Day 2 Update

Long day 1 that feels like a week. We got the hospital at 1:00 yesterday (Monday the 14th) and there wasn't much waiting around as they sent us back to triage to prep. April went back to the OR at 2:30 and they got started around 3:15. Dr. Wells was great and said all the right things to get us through the c-section. April was amazing and kept it together much better than I did :) At 3:21 (contrary to my first Facebook post which was under duress so cut me some slack), we welcomed Charlotte Elle into the world. The final official weight/length was 9 lbs., 1 oz., 19.9 inches and a head of hair that would make any stylist envious.

Charlie and I went back to the triage where we had some good Daddy/Daughter time before they began poking and proding. After about 20 minutes in recovery, April joined us. The pediatric nurse came in shortly after and said that her sugars were low (should have been a 45 and was 30) and the accompanying serum test was below the cutoff (should have been 20 and was at 18), hospital protocol required her to go the NICU and get an IV for 24 hours. That's the last thing the new parents wanted to hear but obviously, that was the best thing for Charlie so Mommy said goodbye as they shipped her down the hall.

April's mom stayed with her and I went with Charlie. We got to NICU and just as they were about to start the IV, the doctor told them to hold off, feed her and then test her blood sugar again. The nurse told me it was a good thing because it would have been really tough to start an IV because her arms were like pork chops (that was my commentary, not an exact quote from the nurse). Her levels were up and they decided that instead of the IV they would just feed her formula and test her levels throughout the night. I spent most of the night going back and forth between April and Charlie and April didn't get much sleep because the painkillers, while effective in relaxing her, didn't help her get much rest. But during the night, she started to really open her eyes so I had some great moments with her. I know Mommy was missing her.

We got up around 6:30a, had breakfast and got April into a wheelchair and down to the NICU about 9:00 to try to feed her. Charlie has Kobayashi tendancies (if you're not familiar with competitive eating, Google it) and has yet to meet a food source that she doesn't like. While we were down there, the pediatrician came down and said they were going to release her. We had just gotten back to the room when they wheeled her in. April's resting now and Charlie's catching a post-breakfast nap as well. Things have calmed down but it was a lot to take in over the course of about 18 hours. Sorry for the delay in updating the blog but it was about 37th on my list of priorities given all was going on. I'll get some photos uploaded shortly so stay tuned.

-Steve