SHE'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!

Sophia Michelle O'Brien

Born November 23, 2009 11:04 a.m. 6lbs. 7 oz. 19 1/2 in

At my last prenatal appointment my doctor decided that it would be fine to induce labor a couple days early. He said Sophia was definitely ready to make her debut, so we got everything scheduled and started getting ready! Paul and I headed to the hospital at 5 a.m. Monday morning (the 23rd). They wasted no time once I was in a room... IV medication was started by 5:45 a.m. and contractions followed shortly thereafter. The anestesiologist dropped by around 7:30 a.m. and I FINALLY decided there was no reason to pass up the epidural! Epidural was painless (for the most part) and in place by 8:45 a.m....just in time to miss all of the bad contractions :) Thank goodness my labor DID NOT slow down after the epidural...in fact it sped up!! The doctor came in at 9:45a.m. and broke my water and predicted Sophia would be ready to make her debut by early afternoon. Well, much to everyone's surprise, I was fully dialted and ready to push by 10:30 a.m.!! lol the doctor made it in to the room just in time for the final 4 pushes! Our precious baby girl was born at 11:04 a.m....kicking and screaming. I had prepared myself for a horrible, painful and slow recovery, but that has not been the case. We're all doing great and getting better by the day!

The pediartrician at the hospital told us Tuesday, the 24th, that Sophia was a little jaundice. She made sure we knew it was normal, and would go away with time. We had to go back to the hospital the day after we were released for them to do a weight check and draw some blood to check Sophia's bilirubin levels. Unfortunately they were a little higher than when we had left the hospital, so we were sent home yet again with instructions to return the next day for the same thing. Once again, her levels were higher Friday than the previous day, but we were still told to just make sure she was eating and getting some indirect sunlight. We called our pediatrician and set an appt for Saturday morning. Our doctor sent us AGAIN to the lab for ANOTHER blood draw. We got the call Saturday afternoon that Sophia's bilirubin levels were in the "High Risk" zone, and that she would need a couple days of phototherapy. Cook Children's Home Health came by Saturday evenin with all the necessary equipment. Sophia had to lay in a little light bed 24 hours a day (with the exception of when she was eating or being changed). It absolutely broke my heart. Paul and I had a tough time with it, but Sophia didn't really seem to mind too much. She was nice and toasty. We went back AGAIN to the lab on Sunday, and by this point I couldn't stay in the room anymore :( I handed that awful task to Paul. As tough as it was for me and Paul, the phototherapy really worked wonders. We got the call early Monday morning that we could turn off the lights! Sophia's levels were back down to a low risk level!!!!!! So her first week of life seemed pretty tough, but everyday I realize just how lucky we really are :)

So that's been just about all the excitement for the last week and a half! We enjoyed a nice quiet Thanksgiving at home and have just been trying to work on our sleep schedule! It hasn't been half bad. Sophia is a good little sleeper, so we're guaranteed about 2 hour stints at night. So far everything is great, and I couldn't ask for anything more! I have a wonderful husband and a beautiful daughter to wake up to each and every morning....how could life get any better?!!