Baby Kaitlyn is here!!!!

I am so happy that Kaitlyn is here!

And for those of you wondering how it all happened. It's been a whirlwind, that's for sure!!

Saturday around 2pm, I started having some painful contractions. I have been having contractions for so long that I knew these were different. I had just been in to see my OB the day before and she told me that if I got painful ones that lasted for more than 2 hours to head into the hospital. Of course I don't want to go if I don't have to, so I waited and waited. Around 7pm I had enough pain going on and some other weird feelings that I figured I should just go in and get the shot to stop it all. So, I get in the car and drive over. (sorry for those of you I just realized don't know I live across the street from the hospital). I get there, checked in and put on the monitor. My contractions are actually every 1-2 minutes. They decide to give me a double dose of the meds I have already been taking for contractions. An hour later it was no better. So my nurse checked me and I was dialated to a 1+ and 30% effaced. So they then give me some Morphine to help with the pain and relax me. Then they bring in what they called was the Big Guns.... aka Terbutaline. It is now 10pm and I call my mom to come to the hospital because I no longer can drive myself home and I was sure I was still going to be able to go home. Then they check me again. I am now a 2+ and 70% effaced. Crap.... that was not going well. So they give me more meds, start an IV for fluids to see if that will help and we waited to see. The contractions never stopped, or even slowed down with multiple doses of meds. Around 2am they start referring to a c-section and I realize this really might be it and she is coming now. I took some Ambien to make me relax and they kept pumping me full of stuff. By 5am I am at a 3+ and 90% effaced. My nurse calls the NICU to give them a heads up since I am 34 weeks. It was really sinking in then that this was it. Around 8am they gave me one more big dose of the Terbutaline and said if things didn't improve in 45 min they were doing my C-Section at 10am.

So we welcomed Kaitlyn Margie Christensen at 10:19am. She was 6lb even and 19 inches long. I saw her from across the room, but never close up. We heard her cry and knew she was doing fairly well before they wisked her off to the NICU. My surgery was finished and I went to my room. We saw Dr. Berger, the Neonatologist about 11am. He came to let us know how she was doing and what the plan was. Since she was a preemie, she had typical preemie stuff. Her lungs weren't developed and they were doing a Surfactant Treatment to get her going. He told us they would do one treatment, draw labs to see how it worked, then would do as many treatments as needed. Josh needed 3 when he was born. She only ended up needing the one. I saw pictures of her from what Scott could take, but I was not able to get up and moving enough from the surgery to see her until 9pm that night. But I did get to hold her at that point and it made it all worth it!!!

She is doing amazing. There is no other way to describe it. Yesterday at 2pm she came off her oxygen already and hasn't needed any since. She also started feedings finally and has done very well with that. She is not perfect, but for being 6 weeks early she is doing well. She is sucking and swallowing and very interested in eating. She is still learning how to eat and coordinate everything, but I could not be happier at her progress.

Now, her biggest hurdle is going to be jaundice. I have not found out what her level is this morning, so I don't know if we are going to need to start light therapy or not. Jaundice is hard because it makes the babies too sleepy to eat and the only way to get rid of the bilirubin in their system is to eat and poop it out. So, we really hope we can avoid the vicious cycle of shutting down and having to do tube feedings. So far she is doing great, but preemies like to change in an instant on you. So we will be watching those blood levels very closely.

Dr. Berger told us when he came to see us right after delivery that we should expect a 10-14 day NICU stay. But we are hoping she will break the mold and come home sooner than that because she is doing so amazing.

Please keep her in your prayers that her little body can keep up and she can continue to do awesome. We really want her to come home soon.

Also I will post pictures on here tomorrow when I get home from the hospital. If anyone has Facebook, we do have pictures on there. She is so adorable and tiny. We are going to need preemie clothes and diapers.... something we didn't ever think we would need. I am just happy that all is well considering I could not make it to my 36 week mark.

Thanks for all the love and concern!!!! I will post again soon.