Back to the hospital

Yesterday was a great day, we finally got to bring Sophia home, and though Annie's leg made it a little more challenging than expected, we were ready to start being a family at our own home. Annie's mom, Dennyce, even brought home some Thanksgiving leftovers from Annie's aunt's house were her and Chris ate dinner.

The day was going great until the evening when Annie began to have an allergic reaction. The swelling began in her hands, then her face, eyes and ears. She also began to get hives on her neck, hands and around her hairline.


We tried Benadryl and tried to let her get some rest to see if that would help the swelling. I stayed out on the couch in the living room with Sophia to let Annie rest and I fed her with bottles just in case the allergy would affect the baby.

At 6 a.m. I went in to check on Annie to see how she was doing and she was not only still having a reaction, but the swelling had increased to the point her eyes could barely open. Dennyce and I immediately got the baby ready to go, and ran down to the ER.

After they checked her out, they determined that it was a reaction to something that we will probably never find out because of the amount of variables that would have to be tested to find out the cause of such a reaction, but some prescription Benadryl, and some other allergy meds prescribed by the doctor helped the swelling go down in just the few hours we were holed up in a tiny room in the ER.

It just so happened that Sophia needed a second PKU test to make sure she didn't have jaundice that same day, so it made it easy enough for me to head around the corner to get the test done. I also got my first taste of juggling everything to get her fed, changed and burped all on my own. Quite the deal to do for the first time in a small bathroom on the changing table.

The doctor finally let us go home in the afternoon and said we should probably keep the baby on formula just in case - plus Annie's mom was worried the Benadryl would make the baby groggy. This was a little hard on Annie, who wants to breastfeed so badly. To keep her milk coming she is now pumping her milk and then pouring it down the drain just to keep it coming in - also not very easy for her to do.

Even with all of this, we are so in love with our little girl.

It's Thanksgiving, baby

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! We had an extra special Thanksgiving this year; Annie and Sophia were released from the hospital today. Sophia is doing really well, everything is going great, she's eating and all of the tests they run have come out good - as far as we know.

Annie, on the other hand, isn't having as smooth a transition post delivery. Ever since the delivery her left leg has been numb. She can't feel much below the middle of her thigh down until just above her ankle.

It makes it very difficult to walk; she has to kind of drag her leg along with her. She tries to take baby steps when she can to help it along, but that eventually led to her taking a spill in the bathroom as she was finishing up getting ready for the day. It's amazing how fast a husband can move when he hears his wife fall down around the corner. I think I was in the bathroom about the same time she hit the floor.

The doctors say the numbness is probably due to a pinched nerve, though it is possible it could be from the epidural shot (they would never say that though). They said it could last anywhere from six days to six months (not the most promising time frame), but we're crossing our fingers, hoping for six days - six weeks tops.

The nurses brought Annie a Thanksgiving dinner for lunch, and we just kept getting ready to finally get Sophia to the comfort of our home. It's still such a surreal feeling to think that Annie and I are parents. I attribute part of that to the lack of sleep.

The first night we spent in the hospital with our new baby girl (the room had a fold-out couch that I slept on both nights) we didn't get any sleep until four in the morning and were up and going early. Plus when they took her back to the nursery they brought her back every three hours to feed.

Even with these minor setbacks it is a great feeling to have our Sophie Lou here and safe in our arms. There's nothing in the world like holding your own child, fresh and unscathed by the wiles of the world. She's a miracle in every way and now she will fill our home with her pure innocence and the joy of parenthood.

To take her home we had a preemie outfit (purple pants with a purple hoodie) picked out that would be sure to fit - or so we thought. The hoodie fit fine and looked really good. the pants, on the other hand, were too short for her legs and way too big around the waist. It was almost like the pants were made for a very short and very, very fat baby.