What's happening

Wednesday, May 19th, 2021

It's officially our last day! We received a breakfast although hospital food must be cooked in one of those heating boxes and designed by a doctor. There is never any flavor and it just doesn't taste cooked well. However, none of that matters because we are finally going home. Officially they told us we are released around 12 pm. I started packing the car around 8 am. The doctor came in, gave Amelie one final look over. Jaundice was very low. she has been peeing and pooping regularly. Although having a girl, we also have the pleasure of a little blood. Amelie is okay but for Daddy, it's like, "What the hell is this.!"

Tuesday, May 18th, 2021

11 am - I finally woke up and had some breakfast. I got at least 3 or 4 hours of sleep and felt much better. I took a shower and then watch Amelie so Keira could shower. Her food came, it was a hamburger that must have been cooked in a warmer because it was the worst burger ever made. I cleaned up our place a bit and packed up some of my clothes and food that we didn't need any longer. I went out to In-and-out burger and got Keira and I a couple of

9 am - We don't leave until Wednesday. I fell asleep after Amelie's little walk for a few hours. Apparently, our celebratory food came, someone cleaned the floors and Amelie had a hearing test while I was asleep. I barely heard a thing while Keira handled everything. The hearing test involved some kind of diagnostic reading to see if her brain reacts. She passed it.

3 am - She's officially one day old as of 1:39 am. We measured her weight, took blood samples for various diseases, checked for gout which came back negative, and a few other tests. Everything so far has come back healthy and Amelie has barely lost any weight. Keira has had trouble sleeping so I took Amelie out of the room and we went for a walk for a few hours in circles. I'm not sure how much Keira slept but it was the most she's had in two days.

Monday, May 17th, 2021

8 pm - It's official, we filled out and took care of Amelie's Social Security and birth certificate. She's been pooping and eating on a regular basis but has a lot of energy still. We've been trying to understand her feeding queue's but she's still getting the hang of it. I've gotten down swaddling. Amelie seems to like being swaddled.

3 pm - I came back from the car to find Amelie screaming and Keira a bit overwhelmed. I immediately jumped in to help and we got Amelie back from screaming her head off. It reminded us that we have no idea what we are doing and frankly gave us a little scare. We called the nurse who came by and answered an additional bunch of questions we had never thought of several hours earlier. It's funny how simple things like using deodorant or bringing flowers are completely unknown.

2 pm - Although the staff was a little overwhelmed which seemed to be an ongoing theme. Keira was able to get up out of bed and removed more wires and hoses from her. Her functions were starting to come back and the nurse was very impressed with her ability to move after surgery. We finally were getting back to normal. A social worker stopped by to interview Keira and let her know about services available which gave me a moment to get out and pick up some flowers and bring in Keira's push gift.

11 am - after several additional rounds with doctors and nurses for check-ups. I was finally awake enough to be coherent. We took a few pictures of our beautiful new daughter, sent them out, and talked with my mom, grandparents, and a close friend. We finally had a moment to take in everything that had just happened. We had some breakfast (although not the celebratory breakfast) and a moment of joy.

Somewhere around 6:30 am - Keira was feeling hot and asked me to fix the temperature. I went over to the thermostat and didn't know how it worked. Keira started looking around and thought she saw a blue button that said cold; except it said, "code". You can imagine our sleep-deprived startle to see about 15 staff members race to our room. We explained that we were trying to turn down the temperature, I think they were a little disturbed having completely shut down the maternity ward that early in the morning when everyone was just getting on their shift. We could hear the"code blue canceled" announced over the intercom and they asked if we needed anything. I staunchly suggested SLEEP is what we needed and apologized for the disruption. The staff made sure we knew how to turn down the temperature and asked that we call our nurse if we needed; ANYTHING.

3 ish am - It's been almost 24 hours since we first arrived. All three of us were totally exhausted. They transferred Keira to her recovery bed and Keira got to continue to nurse and hold Amelie. After unloading our suite case, snacks, drinks (including the remaining red bulls), pillows, blankets, baby carrier, and electronics; we put Amelie in a swaddle and into her bassinet. They had us sign a few documents and went over what to expect. They told us we would be able to leave by Tuesday. We went to sleep for a bit.

1:39 am - After a very long and scary day, Ms. Amelie Jeanne Sherman is born! It was scary having to send Keira to the operating room. They made me move everything out of the labor and delivery room while they prepped Keira. I had to put on a "bunny" suit, a blue, one size fits all onesie for the operating room. However, I can assure you, one size does not fit all. After getting everything moved, I was sitting on a bench until Keira was fully anesthetized and they were ready for me to support Keira.

She was really scared and shaking like a bunny. After about half an hour of smelling burning flesh and the beat of the EKG, we heard a crying baby. It was so exciting. Keira was of course strapped to the table so they had me come over to see Amelie. They weighted her, wiped her down, checked fingers, toes, and all the basic diagnostics and we had a beautiful baby girl. She was so quiet just observing the fact she was let out of her luxury home to some new world. She could hear my voice and know it was me. As soon as possible, they let me bring her over to Keira who was still shaking from the shock of everything.

I felt so bad that she couldn't touch her daughter but I did what I could to make Keira feel loved and see her beautiful creation. Another half hour went by while they put everything back together. It looked like a giant ear piercing in her stomach. We could hear the doctors talking about a recent skydiving trip and couldn't help but to think, "ah, hey guy's, focus huh?" They were an excellent team and I can only describe it as though it was the doctors for the old show, "MASH". For the doctors and team, it was just another day and another C-Section.

After a very long hour in surgery, everything was done. Keira was able to touch Amelie but I still had to hold her until they moved Keira to Post Opp. Amelie started crying and I was giving her my finger because she was looking to suckle. Unfortunately, my hairy nipple didn't seem to suffice. As Keira came into the post-op, the doctor was delivering a couple of shots and some cream for her eyes. Of Course, she didn't like it but it went quickly. I think Keira was having a harder time than Amelie getting the shots.

Finally, Keira was able to hold Amelie while they checked her vitals and made sure she was stabilized. Amelie immediately took to her momma who was able to give her a nipple and we were off to the races. After about 30-40 minutes, Keira was finally given clearance and they wheeled us off to our postpartum room #25.

12:30 am - Keira has been pushing for about 2.5 hours and she's pretty exhausted. Unfortunately, Amelie is been stubborn and we haven't been able to get her moving. She was still in the 0 position and needed to be around +3. Her response from getting poked in the head isn't meeting the doctor's expectations. The doctor said we could continue to push for two more hours but then they would have to do an emergency C-section. I guess babies have a certain reserve of oxygen but it was also getting low. We decided it was better to have an unplanned C-section

Sunday May 16, 2021

9:28 pm - Keira has been sleeping as much as she can getting ready to push. She finally hit 9.5 cm but there was still some cervix wall that was sticking and they were trying to get it removed. The staff was changing shifts and prepping for the evening but they said they would start pushing with Keira as soon as they were done around 10:15 pm. I cleared the area and prepped us to move into the post maternaty ward. We had our music cued up but Keira was pretty nervous.

5:30 pm - Keira is up to 7.5 cm and doing well. They are a little concerned that Amelie isn't adjusting her heart rate as much as they would like. It's been around a steady 130-150 bps but no sharp. Although she is not feeling any pain she does shake during the contractions. The nurse has been vigilant. Keira's tummy was also a little upset although I think my bbq flavored chips might have made her nauseous. Oops

2 pm - The nurse came by and said she's up to 6.5 cm and they will probably come to schedule delivery in a couple of hours. We've been working on our delivery playlist, it could probably use some work and I'm thinking we can't have it up too loud. You can listen along here

12:30 - Keira's pain level is a one. She mostly sleeps but had a little lunch. The nurse put her Pitocin to 12 but it was a bit too much and she brought it down. Her contractions are just about every 2 minutes like clockwork.

11 am - Keira is sleeping and regaining her strength. She started to tremble a bit but eventually, she found the right balance. The nurses continued to check on us and the switched crew came in to introduce themselves and make sure they know our situation. The doctor came in and checked Keira's cervix 5 cm!! We are moving faster. The nurse is very cheery. Perhaps a tad overly cheery for a woman half asleep but nice nonetheless. The monitors were all replaced with more intimate devices now that Keira is fully anesthetized. She was asked her pain level, she said she had a headache at a level 2. A little ice helped reduce the pain.

7:28 am - Keira was experiencing contractions until about 6 am. At that point, we moved forward with the Anesthesiologist. They measured her to 3 cm! She has begun really moving along. They started the Pitocin now that she is in active labor. When the epidural was set, she was a happy camper. It was a little scary as they made me leave the room but Keira is a trooper as always. Not a cry or a whimper.

1:45 am - Keira's water broke! She's now 1.5 cm and the contractions are starting to become more regular.

Saturday May 15, 2021

10:30 pm - That's it for today. It could be three hours it could be three days. Right now there are mild contractions but it's not much yet. We can hear your heartbeat on a big doplar on your mom's tummy. The nurses meet our every need.

7:30 pm - Doctor came in and checked the cervix. She said it's basically not opened yet. Keira took a pill and we'll find out if that worked. After that, they use a small rubber device and then Pitocin.

6:30 pm - We checked in, got a corner suite. It was very big and has a window. Except the window isn't tinted so you can see right in. They went through everything. Then they switch to nightshift and we met the other team. So far so good.