Hospital Trip Details

This post is mainly for my records. I will quickly forget all the details of this horrifying hospital trip with my two week old believe it or not. I'll blame it on mommy brain.

On Sunday night before the snow/ice storm, Annabelle started sneezing more, sounding very congested in her nose, and coughing a little dry cough. Throughout the ice storm we kept using saline drops in Annabelle's nose and suctioning to no avail. By Thursday I was making Emma Catherine's follow up appointment and decided I would get Dr. B to take a look at Annabelle too. I'm so glad I made the appointment. That evening Annabelle's cough went from the little dry cough to a hacking wet cough. Dr. B checked out both the girls on Friday and said to call back if Annabelle started coughing more frequently. By lunch on Saturday Annabelle was coughing several times an hour and I noticed that she had a little more difficulty breathing, so we headed back to see Dr. B. After listening to Annabelle and watching her breath, she asked me to take a look at Annabelle's chest. Her skin was pulling in just below her rib cage every time she would take a breath. So Dr B calmly told us to take Annabelle to the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta ER at Scottish Rite. They gave us orders for an RSV test and an xray, gave us directions, and called ahead to let them know we were coming. Dr. B reassured me that she really thought Annabelle would be just fine, but wanted her to be observed over night just in case.

Just a side note, my nephew, Robert, had RSV when he was 6 weeks old. It is a nasty bug for infants that breath 90% of their oxygen through their nostrils. It starts out just like any other cold, but can quickly move to the rest of their little respiratory system. So I knew how serious RSV could be for Annabelle. Robert also suffered with slight asthma following his bought with RSV. And from what I knew, once a baby has RSV then all subsequent colds go straight to their chests. Hence my silent tears when RSV came out of Dr B's mouth.

At the ER, they followed Dr B's orders plus Craig, the amazing respiratory therapist, did a nasal wash. He shot saline in one side of her nose and almost simultaneously suctioned it out the other side using only a bulb syringe. Annabelle didn't even know what was going on until it was over and then she could breath so much better that she didn't really care. Note: this is not nearly as easy as it sounds, so I don't recommend trying it at home - just ask Bo.

One tid bit we learned about RSV in the ER is that you can shed it for 21 days and keep contracting it. So if you ever get it,.try to keep your hands washed and bulb syringe clean.

After all the testing was complete, Dr. Delgado entered. I like to call him Dr. Worthless =) He told us the xray was clear, but the RSV test was positive. He said, oh it is just a virus and there is nothing we can do but let her heal with time - there was some truth to that statement, some. He listened to her chest and watched her breath. Then said something to the effect of, oh she looks fine and sounds clear so you guys can go. He did take a moment to call Dr B and let her know what he thought, basically that she should have never sent us in. Dr B asked to speak to us. She asked if Annabelle seemed to be breathing better. With Dr. Worthless standing right there I felt a lot of pressure to say "oh everything is fine". I didn't say that exactly, but said something like "well, she is breathing a little better since the nasal wash". Dr B asked if she was still pulling in below her rib cage. I responded with a definite yes. So she said to watch Annabelle closely throughout the night and do breathing treatments for her every 4 hours. To which Dr Worthless chimed in to say only do the breathing treatments if she needs them. Really?Then Dr Worthless also told us reasons to bring her back as follows:

1. pulling in of the skin between the bones of her rib cage

2. high fever

3. if she started turning purple and blue

I kid you not.

Dr B said she would send a sleep apnea machine to our house to monitor Annabelle's breathing. We worked with the nurse and the machine's company for the rest of the afternoon. Long story short, we found out at 11PM that night we weren't going to get one.

So we took Annabelle home from the ER with a new bulb syringe in hand - like that really helped at all the past week? And trust me, I have used a bulb syringe several times on Emma Catherine with lots of yucky, snotty success, but it is different with a two week old.

Around 9PM I decided to take EC to bed and nap with her until Annabelle's 11PM breathing treatment. Mom and Bo watched Annabelle, so I was actually able to rest after since I did not sleep at all the night before.

We did Annabelle's 11PM treatment and then she nursed. To me Annabelle seemed to be having a little more trouble breathing, but I thought that it probably had to get worse before it got better. My mom thought of a brilliant idea to use EC's new tent and the humidifier to make a more humid environment for Annabelle and I to hang out. We were hoping it would help loosen the mucus that was clogging Annabelle's respiratory system, because I wasn't able to suction anything out of her nose even though you could hear all the gunky build up. Mom sat up reading on the couch next to the tent, while I sat up in the tent - dozing off and on - while holding Annabelle at a 45 degree angle to let anything that loosened drain down her throat.

By her 2AM feeding, I noticed it was much much more difficult for Annabelle to breath. She also had a fever of 100.7 - anything above 100.5 if fever in an infant. After a reassuring yes from my mom and a call to the nurse line, I decided we would take her back to the ER.

Luckily the children's ER was completely empty around 3AM. The nurse came out to do triage, took one look at Annabelle's rib cage, and personally carried her to the back while urging me to walk a little faster. When the nurse carried Annabelle through the back doors all the other people behind the desks looked up with that look like - uh oh. I didn't notice this, but Bo did.

Before we knew it, we were in a mother of all hospital rooms with 8 people standing around Annabelle doing various things. They promptly found Bo and I chairs - hint, stay out of the way - at the end of the bed. I did get to mention that she had RSV, but the doctor still insisted on doing blood work for cultures and various other things. Plus he added a urine cath and a spinal tap (lumbar puncture). All routine items when infants have fever (this was all done on EC at 5 months), but scary none the less! Plus they had to cath her twice because the nurse messed up the first time. The respiratory therapist this time was Larry and I liked him as well. He did treatments and in between them took time to calm Annabelle as well as reassure her frightened parents at the foot of the bed. He also started Annabelle on oxygen. Then the doctor started the "routine, just in case" antibiotics. I'll be honest, they seemed to help get rid of her fever. Plus, we are pretty sure Annabelle contracted the same virus Emma Catherine and Eric had and they both had to have antibiotics. After all that, we were moved to another room for monitoring until they found us a room upstairs in the PICU.

The next few days were kind of a blur. Constant prayers being sent from Bo and me. Drs, nurses, techs, respiratory therapists were in and out all the time and never at the same time. Not to mention the beeping and alarms from every machine in that room, which are worse at night because she was sleeping deeper and breathing more shallow. We were constantly altering Annabelle's position when her blood oxygen level dropped to low. Increasing, decreasing, increasing her oxygen supply while we were trying to get her back on just room air.

Finally I just gave it all up. Not gave up, but gave it to God because obviously there was nothing I could do. I think God uses times like this to remind us of things that we may have forgotten.

Annabelle's fever finally subsided. The cultures came back negative for a bacterial infection the same morning her IV infiltrated, so that came out and got to stay out - yay!! They wanted to test for two specific viruses. One would have been transmitted from me during delivery if I'd had herpes. We all know I don't have that, but they didn't ask me. Those tests came back negative. Annabelle started just breathing room air again and they stopped suctioning her nose as much. Finally, we got to go home!!

Of course we walked through the door to see Emma Catherine and the first person she wanted to kiss was Annabelle =)

We are still doing breathing treatments and her lungs aren't clear more than a week later, but she is acting well and eating again! The little princess gained a pound and a half in just 3 weeks! Here's to seeing a quick end to this winter/cold and flu season! Anyone with me on that?

Thanks guys!

So much has happened since my last post. Most of you probably already know about Annabelle's first hospital trip. Here she is hanging with her hippo on day 5, so she was looking pretty good again.

You all were so kind to come visit us and bring us the necessities - chocolate, magazines, veggie tales movies. Wait, maybe that last one was for Emma Catherine. Who was blessed to spend the week with both of her grandmothers! She also had drop in play dates with Pipo and Mary. Thank you all so much! I know it was hard to give that kind of time during your busy schedules, but it meant more to us than you can imagine!

Aunt Amelia and Eric even came over to play the day after we came home from the hospital. And my parents stayed the weekend to offer some extra moral support and babysitting help.

Poppa multitasking...

I could listen to you for hours.

Okay, maybe I'm a little tired.

Watch out, you could catch the sleeping bug too!

My house has not recovered from last week, but slowly my family is and that is what is important right now. I just wanted to make sure I said a HUGE thank you to everyone who came to help us, brought us food, cared for us, and prayed for us last week. I am a strong believer in the power of prayer, so if you ever need some extra prayers sent up for you just give us a call, email, or fb post!

Much love,

The Lanes

Annabelle Grace Lane

This post is mostly for Annabelle's birth story. So if you don't want all the details, don't read! There is even one picture from right after the waterbirth. I don't think it is a gross picture, but you have been warned because I was in my bra!

On New Year's Eve morning I started having some crampy contractions around 4AM. Emma Catherine was a bit restless that morning, so we dozed off and on together. The contractions finally fizzled out after a few hours. For the rest of the day I just didn't feel quite right, so I took it easy and rested when I could. However, we did make one trip to the park that afternoon.

My niece Rachel was a HUGE help with Emma Catherine!


I just love this face =)

Last picture of Amelia and me pregnant together.


Emma Catherine loved the slides!


40 weeks pregnant!

Around 7:30PM I lost my mucus plug. By 8PM the contractions started back up again and they were 5-7 minutes apart. Around 9PM Bo and I took Emma Catherine downstairs for bedtime. I figured it would be the last time with just the 3 of us. After I left the room, Emma Catherine told Bo, "I don't want you to go to the hospital." Smart girl! I hadn't even told anyone I thought I was in labor =)

Around 10PM I asked to ride over to the hospital just in case. I was positive for group B strep at 37 weeks, so I had been told I would need one round of antibiotics before getting into the birthing pool. Which meant I needed to get to the hospital early. I wasn't sure I wanted to birth Annabelle in the pool, but I had been told about how the pool could speed up active labor and ease pain so I decided to at least labor in the pool.

My contractions started to space out in the car. They were about 10 minutes apart by the time we got to the hospital. So we walked around for about 30 minutes and my contractions started to pick up again. This time they were about 3-5 minutes apart.

Around 11PM I decided to check in at labor and delivery. I knew the nurse would have to do a 30 minute strip and I wanted to get that done before the pain level picked up. Of course when I checked in and laid down in the bed my contractions started to space out again. I was only 2cm when the nurse checked me at midnight. She told me to walk around for an hour and after checking me again she would "decide if they wanted to keep me".

At 1:30 AM I was 4cm, so they checked me into a room. My midwife (Kay) had shown up at that point and started to fill up the birthing pool. I was violently shivering at this point and the contractions were starting to feel "very productive" as my doula (Annette) would say. So Bo helped me shower off with antibacterial soap and I got into the birthing pool.

My first contraction in the pool was like HEAVEN. No seriously, I thought my labor had stopped. I told Annette that I wasn't sure I was in labor any more. And I remember her saying, "no sweetie, that is why they call it the midwife's epidural." She wasn't kidding! We timed my contractions and they were still 3-5 minutes apart, so I was definitely still in labor.

I "labored" like that until 4AM when my water broke. I felt the same "pop" sensation that I felt when my water broke with Emma Catherine, but this time I felt my body kind of bounce up, the water (completely clear thank goodness) rushed out, and it felt like Annabelle's head was pressing down harder. I was in the middle of a contraction and the difference was immediately noticeable. It actually hurt again and I definitely knew I was in labor. It was a manageable level of pain, so I still didn't think I was very far along.

I labored like that until 5:15 when my nurse came in and said she wanted me out of the pool at 6AM for another strip. I told her I would rather die =) and I meant it at that point. I remembered what the contractions felt like before I had gotten into the pool, and that was before my water broke. I had started to feel the urge to push, but I wasn't quite ready yet. I felt like the pool was too big for me to get in a good position. It was like I was a few inches to short to get the back support and leverage I needed for my legs. So Annette talked to me about a couple of options and I decided to have Kay check me to see what my dilation was at that point.

When Kay checked me she said I was basically ready to push except for one spot, so on the next contraction she helped me push past it, while Annette, Bo, mom, and Kathy supported me. Debbie took pictures - for better or for worse. And four very painful contractions later Annabelle was born at 5:45AM on New Year's day.

Okay, here is the right after picture (the white stuff in the water is the stuff that is on a baby's skin while she is in utero):

Gotta love that cone head! Annabelle's head was EXTREMELY molded. She has a large soft spot on top and now you can feel the gap between the two plates from one soft spot to the other. When she was born, you could actually feel how the two plates overlapped.

So I have decided to add in one more detail about the birth. I did actually reach down and pull Annabelle out of the water myself. I hesitate to add this part because I know how weird and granola it sounds. In the past I have read stories about doing this and it just seemed so strange to me. But during the delivery those last four contractions were so painful because all my concentration was lost, I just got to the point that I wanted Annabelle out. After her head was out I had one more contraction and I remember Annette saying, "Emily, reach down and get your baby." I remembered from Bradley class that I could just hook one finger underneath each armpit and pull her up, so I did. It just happened. It honestly just seemed so natural and not strange at all. Now when I look down at her sweet face, all I can think about is the fact that I was the first one to hold her and look down at that precious face. It was honestly one of the coolest moments in my entire life and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

After this I held my sweet girl for at least 20 minutes =) Then I got out of the pool for the afterbirth, while Bo had some time with Annabelle. I did ask for Motrin very soon after this because the afterbirth pains kicked in immediately and they were so much stronger than they had been with Emma Catherine. Many people warned me the afterbirth pains (cramping and such) would be more painful, but man they weren't kidding! I felt like I was having labor contractions again - this time without the nice warm water.

After that I nursed Annabelle for over an hour before the nurse came in to weigh her and give her a bath.





Thank you crazy nurse lady for my girl's first (and hopefully last) mohawk...


Crazy nurse also made Annabelle stay under the heating lamp for about 45 minutes which I still think was just crazy. Annabelle's temperature was fine when I gave her to the nurse. All she had to do was give my baby back and my body would have warmed Annabelle back up while she nursed more. Trust me, I was warm enough for the room full of us!

After shift change we were moved to the postpartum room and in flooded the family visitors!

The next morning we were given permission by my midwife and Annabelle's pediatrician to be released. But we woke up to a call from mom saying Emma Catherine had spiked a fever over 103 during the night. My sister Debbie was taking care of her at my brother's house in Woodstock. Mom came back to the hospital since she had only been in Woodstock to sleep that night and had not really been exposed to Emma Catherine. And the rest of the story most of you already know from my previous posts.

Here are a few shots of us getting ready to head home from the hospital.









Overall the experience was way better than Emma Catherine's labor and delivery. North Fulton is a very good hospital. I didn't love my labor nurse, but I do understand she has to follow hospital protocol. I'm just glad my midwife and doula were there to stick up for me. Like when the nurse said I needed to get out of the pool so the guy from the lab could draw my blood. I was completely covered up with towels in the pool, but the guy felt uncomfortable. So Kay walked out and asked him to please send a female lab tech if he felt that uncomfortable. He did.

Later my pool water got up to 106 degrees and against the nurse's wishes, Annette placed ice just around me so I could cool off. And she proceeded to take control of regulating the water for the rest of the labor. The nurse was only supposed to let the water get to 101. When the temp gets too high during a water birth it can elevate the baby's heart rate and make it appear to be in distress.

Before getting into the pool, Annette showed Bo a counter pressure technique for my upper hips that worked wonders while I labored on the birthing ball.

I was also quite nauseated for most of my labor. Once again Annette saved the day. She used peppermint essential oil from her bag to give me a head and jaw message. This helped relieve so much tension and the scent eased my nausea. She kept a washcloth corner soaked in the oil and placed on my head for the rest of my labor. And she did countless other things to offer support. As Bo said, "It was money well spent. We would have paid a lot more for her help and knowledge." She was awesome!

We were very blessed by many supportive hands throughout my labor. My mom, Kathy, and Debbie were also there helping with many different things along the way. Bo and I feel so blessed to have been surrounded with such support. We are grateful for a safe labor and delivery. And most of all we thank God for our precious little healthy bundle of joy, Annabelle Grace =)

Home is where your family is...

Emma Catherine and Bo are home at last!!! They surprised us by showing up just before lunch =) Emma Catherine jumped right into my arms and didn't even want to get up to take a bubble bath! Bo showered and proceeded to hold Annabelle for the next few hours. It was the sweetest thing =)



Emma Catherine has been fever free for more than 24 hours. Her cough still sounds yucky, but she was so happy all day. The first thing she wanted to do after hugging mommy was to see Annabelle. She helped me change her diaper and told Annabelle, "It's okay Annabelle. It's okay." because Annabelle was crying. If Annabelle is laying in the cradle and starts crying Emma Catherine says, "Go take care of her mommy." If I'm holding Annabelle and she starts crying Emma Catherine gets this really scared look, so I have to tell them both it's okay =) She is already such a sweet big sister who is very attentive to her little sister!


The first time I fed Annabelle in front of Emma Catherine they both ended up in tears. Emma Catherine wanted to sit on the same leg that Annabelle was sitting on. After asking her to please sit on the other leg, Emma Catherine finally got up to go to the other side when she lost her balance and her knee hit Annabelle's head. I'm not sure Annabelle was really hurt, but she was very upset about loosing her milk supply. She started screaming and Emma Catherine started crying. So we all three ended up hugging and everything was okay once Annabelle had her milk back again.


Emma Catherine had another breathing treatment at 12:30AM. She and I were snuggling after the treatment when Annabelle started crying. I asked Emma Catherine if I should go check on Annabelle. Emma Catherine said "Yeah. She might need a drink." And she had no problem going back to sleep while I went to feed Annabelle. I hope she continues to be so generous =)

Thank you all for praying for us this past week! Having our family separated was not my first choice, but when you have 3 pediatricians recommend keeping your sick toddler away from your newborn you can't really argue. Plus, who wants to have a newborn hospitalized when it could be prevented? It was definitely a tough week for all of us, but I would do everything the same way again given the situation. We are just thankful Emma Catherine came down with this illness when she did. If it had been one day sooner Bo and I would have been exposed before Annabelle arrived. If it had been one day later then Bo, Annabelle, and I would have been exposed. God does work miracles!

Hoping

We are hoping things are turning around. Last night at midnight Emma Catherine's temperature was below 100 and it was the same this morning. The midnight breathing treatment was not fun for Emma Catherine or daddy, but they said the 8AM treatment went much better. Aunt Amelia took the above picture at 8AM. She and Eric stayed home to hang out with Bo and EC today. Hopefully that kept her mind off missing mommy. They called last night and the first thing Emma Catherine said was "Mommy I want to come home with you". Yeah, I shed quite a few tears after hearing that. Luckily, Eric brought Emma Catherine's bottle of water to her at about the same time and he did something that made her laugh. So that made me feel a little better. At least she is laughing and having fun despite being a sick little cookie.

Bo updated us after nap. She has been fever free since before nap! So perhaps the antibiotic shot helped and we finally have her on the right medicine. Apparently she also went potty today and did very well with her 4PM breathing treatment. She is such a little trooper!

Unfortunately, Aunt Amelia and Eric are now sick. Eric saw his pediatrician and they think he has something viral. So maybe EC did start out with a virus that left her susceptible to a bacterial infection. Either way, we just hope everyone will get well soon! What a yucky cold season.

Annabelle has been a nursing and diaper making machine the past couple days. And I have had enough milk to start pumping and freezing a supply. Annabelle was also awake most of the afternoon. Maybe she is figuring out what day time is now. She hasn't been completely confused about day and night, but she was definitely thinking some time between 9PM and 2AM was party time. I can't say I blame her since I was typically laying down by 9PM during our pregnancy and that would finally allow her some room to stretch out! She is also a thumb, finger, hand, wrist, anything she can get into her mouth sucker. So we are going to need some soothie pacifiers in the near future!

Still in Woodstock

Emma Catherine stayed fever free through the night, so Bo took her to play with Oula today. He really needed to check on things at work and we thought it would be a fun treat for Emma Catherine to see Oula. Oula said they had a great time playing this morning and eating chick fil a for lunch - Emma Catherine's favorite place to eat. Then after her nap, Bo arrived to pick her up and she threw up. So he checked her temp and it was over 100 again. So Emma Catherine has now seen her pediatrician. Dr Beckford says she has bronchitis and a touch of pneumonia in her left lung. Bo had to hold her down for an antibiotic shot and a 5 minute breathing treatment in the doctor's office. Then Dr Beckford prescribed a new antibiotic and breathing treatments every 8 hours for EC. They aren't even sure the antibiotic will help since we don't know if her illness is viral or bacterial. Needless to say, Bo and Emma Catherine are headed back to Woodstock for the near future.

I'm going crazy because I can't hold my girl and kiss her and snuggle her. I wasn't there to hold her for her shot or breathing treatment. I couldn't sing her favorite song. Okay, so I know my hormones are all over the place because I just gave birth, but I keep thinking about the case of pneumonia that put me in the hospital when EC was 3 months old. So I keep telling myself she will be fine and we just keep praying she will get better soon. Maybe the shot of antibiotic will be exactly what she needed to kick this virus.

Please say a special prayer for my Emma Catherine and for Bo. Tonight's midnight breathing treatment will be a special challenge for both.

Here's to hoping for a better update tomorrow!

More Updates

So Bo's last night in Woodstock was eventful. Check out the goose egg Emma Catherine got from falling off the couch. (Not a great picture sent via blackberry - look at the edge of the shadow.)

Those toddlers are quick and when hyped up on fever reducers they think they can stand on furniture...

Emma Catherine's fever spiked again last night, so she and Bo are still in Woodstock tonight =( But the good news is she woke up fever free from her nap this afternoon!! Please pray she will stay fever free through the night so they can come home tomorrow. Also, say a prayer for my brother and his family because we think they are all coming down with the cold Emma Catherine had - and Amelia is 23 weeks pregnant. They are so sweet to house my sick girl and hubby. I really hope they aren't getting sick too.

Here is a picture of EC playing with Eric tonight sent via Bo's blackberry.


I mean who wouldn't miss that face?

Annabelle had her check up today. She has lost another half a pound since we left the hospital and has a slight case of jaundice. But my milk just came in yesterday and the pediatrician said sometimes babies who are breastfed get special type of jaundice (EC had jaundice after she was born too). So we go back in two weeks for the next check up. I really like Annabelle's pediatrician, I just wish she were located here and not in Alpharetta. It was quite a trek for Annabelle, mom (who HATES driving on the interstate), and me.

I'm doing better today. Annabelle's pediatrician checked her latch and gave me some new tips to try when nursing her. It is amazing that you can forget how to nurse such a tiny newborn after nursing a toddler. Plus I have accepted the fact that Bo and I make babies with a really strong suck. He pacified her with a gloved hand on Sunday for some blood work at the hospital. When he came back he said he understood why nursing could be painful. And we both vaguely remember Emma Catherine having such a strong suck too.

My afterbirth pains seem to be lessening too. They aren't kidding when they say the cramping can get increasingly more painful after each baby. My doula said that after her forth baby she asked them to put him back in because the afterbirth was so painful.

Bo sounded pitiful on the phone tonight. You can tell it is really tearing him up that he hasn't seen Annabelle since Sunday. He is such a great daddy. He said that he has enjoyed the time with EC, but he is ready to come home and get to know Annabelle too.

More updates tomorrow. And maybe some Annabelle pictures if Bo can get my computer back up and running...

A Little Update

I promise to blog all about Annabelle, the labor, the birth etc very soon, but my computer died yesterday morning so this is the first chance I've had to give everyone a quick update.

Most of you know we were in Woodstock at my brother's house when I went in to labor. Bo and I put Emma Catherine to bed before heading to the hospital on New Year's Eve and left her to play with her aunts, uncles, and cousins until Annabelle was ready to come home.

Yesterday morning momma called Bo and me at the hospital to let us know Emma Catherine had spiked a fever over 103 during the night. Not really what you want to hear on the day you are hoping to unite your new family. So after a call to Annabelle's pediatrician, Bo and I decided to split up so both of our girls could have at least one parent.

Bo brought Annabelle, momma, and me home yesterday. Then he headed to Woodstock to snuggle Emma Catherine and take her to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Immediate Care Center on Busbee Parkway. After about 4 hours of waiting, she was finally seen. Her fever was above 103 again. They tested her for strep and that came back negative. So the doctor assumed it was the flu, but apparently they don't test for flu at that center. The pediatrician also said they were seeing a different strain of the flu than what was in the vaccine this year, so even if she had gotten the flu shot she probably still had the flu. He offered to write Emma Catherine a prescription for tamiflu and said Bo could take her to get tested at a minute clinic and then fill the prescription if needed. Needless to say, Bo was a little more than perturbed when he left the center and has vowed to never go back. So Bo and Emma Catherine went back to Woodstock last night. Momma, Annabelle, and I stayed here in Powder Springs.

This morning Bo took her to a minute clinic just to make sure she didn't have the flu. The nurse took one look at her ears and said the poor girl has "raging" ear infections in both ears. Since the pediatrician saw EC at 6PM the day before, we are very unsure as to how he missed this. The nurse also said that she does seem to have a virus, but the ear infections were probably what was causing the high fever. So EC is starting her antibiotic today and we are hoping she can come meet her little sister tomorrow or Wednesday.

We are very much missing Bo and Emma Catherine, but are so grateful Grammy is here with us.

Grandma came by last night, cooked us a yummy pot of soup and cornbread, brought groceries, and best of all - made us a pan of brownies =)

Poppa stopped by on his way back to Alabama. He also brought groceries and scrubbed the tub so I could soak away some of these afterbirth pains. How many dad's would do that? I feel so very loved.

Annabelle is nursing well and she is beautiful - yes I'm her momma =) I'm really REALLY missing my blondies, but trying to enjoy every second of this special bonding time with my sweet Annabelle before I have to split my time between two beautiful girls.