Welcome Halle Kate!

Photo by Rachel - I will post the rest later (Thanks Rachel!)

As most of you know by now, we welcomed Halle Kate into the world on June 23rd at 4:50pm. She was 4 lbs. 11oz and 18 3/4 inches. As I write this, the pregnancy counter on my blog says that I am 38 weeks and 2 days pregnant so needless to say, her early birth was a little unexpected. But, now we can't imagine life without her! She is our little bundle of joy and a true blessing!

To tell you the truth, I have trouble recalling a lot from the first week of her life so Brandon will have to get on the blog at some point to fill in the points that I was either too drugged up to remember or just forgot! But, I will try my best at filling you in...

On Tuesday, June 22nd, after having had trouble sleeping, being swollen and some pain in my chest for the past week, Brandon decided that I should take my blood pressure at work. Not really knowing what high blood pressure was, I emailed my 180's and 200 blood pressures to Brandon since he was sleeping at home. Shortly after, I got a call from him saying that he was going to pick me up at work and take me to the doctor. He normally doesn't get worked up so the fact that he was coming to pick me up made me kind of nervous. I had my blood drawn and some other tests done before seeing my family med doc who told us that I had preclampsia and was going to need to head to labor and delivery to be induced. We were both surprised but quickly got on the phone with our families and headed home quickly to pack up some things. We arrived at the hospital about an hour later and they started me on medication to reduce the risk of a seizure from my high blood pressure. I don't remember a whole lot because that medicine made me very thirsty, tired, and blurred my vision. I do know though that Brandon was absolutely incredible at making me feel comfortable. I know I had contractions but I don't really remember what they felt like. I also remember talking with the anesthesiologist about the risks of getting my epidural since my platelets were low. Thankfully, I was able to get one very early.

The next day, I still wasn't dilated more than a 4 and Halle started showing signs of distress (up until then she was fine) and my blood pressure was still high, so we decided to have a c-section that afternoon. I was awake for the procedure but I remember being so tired that I kept saying "I am awake but I just have my eyes closed." Everything went well and Halle was very strong and quickly started to do much better.

We stayed the night in the labor and delivery room so that they could continue to monitor my blood pressure. I had severe preclampsia with HELLP syndrome so I was monitored fairly closely. They took Halle to the level two nursery since she was 35 weeks old. Even though it was hard to not have her in the same room, we were able to watch her on our tv via a video camera.

The next day, I was moved up to a post-postpartum room. My blood pressure continued to be high so I had to stay in the hospital for 7 days. At the time, I didn't want to be there but it was nice to be able to see Halle on the tv and to be able to go down and visit her once I was able to walk. The Special Care Nursery was brand new and Halle had her own private room which was really nice. We could go down and visit her whenever we wanted and we kept our tv on her so we could see her the whole day.

I didn't expect her delivery to be like this, but in reality, this whole experience has really made me count my blessings. We were so blessed to have my mom come in to town (she was going to head to Paris on the 23rd), Brandon's parents were already coming out here, all of the prayers and help from our friends, the wonderful nurses and doctors, etc. I also managed to stay calm throughout the whole hospital stay and I know that the Lord had his hand on me the whole time. I normally would be very nervous. The Lord took my fears from me and lead us through everything. Brandon's senior resident let him take off the last week of his service so that he could stay with me and he was incredible. I can't imagine what I would have done without him.

It was hard to go home without Halle and it didn't really hit me until I saw her car seat without her in it. Thanks to Cassi, Erica and Christopher, I came home to a finished nursery which was absolutely gorgeous but it was also hard to not have her home to see it. But, looking back, it was only 3 days until she came home and it was good for me to get some rest before her homecoming.

Halle did really well in the nursery. She had to stay there until she could maintain her weight while being completely breastfed for 24 hours. She came home when she was 10 days old and weighed 4 pounds, 12 ounces. It was so nice having her home and she has been doing great since. We had an appointment this past Tuesday, and she was 4 pounds, 14 ounces and today she weighed 5 pounds, 6 ounces which made me so happy.

It was so touching to see how Brandon has just completely adapted to being a father. He is completely in love with her and I love seeing them together. He gave her both of her baths in the nursery and the first one at home and loves holding her whenever he has the chance. I am so blessed to have such a great husband.

We also feel so blessed by all of the support we have been given. I can't even express how grateful we are for our family and all of our friends who have visited, prayed, sent emails, made us food, etc. Thank you so much!

After we arrived at the hospital - I didn't realize how swollen I was until I looked back at these pictures!Brandon cutting the cordWelcome Halle!Joy brought us gifts while I was in laborChristopher came to visit so we took a picture of him with Halle on tv - Erica was out of town but visited as soon as she got back
In Halle's room in the Special Care NurseryHalle's room in the nurseryShe quickly upgraded to a regular bassinet!

She loves having her hands on her faceBrandon wrote a note to me from Halle since I couldn't walk to the nursery the first dayA proud Nana!Lesley came to visit!My best friend from my hometown, Karissa, surprised me with a visit from Oregon - they were on a roadtrip and made a special 5 hour detour once they heard that Halle had arrived. It was so much fun to see them. Thank you so much!Giving Halle her first bathShe looked like she was at a spa and liked everything about the bath except for getting out!Brandon giving her a 2nd bathMore wonderful visitors - Cassi and DeolaRachel visited and even found some clothes fit our little one!Being weighed - she had gained just enough to get to go home...yay!