Savannah- 1 Month

Here is a recap of Savannah's first month.

After being cleared of the jaundice and heart murmur I felt like we could actually begin to settle in as a family of four. I think I had prepared myself for the worst since Sawyer is 2 and I knew how time is not your own with a newborn. Now this is crazy for me to say but I was also anxious because Sawyer was a really good baby that didn't have colic and started sleeping through the night around 6 weeks. I thought that there was no way we could have two babies like that! Well I was proved wrong. She is such a good baby. She would eat every three hours which was actually better than Sawyer who ate every two in the beginning. I'm already comparing, I need to stop but you just can't help it! She took to nursing really well and was doing great because she was gaining well and was satisfied. I must say too that things have been different the second time around with me as far as bf goes. With Sawyer I would religiously watch the clock so he ate 20 minutes on each side and i would keep a log of how many wet an dirty diapers. That vicious cycle done every two hours sent me over the edge and honestly took away some of the enjoyment of just feeding a sweet baby. With Savannah, I haven't written down the first thing or looked at a clock. I feed her on demand and let her finish one side and offer the other until she's full. I feed her lying down at night which makes it easier for me to relax and when she's done I gently place her back in the bassinet. She is a loud sleeper when she first falls asleep so the sound machine helps to drown the noise. She was back to her birth weight by two weeks and then gained another 17 oz in two weeks which impressed the lactation nurse since the average is 12. Praise God nursing is going better the second time! About once a day she has to cry really hard to wear herself out but after that she will sleep a good stretch. It seems like the longest 3 minutes of your life! Nothing soothes her when she gets this worked up so we had to learn to just let her fuss for a few minutes.
At her two week check up we had to get her treated for a clogged tear duct. Her eye looked terrible and she could barely open her eye. Some prescription eye drops cleared it up in a few days.

My recovery had its ups and downs. The pain and soreness was bearable because I stayed on top of it with Motrin. The Percocets they gave me made me so nauseous so I quit taking them once I got home from the hospital. Scary that they send a baby home from the hospital with a mom taking narcotics! I guess they assume you have help. I was able to handle the feedings and diaper changes by myself at night. It never failed that I would go downstairs and forget something upstairs. After a few days home I really wasn't in any pain. This may seem like a good thing but I was acting like I didn't have major abdominal surgery the week before. At my two week check up I told the doctor that I was still passing large clots. This concerned her so she did an US of my uterus and she saw several large clots. She told me that I had to be better at getting off my feet and taking care of myself. My Mom and Keith were very concerned and stepped it up even more with helping out. When you have two small kids its hard to take care of yourself!

We took Savannah to the lake for the first time at almost three weeks which happened to be July 4th. Mama needed a change of scenery!! It was a nightmare packing for two kids and myself. It took us four hours to leave the house! My Mom was the biggest help and I couldn't have done it without her since Keith was out of town for work. The Scott's have a crib and a bed in the same room so it was nice for us to stay there. That week Sawyer started swimming so good, in a life jacket of course!! Honey taught him to blow bubbles with his mouth and kick his feet. He would swim to the steps all by himself!

Keith and I got to celebrate his 31st Birthday with just the two of us. Honey and Papa D babysat both kids while we had a delicious dinner at Five. It was a much needed date night! I was sad to dump the 5 ounces I pumped but I thoroughly enjoyed some rose champagne!

I can honestly say that I would not have been able to get through the first month without our "village". Keith was the biggest help with Sawyer because I couldn't pick him up and I was feeding Sissy most of the time. I could put my Mom on payroll since she has done so much for us. She cooked so many delicious meals and cleaned our house from top to bottom. Sometimes just knowing she was there gave me such comfort. There is nothing like your Mama! Cindy was also a tremendous help. She would take Sawyer to do special things and they even took him to the lake the weekend we came home so we could transition with Savannah. We had meals brought to us by friends and family as well. We were so grateful for a good meal those first few hectic weeks!

So, at one month:

~ Savannah weighed 9 lbs 7 oz
~ Wears a size 1 diaper and 0/3 month
clothes.
~ Eats every 3 hours during the day and 4-5 hr stretches at night.
~ Started to social smile
~ Is swaddled while she sleeps to help with the startle reflex.
~ Enjoys bath time.
~ Will turn her head if she hears my voice.
~ Loves to cuddle after a feeding. This is my favorite too!

Hospital Stay and First Few Days Home

We had an overall great experience at St. Vincent's for Savannah's birth. The surgery and recovery went smooth and even better than Sawyer's which I didn't think was possible. They had me up on my feet and walking to the bathroom just 4 hours after having her! I think getting up sooner combined with it being the second time around made the recovery easier. Also, I didn't have the morphine pump so I wasn't drugged up. The Percocet had the opposite effect on me and made me feel wired. On the second night, I was so exhausted from having a day full of visitors so I knew I had to rest while I could but I was wide awake. So, the nurse gave me a small dose of ambien to help me get to sleep. However, that meant taking Savannah to the nursery which I didn't want to do at first but I decided that I should take advantage of the help and my milk wasn't in yet so I knew it was safe to take it. I was definitely being more practical the second time around! I felt great the next morning. I was having some issues getting her to latch on my left side and I was feeling engorged so I used my hand held pump to get some relief and it turns out my milk came in on Thursday! I thought it was colostrum but the lactation nurse said, "That's milk honey!". Turns out Miss Savannah was an efficient eater. Keith even gave her her first bottle. Down side to this was hand washing that stupid pump at least 10 times over the next 2 days. We had great nurses and I even wanted to take Mrs. Gina home with us. She became like family.
On Friday morning, I was discharged by my Doctor and we were waiting on the pediatrician to make his rounds before he would discharge her. That's when everything started to come unraveled. The nurse came in to do Savannah's stats and noticed she was breathing heavy and she was going to make a note to tell the doctor. Well, not even a minute later Dr. Simpson came in for his exam. He must have listened to her heart for over a minute and I noticed him looking at his watch. He then told us that he wasn't concerned about her breathing but he did hear a slight murmur and wanted us to have it checked by a Cardiologist before we left the hospital. He was very honest and told us three possibilities it could be so we knew what to expect. Well, in my broken hormonal state, I heard the first thing he said which was the worst and I shut down from there. As soon as he left the room I lost it. It was day 3 so my hormones were so out of whack but thank goodness Keith was listening well so he could console me. Deep down I knew he was upset too but he had to be strong for me. Initially, we were going to have to put her in an isolate that they use in the NICU to transport her there to do the test. That alone upset me, it's so sad to see babies in those. There they would do an US of her heart and send the results to the Pediatric Cardiologist at UAB. Keith works in hospitals so he knew this would be a lengthy process so we got comfortable and expected to be there for a while. We prayed and prayed and God was so faithful and he answered so many prayers that day. The nurse came in at 12 to take us to do the test which we ended up getting to do in the nursery on our floor. Keith and I got to be there with her throughout the whole process. We got the results about an hour and a half later. The murmur was small and is expected to be self corrective in a few months. Praise God! We don't have to see a Specialist for a follow up, it is just going to be monitored by her Pediatrician. Well, we still weren't in the clear yet because her blood work showed that she was jaundice and we would have to go to the Doctor's office the next day to do another heel prick. It was 13.5 when we left the hospital. The next day it was up to 14.5 and since it had gone up, we would have to come back on Sunday to get it checked again. Luckily, it went down to 13.7 so we didn't have to go back for more blood work and we didnt need to have any special treatments to make it go away. Despite being jaundice, she was still eating and gaining weight. She lost down from her birth weight of 8.5 to 7.9 on Thursday. On Friday at discharge, she was at 7.10, 7.12 on Saturday, 7.14 on Sunday, and up to 8lbs on 6/19 (1 week old). At her two week check up she weighed 8.6 so the Doctor was very pleased that she was back to her birth weight. This also meant that I could start letting her wake me up to eat at night. She had her first 4 hour stretch at night that Thursday and has continued to do so since then. She is such a sweet and cuddly baby and we are so blessed and grateful for a healthy baby. It was a very humbling experience to say the least and it made us realize how fortunate we are that she got good results from bad news to start with. God was with us through every step and we praise him for that.
Where was Sawyer during all of the excitement? Getting spoiled by his Grandparents and having special time at Chuck E Cheese with Keith. It was very hard knowing I couldn't take care of him and do all of our normal stuff but it was a good feeling knowing he was taken care of. When he came to visit us in the Hospital he pretty much ignored her and didn't really understand she was coming come with us :). He kept us laughing when we got home. He was fascinated by breast feeding and pumping. Every time she eats he says she's eating lunch! He also tried to put the breast shield of the pump up his shirt. He though that the microwave steam bags that you use to sterilize the pump parts was popcorn. So funny!