At Long Last

I had big plans for these shirts. They were all waiting at the hospital for the big and middle sisters to get there to meet their new little sister.

But the dreaded fever virus set its sights on our girls and delayed my plans for over two weeks. One good thing....the scenery at the bay is much nicer than that of a hospital room!

Wordless Wednesday

Back so Soon?

We had a bit of a scare with Emma Ann last week. It all started on Thursday morning. She woke up for her normal middle of the night feeding around 2:45 and then I woke up on my own at 7:45 - that's two hours past when she should have woken me up to eat. I had to wake her up to eat this time. I didn't think too much of it - really, I counted it as a blessing. As the morning went on, I continued to have to wake her to eat. During the times that she was awake, I felt like her breathing was labored and that she was just having to work at taking a breath. A part of me thought maybe I was just over-reacting and maybe she had always been a heavy breather and I was just noticing. I took her temperature (using our temporal thermometer - the one you swipe across the forehead) and it was normal.

Matt had taken Hannah Cate and Maddie down to Orange Beach that morning so that they could spend the night at Nini and Da's house. When he got home, I pointed EA's breathing out to him to see what he thought. He agreed that she seemed a little off. After adding in the other factors of having to wake her to eat and her general lethargy - I decided it couldn't hurt to call the pediatrician to see what they thought. They called me back within about 5 minutes and said that given her age (8 days old) that it would be a good idea to bring her in. We made an appointment for a couple of hours later.

By the time our appointment rolled around EA was back asleep and her breathing seemed a little better. Matt even mentioned that maybe we didn't really need to take her, but we decided we would feel better to get the green light from them. Matt was so certain that they were going to say it was nothing that he just waited in the car while I ran in with EA.

They weighed her and then the nurse took her temperature (rectally this time). I was standing at her head holding her so she wouldn't squirm. I glanced at the thermometer and watched the numbers start to climb right past 98.6. The rising finally stopped at 102.5. I couldn't stop the tears from falling from my eyes. I was scared. I knew whatever was coming next from the doctor wouldn't be good. I'm a mess at this point and my cell phone was dead so I couldn't call Matt and ask him to come in. I take EA (only in her diaper and wrapped in a blanket) and walk out to the parking lot to get Matt. I can only imagine the fear he felt when he saw me standing at the car door, holding our baby, with tears streaming down my face.

We went back in together to talk to the doctor and find out what to do next. The doctor finally came in to do an exam on Emma Ann and talk to us. There were not any obvious signs of what might be wrong (throat and ears were clear). Fever that high in an infant less than a month old is not good and they always want to err on the side of caution. Dr. Wiggins started throwing out things that could be wrong like "bacterial meningitis", "sepsis" and "fatal in infants of her age" and the rest of our time at the pediatrician became a bit of a blur to me. Though it was likely that she had the same fever virus that HC and Maddie had the week before, they had to be cautious since EA was so young. Being cautious involved some scary things - a catheter, spinal tap and a three day stay in the hospital (so much for that 18 month appointment, I certainly didn't think we would be back there so soon).

They did the catheter (to collect a urine sample) and spinal tap at the pediatrician. Then they gave us the samples and sent us over to the hospital to be admitted. The nurses and doctors would monitor EA and the hospital lab would monitor her urine and spinal cultures to make sure there was no bacterial growth. No bacterial growth would indicate a virus that would just have to run its course.

By the time we were admitted and the cultures made it to the lab, it was about 4:00 on Thursday afternoon. Our first results from the lab would come in 24 hours later. They took her away to start an IV that would give her fluids and two different rounds of antibiotics. Her fever continued to rise, getting as high as 105 early Friday morning. They were treating her fever with Tylenol, but it only brought temporary relief and never actually broke the fever. She cried out every time she moved or you touched/moved her because she was so achy from the fever. Between Thursday and Friday, I think we calculated that she had been awake for a total of 30 minutes tops. Those first 24 hours were the worst. Between worrying about her fever being so high, worrying about the cultures and whether there might be some bacterial infection brewing and just generally feeling bad that she was hurting - it was a hard day.

We got our first bit of good news on Friday afternoon when we saw Dr. Wiggins. Her cultures were not showing any bacterial growth and even though the results wouldn't be final until they had been monitored for 72 hours - that was a good sign! It was looking more and more like she had a viral infection. At 48 hours, we got the same news - no growth. Now our goal was to get her fever down so that we could go home.

By Sunday morning, she had been under 100.4 for 24 hours and they let us go home. She still wasn't back to her normal self - but we could tell that she was starting to feel better. I've never been so glad to be back home in all my life. I was so worn out mentally and emotionally, plus I missed Hannah Cate and Maddie so much. Even though we were greeted by some whines and fighting over toys - I was so glad to be back together again as our family of 5.

We are so thankful that the Lord saw us through those hard three days.

We are so thankful for Emma Ann's health.

We are so thankful for the prayers that were offered up for our sweet girl.

We are so thankful for our family and friends that supported us and cared for us in this time of need.

We are so thankful to be home with a bright eyed girl!

3, 18, 1

3 Years

18 Months

1 Week

We headed to the pediatrician this week for three well child visits. It put into very clear perspective just how close our three girls really are.

The running joke when we left the labor and delivery unit at the hospital last week was that they would see us back in 18 months - ha! Given our track record, we could just about schedule an appointment!

Settling

Time - it's really all we have these days. It's precious. We have to choose wisely how we spend it and the computer just doesn't get much priority. But there are things that I want to remember about these early days with our three girls. So, while Daddy and the big girls are at the pool and littlest one is sleeping - I have a few thoughts I want to get out - bulleted style.

I got my fast delivery. We got to the hospital at 5:00am. Pitocin was started at 6:00am. By 9:00am I was 5 cm. When they checked me again at 10:45am I could see the look of surprise on the nurse's face and then she asked me to push. I was complete and she started scrambling around to get the room ready. I asked if Dr. Shoemaker was coming and she said "Oh, we don't need him yet". Once the room was ready - about 5 minutes later - she asked me to push again and then quickly told me to stop, left the room and called for Dr. Shoemaker - STAT. Three pushes later, Emma Ann Miller was born, at 11:09am. It was the easiest (outside of the 45 minutes when I really NEEDED the epidural) delivery by far. Makes me think I could have a few more (just kidding, Matt)!

We are on day six of Emma Ann's life and I still don't have a picture of all three girls together. I had sweet little shirts made for them just waiting for them at the hospital. But the big girls never made it up to the hospital room at the same time (Maddie never made it at all). They both came down with some kind of virus - fever, rash, lethargy - so we had to keep them away from the baby. We were all re-united yesterday and I was really glad to have all five of us together for the first time.

We had great intentions of going to the bay late yesterday afternoon to get pictures in above mentioned shirts. Matt was loading up Hannah Cate and Maddie in the car while I was changing Emma Ann's diaper. I thought she had what Matt likes to call a "poot gone bad" but in reality it was just the start of a major poop. In the middle of changing her, the phone rang and it was Hannah Cate's new teacher for next year. She had been calling for a few days and I knew I needed to talk to her, so I answered. Mistake. That's when the rest of the major poop started coming - with no diaper on and all over her "little sister" onesie. Only my hands were there to catch it and all the while I'm trying to carry on a conversation with HC's teacher. At one point, her teacher kindly told me that she understood why she hadn't been able to get in touch with me because she heard I just had a baby. "You just have your hands full" she told me. To which I thought to myself - You have no idea just how true that statement is right now!

Needless to say, we had to reschedule the shirt pictures once again. Maybe tonight

Last night I was able to crawl into bed with Hannah Cate and read her favorite "lion book" (the Richard Scarry book). After reading for awhile, we started to say her prayers. Our routine is that we talk about what to pray for first and then I usually say the prayer and she chimes in as she sees fit. I was thanking God for Emma Ann and that she was safe and healthy and that she's now a part of our family. Here comes HC's two cents - "And thank you that Mommy's belly button is fixed".

Maddie has been super sweet with the baby. She gets excited to see her - screaming out "BAY" every time she sees her.


Emma Ann has the sweetest dimple in her left cheek. I can't wait to see what it looks like when she starts breaking out the huge grins.


After just a few days of being home with all three, Matt is already planning a vacation to Mexico.

There's no doubt that we are busy. There's not a lot of down time around here, but our hearts are full and we are so thankful for this growing family.

Emma Ann Miller

Happy Birthday Emma Ann!

July 6, 2011

11:09 am

8 pounds, 8 ounces

20.5 inches

We are in love all over again and can't wait for the big sisters to meet her tomorrow!

Our Bags are Packed....

And we are going to have a baby on her due date! I've made it to the bitter end this time (Hannah Cate came at 37.5 weeks and Maddie at 38 weeks) and it's safe to say that we are ready and anxious to meet Emma Ann Miller!

We'll head to the hospital at 5am to start the induction process. I've been prone to longer labors so I'm hoping that maybe since Emma Ann has taken us to the end of the pregnancy that maybe she'll be ready to come on out (maybe that's wishful thinking)!

I think her sisters are ready to meet her too. Actually, I know Hannah Cate is ready.

I don't think Maddie has a precious clue what's about to happen!

I can't wait to see all three of them together and start the process of getting adjusted to our new normal. It's hard to believe we're about to be a family of five!!

Stay tuned for pictures tomorrow of our newest girl!

Happy Independence Day!

We've been taking advantage of our baby-less freedom a bit longer and started celebrating early.