Our Tiny

Sorry the pictures are small and I dont have anything written under them, Im still new at this... The first picture is of George and Blondie looking at Tiny through the window of the NICU, the second one is her with all the wires and things, the second is the IV in her head, the third is her bloody heels from them getting poked so much.

Tiny and I are staying home from church today. She was running high fevers all day yesterday and then all night long. It was a long but snuggly night with her. Shes such a busy baby that she doesnt normally just sit and cuddle. Yesterday and last night she would fall asleep on our laps or in our arms. She fell asleep beside me early this morning and I got to thinking about when we got pregnant with her and her birth story. Since Ive been trying to think of another post I thought I would let you meet our Tiny.

Since we knew WHY we had such a hard time getting pregnant with Blondie it was a lot less frustrating to get pregnant again. So as soon as we wanted to have another baby I went in to my OB and asked for another perscription of Chlomid. Two months later we found out I was expecting! We were thrilled that it was so "easy" and our next baby would be only two years younger than her big sister. My pregnancy was a lot more comfortable this time, it also felt very fast. When I went in for my appointment six weeks before D-day my blood pressure was once again on the rise. My doctor asked if there was someone who could come help me so that I could stay down. I called my sweet mom and she immediately got a train ticket to come out and help me with the kids. Until she got there my aunt and cousins came and took turns helping me with Goerge and Blondie, dishes, meals and just thoughtful things like bringing Taco Johns over or some movies. I have the best relatives ever. My hubby didnt have to worry about me when he was at work because they were there to help. Twice my blood pressure was so high that when I called the doctor they told me to come in to the maternity ward, but both times I was sent home. My mom arrived and then we waited. Being bed ridden with high pressure is hard for me. I dont feel uncomfortable so its incredibly hard for me to stay down. Anyway, 11 days before Tiny was due I went to my appointment and they said that enough was enough and scheduled me to come in to be induced. So my hubby took the night off work and we went in. My labor was only three hours and forty five minutes but it was an INTENSE three hours. Everytime I rolled off my left side Tiny's heart beat would drop and then I would have to turn back onto my left hip. The nurse was trying not to alarm me but I heard something about C-section and I was put on oxygen. My hip was THROBBING, I said to my hubby that it was almost worse than my contractions. The bed was narrow and not soft at all and my weight was on one spot on my hip. Then my hard contractions started, and I started shaking. My shaking was so bad that the bed was rattling. The nurse teased me about shaking that baby right out, "ha-ha", I think it was meant to be funny but it wasnt funny to me at the time. I ended up pulling muscles in my back because of the shakes. Tiny's hearbeat kept dropping but PTL my labor was progressing fast. I got an epi but it only worked on half my body (the same thing happended with Blondie). Very weird but half my body had no feeling and the other half felt everything. Soon it was time for me to push and they had the NICU come down just in case, since Tiny was under so much stress. She came out and they rushed her over to the NICU nurses. I remember saying to my hubby that she looked like Blondie. When I delivered my placenta the doctor said it felt strange and sent it to have testes done to it. At the time I didnt realize that my blood pressure could have been making it harden and I could have delivered a still born baby. Scary stuff. Anyway, Tiny was OK and I got to hold our sweet baby girl. She weighed in at 5 lbs 14 oz. Unfortunately I dont remember a whole lot about the first few days with her. I had been up for 24 hours when she was born because I labored through the night. I was so tired that I was dizzy and literly dont remember being wheel chaired out of my room or looking at her in the nursery (theres pictures of it but I only have a very vague memory of it). The next morning the nurses took her blood sugar levels and they were really low. This was the start of a week long nightmare. Her blood sugars kept getting lower so they took her up to the NICU. It was so hard to be on a different floor than my baby. I went and sat up there as much as I could. I would hold her (when they let me), and nurse her, then would come back to my floor to get my blood pressure monitored and sleep. I was discharged on the same day that my in laws came down to visit Tiny. After visiting for awhile they were headed out. My Love was planning on leaving with them and going home to get some sleep. I was going to be staying with Tiny. When I was saying bye I just started crying and couldnt stop. My Love left and saw my wonderful in laws off, and then he came back! I was SO happy. Even now it puts a smile on my face. He knew I needed him. He had to go to work the next day after being tired from our wild ride but he stayed for me. We slept on the smallest most uncomfortable bed that night but my man was by my side. It was a LONG week of driving back and forth to the hospital, Im so thankful my mom was there to watch our other two kids. Im not sure what we would have done with them if she hadnt been there. The doctors kept saying Tiny couldnt go home, it was so stressful. It made me really feel for people who have their babies in the NICU for months. PTL she didnt have anything super serious and our stay wasnt really that long. She had an IV plastered to her head, they said she was a hard poke and the IV was barely in and they didnt want it falling out. So we had to be extrememly careful while holding her. She also had her feet poked all the time. Her poor heels were a bloody and bruised mess. Then she got jaundice and they put her in the incubator. I watched her screaming and jerking from terror for a long time, when my husband came and picked me up after work that night I started sobbing as soon as I got in the car. It was SO sad to watch her terrified like that and not be able to comfort her. When we got home I was trying to tell my mom about it and couldnt even get the story out. My hubby knew again what I needed so he went and ran a bath for me and helped me into the tub so I could just cry away my homones and tiredness and stress. Anyway, thank goodness we got to bring our angel home after a week in the NICU. It was -15 outside, a frighfully cold but happy day! Our family was finally able to be all together and big Brother and big Sister got to meet our baby girl.

Tiny has been an easy going, mild tempered, low maintenance baby. We'll get home from grocery shopping or church and I'll be running around getting the kids ready for bed and Tiny will be hungry and tired but she'll sit there and wait for me. Kind of like "Im hungry mom but I'll wait till your ready" She doesnt coo and smile and isnt at all bubbly shes kind of serious (she does really like to "sing" though). My dad explained it well he said that when you look into her eyes its like she really cares about you. Thats our sweet baby girl. When you do get smiles from her it melts your heart because she has that smile saved just for you. Tinys our sweet little blessing from God.