2nd trip to the doctor

Vivi's second trip to the pediatrician was today. The main purpose of the visit was to check to see if she had regained the weight she lost in the hospital. Newborn's are expected to lose up to 5-7% of their body weight in the first few days of life as their bodies acclimate to life outside the womb. They should be back to birth weight by 2-3 weeks of age.

At 13 days old, Vivi is at 7 lbs and 12 ounces - that's 2 ounces heavier than her birth weight and 7 ounces heavier than the weight at which she left the hospital. This is no surprise to me since she eats constantly. Even so, it is good news. It also means that we no longer have to wake Vivi up to eat every three hours at night. This is good news for baby's and mommy's sleep!

Grandparents

 

My parents doting on their first grandchild. 

California girl

One of our tasks given to us by the hospital was to get Vivi out in the sun to help with her jaundice. Sunlight and lots of eating helps to break down and flush out the elevated levels of bilirubin from her extracellular fluids. My parents happened to bring her some baby sunglasses - so here she is - a California girl soaking up some California rays.

Thumb sucking

 

Viviana has learned to suck her thumb. She does this with an open palm so that when her thumb is in her mouth, the rest of her hand covers up her face (see pic). 

Her next task - to learn that she cannot nurse and suck her thumb at the same time.

 

Uncle Brent

My brother came up to visit yesterday. Here he his holding Viviana. Although it's hard to tell from the photo, she's wearing a bib that says, "I love my Uncle."

Baby's first visit to the doctor

On the doctor's table

Viviana's first trip to the pediatrician was a success. The doctor said that Viviana was "a perfect little girl." Obviously our pediatrician knows her stuff :)

Vivi has gained 3 ounces since coming home from the hospital. She has excellent strength and alertness.

Yawning - on the way home from the doctor's office

We will have to go see a specialist to get an MRI on her hip soon. Apparently being folded up in my womb for 9 months may have caused one of her ligaments to develop improperly. The orthopedic specialist already visited us once in the hospital to check her hip. Worst case scenario is that she'll have to wear a brace for a couple weeks.

The faces of Vivi

Vivi is already an expert at making funny faces.

Jaundice

  

Vivi has a mild case of jaundice. To help her get back to normal, she was placed on a bililight for the last 24 hours. The light is placed at the bottom of her bassinet and irradiates her exposed back to intensive light therapy. She can only be removed from the light to eat. We're waiting on the pediatrician to check that her levels have returned to within a normal range before we can head home from the hospital.

One day old

 

Karen took some great photos when she was here visiting 20 hours after Vivi's birth. See the photos at 

http://gallery.me.com/danielle.harlow/100542

Welcome Viviana!

 

Viviana Sophia Harlow

2/15/11 9:30 pm

7 pounds 10 ounces, 19 inches 

Viviana's birth. 

On Tuesday afternoon, I went for my regularly scheduled 39 week appointment. Because I had been in the hospital over the weekend for a decrease in fetal movement, my doctor decided to do a quick ultrasound to check for amniotic fluid levels. She found that the fluid levels were fine, but that what we had thought was the baby's bottom was actually her head. The baby was breech. At 39 weeks, it was too late to try to turn the baby and the chances were low that she would turn herself around. So the doctor recommend scheduling a c-section for early next week. She wanted it to be before my due date so that I would avoid having to go into labor. So, I walked over to another office to schedule a c-section for the following Tuesday. I called Lyle to make sure that date worked with his schedule and as I was sitting in the office talking to the woman who does the scheduling, my water broke. And I've heard sometimes it's a trickle, but this was absolutely not a trickle. This was the gushing sort of water breaking. Fortunately the hospital is directly across the street from the doctor's office, so at 4pm, I called Lyle to tell him that his schedule no longer mattered, we were having a baby tonight. I headed over to the hospital and Lyle met me there after going home to get our bags. 

I had to wait until 8 hours after I had last eaten for surgery, so the surgery was set for 9pm. I had a spinal tap which numbed me from my toes to my chest. Just a few moments after surgery began, I heard the baby cry. Then they stitched me back up - the entire procedure took less than an hour. Immediately after the surgery, Lyle accompanied Viviana to the nursery where they cleared her lungs. They then joined me in a recovery room. My parents had made it up from San Diego by the time I was in recovery and they were able to visit briefly before the nurses took me to the post-partum ward.

Stealth baby

We went to the hospital last night.

The doctor told us to go anytime I felt less than 10 kicks in two hours or if her kicking noticeably decreased (normal would be about 10 kicks in 6 minutes for me). I felt very few kicks on Saturday and then nothing at all on Sunday. Obviously this was a considerable decrease in her usual activity.  I tried all the tricks the doctors taught us to get her to kick (cold water, sugary food, pushing on my belly) and nothing. Not even a hiccup. So off we went to the hospital. They put a sensor on my belly and had me lay down for 30 minutes. They were looking for her heart rate to go up (to indicate movement). According to the heart rate monitor, she was moving the entire time, but I didn't feel it once.

So, all is well - she has just become a stealth baby.

Groundhog Day

Today is groundhog day and Punxsutawney Phil (the famous groundhog in Pennsylvania) did not see his shadow (not particularly surprising since the entire east coast is under siege by a gigantic blizzard). An early spring it is! (Not that we would notice that much in Santa Barbara).

So I'm thinking that it's not very sunny in my uterus which means that there aren't many shadows. I'm fairly certain that, like Punxsutawney Phil, Baby Harlow did not see her shadow this morning. If no shadows for that groundhog means an early Spring, could no shadow for Baby Harlow mean an early entrance?

30-Day Notice

Dear Baby Harlow:

You are hereby notified that you must vacate your current residence within 30 days.* This is, in part, due to unpermitted renovations of the property (esp. expansions to the exterior). Complaints have been filed by neighboring properties that have been adversely affected by your structural expansions. The most serious of these complaints have been filed by Lungs and Bladder who report decreased functionality due to their decreased allocated space. An alternative fully-furnished (and more spacious) residence has been procured and reserved for you. 

* A 7-day grace period will be granted.

Baby Pool!

Guess when baby Harlow will be born. Click on the link below to enter your best guess. 
http://bebepool.com/go/?a=dani92026&view=list

Ready

The car seat is installed (and inspected by local Fire Department). Newborn clothes are washed. Bassinett is set up. We're now as ready as we're going to be. Now we're just waiting. 38 days (more or less)...

Infant security at the hospital

Last night we went on a tour of the Labor and Delivery wing of the hospital. They showed us the rooms, told us where to park, and explained the visiting and safety procedures. I found the safety procedures fascinating. Upon arrival, I get an identification wrist band (Lyle, too, if he wants one). This band has an electronic device in it. Once the baby is born, a matching band will be placed on her ankle and wrist. My band and her band will be linked so that everyone knows which mom goes with which baby. If a different mom (with a band) gets too close to my baby, an alarm will go off. If the baby is taken too close to an exit, an alarm will go off, and if anyone tries to tamper with the baby, an alarm will go off. It's called the hugs and kisses system - mom gets the kisses tag and baby gets the hugs tag. The baby's band also has a gps device in it so she can be located at any time (which might be more useful once she can drive a car - but I suppose they remove them when we leave the hospital).

3rd Trimester

I've decided I'm officially in the third trimester. Whether that happened last week (27 weeks) or this week (28 weeks) varies by website, but my doctor's appointments have now changed from monthly to bi-weekly so I've decided that's as good of an indicator as any. I passed the glucose blood test with flying colors which means I don't have gestational diabetes. The doctor said I process sugars very very fast (which is the opposite of diabetes). She said I should avoid things like eating just cake for breakfast because it might make me light headed. I hadn't even considered that an option until she mentioned it. I think that's the end of all the testing. I have to get a Rhogam shot this week because my blood is Rh- and then, unless something unexpected happens, I won't see another needle until delivery. Yay!

At this stage, the average fetus is 15 inches long and 2.2 pounds. It feels like she's a lot bigger than that but since my weight and measurements are right on target, I suspect she's about average. The baby is as active as ever, over the last two days I don't think an entire minute has gone by that I haven't felt her move. Lyle has taken to calling her Thumper because it feels like a rabbit is in my belly. I guess that's as good of name as any.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The veggie platter for Thanksgiving dinner.

Dresser and butterfly mobile

Publish Post

We repainted a dresser Lyle has had since he was a kid to match the room and made a butterfly mobile out of colored paper.

Gifts from Grandparents

The nursery is getting closer. We now have a furniture and curtains (thanks to the Grandparents and some recycling). The glider was Lyle's grandmas that was recovered by Lyle's mom. Lyle's mom also made the curtains and the quilt (the two pictures show both sides of it). The crib/mattress (and bookcase and toybox not in the photos) were gifts from my parents. This baby is getting spoiled by her grandparents already!  :)