Slightly Brilliant: ::Lennon Grace::

Hey Y'all!

Today is all about my beautiful Lemmon Cakes!

July 7, 2014

I can't believe it was 10 weeks ago today that she was made her grand entrance into this world! In honor of that crazy day, I am going to tell you her birth story.

{Disclaimer: this is not your typical birth story, but let me assure you, it is a thriller! Also, it's a long story and there are a million pictures... But she is adorable so I know you won't mind!}

34.5 Weeks Pregnant

Let me set the scene:

Our story starts the Friday before Lennon was born.

About 2:00 am, Matt was in Idaho for training, my mom was visiting and I was awake with horrible chest, upper back pain and nausea. Being the stubborn person I am, I told myself it was food poisoning and refused to go to L&D. My mom convinced me to call my doctor's office when they opened. They instructed me to go to L&D if the pain got worse. Over the next few days I started to feel better, until Tuesday morning. The pain was back! Still being stubborn, I decided to head to work. Hardly able to focus, my coworker told me to call my doctor again. Of course, I was told I should get to L&D immediately!

So they ran some tests, thought I had heartburn {definitely not heartburn!}, then told me I should be able to go home soon. As we were waiting to be released, a doctor came in to inform me that I was being admitted. Thankfully my mom was with me and hadn't left town!

They determined I had developed either HELLP Syndrome or TTP, but they weren't sure which one it was. They did know that my liver enzymes were high and platelet count was severely low. In BLONDE language this meant my liver was attacking my platelets, platelets make your blood clot, low platelets = inability for blood to clot.

So I'm admitted, clearly sick, Matt is still in Idaho, and the doc is telling me that I will leaving the hospital with a baby! Did I mention she wasn't due for another 5 weeks?

Anyways, the next 48 hours were a blur for me!

They started me on Magnesium {FYI: it makes you feel like a zombie on fire... Not joking!}, and tried to induce me. After about 18 hours of attempted induction, I had not progressed past 4cm. They informed me that if I didn't progress any more by noon, they would need to do a C-Section. Even in my "Zombie on Fire" state, I was not happy. I always wanted to have as natural of a birth as possible {No meds: mind over pain}. Plus, I was rocking my contractions! Honestly, I've had worse cramps.

Matt finally arrived at 11:00 am Wednesday morning to find me well taken care of by my mom, my sister Emily and my 3 amazing nurses! He also arrived just in time for the scary part. Almost immediately, a team of doctors came in to tell us the "worst case scenarios". About 45 minutes later gave me a platelet transfusion and prepped me for my c-section.

Unfortunately, due to my low platelets they could not give me an epidural and would have to put me under general anesthesia. This meant I was out and Matt wouldn't be able to be in the OR when Lennon was born. Also, there was nothing blocking the pain when they woke me up from surgery. OUCH!

Finally the moment you've been waiting for:

The Birth of Lennon Grace!

As I took my final prego gurney ride to the OR, I have to admit, I was scared out of my mind. I tried not to show it but I'm sure there was panic on my face when I heard the anesthesiologist say,

"We haven't put her under, please don't cut yet."

What?!? Yeah. Terrifying!

Well, good news, the surgeons listened! I went under and 17 seconds later, our beautiful baby girl was born!

{They had to get Lennon out as fast as possible to ensure the general anesthesia did not reach her.}

12:59pm on April 30, 2014

5lbs 11oz - 19.3in

May 1,2014

NICU:

So now our precious is girl here. Due to Lennon being 5 weeks pre-mature, she was taken to the NICU. Remember the magnesium I was on for 22 hours? Well that meant Lenny Cakes was "mini zombie on fire" {poor baby girl}. Because of the mag, she wasn't able to breath well and had to be on C-PAP machine. She also developed jaundice, as most babies born at 35 weeks do.

May 1, 2014

Since I was still sick, I had to be on mag for another 24 hours. This meant I wasn't able to see Lennon for 27.5 hours after she was born and Mattie was super busy running back and forth between my room and the NICU. It's safe to say I cried when I saw her for the first time!

When we rolled down to the NICU on May 3, we were ecstatic to see that she was no longer hooked up to any breathing machines.

May 3, 2014

May 6, 2014

I was discharged on May 4th, but luckily we live only 15 minutes from the hospital. We would go up every morning and spend the day with our baby girl.

May 8, 2014

On May 5th, just after midnight, Lennon had a Brady-Cardia Apnea event. Once again in Blonde language, she stopped breathing while sleeping and her heart slowed. This added 5 more days to her time in the NICU, but our hospital had an amazing staff!

May 10, 2014

Those 5 days happened to be the most nerve racking! Lennon would be able to go home on May 10th, as long as she had no more events!

When we came in on the morning of May 9th, the Corpsman informed us that the night nurse had recorded an event while feeding Lennon. Enter "instant panic" stage left! We were releived to find out the doctors decided not to consider it event. She was discharged the next day!

NICU life was a little rough on us, but we were so blessed she was only in there for 10 days.