A lot of first times

So today is the first time Sean went to work. It was great he was able to take some extra vacation time during my recovery. It just sucks that now that things are starting to go better and we can actually start to enjoy parenthood that Sean had to go back. So far the first morning alone is going fine, but we both miss daddy.

And here are some more first times that we haven't been able to post yet.

Meeting Jill for the first time..... although I hardly remember this.










First diaper change by mommy (after 5 days).










First diaper change by daddy.










First bath by daddy.














First time meeting grandpa and grandma Musters.

My story

I realize that Sean already wrote about the delivery, but I would like to write my site of the story as well, as we both experienced it different and it helps me to deal with the emotions by writing it down.

So a week and a half ago (July 1st) we had a, what I thought, routine 41 week checkup at the gyno. I did write about this visit on the blog, little did I know that 3 hours later I got a call from the hospital to tell me that I had to get admitted right away. The next morning they would induce labor because I was showing signs of pre-eclampsia... whow that felt weird we were going to have a baby within the next 2 days.
So Wednesday morning they started with a prostaglandine gel that made my water brake pretty fast. Unfortunately the contractions wouldn't start so I got an oxytosin IV to help with that. Well, that helped, within no time my contractions were strong, painful and I could not control them with breathing because I didn't get enough time in between them to recover. After 6 hours I was only 1 cm dilated (you need 10), exhausted and the gyno said I needed an epidural otherwise I would never make it till 10 cm. So I went up to the OR for an epidural and that gave a lot of relieve. I almost proposed to the anesthesiologist, he was my new best friend, and I went back to the ward like a new person. By night time I was 4 cm dilated, but the epidural only worked on one side of my body. All during the night I was awake dealing with the contractions and by the morning I was exhausted and still only at 4 cm. This is when they decided on a C. Section as there wasn't any hope for natural birth any time soon and they were sure I would never have enough energy left to push. Besides that Jill's head wouldn't drop which was also a sign something wasn't right. At 6 am I was in the OR, but the first epidural for the C. Section didn't work. So another one was placed (nr 3 by now) and by then I had a lot of painkillers in my body so the epidural also went up to my chest. I felt like I was choking, couldn't speak, my eyes were closed and somewhere in the back I heard we had a baby girl. This was the most scary feeling I ever had in my life, I could only concentrate on thinking "they do this all the time, I am in good hands, nothing will happen", instead of getting excited about Jill's birth.
After some recovery time in the OR I got to go back to the ward where I met Jill. They did show her to me in the OR, but I can't really remember that. Unfortunately my time with her was short, because I started to feel horrible. My BP was 160/105, I had a terrible headache and in no time I was hooked up to all kinds of IV's, monitors etc. They took some more blood for lab values, and it turned out my liver and kidneys were starting to fail.
The next 2 days are kind of a blur for me. This was of course caused by the HELLP syndrome but also by the medication. I tried to nurse Jill as much as I could, but at times I just was just to weak and exhausted that she got some formula instead. I felt super guilty, Sean had to do all the diaper changes, give her a bath, and the one thing I could contribute to (the feeding) also wouldn't really work.
On Saturday my BP was under control and blood values were starting to get better so I got unhooked from 3 of the 4 IV's and was allowed to get out of bed for a shower. That felt great! In the days after this I slowly got better, I had two episodes were my BP went up again, but luckily my blood values kept getting better so I didn't have to get back on the IV but got oral blood pressure lowering medication instead.
By Monday I started to get a little annoyed by all the different opinions on breast feeding etc.. since I saw so many different nurses during my stay. They were all very helpful, but some made me feel bad for giving Jill some formula on the side at times. I just didn't provide enough, my body was still working on other things than producing milk. And as I wrote before I already felt guilty enough that one of the few things I could do myself wasn't working to well either. I got mad at my body at times, because it really didn't seem to get this whole delivery, getting a baby thing.... But the fact that I got annoyed meant I started to feel better and was actually looking forward to going home.
By Wednesday I was stable and recovered enough to go home. That was a great feeling, also a little scary because there is no bell to ring close by. But once we got home it just felt right. We are now making our own decisions for Jill and so far it all seems to work out just fine. We are tired, but you are supposed to be with a new baby, and we are amazed by how much this little person can keep you occupied, but we are a happy little family.

Birth Announcement translation

Many of you who look at this blog have received a birth announcement for Jill, but maybe said, what the heck? This ain't English. I think only two of you speak Dutch and maybe some were industrious enough to find a Dutch speaker or try to translate it with a website. Even though most of the text is pretty straightforward, I'll save you the trouble:

One plus one is...three

Born on 3 July 2008, weighed 3570 gram (7lbs 14 oz)

If you'd like to come count my little fingers and toes, then please first give my papa a call. (rhymes and sounds much cuter in Dutch)

We're all slowly starting to get the hang of each other and maybe will make our first outing together this afternoon. Wish us luck!

-Sean

Jill one week old

Here is Jill at one week of age. She has already changed quite a bit. Here eyebrows are getting darker and here chubby cheeks are smaller.
She has been a happy and content baby even though it was a rough start and she had to be really patient at times when her mother was recovering.

Everybody's doing fine

Good news, Sandra and Jill can probably come home on Wednesday!! It's been a long road, but we can finally see the finish line (at least for the hospital stay).  

In the previous post I implied that it was the troubles with the epidural and anesthesia that cause the complications with  Sandra, but after talking with Dr. Lips (our OB/GYN) it's clear that it was quite serious. Sandra developed the HELLP symdrome (Hemolysis, Elevated Liver enzymes and Low Platelets) See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HELLP_syndrome for more info. Some women end up in intensive care with this, Sandra luckily not, but it was pretty serious. Now her blood pressure is stable since Sunday morning and if it stays like that through tomorrow (Tuesday) then she can go home. 

For now a happy picture of mama and Jill as Jill discovers she has feet. 

She's here and her name is Jill!

Yesterday we had a little girl, Jill Anne Diehl

She was born at 6:16 a.m. on 3 July 2008 and weighed 3570 grams (7,9 pounds).

On Tuesday Sandra has the early signs of preeclampsia (high blood pressure and abnormal lab results) and the

OB/GYN decided to admit her that evening and induce labor the following morning (Wednesday). Jill was one

week overdue at this point. The labor was long (23 hrs) and despite her best efforts, San's body and Jill didn't get the hint that it was time. The doctor then rightly decided to perform a C-section after it was clear that a natural delivery wasn't possible anymore. Sandra had a hard time with the epidural with elevated BP again, buy yesterday the excellent staff at the Kennemer Gasthuis Hospital in Haarlem got everything under control. jill has been a veryhapy and satisfied baby which mama and papa really appreciate during mama's recovery. 

We'll be in the hospital and will update here as we get time. 

Clover is less happy about going down a rung on the ladder, but will get used to it and will be a fantastic big sister. 

Love, Sean, Sandra, Jill, and Clover

41 week check up

I just got back from my gynecology appointment. It took forever and I had to go from one department to the next and back. Unfortunately the gyno was a different one than normal and in a big hurry. He didn't give me a good feeling at all. I told him that things are getting uncomfortable, that I haven't been able to eat much in 2 days etc, but he didn't seem to hear much of it. He was more busy instructing the intern what to do and preferably as fast as possible. The first time the intern took my BP I was wondering why I didn't feel weird, b/c it measured 150/110!. I think the gyno also had his doubts and suggested to look at my belly first. Nothing changed in that department. Jr is still high in my belly (explains why my stomach is the size of a peanut) and there is still enough amniotic fluid. After this he checked my BP again which was now 130/90 so still a little high. That resulted in having some blood drawn, collection of urine and I have to go in for the day on Thursday so they will monitor Jr and my BP for an extended period of time. Do you get a discount after a certain number of hospital admissions by the way?? Based on those results we guess they will come up with a plan. Because when I asked him about their policy on inducing labor he was not to nice and said "we can do it tomorrow"... we are taking 3 actions already now, blood, urine and hospital admittance for a day on Thursday. That wasn't my question, I just wanted to know if they would let me go past 42 weeks (if everything looks fine for me and Jr), but of course I prefer to start naturally and don't want to just start it tomorrow. So in the end I am not convinced if my high BP was due to an adverse reaction to the Dr. or the extension time of my pregnancy.
We will find out soon....just some more wait and see for now!