She's here!

She's here, She's here, She's finally here! On Monday the 8th I was convinced I would stay pregnant for the rest of my existence on this earth.  I felt the same as every other day, same routine and I was almost ready to fast for help (just kidding I would have never done that, but it tells you how desperate I was.) We REALLY needed her to come before next week. There was no way  Mike would have been able to spend the kind of time he did with me in the hospital as he did this week and I thank Heavenly Father for the help he gave us with her coming early.

Tuesday I woke up as normal and gave Mike a kiss goodbye as he left for work around 6:50 and usually I just go back to sleep. I got up to potty and laid back down for a couple minutes and then I really started to get some pain. I thought it was just something that maybe I ate or something because surely I felt fine yesterday and it couldn't possibly be anything more. The pain went away after less than a minute... and then it came back...and then it went away.. and then it came back. This went on for about oh an hour and half, so I called my mom and asked if contractions felt like you were being stabbed in the guts. Well sure enough, contractions feel like you're being stabbed in the guts (but for those of you who have babies, you knew that.)  I had a monitoring appointment that day and called Mike to see if he could take me, you know, just to make sure they really were contractions. He rushed home to help time them and finally they were getting so bad, we just decided to go strait to the hospital.

When we got there they checked my cervix and I was dilated to a 4 and they told me I was in active labor! They checked a couple hours later and I was at a 6. The doctor left to perform a C-section, and then came back to break my water. When she broke my water, she discovered meconium (baby pooped in utero) which can be really dangerous, so they told me they had to take her right away when she came out and had to check and suck out her lungs. She also discovered that I was still at a 6 and not dilating anymore and said Layla's heart rate was dropping and that's when they told me I was going to need a C-section and they rushed me right in.  I was scared to death and between the epidural I got early (because they thought I would have a vaginal birth) and the anesthetic I was SO SICK.  I honestly couldn't even see after that, I was numb and shaking. Between that and being so sick, I couldn't hold her at all or even barely see her on Tuesday. When I was finally coming around in the middle of the night on Wednesday I couldn't stop holding and staring at her. I finally got a few hours with her, just us!

Wednesday morning was just bliss, I couldn't put down my little 5 pound 12 ounce bundle of joy! Then, the pediatrician came in to do a the routine check up and informed us she was breathing too fast and it was a real concern. They took her to the NICU to check her oxygen saturation and it was too low, so they had to do an X-ray to see if there was anything wrong with her lungs and found a small leak in her lungs due to the merconium being stuck and her trying to take a deep breath and making a small tear.  The doctor also, told us she had jaundice pretty severe, and her blood labs came back slightly abnormal (which means she had some sort of infection probably due to the tear), so they put her on antibiotics for the infection and put her in an oxygen dome for the leak in her lungs.  Thank goodness by Thursday the leak was gone, however, they still have her under photo therapy for the jaundice. We talked to the doctor yesterday and he said Layla should be able to come home on Tuesday or Wednesday!  It sure didn't feel right driving home without her and doesn't feel right that she's not home with us now; but we get to visit her every 3 hours or so if we want. We are so lucky the hospital is just right down the street from us and that she's improved so much.

Mike has been seriously amazing this entire week.  I feel infinitely blessed to have him. He's been incredibly patient and supportive.  Friday morning the nurse came in to check my vitals and Mike was sitting next to me rubbing my arm and she asked how long we had been together, I told her we have been married for almost 7 years and she was shocked! She said he was the most attentive and supportive husband and thought we were newlyweds for sure. LOVE HIM!! Also, having my mom here has been such a blessing. She has helped us so much.

So, there is the update of our week! Here are some pictures of our precious angel baby.  I really do think she looks SO MUCH like Mike.