Part Deux

Well, here I am 3 days later in the hospital with Katie.

As I was writing the last post, Katie was pacing around the living room. No sooner had I finished the post than she told me I needed to call the doctor. She had developed a bad headache and an even worse stomach ache. The doctors had told us if she developed blurred vision, stars in her eyes, or pain in her upper right abdomen, we needed to come in right away. We weren't totally sure what headache/stomach ache meant, but we called him anyway. The doctor told us to come in just as a precaution, so that is what we did.

As we were driving to the hospital, we were both expecting to get there, be told she had cramps or needed Pepto, then told to go home and get some rest, but we off by a mile.

When we checked into the hospital they admitted her into a room and immediately started checking her blood pressure and taking blood and urine samples to do testing on. Katie's stomach progressively worsened until she couldn't lie down on the bed anymore. She would sit there on the bed rocking back and forth while I rubbed her back trying to distract her from the pain. It was very uncomfortable for both of us. At 1:00 AM the blood and urine tests came back and things did not look very good. Her liver and kidneys were both showing signs of distress and her stomach seemed to be worsening. The good news was the baby seemed ok; but the doctor informed us that it was definitely time for the baby to come out, 6 weeks premature of her due date.

They hooked Katie up to a Christmas tree of IVs and monitors, constantly checking heart rate, blood pressure, contractions, baby's heart rate, and dripping all sorts of chemicals into her body. She was still suffering a lot, but things really improved around 3:30 AM when she was given the epidural. Diamonds are no longer a girl's best friend; it's the epidural. Soon most of the pain was gone and we both rested until 7.

One of the drugs they were dripping into her body was Pitocin, a drug that induces labor. Katie had been having contractions on her own, but the Pitocin really started to speed things up. The drip was slowly increased over the hours until Katie's contractions were coming only a few minutes apart and moving down her abdomen. By 10:30 they were close enough that we were really hitting crunch time.

They wheeled Katie, Baby, and myself into the delivery room, next to the NICU. A few minutes later the doctor came in and Katie started pushing. She only had to push for maybe 10 minutes before out came our baby girl. I got to cut the cord, then she was immediately passed through a window into the NICU, before Katie or I could get much of a look at her.


Now, two days later, everything since then has gone about as well as possible. The baby is in really good shape considering she is 6 weeks early. She weighs only 3 lbs 7 oz, is 17 inches long, and is named Addison (Addie) Katherine Abbott. She breathes on her own, has great color, and a very nice head of dark hair. Katie is also doing well, but is of course still very weak and tired. She has hardly slept in the last 3 days. Katie is checking out of the hospital in the next hour, but Addie probably won't be able to come home with us for at least 2-4 weeks, depending on how things go.

It's still hard for me to believe that it is my baby. I go down to the NICU and she looks so perfect, but it doesn't really feel like she is mine yet. In a way, it's almost like she is owned by the hospital, but I'm close to her because I get to visit her so much. I'm sure that will all change when we finally get to take her home and spend sleepless nights with her.

Someday, when Addie is a teenager and acting badly, I'm going to be the father that tells her how much pain her mother had to go through to bring her into this world. She won't fully understand it, but I can finally say that I do.

I would also be ungrateful if I didn't thank God for taking such good care of us and our new child. Things were pretty nervous for a few days, but we are truly grateful for the opportunity to be parents and all the challenges and blessings that lay in store for us.

We are very proud parents.