So if you recall, late on Tuesday (her birth day) they took Maribel to the NICU because of her breathing. They put her on the nasal cannula, started an IV, started antibiotics, and did blood work to check for infections. Since she was particularly having trouble breathing through her nose, she was unable to eat. DH spent a few hours with her that evening in the NICU while I was restricted to my bed. Our nurse was kind enough though in the wee hours of Wednesday morning to get me hooked up with a wheelchair and rigged up my IV bag and catheter so I could go see Maribel in the NICU.
That was exactly what I needed to lift my spirits! While of course it was hard to see her with the nasal cannula taped to her face, see little monitors all over her body, and see her IV in her arm (with her arm taped to a straight little board to keep it from bending) I had just missed her so much, it felt amazing to see her. DH & I spent two hours with her, from 12:30am-2:30am, holding her and watching her every breath, wishing she'd stop struggling to breathe, and then went back to my room and tried to get some sleep (and by that I think we each got 2-3 hours.)
At 10am Wednesday morning my catheter was out and the nurse had made sure I could walk around on my own. Then as soon as she gave me the ok, I walked to the NICU to see our little girl. I was thrilled to see the nasal cannula gone and the nurse asked if I wanted to breastfeed. YIPPEE!!! I'd been pumping every 3 hours but this was awesome news! So since yesterday morning, Maribel has kept her pulse ox levels normal without needing additional oxygen and she's been nursing every 3 hours. As of today though, she's still in the NICU. I'm hoping she'll be able to go home tomorrow if I'm also discharged tomorrow. The items that are still pending are: she needs her cultures to be normal and she needs to be drinking enough breastmilk to be able to be weaned off of the IV fluids. Please, please let her come home with me tomorrow!
So my schedule right now has been - go to the NICU, feed Maribel, and snuggle with her. I usually spend an hour or hour and fifteen minutes doing that. After that I spend a little time walking the halls as I know walking is really important in helping with the c-section recovery. So I count my walk to and from the NICU, then I also do a walk to fill up my ice pitcher, or just do a lap around the nurses station. Then it's back to my room to eat/drink/pee/take pain meds and text any updates. Then I try to take a nap if I can (generally about 1 hour.) So this whole cycle takes 3 hours and I just keep repeating it all day and all night. I feel really good even though the only sleep I'm getting are these 1 hour catnaps. And I'm crampy of course from the c-section but so far percocet is helping me get through the bulk of the pain.
Lastly, I'm finally on solid foods - yippee!! After Tuesday being restricted to just ice and water, then Wednesday being restricted to full liquid diet (tea, juice, sherbet, soup, jell-o), I'm happy to report that I'm back on solid food and loving it!
So I'm going to leave you now to do a little walking and get ready for my 10:45 date with the NICU. Will report back in soon!
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