WELCOME HOME BABY NOEL

Angel Noel Heaton
Born Monday July 13th at 6:03 p.m.
7 lbs 4 oz
19 inches long
Long black Hair!

Where do I even start? We checked into the hospital at 5:30 a.m. Monday morning to be induced. They started me on Pitocin around 6:00 a.m. I was only dilated to a 1 1/2 and about 80% efaced so I knew we were hours away from delivery! Around noon I asked for the epidural. My contractions weren't really aggressive, but I was starting to feel a little uncomfortable and I knew my doc would come break my water after that. I was dilated to about a 3 at that time. Soon after I was at a 5, but then I started shivering uncontrollably off and on for several hours. The last shivering spell lasted an hour and a half straight - right up until I was dilated to a 10 and ready to go! I felt absolutely miserable and had a temperature of 102. So by the time I started pushing, my stomach muscles were already super sore. My whole body was super sore from the constant shaking. But at least I was able to feel that I was pushing correctly and it only took one push to see the top of her head. About 45 minutes later, little Noel was born!

Noel was also born with a fever but our temperatures both went back to normal soon after delivery. We got to be with her for a couple of hours that night and then they took her into the nursery to administer antibiotics in case the fever was caused by an infection. Through the night, her temperature dropped below normal and she acted as if she were sick. The pediatrician ordered some blood work for her the next morning and said she would have to stay in Level 2 Nursery until Thursday morning.

In the meantime, I was going through an ordeal myself. My bladder became so swollen right after delivery that even a catheter would not work. At midnight, they were able to get a catheter in, but over the next 12 hours, were unsuccessful. The epidural had numbed my abdomen and my entire left leg, so I couldn't find the muscle to be able to go to the bathroom. 4 nurses, my doctor and a Urologist tried to insert another catheter without success. The ultra sound showed that the catheter could not go in because the bladder was so swollen that the urethra was kinked. The urologist was concerned that there might have been an injury with all the failed attempts to put a catheter in, so I was admitted into the O.R. to get it scoped. If it did show an injury, they would have had to make an incision and empty the bladder that way. But luckily, besides some irritation, it was in tact. The funny thing is that before I had Noel, I told my father in law that it would be nice to have a catheter so that I didn't have to get up a thousand times each night to use the restroom. I guess I got what I wished for!!! I had to wear a permanent catheter for a full week! (It was nice, but a pain carrying around a bag of pee all the time!) Ha ha. By the time all this ended, it had been almost 24 hours since I had seen my baby girl.

Todd had spent many hours with her. He would go into the nursery in the middle of the night and he spent time with her while I was in the O.R. - so she totally bonded with her daddy first. In fact, the first time I got to see her again, she was crying and crying and all daddy had to do was say "Noel" and she stopped crying and looked at him. Noel's blood test results came back negative, but the pediatrician wanted to keep her on antibiotics just in case. We were both discharged on Thursday afternoon and then a Home Healthcare nurse came over to teach us how to give her the antibiotics through the I.V. in her head. Unfortunately, the I.V. was blocked and we had to go to the E.R. late Thursday night to have it put in again. It was excruciating to watch! I started crying and it was all Todd could do to hold back some tears. We couldn't stand watching her suffer like that! And on top of it all, I could barely move myself - I was in so much pain. My sister finally told me that it wasn't normal post-partum pain and that I should go to my doc. My doc ordered a Home Health Nurse to come give me an I.V. to take antibiotics over the weekend and took some blood. So hopefully all is well for both of us now!

We are so happy to be home and getting back to normal life! It has been so fun having her with us! She is a very good baby so far - squeaks occasionally, but barely cries. Daddy brags that she is the world's cutest baby. :) He is so cute with her! Wyatt (our dog) is adjusting well. He seems to understand that she is tiny and helpless and he gets concerned when she cries. She's changing so much everyday! I don't know if she looks like me or if she looks like Todd - but we think she is super cuteness!

Thank you all for the well-wishes!