Born December 11th at 8:45 am. She weighed 8 pounds, 12 ounces and was 21 inches long!
Everything in the hospital went well. I arrived at Labor and Delivery that morning for my scheduled c-section (my third, b/c Rowen/Arjun were breech) around 6:30 am. The plan was for Tim and I to come in together but the boys were sleeping so peacefully that morning that I decided to come in alone so the boys could sleep in a bit longer. Our friend Yuki Pierson watched them that morning (thanks Yuki!!).
It was reassuring that morning to see many familiar faces getting me ready for surgery. Most of the nurses and doctors, I either knew or recognized, so that really put me at ease. My OB, Linda Walker, is a good friend of mine and I was SO happy that she was doing my surgery. The c-section went well and my spinal anesthesia worked (yeah!) so I was awake when Simran was born. It was amazing to hear her cry!! I briefly saw her b/f they whisked her away to get her cleaned up, etc.
My recovery period was a bit rocky for a few hours, well, more like 8 hours. Unfortunately, my blood pressure was low, due to the anesthesia, so I was nauseous on/off for the rest of the day. I cannot really explain the feeling of having to vomit when you cannot move your body b/c you are completely numb...it is not a fun experience though! Luckily, with lots of medicine, my blood pressure stabilized around 10 pm on Friday night and I was able to eat/drink and I even got out of bed to walk around for a bit.
I was alone on Friday night b/c Tim was home with the boys, but Simran and I did just fine. The L&D staff on the floor took very good care of us! Thanks to our friends Jamison and Jen, they stayed with our boys on Sat/Sun night so Tim could stay with us in the hospital.
For a little while on Saturday morning, our babysitter Claire watched Rowen/Arjun so Tim could come to the hospital for a bit. I got up and walked around a bit more and finally took a shower. I felt like a whole new person on Saturday, compared to how yucky I felt on Friday.
We had lots of visitors over the weekend as well. It was so nice to have people come visit us and bring me Starbucks coffee and non-hospital food! We have the greatest friends here!
Monday morning came fairly quickly and before I knew it, we were being discharged. Where did 3 nights go? After the boys got off to school, Tim came by to pick us up. Simran received a clean bill of health, except that she had a little Jaundice (her bilirubin levels were elevated). So our pediatrician asked us to come in the next day for a level check, instead of waiting until Wednesday for her 2 day check. On Tuesday, her bilirubin had jumped from 13 to 18, which is not ideal. We had it checked again on Wednesday, and it was 20.5, a level high enough that warranted phototherapy in the hospital. I was so tired already, that I was not looking forward to her being admitted and having to endure 'billilights' overnight in the hospital. And let me tell you, that night was probably worse than being in the hospital for her birth. She did not want to lay in the crib, especially on her back, AND with the goggles on. She kept taking the goggles/mask off, which then exposed her face/eyes to the UV lights that were shining on her!!
I was basically miserable the entire night b/c I had to stay awake and make sure she kept her eyewear on. NOT fun!!
Fortunately, the next day, her level had dropped to 16. She remained under the lights all of Thursday (except when I was nursing her) and they let us go home instead of staying another night, thank goodness! When we had her bilirubin level checked on Friday morning, it was down to 13, and the doctor was happy with that. Did I mention that in order to check the bilirubin level, the nurse had to prick her heel and squeeze her little foot until they got enough blood for the lab test? Simi's poor heels must have been pricked 10 times!
To learn more about Newborn Jaundice and why it's not that serious but important to treat it early, click here.
Today, as I am writing this, Simran is almost two weeks old. She is thriving and her big brothers just adore her!! They kiss her and hold her whenever they get the chance! We are truly enjoying every minute with our precious baby girl :)
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