Back to the hospital

Tuesday night Cheyenne was hospitalized. It all happened kind of fast. We took her to the pediatrician's office Tuesday for her weight check and found out she had jaundice and had lost an additional 3 ounces. They said to watch her overnight and they would see us back the next day. All day Tuesday Cheyenne slept. About 5pm when she had been asleep for almost 10 hours and not eating I called the doctor and they told me to bring her to the pediatric E.R. They checked her over and after realizing that she hadn't had any wet diapers that day, we knew she was at the very least severely dehydrated. They gave her an IV, which on a 4 day old baby was difficult to do, and very hard for mommy and daddy to watch. They also drew blood to to some lab work and used a catheter to draw some urine for test. She perked up a little after a little while on the IV but then went back to sleep. She wouldn't eat anything. They admitted her into the hospital around midnight. She wasn't improving. At 3am they decided to do a spinal tap which is a needle in her spine to draw fluid. William and I couldn't watch this. Our little girl was being a pin cushion and we just couldn't take it. She was also put on oxygen because her blood oxygen level dropped too low. On Wendesday she improved a little. Her jaundice was starting to clear up. She was popping and peeing enough to help get it out of her system but she was still sleeping all day. I was able to pump and get her to take some through a bottle but it wasn't enough. She was only taking around 4 ounces and she needs to be getting 17 ounces or so a day. They decided to draw more blood for more test and they also did a head ultrasound to test for blood and fluid around the brain. William and I were losing our minds at this point. We didn't know what was wrong with our little girl. Then last night at 8:30 she woke up and stayed awake and alert for an hour. I was also able to nurse her! This was such a huge improvement. William and I were just over the moon! She was able to come off the oxygen on Wednesday as well. She continued to improve throughout the night and she woke up every 2 hours to eat. We are so happy she is doing better! They are going to keep her again tonight for observtion and to make sure she's putting on weight but it looks like we should be able to go home tomorrow afternoon or night. It seems as thought she just got very dehydrated. I guess because maybe my milk hadn't completely come in and she wasn't getting enough. Everyone say a little prayer for her that she is going to continue to improve. We are certainly ready to get out of hospitals! William and I have basically lived in one for a week and we're ready to be home for good. We have been through hell these last few days stressed over her nd it's going to be nice to just be like every other new sleep deprived parent!

Pics

More pics from the big day

"I'm here!!!"

Cheyenne Grace Hollifield was born Friday, January 25, 2008 at 5:56pm. She weighed 7lbs 7oz and measured 19 3/4". I woke up Friday morning at 4:40 and my water had broke. I yelled for William and he come running. We called the hospital and they told us to come on in. We got there around 6:15. They examined me and said that my water indeed had broken. They took me to L&D (labor and delivery). They checked me and I was 3 cm, which is what I was at my doctor appointment Wednesday, and I was now 70% effaced instead of the 50% I had been. Around 10am they started me on pitocin to start making my contractions regular and stronger. I didn't like this one bit! Every 30 minutes the nurse would up the dosage. I started having contractions on top of one another. It was like I would have one for 40-50 seconds with 10 rest before another one would start. This went on for 5 minutes at a time. They thought maybe she was turned around and I was starting to have back labor. Around 2:45 I had had all I could take. I broke down and asked for the epidural. It was no piece of cake. They told me it would feel like a bee sting. Yeah right! I was having contractions while they were trying to give me the epidural so staying still wasn't an option. After that was all over I could still feel a lot of pressure but the majority of the pain was gone. The nurse checked me around 4 and I was dilated to 7cm and still 70% effaced. Mom and dad had been there along with William. They decided they would go get a quick dinner and come back. Not 20 minutes after mom and dad left I started feeling the urge to push. The doctor checked me this time and I was 10cm and 100% effaced. That was at 5:15. William called mom and dad and they come right back. Dad waited in the waiting room and mom came in and video taped the delivery for us. She was behind me so nothing graphic! I pushed for about 20 minutes and Cheyenne was born at 5:56. She had a full head of hair and all 10 fingers and 10 toes! She was perfect! William cut the cord and they handed her up to me. The water works really got going then! She was crying but I was able to get her calm and she just opened her big blue eyes and looked at me. Wow-what an amazing feeling! We created her! She was ours, and she was here. I have never been so happy. They cleaned her off and wrapped her up and told me I could try feeding her. I did and she ate for about 10 minutes. Everyone then was allowed in. Mom, dad, Katherine (William's mom), Jenny, Josh (Jenny's fiance), Katie and Joe (Katie's boyfriend) were all there. Everyone took turns holding her. Miles (William's brother) came in a few minutes later. The nurse came and got Cheyenne to take her to the nursery to weigh and measure her and giver her a bath. Everyone went to watch and I got cleaned up. They moved me down to a different room. I couldn't get out of the bed by myself. The epidural had started to wear off but I couldn't hold my weight. I hated that feeling. Anyway, everyone came back to see me for a few minutes before taking off to let me get some rest. Mom and dad went and got us some dinner, which after not having anything to eat for 15 hours, was the best food ever! Cheyenne was brought back to me and I fed her again. The 1st night in the hospital was long. I didn't get any sleep and William my have gotten an hour or so. Mom and dad came the next morning and relieved William so he could go home, feed the kitties and get a nap. They watched Cheyenne for me so I was able to get an hour of sleep in too. We had visitors through out the day. The 1st visitors were our good friends Tripp, Heather, Ryan and Kristie and my Grandma Lucie. We were so glad they could come see us. Later that evening mom and dad came back along with Katherine to visit. The 2nd night in the hospital was a little better. I let them take her to the nursery for a couple hours so we could sleep. But it was more like dozing as those hospital beds and pull out couches are really uncomfortable. Not to mention a nurse or someone coming in every hour or so to do my blood pressure or bring Cheyenne for a feeding. We checked out of the hospital about 1:30. We are so glad to be home in our own bed with our beautiful baby girl! Last night was tough. Cheyenne wanted to eat every 30 minutes for 45-50 minutes at a time. Mommy can't do this! Nursing is an art, it's not easy and we didn't get it right a few times to the pain is excruciating. She and I finally had a little bit of luck around 3am with a successfull 30 minute feeding followed by 2 hours of sleep. Then another feeding and 2 1/2 hours of sleep. Things are starting to look up! I think she and I got the hang of it now. Anyway, that's the story of Cheyenne's birth. We're all home now and doing well, just extremely tired. We look forward to seeing everyone once she gets a few weeks older. Oh, and for those that are wondering...William is a natural! He did amazing during my labor and watched the delivery. He's very good with Cheyenne and she responds to him really well. He's been so concerned with me getting rest and taking care of everything. He's a wonderful daddy! Thank you all for your thoughts, e-mails, and prayers. Here are some pictures from the big day. I'll try to post some video later but it takes FOREVER to upload. Enjoy!

I feel the need, the need for speed!!!

So today William and I went to Charlotte to Lowes Motor Speedway. Last year for Christmas (2006) I had bought William a certificate to drive a race car at Jeff Gordon's racing school. Well, we're just now getting around to doing it. We got there around 11:30 this morning and William had a short orientation. He drove 18 laps and had a top speed of 150 mph. He loved it! He said it was such a rush. I of course being a Dale Jr fan had to get my picture with his race car. William's a big Jeff Gordon fan. There's nothing wrong with a little household rivalry! I'm going to try and post some video from it.

Only 4 more to go!

36 weeks! Only 4 more to go (or less)! We're so ready for Cheyenne to get here. I'm not working now. I've got January off so I anxious more than ever for her to get here. I think we got everything ready. There's just a couple of items we need to get. I can't wait to post pics of her...instead of this belly.