My Bili Baby

When we had Kate, Ken roomed in with us every night and we put Kate in the little bassinet here and there when she wasn't latched.  She didn't seem to think much of it.  After we left the hospital Kate slept right beside me and I discovered that this was where I loved my babies to be, right beside me.  When we had Alice, there was Kate, so Ken didn't stay with us in the hospital and Alice slept beside me or on me the entire time we were there.  When they first brought in the lights and the isolete I was sad because Fiona was supposed to be right beside me. Putting her under the lights turned out to be easy because she was so calm and peaceful.  There were a few times that she wasn't so we took her out, but for the most part she was completely content. 

I must admit, that even though I knew that jaundice was a very real outcome, given my anti-bodies during pregnancy, I just didn't really think it would be a factor.  The anti-body levels remained so low my entire pregnancy and in my head it just wasn't an issue.  When Fiona's bilirubin levels were increasing and increasing the first few days I wasn't scared, I knew she'd be fine, I felt very calm and assured that she would be fine.  What I wasn't prepared for was how hard it would be on me and Alice.  I didn't count on spending almost an entire week in the hospital.  I just wanted to go home and I did have a bit of a pity party for me here and there, but staying in the pediatric ward changed that. 

On Sunday afternoon we were released.  We had to come back to the hospital Monday morning, but we were released.  I was so happy to be going home.  They did a bili test on Fiona just before we left, but I didn't think anything of it.  That night we got a call from the hospital telling us we needed to come back in that night.  I was beyond exhausted and we'd only just got home.  Alice was nuts because she hadn't napped, our life felt like absolute chaos and I just wanted to cry.  I packed my bag because I might be staying and we drove to the hospital.  I got to the elevator a little before a couple came in with a little guy, maybe four or five that was clearly a cancer patient.  When we got to the pediatric floor there was a small child in one of the rooms that was crying and crying and crying.  I'm not sure what the child was going through, but I began to get a grip and realize what a small thing this was and how blessed we've been with healthy children.  I felt ridiculous for feeling sad. 

I can't say that at that moment I stopped being sad forever, there were still tears but tears with perspective.  We ended up being able to take Fiona home with us that Sunday night, but we were re-admitted the next morning and didn't get released until Wednesday.  We were back again on Thursday and back again today.  Today was great.  I had my bag packed just in case, but as of today we are done.  Fiona is in the clear. 

I am so thankful to the doctors and nurses that took such good care of us.  I am thankful to my Mom and Dad, to Antoinette and her beautiful daughters Makenna and Abigail, Ken's sister Laura, her husband Joaquin and her son William, for all their help looking after Kate and Alice.  Kate and Alice felt very loved and entertained!  I am so thankful to Ken for doing whatever I needed, for being such an amazing husband and father.  And I am thankful to my Father in Heaven.  I have had the energy and strength to do things I didn't think I would be able to do and I have had the peace of mind that I needed to know it would all be okay.

Looking at her in the shades still kills me, too cute!  (Even if they were an absolute pain in the bum to put on her head!)

Fiona is One Week Old

Elmvale Zoo - Preschool Trip

Today Ken took Kate and Alice to the Elmvale Zoo with Kate's Preschool.  They had a fun day!  I've never been and would like to go someday.  Ken said that the animals were all really close.  And you can see that they are from the pictures.  There's also a petting area and you can feed some of the animals.  I think the girls enjoyed their outing with their Dad.

Oh and take two... Fiona was released from the hospital a second time today.  Let's hope no more being re-admitted.  And thank you Mom for coming to get us so Ken could go to the zoo with the girls.

Picture Day!

Picture Day was actually sometime in May, but we received Kate's photos today!! FUN!  I'm so glad that Kate has loved pre-school.  I wasn't sure about sending her at first, I'm not sure why, but I'm so glad that we did.

This is her class.  First row - Mrs. Jandl, Calvin, Freddy, Jason, Natalie, Olivia, Tess, Tayo, Emmett, Audrey and Mrs. Apps.  Second row - Carla, Gabe, Ian, Luke, Jacob, Alex, Kate and Nicholas.

Bringing Baby Home

Released!! YAY!  Today we were able to bring home Fiona.  And here she is, in the bear hat that her sisters wore before her!

Fiona Christine McCartney

Kate was Kate, Alice was Alice.  There were a few other names we casually talked about, but Kate was Kate and Alice was Alice.  Baby 3... Baby 3 was Henry, because I had so convinced myself that it was a boy.  We had tossed around a few names - Lily and Rose being the top contenders but they never felt quite right.  Ken and I assumed (incorrectly) that one of the reasons that we couldn't decide on a girl name was because in fact Baby 3 was a boy!

On Friday morning my Mom came to visit and meet our little girl.  Ken arrived at some point and then it was work time.  We began pouring over lists.  We had to find a name.  I didn't want our girl to be without a name. 

Eventually Ken found his way to a Scottish name list and perked at Fiona.  We only know a couple of Fiona's and none of them are in close association with our family.  Ken liked it.  I liked it.  We had previously discussed Christine - Ken's Mom's name, as a middle name and that was pretty much settled. 

Ken left the room to go get lunch and I sat staring at our little girl and asked her if her name was Fiona.  I looked at her and she looked different.  She was no longer a nameless baby girl, she was Fiona.  Ken chose her name, but she chose her name too.

So here she is, Fiona Christine McCartney.

Cuddles with Dad

Baby 3 is a GIRL?! I'm still in shock...

Baby Day! I got up at 5 a.m. and showered.  I woke Ken up at 5:30.  We managed to get to the hospital by 6:20 which was good.  After checking in at the Welcome Centre we went upstairs and we were admitted and set up in triage.  Then to wait... We were the "stand-by".  It's weird that the ob that I saw for Alice and for this baby was actually the doctor who delivered the baby.

So, just before 10 it looked like this was it, we were ready to go.  I walked down to the O.R. with one of the nurses.  I was sitting on the table waiting when another nurse popped her head in and said that they had a cord prolapse.  I got down off the table and IV bag in hand, headed back to triage, but not before almost being run over in the hallway by tons of people all RUNNING to the O.R.  They called it a code blue and well, you can imagine that sent everyone RUNNING!  (We did find out later that mom and baby were both fine, thankfully!)

Take two - at 11 we walked back down to the O.R.  This time it was the other room - the same one that Alice was born in.  The nurses prepped, the anaesthetist came and poked my back (yuck, but not as yucky as with Alice) and then Dr. Svystonyuk came in and everything started.  They brought Ken in and what seemed like forever later (okay maybe 10 minutes) the baby was out.  They asked Dad to stand up and announce the baby's gender and low and behold it's a GIRL!  I couldn't believe it.

Everyone, and I mean everyone said they thought it was a boy.  There was Ken's Dad when I was pregnant with Alice saying that we would have 2 girls and a boy.  There was me, I always felt 2 girls and a boy.  I was expecting Henry.  Now, before I go any further I need to clearly say, that in no way is this sweet baby girl a disappointment, in no way!  I just expected a he! 

Okay, back to our perfect little girl.  Ken took some pictures and then he held her while they finished up with me.

I held her as soon as we got to recovery and started nursing soon after.  It all felt so smooth and I felt so good - much better than after either Kate or Alice. 

We had a pretty peaceful afternoon.  We looked at our perfect little girl and mused about what to name her... no idea yet.  And we waited for the BIG SISTERS to arrive! 

Antoinette brought Kate and Alice, and Makenna and Abigail.

And just like that, we're a family of 5!