First Trip to ER and Hospital Stay

We were home for one night and then on Thursday morning things started changing.  Harper would not nurse at all and scream, screamed all morning long.  I decided to take her temperature and it was 100.3 rectally.  My mom and I didn't know what was going on.  The pediatricians office just happened to call to schedule her one week appointment and I happened to mention what was going on and the nurse talked to the doctor and she had me check her temperature again while she was on the phone and it was still reading 100.2. So the doctor told us to go ahead and take her to Arkansas Children's Hospital Emergency Room because they didn't want us to wait until the afternoon appointment the doctor's office had.  They took us back immediately since Harper was only three days old.  They worked her up and all the doctor's came in and started doing a sepsis work up, which included blood draws, urine cultures, and a lumbar puncture to rule out an infection of some kind.  When her blood work came back her bilirubin levels were high along with her sodium levels, indicating she was jaundiced and dehydrated.  They started fluids on her and I had to go pump since she wasn't nursing.  After letting the fluids go in and starting some routine antibiotics they drew labs again to see if her sodium had come down at all.  It didn't budge so that sent us into the NICU instead of just a regular room in the hospital.  They wanted to be able to monitor her electrolytes a little closer.  We knew we would be there for three days or until the cultures ruled out everything.

We didn't get up into a NICU room until about eight o'clock pm and because Harper was considered a dirty baby (meaning she had been home and exposed to things) she couldn't be in with all the other babies so we had a private room which I was very grateful for but it was an Exit room so the lights had to stay on and a path cleared to the Exit door.  It was kind of humorous especially if you know me and I have to have a dark quiet place to sleep which was exactly opposite of what was there.  They continued to monitor Harper and started phototherapy immediately to get her bilirubin levels to come down.  Dr. Arrington, an older attending physician, was on call that night and was wonderful and we had a great long term nurse Charlene that admitted Harper into the NICU.  Harper was given an NG tube so they could feed her through it and so she could still nurse at some point.  The ER nurse, Shelly, got a great IV that lasted the entire hospital stay which is unheard of and I was so thankful.  She got poked enough for all the labs she needed every day.  By Friday, her bilirubin had come down and her sodium had dropped too which was good news.  A wonderful lactation consultant came by several times on Friday to monitor  Harper nursing and to see if her tongue tie was causing a problem with her eating and she felt it was so the doctors ordered an ENT consult.  They came up around 7 pm on Friday evening after an OR case and they decided to clip her tied tongue.  It took literally two minutes and she was fine afterwards.  It made a HUGE difference.  The rest of the weekend was really monitoring her feeds and wet diapers and waiting for the culture results.  The doctors mentioned us going home on Monday but on Sunday when they rounded, Michael and I had our speech ready to go, with us trying to get out of there since basically I was doing all of her nursing care and I know what to look for if things got bad again.  We promised to get into the pediatricians office on Monday and they drew one more lab to make sure everything was still good and then they discharged us on Sunday afternoon at 4pm.  We couldn't wait to get home and be under one roof again with Eden.  So for Harper all the little things added up to get her admitted to the NICU: her ABO incompatibility (I'm O negative and both girls are A positive blood type) which causes the jaundice and her tongue tie which prevented her from eating leading to dehydration and fever.

On Monday we got into the pediatricians office and they weighed her and her weight was 9 lb. 2 oz and he said her coloring looked so good that he wasn't even going to stick her again for a lab because of all she had been through.  Eden was jaundiced pretty bad when she was born but her pediatrician in Nashville had us come in everyday to check her bilirubin levels and then we were given the phototherapy blanket for at home use which helped break down the bilirubin.  Harper never even looked really orange compared to how orange Eden got with it but I wonder if it has to do her length and weight.  Who knows?  All is well now=)

Harper taking her first bottle in the ER.

Harper sunbathing under the phototherapy lights.

Tummy time on Friday late afternoon after the bilirubin levels had come down some.

You can see where Shelly got the IV.  It was right in the crook of her elbow which wasn't fun for Harper but it lasted.

Harper getting holding time from us both=) 

Harper LOVES to have her hands up by her face.

Harper's NICU equipment and bed for three nights and four days.  Notice the Exit door that could not be blocked.

Harper ready to leave the hospital.  YEA!!!!

Harper's Homecoming

 Michael getting Harper dressed to come home on Wednesday, October 5th, 2011.

 Harper wearing the same outfit Eden was brought home in. This time it was beautiful and in the seventies when Harper was driven home.  When we brought Eden home in Nashville it was snowing.

 Chillin' in the car seat.  So far she hasn't minded the car rides too much. 

 Eden got home from school and had to love on her immediately=) We were all so glad to be home and under one roof.  We had missed Eden and I know she missed having us around.  

So sweet.  Harper gets lots of kisses from us all;)

Harper Ann Rainbolt is HERE!!!!!

 On October 3rd, 2011, Harper Ann Rainbolt arrived at 2:52 pm weighing a whopping 9 lb. 4 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long.  She is perfect in every way.  I had an induction scheduled for that Monday, if she didn't come sooner, because we knew Michael was leaving on Thursday to give his budget presentation on Friday in Dallas so we thought it would all work out to be home before he left and it did but then things changed.  I'll get into that in another post.  My mom and sister spent Sunday night with us so Lindsay could watch Eden and bring her up to the hospital after everything and my mom wanted to hang out at the hospital.  I'll put the birth story at the bottom so if you want to read it you can or skip it.  I just want it for my reference.  Harper is a perfectly healthy baby girl and the pediatrician said she looks great and that she had a slight tongue tie but that they don't do anything for them but watch them especially if they are feeding okay.  We were discharged from the hospital on Wednesday before noon and got settled in at home.  Harper did well the first night at home.

Harper after getting cleaned up a bit.  She looks quite a bit like Eden here but Eden's cheeks were a lot bigger and rounder.  

 Michael and Harper's first picture together.  Love this=)

 My mom with Harper.  

 Harper's first bath in the delivery room.

 ZiZi with Harper.

 I hate the shadow on this picture but it is so sweet.  Eden getting to hold Harper for the first time.  She loves her so much.

 Michael's mom with Harper.

 First picture of our family of four.

 My dad finally getting his hands on Harper.

 Love this.  She was so cute at the hospital just wanting to hold and love all over Harper.  She never wanted to leave us.

Warning:  Birth story and if you get queasy be forewarned, stop reading. 

I went in at eight and things got rolling pretty quickly.  I had a great nurse named Amber which I was grateful for.  Dr. Wiedower came in at 8:40 to check in and broke my water. That was not a comfortable experience.  I could seriously feel her up in my throat.  I was only a three at the time and having very mild contractions.  I got my epidural at 11 am with contractions 2-3 minutes apart and feeling it in my back.  At 1:35pm I am 6 cm and 80% effaced.  I'm thinking at this point I can't feel my right leg at all but I can feel my left side.  Amber talks to the anesthesiologist who is in a C-Section with Dr. Wiedower and says he will be a while.  They try to make me comfortable but I can feel everything on my left side.  At 2:25 pm I'm at 8-9 cm.  Dr. Weidower comes in from the C-Section and she starts getting ready to deliver Harper.  And because I could feel everything on the left side we did things a little quicker and pushed four times through two contractions and out came Harper in all her 9 lb. 4 oz. glory.  Needless to say I tore badly and had to be sutured which I could feel=(  Harper's Apgar scores were 8 and 9, which was great.  I nursed for the first time at 3:45 pm.  Things were going fairly well while family came in to see Harper and my epidural and IV were pulled.  I was STARVING so they got me something to eat.  

Well when they started getting ready to move me to the Postpartum floor you have to get up and try to pee and what not.  Of course I was bleeding some which is completely expected and normal.  By the time I stood up in my postpartum room, there was blood EVERYWHERE.  Several nurses come in and help clean up the floor and me.  They get me to the bed and are a little perplexed because my uterus was hard and contracting like it was supposed to but they thought it might be some clots or something so they give me a shot of methergine to help contract my uterus more and slow the bleeding.  It is supposed to work within minutes and nothing happens.  So the on call doctor, Dr. Owens, was called and bless her heart.  She was on her way home and turned around to come back.  She walks in the door and feels around on my uterus and assesses things.  She prescribes another drug to help contract things that is supposed to be stronger and nothing happens again.  Meanwhile, all the family is waiting in the waiting room wondering what is going on because there are five to six nurses coming and going from the room like crazy.  Michael is holding Harper in the corner of the room trying not to pass out.  He said the bottom half of my bed looked like a massacre.  He said there was blood everywhere.  Dr. Owens starts looking around a bit more and finds an arterial laceration and another laceration that needed to be sutured.  She said the arterial one was pulsating blood out.

While she held pressure all the nurses ran to collect the things she needed from labor and delivery to suture them up.  Let me tell you that hurt like crazy.  Even with the lidocaine, which hurt itself, it hurt like crazy.  After an hour and a half, Dr. Owens finally got the lacerations sutured and held pressure to make sure they had stopped bleeding.  She was great and I really, really liked her.  She ordered a lab to be drawn to see how much blood I had lost because there was so much of it everywhere.  Several people tried and then lab had to be called because I was so dehydrated and lacking blood.  After getting the results, Dr. Owens ordered a blood transfusion.  Not what I wanted to hear as a nurse.  I never ever wanted to have one.  Oh well, I needed it.  Getting a transfusion required having another IV put in and two nurses tried and then an anesthesiologist was called to start it.  He got one thankfully.  I was starting to feel like a pin cushion and had bruises everywhere.  I got the blood transfusion overnight and was starting to feel a little better the next day.  Overall the delivery did not go as smoothly as I had hoped but today we are looking at a gorgeous little Harper and we are so thankful everything turned out okay.

Rewinding the Past Week

 This post is just a bunch of randomness.  I have taken pictures randomly with three different cameras and these are from two of them.  We have been very busy lately.  I have been working a ton around the house trying to get the house picked up and organized before Harper arrives.  I don't know if I will finish it or not but at least it is getting better=)  Michael has been working and working on the three budgets he has to get done before their presentation on Oct. 7th in Dallas.  I think he is a little stressed with all the work he has and the arrival of Harper sometime in the middle of it all.  You can say a prayer for all of our sanity;)  Eden has been keeping me very busy lately.  I think she has a sense of things changing around here because she has been SUPER CLINGY lately and cries EVERY time I leave her which is so not like her.  I go to Bunko and she cries because I'm leaving, I stay for GALS at church and she is crying because I'm not getting in the car with her and Michael.  It is the weirdest thing and I hope it passes soon.  She is very excited for Harper to get here and talks about her all the time and talks to her all the time.  It's the sweetest thing.

Last Saturday, we were out running a bunch of errands and Eden asked out of the blue to get her hair cut and we ran with it.  She loves to get hair cuts but she has been wanting her hair to stay long for a while now so when she said she would cut it, we did it.  The lady cut over three inches off and I wish it was more but Eden wouldn't go shorter.  She had a friend from church named Lily who got a short cut and she kept saying she didn't want to go that short.  Kind of funny.  The length has been great though and it looks so much better and doesn't tangle as bad.  Eden loves it too.

She got to pick the fire engine to sit in.  She always does a great job getting hair cuts and does exactly what they ask her to do.  Last week she also went back to the dentist for her 6 month check up and everything looked perfect again.  I am so thankful for that.

 After the hair cut she got to come home and put on her Arkansas uniform and get ready for the game.  She loves calling the Hogs and cheering.

 Eden reading quietly one morning all by herself.  She loves to read and I hope she always does.  It was the sweetest thing ever just to sit and watch her.

This past Saturday, Michael had to work so Eden and I ran up to Searcy for a quick trip.  We first stopped at Michael's Grandmother's because she turned 80 on Friday and we wanted to wish her a Happy Birthday and to visit for a little bit.  Then we headed over to my parents because my grandparent's from Kansas City were in town for the weekend.  We got to visit with them for the afternoon and then we headed home that evening.  My dad wanted to take Eden to the White County Fair to see all the animals so we went there for a little bit.  Eden loved it, of course. 

 Eden got to pet and feed the animals at the petting zoo.  She wasn't timid at all.

 Feeding the animals sliced carrots and they loved them.

 She loved getting to pet this pony and hold the rope.  She was acting so big.  She would be great on a farm.  She really enjoys animals and loved all the pigs, chickens, cows, and everything else around the farm.

 And of course we couldn't leave without riding the ponies.  She chose to do this over the other fair rides.  

Yesterday it rained and after church Eden wanted to play in the puddles.  She got all decked out and had a blast playing around in the water.  She is just so cute in all her rain gear from Granna and Gigi.  She did not want to come in for a nap because she was having to much fun.

One other thing that I wanted to remember real fast.  Right now in this moment of time, every day is Thursday for Eden.  It is so funny and I have know idea why she loves Thursday but she does.  She will say things like, "on Thursday I can do this" or "last Thursday this happened" even if it was yesterday.  It cracks Michael and I up.  It is the cutest thing ever and she doesn't care about any other days of the week.  She has also learned the Pledge of Allegiance and I will have to post that video soon.  It's adorable how she says it.  

First Day of Preschool 2011

 Eden started preschool yesterday, Sept. 7th, 2011.  She is going three days a week from 8:30 to 2:00.  She is going closer to home which will make it easier to take her and pick her up especially with a newborn on the way.  Eden has been so excited about preschool but I had to keep reminding her that she was not going to be with the kids from her Mothers Day Out program.  All summer she has talked about seeing all her friends and going to school with them again.  Well I had to keep telling her she was going to meet lots of new friends and how fun it would be.  The day before she started telling me she didn't want to go and was a little upset so I thought Wednesday morning would be bad but she woke up herself and was ready to go.  I was so proud of her.  She did great getting ready and will hopefully continue to do so.  (She is not a morning person like her daddy).  We got to school and she asked if I was going to stay with her and I told her no and she did fine.  She went right in and put her folder and lunch box where they belong and went and sat down at a table with play dough and started playing.  She gave me a quick hug and blew me a kiss.  She acted so big.

When I picked her up she was a little quiet with the details of the day but slowly I was able to gather that she had a good time.  They did music, played outside, had two cookies and a sucker at some point, played with new friends, read, had nap/quiet time, and I'm sure much more.  She did not eat her lunch well but that's not new.  She is such a slow eater she probably doesn't have enough time to even eat half at her pace. She is excited about going back tomorrow so that is the best thing.  I have been eagerly waiting for her to start so I could get some shopping and things done without her tagging along.  Trying to slowly get ready for Harper's arrival.  Here are pictures from Eden's first day:

Daddy and Eden before Michael headed off to work.

 Mommy and her big girl.

 Eden holding her lunch box.  She was so ready to go.

 Her complete outfit she picked out.  If you look closely you will notice that her size 4T jeans are high water.  I don't know what to do, cracks me up.

 Waiting patiently to enter the classroom.

 Sitting down with her new friends to play with play dough.

She thinking, "Mom, would you leave already!"  ha, she smiled and blew me a kiss.  Love this little girl.

While Eden was at school, I had a doctor's appointment and got checked.  I was a little over 1 cm and 25% effaced.  I have a little spot on my lower abdomen that has been itching a little and the Dr. confirmed that I'm getting what I prayed so hard not to get again, the pregnancy rash called PUPPP.  It was completely miserable the first time.  I was told by my doctor in Nashville that you only get it once and that it would go away after two weeks postpartum but I still had it at my six week appt. and was sent to a dermatologist after that.  Seventy percent of women who get it have boys, not me.  I actually have some scarring from it because it itches so bad.  It is very uncommon to get twice which makes me a lucky one;(.  The only good thing one article said was that most times (ha) the second time is milder.  I will now be praying for a milder case and praying really hard it doesn't spread to my arms and legs.  There is nothing to prevent or treat PUPPP.  You kind of have to just deal with it.  The good thing is that it does not effect Harper at all=)  Harper is still kicking and moving like crazy especially up in my right side and ribs.  I am trying really hard to get her room and things around the house ready for her arrival.  It's just been a little slower with Michael working so hard.  I did get most everything washed for her so that's at least ready.  Just waiting on the dresser so I can put the clothes away.  We are getting really excited about meeting Harper.  We wonder if she will look like Eden or not or be as big as her, if she will come earlier than her due date or not (we kind of need her to with Michael's work and his close being the first two weeks of every month and budget planning right now).  I'm still feeling really good except for that little spot that itches.  We are getting to the count down, 4 weeks or less, hopefully!