First 48 Hours

Day 1

Ruth's first day went better than I could have ever imagined.  After I was deemed stable enough to leave the c-section recovery, my kind nurse wheeled me in the gurny to see her.  I held her hand and enjoyed those precious moments with her. My MIL had been standing guard by her bed most of the day ready to report any and everything back to me. 


After leaving her bedside in the ICN (intensive care nursery), I went back to my room to recover and wait for Matt to arrive, since his plane left shortly after she was born.  My MIL continued to stay vigilantly by her bedside.  She still required no breathing help, not even a nasal cannula!

Shortly before Matt arrived, they moved me to a "postpartum" room closer to the ICN, so I wouldn't have as far to go to visit her.  I was still hooked up to many things, and after Matt arrived a nurse helped me into my wheelchair and we headed down there.  We took photos of her, talked to her, and held her tiny hands.  We weren't able to hold her at this point until she was released by her doctors.  She is just perfect!  Dark blue eyes, the best we can tell.  Blonde hair (surprise!).  We are not sure which one of her sisters she looks like just yet, but she definitely looks like them!



They had her prenatal surgery scar covered with a bandage, until released by the pediatric neurosurgeon.  We hadn't gotten to see it at this point, but were told by everyone it looked really good.

We spent the day going back and forth, and towards the end of the day they let us hold her, and let me try to breastfeed.  I didn't expect too much from her in that area as little as she is, but she impressed everyone!

Medical stuff - they did a head ultrasound and kidney ultrasound on her.  The head ultrasound shows stable ventricles, same as her last prenatal sono.  The Kidney ultrasound showed her kidneys were slightly swollen, so they will continue to cath her to make sure she empties her bladder completely.   This is a really common thing with spina bifida, and we were prepared for that. 

She does have club feet as expected.  They don't seem extremely stiff, but I imagine once we get back home they will straighten them out with a series of castings.  Not a huge thing to fix, and this is one thing that can be "fixed".


Matt was exhausted and slept most of the night, but everytime I got up to pump breastmilk I called the nurse to take me to see her.  I would try to breastfeed, and she latched on well one of the trips down there.  Around 3 or 4 in the morning I went to see her and was turned away, another baby with serious problems was being admitted in the bed next to hers.  I broke down in tears, there's those hormones working!  The nurse felt sorry for me and got me in to see her for about 15 minutes before they had me leave again.

Day 2

Day 2 meant less wires for me, and a lot more walking.  I spent as much time as I could handle by her bedside. 

They slowly started moving her from IV nutrition to momma's milk via an ng tube (tube down from her nose to her stomach).  She is also getting really good at breastfeeding, so much we have to stop when she starts swallowing the milk, as she is so little we have to take it easy to see how her system handles it.

They released her to remove the bandage from her back.  She is still on some restriction, when sleeping or being held she isn't suppose to have pressure on her back.  She seems to like being on her side.  I did finally get to see the scar, it has healed so much since the photos they gave me of her prenatal surgery!



We are just absolutely in love with our baby girl, and can't wait to bring her home to meet her sisters.  Please keep praying for her growth and health, through both the premature issues and the spina bifida issues.

Love,
Sara