Fields' Family : Charlotte's First 10 Days

I cannot believe it has been over a month since my last post. I think this may be a record. Before her arrival we did not have very much going on, though. Lots of work...sleep...work...sleep, etc. The entire last month of my pregnancy Charlotte remained high in my abdomen. I could tell there was not much change, and this was confirmed during my weekly appointments. So, it was decided that I would be admitted the evening of Wednesday, August 21st for a Cervidil induction (6 pm to be exact). Matt spent the night with me in L&D. It was my first night as an actual patient in the hospital. I definitely prefer daytime hours in the hospital. We were able to get a little sleep that night. Someone probably came in our room every 2 hours to check the fetal monitor, blood pressure, etc. By morning the plan was to start Pitocin. The monitor said I was having contractions, but I never really felt much of anything. Charlotte, however, did not like the contractions. So, our doctor was called in first thing and the decision was made to take me back for a C-section.

Things past that point are kind of a blur. The C-section decision was made at about 7 am, so we had to call our parents and tell them to get to the hospital ASAP. I was now on the schedule to go back to the OR at 9 am. Fortunately, all 4 parents were already in town! They sent me back on time, and Charlotte arrived shortly afterward. The delivery itself was pretty uneventful. Matt was able to watch as they cleaned and weighed her. It was a relief for me to hear her crying. While they "finished up" with me in the OR Matt took Charlotte out to meet our parents. The hall has a camera, so I was able to watch the reveal from a TV in the OR. From there they took me to recovery which lasted quite a while. We later learned that they were waiting on a clean room, so that was the hold up. Charlotte and Matt were both brought into recovery, and later that morning we met back up with our family in my hospital room.

This hospital room is where I spent the next 3 nights. The room was very nice, so I can't complain. Matt stayed with me the entire time. We were discharged last Sunday (one week ago today). Charlotte's weight did drop during our hospital stay (6 lbs 5 oz), but we returned for a follow up 2 days post discharge and she had already gained back 3 ounces. We have our first official pediatrician appointment this Thursday. I can't wait to see how much she has gained.

Throughout this experience I have not taken as many pictures as you may expect. Other family members have made up in my absence, though. Mom stayed with us until yesterday and was so much help! Matt's mom is coming this week for a visit, too. We are very thankful to have such involved and supportive parents and appreciate all they do for us. :)

Last night, however, was our first night alone at home as a family of 3 (4 if you include Toby). Charlotte did great! Let me rewind to tell you last Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we probably slept a total of 4 or 5 hours. (It has taken her a little while to adjust to the breast milk.) Last night, however, was a big improvement. We put her down at 11:30 pm, and she woke up wet and hungry at 2 am. She went back down about 2:30 and woke up again to eat about 6. She fell back asleep at 6:30 and woke us up for "breakfast" and a diaper change around 8:45. Overall, a very successful night! We know there will be many rough nights ahead, but I think we are prepared!

Below I am going to post pictures from mom's camera. Later this week I will probably include pics from Shelley's camera as well. Charlotte would like to give a shout out to Aunt Shelley for coming from Birmingham for a visit while we were in the hospital. Shelley also took pictures with her professional camera and did a great job!

Here is a timeline of pictures from the last 10 (actually 11) days!