Thursday, March 29, 2012

Day 2!

Katy w Zora in the NICU - start on Day 2

The sisters together by the afternoon of Day 2
We are tired...
(and it's only Day 2!)
Noemi slept through the night with breaks for feeding.
Zora left the NICU and went to the intermediate nursery mid afternoon
Feeding is starting to get a little better.
Noemi is a blondie!

Zora, w a bow put on by the nurses, is a brunette!

Sleeping w/ Noemi

Recap of Wednesday

Taken Tues (3/27) night

So Wednesday morning at 7am, Katy's first contraction woke her up  just as I was turning off my alarm.  By 8:04, we had called Westminster to have them cancel Katy's classes.  And by 8:15/8:30, we were hurriedly tossing things into the car.  By some stroke of luck and because of how Katy was feeling on Monday, Mike skipped his Tuesday evening class and we decided to get the nursery all set that afternoon and pack the bag that we would eventually take to the hospital.  By a few minutes after 9am, we were driving from our house to the hospital.


Katy resting in the laboring room post epidural, pre-pushing
M & K in the OR w/ Noemi after K delivered both


resting in the laboring room afterwards trying to stay warm
By 9:20/9:30, we were inside getting checked out in the OB emergency room and Katy was dilated at 6cm.   By 10am, we were in our laboring room, our OB came in and at around 10:15/10:30 Katy was at 9cm.  They put an epidural in and then all the doctors and nurses who were in the room, for the most part headed off. Sandy, the nurse who took care of us, was really great and pushed on Katy's knees to help her get through the pain as the epidural was setting in.  Then Katy had a while to rest.  At 11:30am, Dr. Clark came in and, along with Sandy, got Katy to do some of the preliminary pushing - which lasted 15 or 20 minutes.  Then at 11:50ish, we moved into the OR.

They got things set up.  At one point, I counted 16 people in scrubs (besides myself and not including Katy) in the room.  Teams of three from the pediatriac unit were assigned to each baby.  There were 3 people on the anesthesiologist team.  4 doctors on the OB team plus at least 2 OB nurses.  Then one or two residents who were observing.  Something like that.  By 12noon, Katy started pushing again.  By 12:06, Noemi was born.  Zora was a breech extraction; they asked Katy to push once or twice to get her head out.

Katy pushing Noemi to the nursery on Wed afternoon
Then Katy recovered in the laboring room.  Zora went to the NICU.  Mike followed Noemi to the well-baby nursery where she had to pass some tests before being released.  Mike eventually went back to check on Katy in that laboring room, from which we could see Zora in the NICU through a window.  We both went over there to talk to her, then Noemi was brought back to us in the laboring room and Katy got some skin-to-skin time which benefitted both of them because Katy had the shakes at that point.  We (Katy, Noemi, Mike) eventually around 3ish, went to our post-partum recovery room.  Noemi ended up having to go back on oxygen for a little bit because she was wheezing/grunting.  We all eventually decided that that was her delivery day coping technique.  Zora stayed in the NICU through the night.

What a day!

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Zora & Noemi are Here!

The new Evans family
Hi all, We're about to bed down for an hour or so after our big day - before waking up for the 11:15pm feeding.

Zora is in the NICU, progressing well.  They are hoping that she will be able to leave tomorrow.

Noemi (pronounced Noe-em-mee) is doing alright.  We've been told all the tests look good.  She's been wheezing/grunting some, which may just be her thing for this first day or two or may be her working out some respiratory things.  We don't know yet, but no one seems that worried about it.  (Maybe they are just good re-assurers- but I'd like to take them on their word.)
Mike & Zora


Katy & Noemi
Katy did great.  Contractions started at 7am.  After seeing where they went, we decided that we needed to go to the hospital, so I ran around making sure we had everything, throwing the 2 car seats, bases, and instructions (we hadn't gotten there yet) in the car.  We were at the hospital by 9:15am.  She started to push at 11:30.   Babies were born at about 12:05pm.   Katy's been walking around between the NICU, our room, and the nursery this afternoon and evening.  We feel very lucky. 

Much love to you all.  Thanks for all your thoughts, love, and support.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Flurry of Activity

 On Saturday night we had a nice visit from John Church who was in town for a conference.  We watched Ohio State play their way into the final four and caught up on lots of other things.

We had a lovely weekend weather-wise.   Our daffodils - a regular sized variety and then a miniature variety both bloomed in the last week or two.  What a fun surprise during our first spring in this house. 

On Monday, we realized that Katy is getting close, so Tuesday after work, we put some real work in on the nursery in order to get it set for the girls.  We also packed "the bag" for the hospital - hoping that we're putting all these things in place well in advance. 

Not to Be Outdone...




The Red Sox make another strong showing in spring training...