No Mo' Yellow

Good news for the blog, everyone. Lily has been given the "all clear" on the Jaundice front. We had her bilirubin count taken yesterday at 8:30am at the hospital, and we were at the pediatrician's office by 9:00am for her first doctor's appointment. The nurse at the hospital was great, and Lily bled well and was out the door in about ten minutes flat. Then, at Dr. Boe's office, she was given high marks for her shrunken head (what I mean is, the lump on the back of her head had gotten smaller). The doctor said everything looked great, her weight was good, and the results of her blood test were encouraging. She had gone from a 14.1 the day before to a 12.6 on the Jaundice-O-Meter, and this meant we could return the phototherapy contraption and go about our business. We were relieved, of course, and we spent all of yesterday lounging around and marveling at our newly non-yellow baby. We have decided that she really is great. I mean, all parents think that their kids are great, but we really think that she's great. She's smart, caring, funny, and so down-to-earth that it's hard not to be impressed with her.

Okay. At least she's not yellow. We'll start working on the other stuff.

Good Night and Good Day

Mom here and feeling well and somewhat rested. Last night was our best night yet. Jeff and I received around 6 hours of sleep, and Lily was eager and ready to eat every time she got up. We were very diligent about keeping her on the UV blanket as much as possible yesterday and last night, and it totally paid off. We took her to the hospital this morning, and her count went from a 15.8 down to 14.1. The doctor wants us to keep her on the blanket for one more day, and hopefully tomorrow he will let us be free from the UV.

Today is Lily's one-week anniversary, and she already is looking so much older and cuter (if that is possible). I am having major neck pain from staring at her all the time. It is funny how Jeff and I can stare at her all day and not even realize it. Every little move she makes, noise, or face is amazing to us. Even her cry is cute.

As for me, it is suprising how quickly I recovered from the long labor. The first day after Lily came I felt like a train had hit me and was not sure how long I would feel so terrible. Jeff had to help me out of bed, and I walked around like an elderly woman and waddled a little like E.T. for a few days. Fortunately, by the end of that first day, much of the pain had subsided and each day has been continually better. Along with feeling less labored, my now deflated jelly belly(very weird right after birth) has gone down a lot, and I can see and reach my feet. Yeah! No more hairy legs or slip on shoes! I can't believe I will be able to wear normal non-maternity clothes soon. I never thought the day would come. It is a very weird feeling to have clothes actually hang off you rather than having you hang out of them.

Dad, besides being sleep deprived, has already morphed into a total super dad. The minute Lily is content and resting with me, dad is at work doing laundry, cooking, cleaning up after us, blogging and attending to his girls' needs. I definitely would not have made it through labor or these last couple of nights without him. Late night struggles with Lily on no sleep were very frustrating, and Jeff was able to keep me sane while getting his little stubborn flower to eat. We forged through together and hopefully have turned a corner with our little boxer, as she is eating without the prior 10 minute boxing matches that required dad to hold her hands as mom tried to get her to latch on. Now we only struggle for about 2 minutes at most, and that helps keep mom sane through the night. Dad is also the expert diaper changer. After some very suprising explosive poop that shot across the bed on our first night home, dad has adapted to the many different scenarios that may occur during the change, such as the aforementioned explosive poop, peeing all over herself during the wiping process, and pooping more after the clean diaper has be been securely replaced. All and all, Jeff has taken on the dad position like he does everything else by giving it his all, and Lily has not been dissappointed yet!

We're home!...I think.

It's Saturday morning...well, I think it is. The front page of the paper on the porch reads Saturday, January 27, 2007. The fact that it's morning is a guess on my part, based primarily on the behavior of the dogs, who seem to be hungry. Because of our sleep "schedule," I'm not sure of much anymore, except that "a hemotoma on Lilian's head is constantly breaking down red blood cells and releasing bilirubin through her bloodstream, resulting in jaundice." Of that I am sure. Everything else is a blur. Let me see if I can catch everyone up...

We got word early yesterday morning that Lily's bilirubin count had decreased to 14.5, down from 15.6 the night before. These numbers indicated a drop from her previous personal bests of 17 and 16.6. When I first heard that her score was going down, I prepared a little speech about maintaining a commitment to excellence and following through, but then the doctors went on to say that this lower score was a good thing, and I put it on the back burner (check back with the blog in about four years). What it all meant was that at 14.5, Lily, Katie, and I were cleared to pack up and go home. Well, it meant that we could go home. We had been packed up for two days, seeing as I have a slight case of what those in the psychological community call OCD, and I had been crawling the walls, finding new ways to organize and reorganize our few possessions in the two bags we brought with us.

After we were read our slightly jaundiced baby Miranda rights, entitled "Your Yellow Baby and You," the nurse discharged us, and we began hastily dressing Lily in what her mom had selected as her "coming home outfit" (I do believe Katie and Grandma O'Rourke are going to have an outfit in mind for every occasion in life, by the way). Then it was time to get the little one into her car seat, which I thought the three of us managed with minimal fuss, and the nurse escorted us to the front door. Freedom! Again, it should be noted that the staff at OSF was incredibly kind, patient, and caring, but I couldn't wait to get back to my own bed for a change (though location has proven to be the only real change in our nighttime routine).

Lily seemed to love the car seat and the ride, so Katie and I made a game time decision to drive through Steak 'n Shake for a celebratory brunch of sorts. Two steakburgers and large fries and ten minutes later, we arrived at home to find that Grandma O was already waiting for us. This turned out to be a great help, as the dogs needed to be kept at bay while Katie and I ate our food. Buster was overjoyed at the prospect of having a new friend/enemy, and true to form, Jay was far more interested in the Steak 'n Shake and waited until we finished eating to introduce himself to his new sister. All in all, the dogs were very gentle and extremely pleased to make her acquaintance. Katie and I were relieved.

Chapter II: To Sleep or Not to Sleep
Lily is mandated to stay on a "bili blanket" between feedings. The hospital called a local medical supply company to have one delivered to our door not long after we arrived home. The bili blanket administers the same UV light phototherapy that she received in the hospital, just in smaller quantities. In essence, a UV-emitting strip is placed on the mattress of her bassinet, and she is laid down on top of it, so that her bare back is directly against the strip. To insure that she does not roll or stray from the strip, she is strapped in at the chest by a paper harness. While this is not nearly as barbaric as it sounds, it's safe to say she'd rather not be strapped in. Thus, we have enjoyed relatively little sleep, and Katie and I would just as soon have her unfettered, as well. As it is, Lily doesn't usually take to breastfeeding immediately, and often the first twenty minutes after she makes it known that she's hungry is spent calming her down enough to actually keep her mouth on Katie's breast. Once this is accomplished, she typically eats ravenously...a good reason why her bilirubin count is going down and she's back to putting on weight instead of losing it. However, unlike the usual newborn sleep situation, we can't simply rock her back to sleep following a feeding. Instead, we are obligated to strap her back in her tanning bed. This almost always makes her cranky, and it takes a few more minutes to calm her back down so that she will sleep. Between coaxing her into eating, rocking her to relaxation, strapping her down, calming her again, changing diapers, and falling asleep ourselves, Katie and I are dreaming (if you can get to REM in our allotted time) of the feedings-every-three-hours schedule that we hear so much about.

So that's our current situation, and we love it. Lily is our beautiful little girl, and we think we can take anything she can dish out. Of course, stay tuned to the blog to find out if we're right...

Jaundice, anyone?

Disclaimer: this post has been submitted by a non-scientific, sleep-deprived novice. Any misspellings of pharmaceuticals, medical conditions, or other biological phenomena are therein expected and should be considered with a leniency appropriate to the material and situation.

So it's Wednesday, January 24th at 4:00pm, and we're still in the hospital. Why? Our little angel (and she is) has a bout of what I like to call The J.

About halfway through the day on Monday, in the midst of entertaining numerous visitors (thank you for your kindness, visitors), Katie and I noticed that our Lily was of the yellow variety and not the pink Lily we had ordered. We asked the nurse about this, and our suspicions were confirmed: Lily had The J. What did this mean? We wanted to know...

Lily, it seems, had developed a large hemotoma (a bruise, for anyone who hasn't taken biology since eighth grade) on her head during the fantastically wild ride that was her birth. This bruise, coupled with the breastmilk she was receiving from her mom, was increasing her bilirubin level and resulting in The J (on a side note, if Lily were a boy, Katie and I had narrowed the names down to Billy or Ruben). Medically, I am to understand, the recession of her bruise causes the red blood cells to break down and release bilirubin throughout her body. To cleanse her body of this material, our baby must eat enough to rid her body of waste...waste that includes our friends Billy and Ruben.

For anyone who has yet to become a parent, the initial newborn stools consist of a blackish tar called miconium, the stuff that so dutifully protects them in the womb, and it takes a few days for this tar-like substance to be passed fully. Then a yellowish, seedy-looking poop makes its debut, and it signals the processing of breastmilk by the baby. This is where we need to get. Lily has been eating, Katie has been pumping, and I have been doing anything I can to help with these two tasks. As it is, Lily is looking better and could potentially spend her last night in the hospital tonight. Her levels of Billy and Ruben will be checked at 6:00pm tonight and again at 6:00am tomorrow. If everything looks okay and her case of The J is lessening in severity, we should be on our way home tomorrow. Can't wait. I should say that all of the staff here at OSF in Bloomington have been tremendously helpful and kind, and we couldn't have asked for a better hospital stay (maybe that's where the word hospitality comes from), but we are ready to spend a night (albeit two hours at a time) in our own bed. And I know that Jay and Buster are looking forward to having the family back...even if it's slightly bigger than the last time they saw it!

Wow....uh, yeah...wow.

Well, she's here. Yep, Lily made it....but it wasn't easy.

On Saturday night (1/20), Katie and I went to bed around 11:00pm, only to have the mother-to-be awakened a little over an hour later by a fairly intense contraction. This in itself was not alarming to either of us, as we had grown accustomed in previous weeks to just such a wake-up call. However, what followed was both new and very exciting. Whereas previous contractions had been equally strong, few had been followed closely by another. On this night, Katie's second contraction arrived no more than four minutes after the first subsided. By the time the fifth and sixth contractions had convinced us that this pattern was indeed very real, we knew our restful nights were coming to an end.

Just after 2:00am, still sitting in bed and timing her contractions, Katie felt her water break. I must give her credit....she was out of the bed and sitting on the toilet in about 4.4 seconds. After a quick analysis of the situation (remember it was 2:00am), I concluded that indeed her water had broken, and we were off to the hospital.

We had pre-registered at OSF just after the New Year so that the process of checking in at the hospital on The Night could be expedited. As it turned out, so many people thought that having a baby on January 21st was a good idea that we waited for about 15-20 minutes before being ushered up to the maternity ward. Once there, a nice, veteran nurse named Sally got us situated and informed us that Katie was only one centimeter dilated, approximately 60% effaced, and not likely to deliver for a long time. We settled in for the long haul.

Because Katie had lost her water, she was not allowed to walk unless it was to and from the bathroom. This meant that the bed was her home. As we learned in our birthing class, changing positions can help a laboring mom with the discomfort of contractions (Oops..I know several of you moms just read that and thought "Discomfort? How about pain? He's obviously never been pregnant!"). Therefore, we tried moving Katie around in the bed, but nothing felt as good (again, sorry, nothing was as pain-relieving) as just sitting up with pillows stacked behind her. It was my job to constantly rub her lower back during contractions, and this upright position made my job difficult, as I was pushing and pulling my arm from between Katie's back and the pillows we had placed behind her. Making this more difficult was the fact that Katie had been getting too warm, so I had placed a cold, wet washcloth up against her back. This meant I was trying to force my arm between her back and heavy, wet linens, while her weight rested against these very same linens. Now, granted, a sore shoulder and fatigued forearm are a far cry from the physical challenge of labor, but for all you guys reading this blog (and I know there must be dozens), I wanted to give a shout out to the supportive father.

Okay, moving right along...we went on this way for about 9 hours, at the end of which Katie was fed up, fully effaced, and three centimeters dilated...and I was...well, who cares? We decided we needed a change if she were going to go the whole way unmedicated (did I mention I had been taking codeine for my shoulder by now?), so we asked about getting Preggo in the birthing tub. We were unsure whether this would be an option since Katie had lost her water, and the nurse deferred to Katie's OB. Dr. Thornton okayed the tub, and soon we were lowering my beautiful and rather bloated wife into the contraption that would turn the tide (pun intended) on this whole laboring ordeal.

Katie immediately found relief in the tub, and the contractions, which were getting stronger all the time, were becoming relatively easier (less difficult) to manage. A little before 10:00am, we placed a call to Beni, our pre-arranged labor assistant, in hopes that she might spell me for a spell and then accompany us for as long as it might take to get Katie the rest of the way. With Beni soon at Katie's side, and after I took 10 minutes to eat a bag of Cheetohs and two granola bars (probably not the preferred amount of time for ingesting such a meal), the team was assembled for the big push. Katie progressed from three centimeters to six in a matter of about two hours, then from six to 10 in another two hours. At 2:00pm, Katie was given the green light to get Lily the heck out of her belly. This is when things got fun.

Still without medication, Katie began pushing Lily down the birth canal to the waiting arms of the doctor...and ultimately about 438 family members. There was a slight issue with this, however, as our little Lily was turned in such a way that she couldn't make it out. Dr. Thornton attempted to reach in and manually turn her, but remember that Katie was not on drugs, and this became too painful to work. Katie was then left with a decision to make: get an epidural that would allow the doctor to reach in and turn the baby, or have a C section. Right. Anyway, once Katie had the epidural, we were at it again, and the doctor was turning Lily with her hand in a medical procedure that can only be filed under "wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it." Lily, unfortunately, had the umbilical cord wrapped around her wrist, and this turning caused her heart rate to plummet, leaving the doctor no choice but to let go. Back to square one with a baby sitting in a bad position for vaginal birth. Then came decision number two: try taking pitocin to increase the frequency of the contractions in hopes that it might flip the baby and move her naturally down the birth canal...or have a C section. Right. Anyway, after Katie had been administered pitocin for about an hour and a half, it was time to push again. This time, fortunately, Lily's head appeared after only about three rounds of pushing, and soon she was landing in Dr. Thornton's able and gloved hands. Touchdown. Oh, did I mention that the Bears won right about this same time?

After much ado, and much pain (though Katie was UNBELIEVABLY strong throughout the whole ordeal, and I couldn't be more proud of her), we welcomed Lily: January 21, 2007 at 6:08pm...7 lbs, 13 oz...21 inches long.

Am I in Labor Yet?

As we near Lily's wonderful due date, I wake up each morning wondering if today will be the day she decides she wants to come out and meet the world. Many times these feelings are preceded by a strong contraction that passes and in turn fills me with excitement. Unfortunately, neither my excitement nor the contractions last very long, leading me to conclude that today is not the day. I know that having these contractions are a good thing, as they are practice and help me prepare for the big day, but I am just so anxious to get her here that not knowing exactly when she is coming or what it will be like is somewhat discouraging. The pregnancy book is really of no help in trying to figure out if and when labor is going to start, either. My water may break or it may not. My contractions may be really strong and send me straight into labor, or I may have pre-labor contractions for days, weeks, or even a month before I deliver. Nothing is set in stone with pregnancy, and every woman's experience is so different. It makes it really hard to know if what I am feeling is pre-labor or false labor. I had one woman tell me that when she went into labor her contractions felt as if she just had gas. Other moms tell me that I will know when I am in labor because the contractions will be stronger than any I have had before. Well, I had a really strong contraction this morning and it hurt more than any of the others, but I didn't have anymore after that. Does that mean that they will continue to get stronger and more consistent or is what a felt today the strongest I will feel? The answer is... there is no way to know. Luckily, besides the contractions that come here and there and the constant questioning of whether I may be in labor, I am feeling pretty good! My back and hips hurt at night in bed and my ankles swell on days when I work all day and then have a game. Other than that, Jeff and I are just looking forward to the arrival of our little one. Tonight we are going to go walk at Shirk and see if we can give Lily a little push. We went on Monday night and walked about 3 miles and that obviously didn't get me anywhere, but it feels good to get out of the house and exercise. About a week and half left and we hopefully will have a little one here for everyone to meet!

In work-related news, my boss has approved my proposal to work from home two days a week! I will work from home on Mondays and Wednesdays and be in the office the other days. I will continue to work events at night as needed as well, which works out fine since Jeff can be at home with the baby during those times. Jeff's mom has kindly volunteered to watch Lily every Friday, and I think that my mom will be willing to help out at least one day a week as well. It is so nice to know that our little one will be looked after by people that really love her! It will definitely make going back to work a little easier.

Working at the Coliseum has been such a great experience. Having our company manage all three entities and the food and beverage service has given me a chance to learn about so many different aspects of this business. Most buildings, such as the Peoria Civic Center, have a different management team for the building, each sports team, and food and beverage, which would not afford the experience that I have had to this point. Not only have I learned a lot by working closey with the sports teams, I have been able to learn a lot about shows and concerts as well. It is really neat to learn about all the behind-the-scenes workings of shows and concerts. Many times I have been able to listen to sound checks and watch practices. I even have been backstage and helped work "meet and greets" with the artists. I was, of course, very quick to volunteer to work the John Mayer "meet and greet" in February. Not only does my job offer me fun and exciting work experiences, but it also means that Jeff and I always have something fun to look forward to, whether it be hockey games, football games, concerts, or shows. There is always something for us to do...and do for free. We certainly have a pretty sweet set-up here!

In related news, the PrairieThunder have really started to improve, and the starting line up that we have now is really fun to watch. Hockey seems to be catching on here as our attendance has continually increased from game to game. We even got my dad hooked. Working the hockey games is a lot better than working football games because I actually have time to sit and watch. As an employee, I have season tickets so Jeff comes to all the games and I go and sit with him when I have time. The nice thing is that he likes the game so much that he doesn't mind sitting by himself for awhile if I have to go take care of something. Soon we will have to make Lily a fan as well, so Dad will always have someone to sit with him.

Stay tuned....Lily could be making her appearance any day now!

Soo Close!

This week my belly has finally dropped and I am feeling enormous. My appointment on Monday was fine and the doctor said that her head is very very low and that she will just pop out when I go into labor. Let's hope that is the case! Our digital camera decided to poop out on us this week so I haven't taken a picture of my belly yet. Hopefully, we will have that situation resolved before she gets here.

In other pregnancy news, the girls at work decided to throw me a surprise baby shower. I had no idea and was totally shocked when I opened the door and saw all of them waiting for me. It was so nice and fun. They had decorated the party suite and even had a chocolate fountain going for me. It was so thoughtful and fun! Lily was given a bunch of cute outfits that I can't wait to put on her. Mom was given a gift certificate to Fox and Hounds that I am looking forward to using after she gets here!

Pregnancy's ups and downs

I always get the question" how has your pregnancy been?" or " how are you feeling?," and when I say pretty well, without fail, whomever has asked me the question gives me The Look. Let me explain The Look: it's something like "are you sure you feel ok?" or "you really can't feel that well." The truth is that for being this far along in my pregnancy and comparing myself to the symptoms that other women feel, I feel really good. The first trimester, I was plagued with terrible morning, noon, and night sickness. I lived on bagels, bread, cereal, and water. At the Coliseum the closest bathroom is in the concourse outside our office, so I would have to anticipate my next bout of vomiting so that I could make it to the bathroom in time. Additionally, I carried a plastic bag in my purse for emergency situations, such as driving in the car, or anywhere I might be too removed from the luxury of indoor plumbing. Everything made me feel nauseated, from the smell of peanut butter-filled pretzels to Jeff's hair goop. The first trimester was not a fun time. It was hard to be excited when I had to be ready to run to the bathroom at all times. Luckily, around my 12th week the stickness suddenly stopped and I was able to eat again. I had very few weird cravings and mostly developed food aversions. Unforutnately, my aversions were to the healthy green vegetables that I needed to be eating for Lily. I have tried really hard throughout my pregnancy to be healthy and eat the best things for her. I love fruit and have been really diligent about getting plenty into my diet. Vegetables, however, which I loved pre-pregnancy, have been a struggle and have mostly consisted of french fries and chips (both in the potato family), carrots (sometimes), salad (sometimes), and asparagus when Jeff makes me eat it. At this point, I have been craving La Bamba's, Bennigan's Chicken Tenders, and Steak 'n' Shake steakburgers--really healthy! In the past week I have been able to eat more than I ever have in my life, and my hunger is almost insatiable. I could eat all day, no problem.

From what I understand, I need to be thankful for more than my steel trap of a tummy, too. I feel very fortunate that the wieght I have put on has mostly been in my belly. I am all baby, which makes balancing a little more difficult, and the girls in my office are afraid I am going to plunge forward at any moment, but I hear about horror stories from other women and the weight they added to their pre-pregnancy frames. Fortunately, I still feel okay, and I can attribute that to the fact that I have been able to continue with pilates. I have really enjoyed keeping up with it, and I believe it is the reason why I have felt so good throughout. My back pains have been very minor, and without pilates I think I would be a mess in that area. I just started to get a little swelling in my ankles, but nothing extremely noticeableto others (I don't think). There are definitely days that I feel frustrated and tired of pregnancy, but those have been few and far between. It is so weird and funny how one moment you can be so happy and excited and then you find yourself stressed and tired and hopeless when you are having trouble with something as minor as getting up off the couch. Thankfully, for Jeff's sake if not my own, my emotions throughout pregnancy have been pretty steady. Like I have said before, I have had my moments, but no major ups or downs. That probably means he has it in store for him when I go into labor or shortly following. Speaking of Jeff, my husband, strength, rock, coach, chearleader, and best friend. I couldn't do any of this without him. He has made my life as stress-free as possible. He walks and feeds the dogs, does the laundry, cleans the house, takes out the trash, and pretty much does anything and everything for me. He has been so wonderful this entire time, and seeing how excited he is about Lily makes anything I have endured all worthwhile. I couldn't ask for a better husband and soon-to-be father of my child. I don't even have to ask for back rubs anymore, he just seems to know when I need them. I am sure my sitting forward or touching my back is not much of an indicator to him or anything.... I love him so much and can't wait to see him hold Lily for the first time. We have both been waiting for this for so long, and now it is so close! She could come any day now, and we are really looking forward to this new and exciting chapter in our lives to start.

Almost There

Today I had my 36-week appointment, and Lily and I are still doing well and remain on schedule. The doctor said I looked great. I am still feeling pretty good, but I am very anxious for her to be here at the same time. I have minor aches and pains, but nothing too bad to complain about. We have been very lucky that my pregnancy has gone as smooth as it has. Only a few weeks left and she will be here! Her room is finished and we installed her car seat yesterday. Jeff and I are going to go to the hospital this afternoon to pre-register so that when I do go into labor we won't have to wait. Never too early to be prepared. Work is going very well, and I am almost done with all my club seat renewals for next year. Since Jeff is so on top of things, there is not much "nesting" for me to do at home, so instinct has really kicked in at work and I have created a binder with way too much information for the person that is taking over for me while I am on maternity leave. She probably thinks I am a nut. Either way it makes me feel good to have it done and ready.

We had wonderful Christmas and were spoiled to the max--or should I say Lily was very spoiled. Grandma and Grandpa O'Rourke gave us the curtains, curtain rods, curtain holdbacks, and bed skirt for Lily's room. It looks so cute! Aunt Molly gave Lily a smocked Polo plaid dress and a blue and white polo dress. Of course very cute. Uncle Mike gave us the Baby Bjorn to carry Lily around in, and he gave Lily a cute pink sweater that will go perfect with her smocked dress. Grandma and Grandpa Mavros gave us a camcorder so that we can document Lily as she grows. Jeff has already taped her moving around in my belly! Finally, Aunt Dana built us a cradle with her very own two hands. It is pretty amazing, and I am sure Lily will get a ton of use out it! We are so thankful to have such a loving and excited family. Lily is a lucky baby!!! And she's almost here...