Baby Hannah!

I am finally at the computer! I know some of you have eagerly been awaiting news and pictures and I am sorry it has taken me so long to get here. It has been a long week. It's hard to believe that it was only a week ago yesterday I was admitted to the hospital early, and then a week ago tonight that Hannah made her appearance. I am not going to blog the details at this time. They are still to fresh in my mind and make me quite emotional. If you haven't heard details, then you can call me or Justin and we'd be happy to fill you in. Let's just say that a long went "wrong" and a lot of things were very complicated. But with God's grace we have a perfect little girl. She really is a miracle, especially after all she's been through that we know about (cord around her neck, not breathing, etc...) and the things we don't know about (mysterious heart rates from 90-220 and infections). We feel so lucky and so blessed to have her in our lives.

So for now, enjoy these pictures. I am going to upload to Picasa soon, there are just too many to do at this one sitting!!The first time I met Hannah, three hours after she was born. (I kept the oxygen until Friday!)

Hannah already has Daddy wrapped around her little finger.
Our informal shot after the hospital photographer's photo shoot. We're not on the Lexington Medical Center website yet, but will be soon!

A few More Teasers

Here are a couple of more teaser photos I wanted to sneak on before Mommy posts again herself (hopefully tomorrow).

A Grand Entrance!

Quick Update: Hannah's office time of birth was 10:38 PM.

Hannah is finally here! After a long day battling an on and off fever, Katie went in for a c-section approximately 10:20 this evening. And by 10:45ish Hannah was here! She weighs approximately 7lbs and 9 ounces and is 20 inches long. She has a head full of curly hair. Here are some pictures! And I'm sure more will be updated soon.

~Blessedly Happy Aunt Llora

Still Waiting

Since I know people are probably getting anxious, waiting for news, I wanted to go ahead and say:
Close, but no cigar!

We're still waiting, but it shouldn't be too much longer. Will let you know when it all happens!!

~Aunt Llora

Gone In One Day Early

Dear Loyal Readers of Hannah's Blog,

This is Llora writing this evening (Katie's sister-in-law) to give a quick update on today's happenings. Last night Katie started not feeling well, and wasn't able to keep any food down. When she called the doctor this morning they asked for her to go to the hospital and be admitted. Some more testing later, and it was confirmed that Katie does indeed have some sort of infection which has also caused her to be dehydrated. They are keeping here there today and overnight in order to pump fluids into her system, and see if they can't start getting the infection under control.

Things are still on schedule for tomorrow - and I hope to have a blog post (with picture!) up by about this time tomorrow - Hannah and God willing =). Please keep them both in your prayers as I am sure Katie will have trouble getting the extra rest she needs in those uncomfortable hospital beds.

Until then....

~ Aunt Llora

38 Weeks

(This really isn't the greatest picture, but I had to catch Justin before he got all grimy in the yard. We may try again today!)

We have made it to 38 weeks (as of Friday)! Not too much to report. Everything is still set for the 22nd. I think Miss Hannah may actually stay put until then. She certainly is active. The books all say once they are engaged they don't move quite as much. I haven't found that to be true. She moves just as much and it's more painful in certain areas!

We have both enjoyed (as much as I possibly can) sleeping in this last weekend. We have several things to set up today, including the car seat that I'm taking to get inspected tomorrow afternoon. Otherwise, we are as ready as we'll ever be.

If I don't post between now and Wednesday, my sister-in-law, Llora will put a post up after Hannah is born so all of you can be introduced to little Hannah. Until then...

Last Doctor's Appointment

Today was my last doctor's appointment before Hannah arrives! When I left today they set up my postpartum appointment for June. I can't believe how quickly time really does fly. I feel like I was just hanging over the toilet 24/7.

As for the doctor everything went well. All of my stats stayed the same, except my weight. I now weigh more than my 6'3'' husband! Granted, he is underweight, but still... In my defense though I am retaining a LOT of water. It's amazing that the "cure" for that is drinking more water. I feel like I am floating away.

Please say a little prayer for my main doctor. After several years of trying, she is finally expecting twins. Last week when I saw her she told me she was losing her little girl. This week she has been put on bed rest for the rest of her pregnancy due to complications with her little boy. I can't even imagine going through that, and having a job that puts pregnancy and babies in your face all day. She has always been open about her relationship with God with me, so I know she would appreciate any prayers that are sent her way.

We are all set for the induction next Wednesday. One of the other doctors is taking me over and wants to keep me on the calendar for sure. So hopefully next week at this time (around 8:00pm) many of you will have met or seen pictures of our little girl.

Hannah's Letters

Hannah's letters are done and up! This was a joint project. My dad, Pop, cut the letters out and put the first coat of paint on them. I put the final coat of paint on and made the ribbons and attached them. Justin hung them on the wall last night. They look good in the pictures, but they look great in person! I hope that Hannah will enjoy them for many years to come.

Hanging In There

We have officially made it to full term. We'd still like to make it to 38 weeks as my doctor said there has been new research saying that the lungs are even more developed after week 37. Hopefully she'll hang in there until our induction on the 22nd. Our nurse called to tell me it had all been set up and they are expecting us at 5am. I relayed that information to Justin and he about croaked. He thinks he's going to have to take the day before off now so he can sleep. He wouldn't sleep, he would do yard work. I tried to tell him that, but he's pretty stubborn...

This week (spring break) has been so busy. I've tried not to over do it, but of course I have every single day. Hannah's room is just about ready. Thanks to Pop (my dad), her dresser is done and the letters for her wall have been cut. He even put a first coat of paint on the letters for me. I have filled the drawers and eliminated stacks around Hannah's room. I have finished painting the letters and attaching the ribbon. They just need to be hung up! Basically the only things left in her room are hanging the letters, a shelf and a little bulletin board thing I made years ago.

I have washed loads and loads of laundry. Mine and Justin's will hopefully get done today :). I have washed and sterilized just about everything. I have caught up on Hannah's scrapbook. Not mine, but hers is all caught up. I have shopped and shopped and shopped and made numerous lists. It seems every time I feel like I'm accomplishing something on my list, another item is added! I have a feeling it will be like that from now on.

And now, I'm off to do laundry and change sheets, and go to Walmart, and...

36 Week Update

I went to the doctor today for my hospital visit follow up. I was hooked up to the monitor again and this time it was much better. Dr. K was very happy with the print out. She still had a few bouts above normal, but her baseline was in the 150s which was good. Since I was already there she went ahead and checked me instead of waiting until my regular appointment on Wednesday. I am still 80% effaced, but have dilated to 2cm now. She is even more engaged than she was on Wednesday. For those of you who know the terms, last Wednesday she was a -3. Today she was -1. Positive numbers mean she's coming out! I have progressed more than we thought! Due to everything going on (health wise), we have scheduled an induction. Hannah may be making her appearance on April 22, so mark your calendars! I say "may" because it's highly possible she will come all on her own before then. We are keeping fingers crossed for the 22nd though, as that will be 38.5 weeks and a very healthy term.

(Oh, and PS I did test positive for the Group B Strep test, so I will have to have antibiotics during the birth to protect Hannah - please keep us all in your prayers through this!)

Hannah's April Fool "Joke"

We had a very eventful April Fool's day, and it wasn't really a joke. It all started on Wednesday when I went for my weekly doctor's check up. It started off great. My urine was perfect, blood pressure perfect, and weight gain was very healthy. Then I went in for the exam. I am still 1 cm dilated but now I am 80% effaced. I am measuring right on track. Then came the heartbeat.

For the first time in a long time, Hannah was still enough to get a heart rate quickly. Unfortunately, Dr. M. wasn't happy with it. She kept redoing it. Hannah's heartbeat has always been strong and in the 150s (which is very healthy/normal). When Dr.M first got the rate it was in the 190s. Way too high. It continued to be that high when she rechecked it. She sent me to hook up to the monitors to get a reading. The alarm on the monitor's kept going off. I found out later that meant that her heart rate had gotten too high (it was in the 200s). They did two strips, each time taking it out to Dr. M who was then consulting with the on-call doctor for the night, Dr. L. I was then told that I needed to go over to the hospital to be monitored for several hours. Talk about SHOCK. I was not prepared for that. Everything has been so normal up until now and there is just no way to prepare yourself for something like that. The tears immediately came. I was so scared for Hannah! I called Justin and he got the message through my tears and then called my mom who dropped everything and got to the hospital to sit with me pretty quickly. I was hooked up to monitors and an IV in Labor and Delivery for several hours. Dr. L was wonderful and explained everything to me. Around 8:30ish she came in again and said that I was having contractions every minute. I felt crampy and Hannah was moving all over the place, but I had no idea it was contractions. She wanted me to go ahead and stay through the night so they could continue to monitor the baby's heart rate, which was still high, and stop my contractions. They gave me the medicine to stop the contractions and they stopped pretty quickly. I did have a few throughout the night and several the next morning but they would go away if I moved or went to the bathroom, so that was good. Hannah's heart rate went down some too with the medicine. She did continue to have bouts of high runs though, going up in the 200s. Dr. L admitted that night that she thought she was going to be delivering a baby!

I ended up having so many tests done and blood drawn. My blood work came back saying my white count was well above normal indicating an infection. An infection in the mom can cause heart rates to increase in the baby. Unfortunately there were no obvious signs of infection. More tests were run, because they wanted to rule out an infection in the amniotic fluid. If they couldn't find anything we were looking at an amniocentesis in the morning and then possibly an emergency C-section. I had a chest x-ray (came back negative), blood cultures, (couldn't find anything) and a very extensive Ultrasound. Then ultrasound looked great. Her fluid levels were good, brain and heart looked excellent and her spine looked good. She is weighing in around 5lbs 14 ounces (at 35.5 weeks, yikes!).

It was a looooooooong night. Labor and Delivery rooms are not made for resting. Those beds are as hard as a rock. Poor Justin "slept" curled up in chair. It was also difficult to go to the bathroom every hour lugging around monitor cords (which I am an expert at plugging back in now) and an IV. I haven't quite mastered the hospital gown yet. Those things are just not cool.

The next morning we got some good news. My white count was down. Still elevated, but down drastically from the night before. So we must have caught the infection towards the end. Hannah's heart rate was good. Some bouts of high, but mostly just went she was moving around, which Dr. M said was very healthy. I was told I could go home but I would be monitored closely. I am heading back to the doctor twice next week (more or less if necessary) to get hooked up to the monitors there.

I am staying home from school today, after much deliberation. I feel fine, but my principal (and co-workers) encouraged me not to come. Chances are good (VERY good) that I picked up something from one of my kids or from the school in general. So I am staying at home and away from little germs. Luckily next week is spring break. Hopefully germs will die before I return after Easter.

We still don't really know what was going on, but are praying that it is gone and left Hannah unaffected. We really do appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers. There is no way we could have gotten through this without the love, support and prayers of our family and friends. Nobody expects to be in the hospital facing a possible month early birth. We are hoping she will stay put for at least 2 more weeks so she will continue to grow and hopefully be as healthy as possible.