13th. However, I have to CPR and NRP on Sept. 9th and 10th. I was planning on going back 2 nights a week, but we won't be able to afford it at first. Its going to be so hard to go back. I never went back to work after I had Callie, so this will be the first time experiencing "going back to work" and leaving Mady at home. Ugh!! I don't even want to think about it.

7 weeks old, test results, and surgery

Mady at 6 weeks old

Callie (about a week ago) with her never ending talents =o)

Today, my little one is 7 weeks old. At her last doctors appointment (about 2 weeks ago), she weighed in a whopping 7lbs 6oz. I was so proud of her! She was right on track to where she needed to be. She should gain 2 lbs a month. She only got one shot, and she didn't have any bad reactions to it. She has started sleeping in 4-5 hour stretches at night which is good, but she still has at least one 3 hour stretch each night. She usually eats and goes right back to bed. She is such a good baby. She only cries when she wants to be fed, but she gets really really angry quickly if you don't feed her right away. Breastfeeding is still going great! She doesn't get weighed again for two more weeks, and then she gets 5 shots that day =o( Not looking forward to that.
I finally had my HIDA scan and UGI done about 2-3 weeks ago. I have to tell a funny story. The nurse told me that I had to take my bra off for the UGI, but I told her that if I took my bra I would leak all over the gown because I am breastfeeding my daughter. She was treating me like I was over exaggerating. After going back and forth with her, I gave up and went into the bathroom took my bra off and by the time I got the gown on and opened the door, the whole front of the gown was soaked =o) She was so embarrassed, and I wanted to scream told you so! I put on another gown and ended up taping nursing pads to my boobs so that i could finish the test. The HIDA scan was horrible! I was in soooo much pain during the test. I had to pump my milk for 48 hours and freeze it while we gave Mady bottles so that the radioactive material could die off. It took a week for my results to come back. She said my UGI was normal. She said on the HIDA scan (gallbladder) anything lower than a 35 that they remove the gallbladder in surgery....mine scored a 9. Basically, its not functioning at all, so I have to have surgery to remove it. I am scheduled to meet with the surgeon on 8-10, and I am hoping to have it taken out at the end of next week. It looks like recovery is about 2 weeks. Work is already hassling me to come back, but I can't give them a date until I find out when my surgery is. It looks like I can go back the first week in September. I really don't want to go back, but I have to....at least I am only going back 2 12 hour shifts a week.
I'll update again when I find out my surgery date, so that I can get prayers for my surgery and quick recovery =o)

Almost a month old!!

Wow, time flies when you are sleep deprived and utterly exhausted. I forgot how tiring having a newborn in the house can be. We had a rough start where Mady had her days and nights mixed up. After a few conversations from some fellow nurse friends, it was decided that the lactation consultant/pediatricians advice wasn't going to cut it in my house. We decided to let Mady set her own schedule. Now she sleeps a whole lot better. She almost always wakes up every 3 hours with a 5 hour stretch here and there. She is such an excellent nurser!! I am so thankful for that. She is a pro =o) Callie was such a hard and stubborn nurser. Mady has her 1 month check up on friday, and we will know how much she weighs plus she gets shots ='o( Callie is doing great as a big sister! I am so proud of her. She helps a lot. An update on me: I have been getting worse this last week. The GI doc said that if the pain wasn't back my 3 weeks post partum then it probably won't be back. The burning, pressure, and severe stomach pain are back with severe right shoulder pain. It isn't as bad as it was while I was pregnant. I still am eating, but I'm not throwing up. I have a little nausea, but it's manageable. I have an upper GI and HIDA scan scheduled for the 20th. If those are negative, then they will do a upper endoscopy. I am starting to think that I might have a bad gallbladder. We'll see. Work is already starting to hassle me when I want to come back. Aaacckkk! I'm scared to go back!

Update on Bili

Yesterday, Mady's bili was 11.1 and today it was under 10. We can now take her off the lights and see what she does. She will have her bili tested tomorrow to see if it rebounds at all. If not, then she is done for good with stupid lab draws. She goes back to the pediatrician on wednesday for a weight check. She is eating so good!!! Its like she is on my boob 24/7. I think she is trying to catch up with her weight. She sleeps and wakes up when she is ready to eat and then goes back to sleep. I hope she continues with this pattern =o)

5 Days Old

Madelyn went in for her checkup this morning. She gained 1.5 ounces and now weighs 5lbs and 4.5ozs. This is without any formula supplementation!! Her bili only went down to 13.6, so she is still under the lights. I am so proud of my little girl! Mady has been eating like every 2 hours today and not being sleepy at all. I guess maybe that she is going through a growth spurt?!? She is starting to hate being under the lights. I don't blame her, because I hate not being able to hold her :o( She doesn't have to go back to the doc for a weight check until wednesday, but she has to have her blood drawn for sunday and monday for now. We are going to take some pics tomorrow and hopefully post them. We already took her first bath pics.
Here is the link to her hospital pics: http://www.our365.com/NewbornPortraits/BabyDetail.aspx?birthid=dc82c39d-0536-4271-8190-9163e23b7fc5

Madely Rose is here!!!

I was going to try to update during the hospital so that I could remember all of this. As stuff started to happen, I had a hard time trying to make myself get on the computer to blog about it. I started thinking that maybe I didn't want to remember this. Now, I am just going to blog about the major parts. I was in the hospital for a total of 13 days. They decided to go ahead and deliver Mady because they couldn't figure out what was wrong with me while I was pregnant. I had an amnio on Monday morning to check to see if her lungs were mature enough for delivery after 2 shots of betamethazone. I was also on Lovenox injections while having the PICC in. They wanted a level over 55, and hers were 71. On monday afternoon at 4:20pm, I was induced using cervadil. I was told after 12 hours, they would start the pitocin. I started out as 0.5cm dilated. As soon as she put the cervadil in, I started having horrible cramping sensations. I got 2 doses of stadol. I was 4cm by 2am and was able to get my epidural. The doc had to attempt it 4 times before she got it in the right area, but it really didn't hurt at all. After all the pain, I had been put through so far that was nothing compared to it. I was 6cm a 7:30 am. We called family and friends and told them to start getting ready to come in that we would have a baby by noon. I got 3 extra doses through my epidural during labor with the continuous drip. At 8 am, I started feeling this horrendous pressure in my bottom that kept getting worse with the contractions. At 8: 30, I called the nurse to check me and I was 9cm. My mom then left to go to the gifts shop. About 10 minutes later, I was coming off the bed because I needed to push. My nurse had just checked me. She checked me again, and I was 10cm and ready to go. I never had to get the pitocin. Phil called my mom to run back to L&D while the nurse called for the doctor. I had a hard time remembering to breathe when I was in so much pain. My mom arrived with my sister just in time. I pushed for 3 sets of pushes, and Madelyn was born at 9:27 am. She weighed in at 5lbs and 13 ozs and was 19 inches long. She apgared at 9,9. She didn't have any problem with labor, delivery, or recovery. I cried so hard after she was born. The nurse and doctor kept asking me what was wrong, but I just kept saying it was such a hard road. After 16 months of TTC, fertility meds, and a horrible pregnancy, it was all so worth it to bring my little peanut into this world. She was born at 36 weeks and 4 days.She is now 4 days old. We are having jaundice problems. Her bili level today was 14, so they started her on an overhead phototherapy light today. She lost 10 ozs since birth and now weighs 5lbs and 2ozs, so we have to supplement with formula after breastfeeding. We have daily doctor's appointments for her bili level and weight checks. She is a great breastfeeding baby! I am so happy for that. She has been spitting up, so they might start her on reflux meds if she continues for a few days.I left the hospital with a bunch of Rx meds from the GI doc. We are going to give it a few weeks to see if the symptoms show back up. I threw up this morning and have been having the burning sensations in my stomach/chest with the pressure. I am going to give it till Monday and if it hasn't gone away by then I will call and set up times for the test that they want to run. After running all over town today for Mady, my feet are hugely swollen, and I started bleeding bright red blood again. I am now trying to stay off my feet.Callie has been such a good big sister!!! I am so happy. She loves to get mommy things and hold Mady's paci in when she cries. She also loves to sing songs to her!I will update better now that most of this is behind me. Just loving being a new mommy again!!!

Madelyn Rose in the nursery getting all warmed up.

Big sister Callie so happy!!

Holding Mady for the first time.

1 week down in the hospital.....

*****Old post that I am now posting****

Today, it has been one week since I have been in the hospital. I don't know how much more of this that I can take. It is really taking a toll on my family especially my little Callie. She misses her mom so much, and it is so hard to make her understand what is going on and why mommy has to stay in the hospital. She loves to come see me and loves to go to the nursery to see all the new babies!! I think she is going to make a great big sister. I still have the PICC line (central line) in with the TPN. I am trying to start eating little bits of food here and there to see what happens, but so far no luck. It just makes me stomach start to cramp, severe heart burn, and chest pressure. I have also been feeling so hot! I have the thermostat on the lowest setting that it can go on plus they brought a fan in here.