A "rough start" for our sweet Lillian

Sorry my poor blog has been a little neglected these last couple months. Well, I am alive and functioning somewhat these days. I can't believe it's already been almost 8 weeks since these first pics. It has been a rough go for this sweet baby girl that joined our family on February 20th. Thinking about it all, I am somewhat overwhelmed at where to even begin writing for my blog. I am writing most of the details down for my own records and memory keeping. So here it goes...
Warning: This is REALLYYY LONG!! sorry.

Sunday morning, Feb 20th I had started having pretty random but very hard and painful contractions all morning long, ranging 15-20 minutes apart until around 11:30 they started getting a little closer together like 10 min apart. Mark had gone to church with the kids and I stayed home intending to not even go to church b/c I didn't want to hear another single comment on how HUGE I was and why haven't I had that baby yet! (little did I know that I would be home laboring all morning) Anyways, I texted Mark at church around 1pm and let him know I was having some pretty painful contractions and they were getting more like 5-10 minutes apart but not to the point that I was ready to hop in the car and go to the hospital. I told him I was going to lay down and see if anything changes and I would let him know. Umm yeah, so I layed down and had the worst most painful LONG contraction I could stand that put me in tears and I immediately texted him back and said come NOW! haha! So Mark hurried home, dropped off kids at Kristin and Neal's, we took off and were at the hospital by 2:15, contractions still a good 5-6 min apart but very painful. I was actually starting to doubt that I was in real labor because the contractions weren't getting closer together. Well, the nurse checked me and I was dilated to an 8!!!! CRAZY! We were shocked and the first thing out of Mark's mouth was "does she have time for the epidural?!?!"" HAHHA!!! Thank goodness there was time and I did get the drugs!! WHOOHOO!! Soon the doctor came in to check me, break my water and feel the baby's position, which she then informed us that she was posterior. DANG! Thank heaven's for that epidural!! After A LOT of hard crazy pushing, all while the doctor is turning the baby as I'm pushing, for a good 40 minutes, she was out by 4:24pm. pm!! We welcomed our sweet, CHUBBY little Lillian Sophia to our world and little did we know what we were in for with this little spirit for the next 6 weeks!! She weighed a whopping 9 pounds and was 21 inches long which came as a huge shock to us all! As I look back I am sure that was the Lord's way of protecting her and giving her a little reserve to keep her strong through all that her little body was going to endure through the next several weeks.

That evening Lillian got to meet her brother and sisters and Grandma and Grandpa Stacy. I forgot to mention that her Auntie Kristin was there for the delivery and she was the one taking all the great pics through it all. Thanks Kristin! Anyways, the pics below are of the family enjoying our sweet Lillian just hours after she entered our world. The kids LOVE their new baby sister. Madelyn especially wanted to keep giving her kisses on her head and keep holding her and she even wanted to share her sticker with her. It was so sweet.






Well, so after all the family left, Mark and I enjoyed our little angel girl for a while and she finally nursed for a bit and then that's when it all started. She was making a weird grunting sound and wasn't quite settled in her breathing. She just seemed uncomfortable and wouldn't go into a quiet deep sleep. I was so exhausted so I asked Mark to take her to the nursery so I could get some rest. I remember sometime in the middle of the night, the nurse came in to tell me that Lillian had thrown up and she had a fever and so they took her to the NICU so the nurses there could keep a closer watch on her. I didn't think much of it at that point because I was half asleep and then woke up in the morning to find out they had her all hooked up to an IV and oxygen and all kinds of wires and monitors and they had taken her blood to run some tests and see what kind of infection she might have. We wouldn't know until Tuesday what the test results were and she wouldn't be coming home with us. Not what I was wanting to hear.

We found out on Tuesday morning that Lillian tested positive for Group B Strep and that they needed to do a lumbar puncture to get some spinal fluid and make sure the infection didn't get into her spine which could cause meningitis. Luckily they got a successful LP and the test came back clear. We were told many times how lucky we were that they caught the infection so early and got her started on antibiotics so quickly because she could have gotten seriously ill. It was so sad to see her all hooked up to everything and I of course was super emotional and sad that I couldn't take my baby home with me but at the same time I was feeling super blessed that we caught it early and that our sweet little Lillian was going to be fine. She just had to stay in the NICU for 10 days to get her antibiotics through an IV. The next 10 days were long and stressful and very emotional for our family. We are so grateful for all the sweet families that brought us meals and for all the phone calls and visits from family and friends. We are also so grateful to all the wonderful amazing nurses that cared for Lillian 24-7. It was reassuring to know that every night that I had to say goodbye to my baby and go home I knew she was in great hands and those nurses took great care of her. I am so grateful for my mother and how much she just stepped it up at this time for my family and took care of my three older kids so that they could still have some stability even though their mom was gone every day all day. I missed my kids so much but I knew I was where I was supposed to be everyday with our sweet little Lillian. The next several pics are from Lillian's time spent in NICU at Sutter Roseville.

One week old.

GOING HOME!! (the first time) Lillian was 11 days old and 8 lbs. 14 oz.

Well, so we brought Lilly home on Thursday, March 3rd and these are the only pics I took of her at home for just a short 3 days before we were rushing to the ER on Sunday March 6th.

Sunday morning, Mark took the kids to church and me and my mom stayed home. So far Lillian was doing great and I had finally gotten her to nurse really well Saturday night and Sunday morning (I was having trouble transitioning her from the bottle that she was getting in the NICU). I went to wake Lillian to feed her at 11am and noticed she was making this weird grunting noise holding her breath kinda thing. I thought at first she was trying to poop or something so I just waited to see if she was working on it. Well, she didn't really do anything and just kept making the noise and then I noticed she wouldn't open her eyes or even cry at this point when normally she would be awake and screaming and ready to eat. She kinda just went limp and seemed very lethargic. I told my mom she was acting kinda weird and so we watched her for a few minute and tried to get her to respond and wake up. At this point I started panicking. This was not normal behavior for my baby and so we tried to take her temp. Of course I have a lousy thermometer that doesn't work very well and it was hard to get any consistency with it...we did get a temp of 100 at one point and started to worry. She was still breathing but grunting and very lethargic. I seriously didn't know whether to call 911 or the doctor or what and I am so grateful that my mother was there with me and stayed calm. We decided that Lillian was stable enough to not call 911 and so I called Mark at church and he immediately made arrangements for the kids and rushed home. He walked in the door with our friend Jake and they gave Lillian a blessing and then we were out the door and speeding to the ER. I couldn't believe this was really happening! Once in the ER they took her vitals and she did have a fever over 100 and we were finally admitted after an hour of waiting. After telling the docs and nurses her history of Group B Strep and her only being 2 weeks old they took things pretty seriously and immediately tried to get an IV in her. At this point Lillian hadn't eaten since 8 am and was somewhat dehydrated because she never woke to eat at 11. It was around 3pm by now. They had many unsuccessful tries at trying to get an IV in her and finally called the NICU nurses to come do it. Anyways, after a long day in the ER, several pokes and finally getting an IV in her foot, then 2 or 3 unsuccessful lumbar punctures that were dry(she was too dehydrated), they finally transferred us to Sutter Memorial in Sacramento where they had a PICU and she would be treated there. I went in the ambulance with Lillian and Mark followed us there. The next several days were long and tiring and kind of a blur to me because now someone was to stay with Lillian 24-7. They did an MRI and an EEG and both came back clear and normal which was good news. We later found out the blood tests were all negative and clear of anything so at this point the doctors were all puzzled on not sure what was wrong with our baby. They decided that because she was given some antibiotics in the ER before blood was taken and before they could ever get a lumbar punture then that could have messed up some of the test results and she may have had some infection somewhere that we just couldn't detect from the tests. Given her history of Group B Strep, they just treated her as if it was GBS again and she was to stay on antibiotics for the original treatment duration of 10 days plus an additional week making a total of 17 days!!! WHAT?!! Better to be safe than sorry! They put a PIC line in her head, which is a tiny catheter that goes into her vein all the way down her neck and is more permanent and stable then just an IV and has a continuous flow of antibiotics. It looked so sad but was definitely so much better than her knocking out her IV's and getting poked all the time. We were moved to a regular room on the Pediatric floor and out of ICU and there we spent the next 14 or so days until finally being released on March 23rd to go home.

These next several pics are of Lillian's second stay in the hospital where we spent our days with her. Luckily I was able to trade off nights with Mom and Mark and had many visits from friends and family to help make the time go by. Looking back it seemed like the longest 17 days of my life with our sweet little one but as Tyson kept saying to me it is only a small "bump in the road." That was definitely more than a bump! I seriously felt like my baby was growing up in the hospital...her first smile was in the hospital.

Lillian's PIC line in her head...The nurses called it her "party hat".

March 23rd, Going Home!! (the 2nd time) Lillian was 4 & 1/2 weeks old. and 10 lbs.4 oz.

Well, so we made it home with a healthy baby girl finally and we thought we were going to stay there for good. Mema was staying until April 1st so that we could have some good home time and so I could get somewhat adjusted to having her home with 3 other kids. Mark also had to take a quick trip out to Utah so it was nice to still have mom there. Life was starting to feel back to normal and I was once again working on the nursing thing with Lillian which luckily she transitioned amazingly well. Yay! Mark left for another work trip to Florida on Thursday the 31st and Mom would be leaving on the 1st. Then I would be on my own...really on my own with 4 kids. Okay now I was panicking. Sadly, after being here 6 weeks almost, I took mom to the hospital on Friday afternoon. And then went to Kristin's to hang out for the evening and let the kids play and have pizza. I had fed Lillian at 5 and went to check on her at 7 because she had been taking a really good nap. When I was checking on her I got real close and noticed she was making that grunting sound again and not breathing normal...My heart dropped! NO! This could not possibly be happening again!! Well, it was. Kristin's neighbor is a paramedic and he came over and checked her out, we checked her temp, it was 101.4 and still rising. He said we needed to take her to the ER, so back to the hospital we went. Kristin and me this time...no Mark and no mom. Her temp was 102 by the time we got there and they did not mess around in the ER. Because of Lillian's now very extensive history the docs and nurses made sure to do everything they were supposed to and they were in contact with the docs that treated her at the other hospital. They got all the bloodwork and lumbar puncture before giving her any antibiotics. The nurses tried and tried to get an IV in her but it just wasn't happening so they quickly gave her some antibiotics through a shot in her leg, we had some friends come give her a priesthood blessing and then we were again transferred to Sutter Memorial hospital. Once there they kept trying to get an IV in her until finally they got one in her head. It was so sad to see my poor little baby go through so much and be poked so many times AGAIN! I seriously was in shock that this was actually all happening again! Mark flew home Sunday night and was with me on Monday when we talked to the doctor. Well, after waiting for test results for two days, the doctor came in to tell us that they found nothing, all the tests came back clear and that we would probably be taking her home. Lillian at this point was doing great and hadn't had a fever since the first night we took her in. The only explanation was that she could have just caught some virus and the fever was from that and the grunting/ breathing thing was her body reacting to the fever. A virus wouldn't show up on any of the tests they did. So on Monday afternoon we got to bring Lillian back home for the 3rd time. Hopefully her last hospital stay ever was April1-4.

Well, so who knows what it was but we are happy to have our baby home now and glad that it wasn't anything serious. We are just extra cautious and watching her like a hawk all the time and making sure we are always washing our hands. This whole experience has made me forever grateful for all my wonderful friends and family who stepped right in to help me and my family in our time of need. I don't know what I would have done without all of them. I am so grateful for the many thoughts and prayers for our sweet baby girl and I know without a doubt in my mind that the Lord was answering those prayers. We are so happy to be home now and we pray daily that our sweet Lillian will stay healthy and strong :) She has now been home 11 days which is the longest she has ever been home and we hope to keep counting the days until we no longer think about it. :)