For your viewing pleasure

Because my sisters are begging for pictures, I had to oblige.

lounging around
She has Frankie's toes


going home

Beach baby

We are in the clear!

I just got the call from the doctor, Isabella's bili levels have gone way down. From the VERY high 95th percentile to the 75th percentile. She doesn't have to get poked at the lab anymore. She said to keep her on the bili blanket when we can and to take her outside and keep her in indirect sunlight when we can and she will be fine. It's so nice to not have to worry about it. I don't have to force feed her every two hours anymore either, now she can eat when she wants.

Thank you to all of you for your prayers and good thoughts!

We are home

YAY! We got home yesterday afternoon and it seems like it has been non-stop since then. Bandit and Smokey haven't quite figured out what she is and what to do with her. They sniff her and then when she moves or makes noise they step back and look at her like "Whoa! Where did that come from?"

We went and had another round of labs done. Her bili levels had gone back up since yesterday morning. They sent us home with a bili blanket and she hung out in the sun with Grandma all day. She's gonna be quite the beach bum she LOVES the sunshine!! We have to go back tomorrow and get her tested again. If the levels have gone down or stayed the same than she will either have to have the bili box at home or might have to be readmitted to the hospital! Please pray that her levels have gone down by tomorrow morning, I don't mind the blanket, but the other two options I'm not happy about!

Other than that, she is just amazing! If it weren't for me having to wake her up and feed her, I'm pretty sure she would have slept through the night. Both times I had to wake her up to feed her.

Daddy is absolutely in love with his princess! He's doing a great job at taking care of her. He's changed all the diapers when he's home, even in the middle of the night. He hasn't quite got it down, but he gets an A for effort!

Rainbow baby

I've decided that Isabella is the magical change baby. She has gone from blue, to black, to purple, to red, to orange, to yellow, and now she's spotted and on her way back to pink.

We are still in the hospital. They tested her tonight at 6:00 and her level has dropped slightly, but still not enough to go home. I did some google searching and if her levels stay the same by tomorrow morning we can't go home, if they drop by one point (which is what they have done every 12 hours for the last 36) we should be able to go home. It really depends on what the doctor says, but it makes me feel better that we might be getting closer. I'm really just starting to go stir crazy!!

Not going home. . .

We were supposed to leave the hospital today at noon. We got all packed up and were just waiting for the pediatrician to give us the go ahead. We had suspected that she was getting a little jaundice but were not concerned about it. The dr. showed up and told us that we weren't going home because Isabella's bili levels were too high. He said they would put her in the incubator under the lights and test her again at 6:00. In addition, we had to start supplementing with formula to get her body to push out the stuff. Needless to say, I was not real happy, but didn't really think it was a big deal. To supplement we didn't have to give her a bottle, we just had to tape a little tube to my breast and the formula would come out of that. I wasn't real excited about giving her formula, but at least she was still technically breast feeding.

So at 6:00 they came and took more blood and ran the test. Not only had her levels not gone down, but they had gone up! We aren't going home tonight. They are hooking her up to a third light. Not only that, but we can't even take her out to breast feed, she has to stay under the lights and be fed from a bottle. I can pump and not feed her formula, but I'm devastated, because I'm worried that she won't be able to go back to breast feeding. She was doing so well and we were both enjoying it. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers. I'm sure everything will be fine, I'm just going stir crazy. I do know of all the things that can happen to newborns this is the best of them all.

Daddy's Princess

I think I might have officially moved into second place on Frank's favorite women list! She's already got him wrapped around her pinky!

Isabella's Birth Story

I went into labor on Thursday night. Amber and I went for a walk and during the walk I started to have strong contractions 2-3 mins. apart. We walked for about an hour and a half when I finally decided this was labor. I called Frank, who was just leaving his office and told him it was go time. We went to the hospital about 9:00 pm. When we got to the hospital I was dilated to a 5 so they admitted me.

I walked the halls some more and kept walking until they wanted to monitor me. I was having strong contractions when I was walking and as soon as I would lie in the bed they would all but stop. At 11:30 the doula, MJ, came. We walked until 1:00 when I was only dilated to a 5/6. We decided to start me on pitocin to get labor to really start going. It definitely got things really going. By 5:00 I was still only dilated to a 5/6. They decided to break my waters to see if that would help. That REALLY made the contractions strong. For two more hours I had really intense contractions but only dilated to 6/7.

MJ had to leave at 8:00 to go to work at the clinic. I had to make a decision to labor with just Frank and I or get an epidural. I was so worried that I would go another 12 hours, or at the very least, another 3 or 4 and still not do anything. I didn't think I could hang in there that long. I was so tired (I'd been awake 26 hrs. at this point and hadn't eaten since 2:00 on Thursday)! So after lots of stressing about it and begging and trying to decide what to do, I finally decided the epidural was the way I needed to go.

I was really disappointed and had a lot of guilt and bad feelings about not being able to have a completely natural birth that I wanted. Isabella was "sunny side up" so I was having LOTS of back labor. After getting the epidural, within 30 mins. I was in heaven! In two hours I went from an 8 to a 10 and 100% effaced without even realizing it!

At 10:00 I started pushing. I pushed for about an hour before the doctor came into catch the baby. After her head came out, it got very scary. My friend Amber was video taping it, and the dr. said "turn off the camera! I need help in here!" Immediately, 5 nurses came swarming in. One jumped on top of me and two grabbed my legs and pulled them in positions I didn't think I could move. I had no idea what was going on. I had to push for 4 mins. straight without stopping. The cord was around her neck and her shoulders were stuck in my pelvis. The nurses and doctor were amazing. As soon as the pulled her out we knew what she was so stuck. Immediately the doctor exclaimed, "She huge! 10 lbs. at least!" 2 of the nurses whisked her off and immediately started oxygen and bagging her. She wasn't doing so well. It took them about 30 mins. to get her stabilized enough that I could see her, I got to hold her for about 2 mins. and then they whisked her to the nursery. She was there for about 3 hours and then finally I got to hold my baby.

The dr. that delivered her, MJ, and my OB all said they couldn't believe she even made it down the birth canal because she is so big!

Her face is VERY bruised from the cord being around her neck. When I held her, I kept thinking, if I didn't know this is who just came out of me, I wouldn't think she was my baby, because her skin was so dark! At first she couldn't move her right arm because of stretched nerve in her neck from her shoulders being stuck, but that movement is coming back and it should be fine. She's starting to get normal coloring now too.

She is doing really well now. She's breastfeeding well and is a good baby. Everyone that walks into our room exclaims, "Wow, that is a big baby!"

Isabella McKaylynn DeVito

Our baby is finally here! She was born this morning at 11:21 after 16 hours of labor. She weighed in at a whopping 10 lbs. 8 oz. and 21." I'll post pictures as soon as I get them uploaded. And give more details later.

Maybe Baby???

Frank and I had a great weekend just hanging out, just the two of us. Frank doesn't really do hanging out real well, he constantly feels like he needs to be working on a project or something.

Saturday morning he got up and put some WhirlyBirds on our roof to get the heat out of the upstairs, I worked and after we were both done, by noon, we went to our friends pool. We were there for a couple of hours, ran some errands and then went back to the pool. We both got sunburned. Someone told me after the fact that when you are pregnant you get sun burnt easier, wish I would have known before!

Sunday morning we got up and went to Niles to the Home Garden Tour. It was fun. We went through 18 yards and got some landscaping ideas. The whole time we were there (3 hours) I was having contractions 10 mins. apart. I got very excited hoping they would start coming closer. Alas, as soon as we got home and I lied down, they stopped. Poop!! I took a nap while Frank went on a ride on his Harley (he had it detailed on Saturday so he was itching to get it out) then when he came back we made one of the beds in the shade garden and planted a couple of plants we picked up at the tour, we also transplanted a rose that we had. This started the contractions again, this time they were about 8 mins. apart. I took a bath to see if they would stay, nope gone again!

I had a dr. appointment today and he checked and I'm 3 cm. and 70% effaced! He stripped my membranes. This could be it. I've not heard very many people say they stayed at a 3 for very long (if you are one of them, please don't tell me!).

Triple Digits

Today is the third day that we are having triple digits here! I think I'm going to melt or explode. My hands and feet with probably explode, while my face melts. My fingers and toes are SO swollen. Last night we were at a friend's house and they were all commenting on the fact that my toes can't even go together because they are so swollen and I couldn't get my flip flops on all the way.

I'm going on a walk this morning and then it's off to to the pool for me today!

37 Weeks

I had my 37 week appointment today. Blech! No change in dilation since last week. I've been having quite a few contractions so I was hoping they were doing something, but nope. I guess I'm more effaced than I was, so a little bit is happening.

I'm SO done! I woke up this morning at 3:30 with excruciating pelvic pain. The MW told me my muscle is pulling away from my pelvis bone. It hurts to lay down, it hurts to sit, I can't stand on one leg long enough to put on my pants. I gained 5 lbs. in a week. It has to be water, because I don't think I've eaten 5 lbs. in food because I can't!

I started crying in the drs. office because she told me it could be another 4 weeks, which I know, but I didn't need her saying it! I asked if she would strip my membranes, she said no, I'm gonna ask the OB next week.

I'm going to take a nap and go to the pool later. I'm having an accupressure massage done today, hopefully that will help to get this baby out!