The Prine's: NICU

So here is the continuation of Sophia's first few days in the world...At about three in the morning, only about four hours after Sophia was born, the nurse noticed that she was breathing really rapidly. She shared her concern with us and Steven and her brought the baby down to the nursery to be checked out. They checked out Sophia and decided that they would just keep a close eye on her for the next few hours. She came back to the room, we tried to feed her, and then we all tried to get a little sleep. This area of the whole process is a little fuzzy for me, since I was doped up on morphine the whole time:). The next morning the nurse came to give Sophia her very first bath. She did not like getting her body washed, but loved having her hair washed. During this process the nurse again noticed how quickly Sophia was breathing so they decided once again to go have her checked out in the nursery. Dr. Hurley, our pediatrician was on call that day, so she checked out Sophia and they decided they needed to run a few blood tests, and do a chest x-ray to see if she had any sort of infection. At this point the outlook was very positive and they were just going to wait on the test results and then go from there. Later that morning both Steven and I's parents came as well as Steven's brother. At about noon most of the test results were back and it was decided that Sophia would need to spend some time in the NICU in order to receive antibiotics and fluids. Her respiratory rate was much too high. She was supposed to take an average of 30 to 40 breaths per minute but she was taking over 100, therefore she was working so hard to breath that she could not even focus on eating, she also had developed a fever of over 101. When we got this news we were really upset. Following a day of labor, an emergency c-section, a sleepless night, and then the scary news about our daughter Steven and I were really overwhelmed and scared for Sophia's health. They immediately got ready to move her down to the NICU, which was on the floor below where our room was. Once we got her settled into the NICU Steven and I felt a little more confident in what was happening. The area was calm, she had her own nurse, and everyone was very reassuring and kind. They immediately hooked up Sophie to an IV and other monitors to keep track of how she was doing. She was such a good baby through all of this. She did not even cry when she had the IV placed in her hand, we were so impressed. At this point we began her feeding schedule of eating at 8, 11, 2, and 5 around the clock and we tried to balance feeding and caring for Sophia as well as recovering and getting rest. We were so exhausted and worried for our baby but knew she was just where she was supposed to be. Sophia spent Thursday, Friday, and most of the day Saturday in the NICU and then we got the good news that she could come up to our room and spend her last night at the hospital with us. It turns out that Sophia had gotten some amniotic fluid in her lungs and that they had caught this early enough to prevent it from turning into full blown pneumonia. We were so blessed to have good nurses and doctors looking out for our little girl. That last night in the hospital seemed so easy, we had a healthy baby right in our room, we did not have to make the trek down to feed, it just finally seemed that everything was as it should be. The next day, Sunday, we got to bring Sophia home, which was the best feeling in the world. When I look back at these five days we spent in the hospital it feels like so much longer. We entered the hospital as a married couple and came out as a family. We were challenged to make some big decisions regarding our daughters health which showed us how instantly you can love this little person you created, and Steven and I worked well as a team through it all. We are so lucky to have a beautiful healthy little girl, Sophia was meant to be a part of our family.

Here are some pictures from these few days in the hospital...

Sophia's first bath, she is not too happy about it.

All relaxed and cozy after getting clean...

One tired Daddy trying to get a few minutes sleep.

A self portrait of Mommy and baby

Casey and Carrie came to visit, and lo and behold Steven and Casey were dressed as twins:)

Casey and Carrie with baby Sophia in the NICU.

My little girl, all hooked up to her IV and other monitors.

Pretty girl, attempting to smile.

Teeny tiny feet, all hooked up, you can see where they kept having to prick her to take blood tests, she was so brave!

A middle of the night feeding. Can you tell I am tired?:) During these feedings Steven and I would become delirious out of pure exhaustion and we would get a little goofy. It was a true bonding time.