Now that she’s finally here and we are getting settled into our new “normal” of being a family of four, I take the time to introduce our newest addition, Delaney. She made quite an entrance and was such a handful before birth I was terrified of how she would act on the outside.
Lucky for us, she loves to sleep and Lily absolutely adores her, so it’s been a decently easy transition. I think the hardest part is the little bit Lily is acting out and testing the waters on what she can get away with. I’m usually too exhausted to chase and punish her, so it’s been a bit of a free-for-all for a few days. Luckily Kevin is home today so I can get some work done and relax a little.
This is long, so brace yourself!
The Story
None of my children have been easy. Lily’s pregnancy and birth were less than ideal. Honest to God I told Kevin if we ever have a third he is carrying and delivering it because I am so done. Done. Done. Done. Delaney gave me problems from the beginning. Besides the normal stuff, I was constantly sick and exhausted. I think I caught every single bug that was out there this winter and it even had a bad impact on my Disney trip as I was pretty sick the whole time we were there! Not fun.
I was so relieved when we scheduled her c-section for April 25th. I spent hours putting together the perfect plan for Lily, where she would go and what needed packed for each place she would be. I went on and on about how much fun she was going to have on her sleepovers – her first time away from us overnight. I also was putting together a “big sister” celebration for her at the hospital so she would remember this being special and not the day we brought home another kid. Unfortunately, none of that got to happen. Instead it was mass craziness of who can watch Lily, she can sleep in her clothes and oh my God I’m dying!
It started on a Thursday night and I was extremely sick. I couldn’t keep anything down and pretty much just hovered over the toilet for hours. Obviously dehydrated, I called the doctor who told us to go to labor and delivery and get some fluids and get monitored. No biggie. We called a family friend who came over to sit with Lily so we didn’t have to keep her out so late and rushed off. All was well, except I was very dehydrated so after a few hours of fluids I was sent home feeling pretty good.
The next morning, I got up, still feeling OK and sent Kev off to work. Low and behold a few hours later and I was once again sick as a dog. The doctor suggested going back to the hospital because I clearly needed more fluids and they needed to figure out what was going on. Kevin came home, we grabbed a few things for Lily to do while at the hospital and off we went. I had no idea I would not be coming home for days and when I did that I would be bringing Delaney with me!
Thank God for our dear friends Katie and Nick who picked up Lily at the hospital and kept her for two nights at their house while the doctors tried to figure out what was wrong with me. I had so many different series of blood work done (did I mention my extreme fear of needles) but was told the whole time Delaney was not coming out before the 25th. I saw 10 different specialists from around the hospital and, of course, my own doctors and no one knew what was making me so sick. Because I had no other symptoms at all, they ruled out a GI bug but the GI doctors wanted to do all kinds of test. Unfortunately they couldn’t do anything while I was pregnant.
So on Sunday, my third admitted day in the hospital, my doctor came in around 4 p.m. and announced she was taking the baby – in an hour. I was by myself, Kevin was at home with Lily and his mother, and holy crap, they are doing what they promised me wasn’t going to happen! I was beyond thrilled because I was so sick, but begged them to wait for Kevin to get to the hospital. I kept asking if it could be the baby making me sick, but no one knew. I was known throughout the hospital as their “medical mystery.” That’s fun… or not.
Delaney’s Arrival
Kevin made it to the hospital around 5:30 and we ended up not going back to surgery until around 7. Katie and Nick came back to the hospital to get Lily (literally they are angels!) and Kevin’s mother was present by default since she was at our house. I was beyond lucky that the on call doctors were my preferred doctor at our practice and the doctor who delivered Lily, who was supposed to do my scheduled c-section. Add on top of that my two favorite nurses (I feel like they are friends since I was there so many days before even having Delaney) and two fantastic anesthesiologists. More than anything they all went out of their way to make Lily feel great! She rolled in with her big sister shirt on – the only piece of her celebration I could pull together and toted her Doc McStuffins doctor’s kit. They ate it up, giving her a hair cover, masks and even a little gown so she could be a doctor too. She was so excited and happy!
An hour later, I was wheeled back to my room with our precious Delaney.
More than miraculously, I was also 100% cured. I haven’t been sick since I was being wheeled into surgery. I am so grateful for the staff at UPMC Mercy Hospital and all that they (tried) to do to help me feel better and that they were able to send me home feeling great and with a completely healthy little girl!
And now, I’m off to baby smells and cuddles and that perfect little face I can’t get enough of!
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