2 Weeks Old

On thursday, Cassidy made two weeks! We had our first pediatrician appointment, during which I was neurotically afraid they would take her away from us because she already has horrible diaper rash and nose congestion. However, we passed our "test" with flying colors! Our most exciting news is that she gained not just the recommended 5-7 ounces which would have returned her to her birth weight of 5lbs 15oz, but instead a whopping 1lb 7oz!

Yep, you read that right... 1lb7oz, which brings her up to 6lbs15oz!

The doctor was thrilled and said we could stop supplementing with formula. I'm thrilled about that because I've recently come to the conclusion that the formula we were supplementing with was giving her horrible gas, not to mention it will cut down on the amount of time it takes for each feeding.

We knew she had gained, but we had no idea it was so much! We shouldn't be surprised since it seems that all we did for the first 2 weeks was feed her constantly and in increasingly large amounts. But still, I feel rather proud of us when I think of the surprise and excitement on the nurse's and doctor's faces at seeing her weight gain!

So we are now feeding exclusively breast milk, most directly from the source, and some expressed and bottled. I'm a bit concerned about my body's ability to keep up with our little one's growing appetite, but we are going to do our best not to return to formula.

So here are some new pictures of our "not so little" Cassidy!

Introducing... Cassidy Addison

We are thrilled to introduce you to Cassidy Addison. We couldn't decide between the two names and kept returning to both of them, so we decided to go with both!

Our amnio went really well on thursday, with the lungs returning results of unquestionably developed and ready to go! So at 12:08pm on September 11, Cassidy arrived (though she didn't become "Cassidy Addison" until Saturday). She initially had some fluid in her lungs (not uncommon with c-section babies), needed some oxygen passed by her nose briefly, and spent a little longer than normal in the nursery but avoided NICU. Her official stats are 5lbs 15 oz and 17 3/4 inches long.

The c-section went much better than I expected, and my doctor was still patting herself on the back 2 days later ... and rightfully so! There was almost no excess bleeding and were no complications. She got a good look at the fibroids, which are indeed everywhere. The scar goes from the bottom of my tummy around my belly button and extends to about 2 inches above my belly button. It looks like it's healing really well. The scariest part was after Cassidy had arrived. Jeff followed her to the nursery and stayed with her there while they closed me back up. That part took an unually long time, about 1.5 hours, which I assume is because of the fibroids. If the doctor did have any concerns while operating, she hid it well!

Recovery is okay, but more painful than anything I've experienced before. We probably could have come home on Sunday, but my digestive system had some trouble starting back up again, so we pushed to stay one more night. We came home Monday afternoon, and are adjusting really well!

Here are some pictures on day 3 and 4. She was down to 5 lbs 10oz coming home, so our main goal the next week will be to have her gain weight before our first pediatrician appointment. Cassidy's coming home outfit, the preemie size green dress, is quite large on her. We'll have to try it again in a couple weeks.

Our adjustment at home is going really well, and it helps immensely that my parents are now 4 miles away from us, renting a house here. The nighttime feedings are rough, especially since we're breastfeeding, supplementing, and pumping every 3-3.5 hours. Since it takes about an hour to get through each feeding session, that doesn't leave too much time for sleep.

We'll be posting more pictures occassionally, so check back often!

36 weeks - Supersized.

The day before my c-section.

Thursday is the Day

Thursday is it.

Amnio at 8:30 am.

If baby's lungs are developed,

C-Section at noon.

Finishing Touches

The baby's room is done!

I've finished all the small details including changing the hardware on the dressers, closets, and doors to match the dark wood of the crib, painting the dowel that the blanket hangs from to match the crib, painting the base board quarter round to match the trim, painting canvases for some wall decorations, and hanging the shelf (Jeff gets credit for that!). The clothes are sorted by size and either hung in the closet or folded in the dresser. The bedding is washed and the bed is made. The changing table is stocked with some initial supplies, which I'm sure we'll expand on as soon as we get baby home, but it'll do until we are faced with the reality of everything else we need.

We still need to sterilize some bottles in case breastfeeding doesn't go so well, but I think for the most part, we are as ready as we'll ever be ...

A New Estimated Date of Arrival

Our doctor's appointment yesterday went well! Baby is estimated to be 6lbs 2oz and amniotic fluid levels are at 11, which is within the normal range. We had a last minute substitution as our specialist is still evacuated to Houston and will be there until her home's power is restored, so we may be continuing to see the new doctor.

Our surprise for the day was this ... we have an appointment for an amnio next thursday morning and will have the results within the day. If baby shows any distress during the amnio, they will do the c-section right there and then. If not, we will have the results within the day. If baby's lungs are developed, she will arrive by c-section the following day!!!!!!

I assume all of this still needs to be approved by my regular doctor who I will see on monday morning. But if she agrees with the specialist, it looks like we will be parents within the week!

Exciting, but scary.... very, very scary!

There's No Place Like Home

We are back home ... yes, we still have a home!!!! The only damage we noticed so far is that the banana plants in the back yard took a beating and some boards are missing from the termite rotted fence between our yard and the neighbors (It took Sake all of 5 minutes to find her way into the neighbors yard by nosing a board to the side).

We left Pollock this evening at around 6pm, and made it here at 10:15! That is what a road trip should be like! A 5 minute heavy rain just south of Alexandria, a bit of traffic backing up right before Baton Rouge, a slight delay on the spillway due to the accident that always seems to be there, and the rest of the time was smooth sailing at 70mph.

There are a lot of people in our neighborhood already, and we have power and water! Our main motivation for returning home today is that I have an ultrasound scheduled with our specialist tomorrow afternoon at the 35 week mark. It's a relief to be back in the same city as my doctors in case of more complications, and we are looking forward to getting another look at baby tomorrow.

I'll post more about our time in Pollock soon.