Lucy Ann Gonzales

Lucy Ann Gonzales came to us Thursday August 9th at 1:16pm - and the story goes...

Wednesday I felt pretty good - I got a lot done at work, I could walk around, I wasn't having contractions. It was a good day. Got home and even took a short walk with Heidi to the park. We spoke to our neighbors and she guessed I was going to go into labor tonight and man was she right. I had a brief moment of what I call nesting - I felt like I had to get the dishes done and make sure the kitchen was clean. So for nesting, that is as far as it goes for me. Went to bed and woke up at 3 am with some cramping - that just felt different. I'm like, hmmm... tried to go back to sleep but they were getting stronger. So at 3:30 am - I was up - googling - what beginning contractions are suppose to feel like and how far apart they should be - etc etc.

I started to time them and they were very rhythmic - 5 minutes apart and lasting about 30 seconds. By 4:00am - Chris woke up and asked what I was doing and I'm like: "I think I'm going into labor" - you would have thought I said the bed was on fire. He popped up and was like, do we wake up Heidi, do we call the doctor - what do we do? I'm like - time them. Of course, he realized there has to be an iPhone app for timing contractions (and there is). They increasingly got worse and more strong and a bit to handle but stuck around 5 minutes apart. I wanted to get to 6:30am because that's when daycare opened up.

Well at 5:30am - I changed my mind and knew they were a lot stronger - very strong and intense. Time to get the troops moving. Ever try to do a 4 year old's hair while having a contraction and trying to be calm and not scare her - yeah - I don't recommend it.

We called our super awesome wonderful neighbor and arranged for them to watch Heidi and Heidi was a lot more calm knowing she would be at their house. By the time we got everything together and everyone ready - it was about 6:15am and we were off to the hospital. That was a long ride. I'm not going to sugar coat it and I'm sure some morning rush hour people got a kick watching me. Oh and we are also waiting for our speeding ticket to come in the mail - yes, we got one - one of those speed cameras went off on the way to the hospital. Oops.

We finally got to the hospital and in the room by 7am. I was, well... in full labor. They checked me and I was 6 cm dilated and 80% effaced. I had done a lot of work on my own - but ALL I wanted was an epidural and the doctors thought that was a great idea. Step one - get an IV in and some fluids before I'm allowed to get the epi. Well... 5 tries, two blown veins and a hematoma on my hand later, the head person finally got one in me. I got my fluids and then finally got my epidural by 9am. Yes - two hours to get my drugs... two hours...

I got the epidural and could relax a bit, which was much needed at this point. I was 7 cm dilated and 100% effaced. It slowed way down from there until about noon. I looked at Chris and told him we were getting close. I could start feeling a lot of pressure and my water leaked a little bit. They checked me and I was 9.5 cm and almost ready to go. My water completely broke and the party began!

At 1:10pm they checked me and I was 10! Well... the epidural does jack poo at this point and I needed to get her out. 3 pushes later - she came out. The doctor didn't even have his scrubs on and the resident doctor caught. It was a whirlwind.

The baby nurse weighed her and she goes 9 pounds and 10 ounces and I was like WHAT??? 20 3/4 long. Holy cow... well not to be too TMI - but I don't think I was made to push out a almost 10 pound baby. Two doctors had to stitch me up...a lot... for a whole hour. Really not cool.

I didn't get to hold her for a long time, because of my situation, but eventually I did and was able to nurse for like 5 minutes. At this point it was good that we didn't have any family or friends in town as there were people messing with me and everything all the way to 3:30 or 4:00. I don't think we even called anyone to tell them until then. Crazy!

We got to our recovery room around 4:30pm and were ready to eat and relax and enjoy Lucy. They came at 5:00pm to give her a bath and said they would return her at 5:45 so she could nurse again. Well 5:45 passed....6:00pm passed....6:15pm and I sent Chris on a hunt. Right then our nurse comes in and gives us an update. Lucy's breathing was very fast and her color wasn't right. They called a doctor in to look at her and would give us an update after that. We went to the nursery to see her and then back to our room for the waiting game. The waiting game turned into her going to the NICU and we weren't able to see her until 10pm. The doctors were throwing all sorts of scenarios at us and what tests they need to do etc etc - so the testing began and we were in for a roller coaster.

Later that night we were able to see her and find out the plan for Lucy. They were almost 100% that she just had a lot of fluids in her lungs that her body was not absorbing. It was causing her to breath very quickly and have issues with keeps her oxygen in her blood at the right levels. They put an oxygen nose thingy on her and a tube down her belly to help get the crap out. She had a bloated belly and needed help.

Eventually they could take the tube out of her belly and we were headed in the right direction. Big Sister Heidi was ready to meet her the next day and Grandma Babs and Grandpa Darrell were also arriving in town. Everyone was ready to meet Lucy!

Lucy has a lot of battle wounds. :( She has gotten poked and prodded and has tape marks and bruises all over her. Each day they get better, but I still feel bad for her!

Chris had the honor of changing the first poopy diaper! HA!

I asked Heidi if she liked Lucy - this was her reaction...

Here is her first bottle feeding - she gulped it down! She loved the milk. Also we were finally able to hold her and all of us jumped at the chance!

Shortly after the bottle feeding test, she did well, but the doctors decided they didn't want her to have to work to eat out of a bottle and breath as quickly as she was breathing. They decided to put a feeding tube in her nose. It was a bummer we wouldn't be able to bottle feed her, but at least she is still getting my milk. :)

She also had a good time period of eyes open and wide awake. Her eyes are SOOO blue! They are awesome!

Trying to keep giving Heidi attention - Heidi asked for special hair today - so I did my best :)

We think it ended up being too soon to be able to hold her so much and we took a step back today - she is just having issues with clearing her lungs. Today the theme was - leave her alone - leave her in the bubble and let's hope she makes a lot of improvement for tomorrow. We need clear lungs! Here is Lucy...our bubble baby... also, Heidi needed a day home and to just play or watch TV and recover. Today was a recovery day for everyone!

She is so cute and chunky - we love her! We just want to be able to take her home healthy! As the doctor says - she just needs a little more time!