Wonderful Winter...

So I've been a major blog slacker the past two months, but i think i have a great excuse! I've been indulging in my sweet baby girl and spending as much time with her big brother Nash as possible. Josh and I have adjusted quite well to two nuggets at home. Winter is a dream baby and her presence actually calms Nash down! It's a miracle!

Here's the whole birth story...

After dealing with preterm labor again with this pregnancy, our goal was to make it to at least 35 weeks. Well, on the morning of Feb. 11th (35w 2d) I was obviously leaking, the day before I was in for a NST and my fluid levels were at a nine and doing great so i was a bit surprised. I wasn't having painful contractions but decided i better call the Dr. and see what he wanted me to do. Of coarse he wanted me to head down to the Hospital ASAP. I gave my honey a call and told him to get of work as soon as he could... but i wanted to stall going to the hospital as long as I could so I told him not to rush. My amazing cousin and friend, Jodi came and grabbed Nash so he could play with her kids and have some fun. Josh came home a couple of hours later and I was packed and ready. We stopped to get Nash a gift from his soon to be sister and one last fountain coke for me.
When we arrived at UVRMC (2:30pm) I was only dilated to a 4 and still not having strong contractions, I was upset they made me come in so early, I had stayed at home as long as possible with Nash and it made my labor seem so short and comfortable. After the nurse checked my cervix they wheeled me in to check my fluid levels. It was a good thing we came in because I was only at a three and the baby can go into distress very easily when fluid is so low. I REALLY didn't want pitocin or any drug for that matter so we crossed our fingers that Labor would start naturally and fast! I was having contractions, they were just weak.

Finally around 7pm my contractions felt like they were actually doing something and at 8:30 pm i was dilated to a 7. At 9 i was at an 8 and 20 min later I was calling for the nurse and dying to push... I had no drugs and could feel EVERYTHING! The moment you are ready to push... you have to! And it's the best feeling in the world when they tell you it's okay! After a small hiccup with the delivery table (the nurses couldn't get the bottom off) Our sweet baby girl was here! 5lbs 6oz. of perfectness!

They brought her over to me after a quick wipe down, I held her for about 10 seconds before they took her away, everything started happening so fast, nurses were coming in, my parents had to go out, the Dr. was still delivering my placenta and stitching up a small incision so I had no idea what was happening. I guess it's protocol to have a respiratory therapist in the delivery room for babies younger than 36 weeks, our nurse didn't call one and Winnie was not breathing properly. She was turning purple and her chest was having spasms. They took her over to the NICU and Josh was able to go with her. I was confused but knew that everything would be fine, my Dr's assured me that if I made it to 35 weeks, everything would be A Okay!

After getting her breathing under control with the C pap, they did some test and found that Winnie had dangerous levels of bilirubin and extra thick blood due to too much hemoglobin. She was also unable to eat proper amounts on her own. We were super bummed with the news but all problems were things they see often and UVRMC's NICU is awesome so we knew she was in good hands. As soon as i was stable i headed to the NICU to meet up with Josh and get to be with Winter. The hardest part was not being able to hold her. That first night they let me try to feed her every three hours so that was heaven.

The next morning they put her under the lights. She had 4! One light blanket under her and three over head! There she is above sun bathing with her worst enemy... her eye mask! Poor baby hated it! The ligts were my worst nightmare, because of her super high bili levels they would only allow me to hold and try to feed her every six hours:( torture to a new mom. On her third day of life things started to go down hill and the nurses and doctors were confused. Her bili went up, no improvement on hemoglobin and she lost a lot of weight. While trying to change her IV (MEAN MEAN nurses tried 6 different spots before they got one to work) the charge nurse finally discovered a leak in her IV line and as soon as they fixed it her levels all started to improve immediately! We were so thankful.

Josh took this picture on Valentines day! She will always be our little Valentine! She sent her super special nurse, Courtney, a red velvet cake for Valentines to say thanks for all her love! She was the greatest nurse and such a huge sweetie pie, we love her. The next week was pretty much just the same thing everyday. Her bili was slowly dropping, and everyday she was able to eat a little more...still not with mom though! I've never pumped more in my life!

Our poor buddy Nash kind of had it the hardest during the whole fiasco! He was so excited to be a big brother, but because it was smack in the middle of RSV season, no children were allowed in the NICU. Luckily, Winnie was by a window so we brought him by a few times to say hello. The sweet little bugger would bring books to read to her and his super awesome toys to show her what was waiting for her at the Matson abode. Having mom and dad gone all the time really started to wear on him so Josh and I made a pact to have no sitters after that first week. Josh and i would take turns between the kiddos, I missed him but it was what was best for Nashie. I snapped this photo at day 9, he said he needed privacy for a little while and went and sat on the porch by himself for about 15min. It broke my heart and he has seemed older ever since that moment. That's when Nash became my little boy...not baby.

After ten days, she was finally down to just the blanket light and they let me do a 12 hr. test for breast feeding. She rocked it! She ate like a champ each feeding and they informed me that they'd let her rest for the next 12 hours and just feed her through her tube and then we'd start a 24hr request where I'd feed her when ever she was hungry for a 24 hr period. She did it! I was so proud of my peanut! She was finally coming home! We had to wait for the Dr. to come back and it was going to be a few hrs so Josh and I went and grabbed Nash and went to dinner than headed back to the hospital. Nash finally being able to see his sister has got to be top 5 greatest moments of my life! Instant love!

From the day she came home, she's done incredibly well! I believe she just needed to be loved, held, and surrounded by her family. We've been enjoying her to the fullest and she's the BEST baby! Awe, she melts me and is our little wonder woman. xoxo Winter Rebecca Matson. I love you

1st bath

Newborn photos

1st time in her crib... she's so tiny!