Day 1 and 2

Kyle changing his first diaper for Chloe. The yucky tar like poop plus changing a girl diaper for the first time made it quite the experience but he always gets the job done. 

And he has also mastered the swaddle ending in an adorable baby burrito.

Oh our sweet gorgeous girl. That chin and lower half of the face reminds me so much of Casen. But other angles remind me a lot of Coop.

What do you do when you are up at midnight doing skin to skin and nursing in hopes to get blood sugar levels down? Take selfies, that's what! We were up all night getting blood sugar levels (a heel prick) every 2-3 hours. And they kept saying nursing and skin to skin would help so that's what I did.

When she was born her levels was 23 and after they still stayed below 30.  Then at 7:40 that night we got 56 which was great.  We needed it to stay above 50 for each heel prick. They would continue to test every 2-3 hours until the 24 hour mark.  This was not fun for our sweet girl or mommy and daddy who had to witness it. At 10:20pm her level was 53.

Oh that sweet little milk face. We gave her some donor milk to help keep her levels up and she HATED it.  She would grimace, gag, and spit it out.  The nurse didn't believe me and thought it was the nipple on the bottle but when she witnessed it she agreed.  We even tried other methods to give her the milk like dripping it off a spoon or out of a cup and she still hated it. She just wanted her mommy.  At the 6am check her numbers were still high so they said we could test every other feeding (~6 hours)

More middle of the night pics with my girl

That morning around 6am Dr Atkins came by for rounds.  She said I could be released as soon as Chloe could be.  She also informed me that Chloe was IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction) where she actually stopped growing and gaining weight.  Dr Atkins words were 'and we missed it'. My first thought of was 'we? who is we?  I didn't even know that existed so WE didn't miss anything. YOU missed it.'  She said common signs are decreased movement, mom stops gaining weight, and belly measuring small.  I actually had those last two but didn't say anything.  She is here safely now and that is all that really mattered (assuming there are no long term impacts to our sweet girl). 

One thing Kyle and I observed about our girl is that she sneezes all of the time.  She sneezed more than 20 times in her first 24 hours. She even continued that for the first week. 

Don't you just love that custom blanket I ordered off of Etsy and that big ole' flower!

Chloe was using me as a pacifier and though I didn't mind we were supposed to be on a feeding schedule for the heel pricks (test before each time she ate, so if she ate constantly when do they test?).  So we requested a pacifier and learned that the hospital no longer provides pacifiers. I didn't know that so we didn't bring one from home.  So I sent Kyle to the store to get the standard blue paci and he came back with his choice of Tommee Tippee. No big deal but it made me laugh that he decided that he wanted those specific ones for her.

During the day on the 2nd they started doing her different tests like newborn screening and hearing test. They also informed us she would require a 90 minute car seat stress test since she is so small. We actually had to bring in our car seat and base. They set them on something that simulates car movement and they monitor her breathing and heartrate. 

At 4pm they did the 24 hour check and her blood sugar was 47.  NOOOO!!! Now it was confirmed that we would not get to go home.  They said we now need 3 in a row above 50 before we could go home.  The next two were above 50 but then at 3am it was below again and I just cried. Kyle and I were so frustrated and exhausted.  We were so tired of seeing Chloe get her poor heel pricked.  By now she has been pricked about 15 times and her little heels were so bruised.

Luckily our nurse was amazing. She came on at 7pm on the 2nd and she hated that we were still there dealing with this stuff.  It was her mission to help get us out of there.  She believed me when I said Chloe hated the donor milk and as a former NICU nurse she offered to come in for each feeding and do it. This was awesome because it also gave me a chance to get some rest. For the record she still hated the milk and the nurse thought it was pretty funny.  She could tell that I was physically and emotionally exhausted and she really took care of us.  At 3am when that number was low she was so sad for us.  She said 'don't worry about it right now.  You all get some rest and I will be back in a while.  At 6am she came in and said we were done with the blood sugar tests and we were going home.  She had talked to the new pediatrician on call and he agreed that our girl was just fine and we could be released.

The pediatrician did his rounds and checked out our girl.  He measured her and said she was actually 18 inches long instead of 17. She was small but mighty and perfect.

They took Chloe for her carseat test and she passed with flying colors. Time to blow the popsicle stand!

Everyone meets Chloe

As I mentioned before family started arriving around 11:00.  We figured it would be a long day since I started at just a 1. 

The list of people waiting was Babi, Grandaddy, Cooper, Casen, Mimi, Grandpa, Jen, David, Aunt Lusa, Uncle Trent, MacKenzie, Tinsley, and Tracen.  Plus Aunt Lala, Uncle John, Catelyn and Annelise were all anxiously waiting from Virginia.

I made rice krispie treats for the nurses as well as the visitors.  Here is an action shot of everyone enjoying them from the waiting room.

The boys found out their sister was born and they were waiting to meet her

As I mentioned before everyone came in the room at once to meet her because we weren't sure if she would get taken to NICU.  I must say it was pretty fun seeing everyone meet her at once and especially everyone getting to witness the boys meet their baby sister.

Casen couldn't get his hands on her fast enough. Cooper on the other hand was obviously nervous and had no desire to hold her. He was nervous and I think having all eyes on him made it worse (gets that from his daddy)

They loved her right away

I think someone else captured their faces when they say her. LOVE!!!

Checking out her hair

Then it was time to pass her around

Plus we facetimed with the Minears so they could see her briefly.

Then the grandparents and kids came to see her one more time in postpartum before heading home. The Tobolas and Funderburks went ahead and left.

The boys each got a new lego set from Chloe and they were excited to head home and put them together.

And Casen needed some more snuggles before he left

I know some people don't love hospital visitors but I love it.  It is fun, exciting, and special to share the anticipation and arrival of our little ones. 

It was a long day but worth the wait!

Chloe’s Birth Story

We got up bright and early for a 5:45 check in to be induced. The boys stayed the night at my parents and would join us later after breakfast with St. Nick.

On December 1st at 39 wks 4 days I gained 29.5 lbs.

At 5:45 we checked in and at 6:15 I had my first nurse visit and got my IV. Then at 6:45 Pitocin was started. They checked me for starting progress and I was only a 1 and still thick. Kyle settled in for a long day and took a nap

At 9:30 Dr Atkins came around and went ahead an broke my water. I was nervous because with the boys I didn't get my water broken until after the epidural. I had heard that it hurt but luckily it didn't hurt at all. At that point I wad dilated to 2.5 and still at station -3 which means Chloe was still high up because she needs to get to 0. 

Right after my water was broke Chloe's heartrate started acting up and they couldn't keep her on the belly monitor so they did an internal monitor on her head.  This was uncomfortable for me since I wasn't dilated much and she was still so high up, but whatever they need to do to monitor our girl.

At 10 I got my epidural and catheter and then Chloe's heartrate kept dropping.  Thanks to the internal monitor on her head we could actually hear her heart beat out loud in the room and it was very scary to hear her heartrate drop.  Instead of horses galloping it was sound like a very slow knock on a door.  

At 10:30 Very similar to with Cooper things got very scary very fast. Suddenly we had a team of nurses in my room and they were on the phone with Dr Atkins. They put me on oxygen and I just cried listening to Chloe's heartrate rise and fall between contractions.  They said it was 'taking too long for her to recover' after each contraction. They tried several different positions to try to help her. Dr Atkins got there and she had them put another internal monitor to clearly monitor contractions.  We found that sitting up was best for Chloe and she seemed to recover quickly from each contraction. They decided to back off the Pitocin, keep me sitting up with oxygen and give Chloe some time to recover and relax.  Then we would restart the Pitocin and see if she could handle it.  If not then it would be a C-section. But Dr Atkins felt like she would be okay if we slowed down for a while.  Dr Atkins is very patient, tries lots of things, and is slow to rush to C-section.  That can be very scary in the moment but I appreciate this approach as long as my babies are okay.  Even the nurse said many doctors wouldn't be so patient. 

By then it was after 11 and we had family showing up at the hospital but we needed some time. The room finally emptied out of hospital staff and Kyle and I just stared at each other in shock of everything that happened. I couldn't stop crying and couldn't handle visitors.  I was coming off of a major adrenaline rush and was shaking like a leaf.

Once I recovered and could take a break from the oxygen (I didn't want the boys to be scared) I had my mom bring the boys back.  Cooper didn't want to come back so just Casen did.  Kyle took Casen back to the waiting room and to get something to eat.  As soon as Casen was gone I just cried to my momma and tried to explain everything that had happened.

A little after 12 they restarted the Pitocin or increased it back to an active induction level.  And at 12:30 they checked me and I was at a 4 and they put me back on oxygen. At this point they started putting me in all sorts of positions.  They put me on one side with my top side leg in a stirrup and then they did the same to the other side.  Somewhere in here Jen, my mom, and Susan came to visit. It was really hard for my mom and Jen to hear Chloe's heartrate go down and then anxiously waiting for it to recover.  It was probably hard for Susan too but my mom and Jen were vocal about it :)  

Then since Chloe was handling things well they had me do 'knees to chest.' Which meant I was on all fours and then in like a yoga 'child pose' (curled up with my butt in the air).  This was especially challenging and took two nurses because I was completely numb from the epidural.  I also lost any chance at modesty doing this pose. Good gosh embarrassing! Trying this stuff was weird but as long as Chloe was handling things well I was willing to try these positions. I knew that this amazing team was on my side and trying to help me deliver Chloe vaginally and safely.  The funny thing is that they did this on their own and probably because of my doctor.  It wasn't like I was strongly against C-section and willing to push all of the limits.  I would have been scared like crazy for a C-section but if they said it was time I would have done it.  

At 2:02 they checked me and I was a 6 and they sat me straight up to help things progress. At this point contractions were consistently 3 minutes apart and I could feel the intensity.  This is when Cooper got the courage to come visit and I am so glad because then things started moving quickly.  It didn't hurt but I could feel the tightness and felt like they were really doing something.  I mentioned it to the nurse and she said well I have another nurse coming in here and we are going to try a new technique.  The second nurse had recently been to a baby spinning class and wanted to show my nurse and a 3rd nurse how to do it and see if it works.  I guess I forgot to mention that somewhere in here we discovered that Chloe was face up instead of face down.

So they did this technique where I was lying on my right side at the very right edge of the bed.  My belly was hanging off and so was my left leg dangling.  Two nurses were supporting my weight (remember I am completely numb and cant control my lower body.  In between contractions she did a stretching motion on my torso. She did it twice and then I said 'umm I am feeling a lot of pressure' and she said 'stretching pressure or to push?'  I said 'to push' (which I never really felt that strong urge with the other two) and the rolled me to my back to check my progress.  They barely rolled me before they said 'umm you are a 10 and it is time to have this baby!'  

It was only 2:30 and they were quickly calling Dr Atkins to get to the hospital to deliver Chloe. The funny thing is that Jen had left after she came to the room to go get David and I told her she had plenty of time.  Instead I sent a quick text to everyone saying it was time. I went from 6 to 10 in less than 30 minutes so everyone was shocked. 

At 2:44 they had everything ready and we were waiting for the doctor.  In walked Dr Atkins.

At 2:54 Chloe Marie Cline was born. I literally did 2 single pushes and Dr Atkins handed her to me and I put her on my chest.  I was watching in the reflection of the lights and I couldn't believe she was here.  My first words were 'oh my gosh she is so little' and I looked at Kyle with huge shocked eyes and they handed her to me.  I just couldn't believe after all of the scary moments, drama or whatever you call it she was delivered so easily. It was like she just slipped out.

I sent a text that she was here and 'She is gorgeous and itty bitty'

They had me do skin to skin for an hour before they did any stats. I also started nursing her right away.  She nursed like a champ but that makes it difficult to get a pic to send to everyone. 

Finally I sent this picture to family with her stats.

5lbs 4oz and 17in long born December 1st and 2:54pm

Chloe's blood sugar levels were low so they had me do lots of skin to skin and nursing.

Finally at 5 we had everyone come back at once to meet her because we were heading up to postpartum.  They also told us that if we couldn't get her levels up she would be going to NICU so I really wanted everyone to at least see her in person before that.

Then they came back in and said that there was no room in NICU so they were going to try a few things in postpartum including donor milk because otherwise she would get sent across the street to Cook Children's.  I am so glad we had everyone come meet her in case that happened.

Proud daddy not sure what to do with a girl or a baby that little!

Next up are pictures of everyone meeting her at the hospital.