She is here!!!!

Rowan Theresa Catherine has finally arrived.

Birthday - April 28 - 2:58am
Weight - 6lbs 1.4oz
Length - 19.09"

My midwife sent me for an ultrasound on April 27 to see how things were since I was over 41 weeks. We scored an 8 out of 8 on the ultrasound but after consulting with an OB she suggested that we induce. Apparently there was a lot of fluid around the baby and she had not descended far enough down to actually rub against my cervix. They felt that it was not likely that that would happen in the next week so might as well induce now. Especially since the 2 OBs that Melinda liked were on duty for the next 2 days. I figured why not, even though if I had to get drugs to induce it would be a transfer of care I was ready to meet our little girl. Jim and I were at the hospital by 8:30 pm and checked into our room by 9:00. After monitoring me and checking me, Melinda & the OB, Dr. Damla, decided to break my water at 10:25 pm and see if that kick started things before resorting to drugs. I walked around for a bit until the contractions started to get really strong. By shortly before 1 am I was at my pain limit and we were going to try the tub in the room. Stupid water wouldn’t get more than barely luke warm and there was no way I was getting into cold water so we scrapped that idea. At that point I asked for the epidural. Melinda checked me and found I was at 3 cm & 90% so she called for the Anaesthetist. My hero, Dr. Lim showed up soon after and by 1:50 am the epidural was in. Actually while he was putting it in I started to get the urge to push. Not sure what happened between when the midwife checked me and getting the epidural but things really moved after that. The Anaesthetist showed up in the nick of time. At that point I had a gush of fluid and they saw that there was meconium in the fluid. I told my midwives that I was feeling a LOT of pressure so they checked me and were shocked that I was fully dialated. The epidural hadn’t even kicked in yet. LOL! Thankfully it kicked in pretty quickly and after about an hour of pushing Rowan arrived at 2:58 am. The cord was loosely around her neck but we knew that might be the case from all the extra fluid in the uterus. Good thing she had such a speedy arrival though as she had swallowed some of the fluid. Thankfully she didn’t get any in her lungs. When they checked her glucose levels they were very low and since she was so small we ended up spending 4 days in the NICU. She was on an IV for the first 2 days getting her glucose levels up. She was also not eating well at either the breast or bottle so they wouldn’t let us go after they took the IV out until she was eating well. The nurses in the NICU and maternity ward were amazing and so helpful. I can’t say enough great things about my midwives either. They were the best.
I am adjusting, mostly, to the lack of sleep and Rowan is actually a pretty good sleeper. That was part of the problem in the hospital. She wouldn't wake up long enough to eat. LOL! We are over that now though and she is eating well though mostly from a bottle. She is not doing well on the breast though we keep trying and are making small steps forward. I am pumping and Rowan is eating only breastmilk and we have an appointment with Dr. Jack Newman, who is one of the premier breastfeeding experts, on Tuesday. The midwife thinks she might be tongue tied and that is causing the problem. Hopefully that is it and we can get it corrected quickly.

Grandma is totally in love, and who wouldn't be. :) She has been a huge help in schleping us around where we need to go and just being here to help. Unfortunately Jim had to go back to work this week since he has only been at his new job for 3 months. They have been super nice though. He was pretty much off work for the whole week we were in the hospital and they even threw him a baby shower and gave us some beautiful outfits and sent a gorgeous bouquet of gerberas.

Grandpa Gib is over the moon in love. He will be coming down with Kelly this weekend. I can't wait for them to meet her. Kelly will be her godmother too.

The cat is so far pretty indifferent. Tippy has sniffed Rowan a few times and even licked her hand once. The first time Rowan was crying Tippy came running into the room to find out what all the fuss was. Other than that she barely even twitches an ear now to the noises Rowan makes.

I, of course have been taking tons of pictures. Here are a few of my current favorites.