Leah's Newborn Pictures

We had an adventure trying to get Leah's newborn pictures done.  

Our usual photographer was booked until the end of November and we didn't want to lose those precious weeks while she was so small.  So she recommended a friend to come take some.  While the pictures she took of the rest of the family turned out okay, we didn't get any individual pictures of Leah.  

 

 

After I got in touch with our original photographer to express how disappointed I was, she offered to come over the next day and take a few pictures of Leah.  I wasn't looking for anything too fancy, just pictures to remember her face when she was so small.  

 

 

When I was having a conversation with one of my good friends, a co-worker, who also happens to dabble in photography, she offered to come and try again for us.  Even though I assured her that it was okay, she wouldn't take no for an answer.  And thankfully she came because I love what she did and how she was FINALLY able to capture exactly what I was looking for :)

 

  

 

Leah - 1 week old

I'm one week old today!!

What a week it has been!  We have had some adjustments to life with 3 kids.  It has been challenging and frustrating, and down-right tough some days.  But we will get there.

The struggle has been compounded by not having a vehicle that holds all 5 of us.  With the Traverse gone now, we are still looking for a new vehicle as we await the insurance details and for my extremely picky hubby to find the perfect van of his dreams!

But nonetheless, we are getting by!

  


We ventured out to the pediatrician for Leah's first appointment on Tues 11/15.  We had to have John's parents come pick up Hannah and Leah and take them to their house so we could take Leah in the car.  Then have John drop me and Leah back off at home and go pick up the other 2 kids.  It will be nice once we have a new vehicle and don't have to worry about the logistics of 3 kids anymore!

4 day old Stats:

-Height: 19.5 inches (44%)

-Weight: 7 lbs 9 oz (60%)

-Head Circumference: 33.4 cm (23%)

Looking good so far!! She is already back to 1 oz above her birth weight which is great!
Of course I don't have any exciting pictures from her doctor's appointment.  Probably because the appointments seem to go by so fast as you add more children to the mix.  Dr Israel is just an amazing pedi.

Fun fact, when we were in the office for Leah's appointment, we were chatting with Dr Israel about not finding out her gender and how we had both gender names picked out just in case.  Before we even told him the potential boy name, he said to us, "Did I ever tell you the names of my children?"  To which we both replied no.  He said, "My kids are Hannah, Noah, and Benjamin".  John and I both gasped and told him that Benjamin was the boy name we had picked out!  Without knowing, all 3 of our kids could have had the exact same names as our kiddos doctor.  CRAZY?!

We absolutely love this little one and are so thankful for our 3 wonderful children :) 

November 10, 2016

                              Welcome to the world Ms. Leah Marie LaMacchia!
                                       

Leah made her grand arrival at 5:52am weighing 7 pounds, 8 ounces and was 19.5 inches long.  She was healthy, crying, and with visible dark hair! Oh what a night!
 
 

Continued from the previous post...

Once I was transferred to L&D, we knew we had a 24 hour observation period.  When the OB first came into the room to check on me, we discussed induction and sending us home with our baby in that 24 hours.  Since I was GBS+ and would need antibiotics coverage, we decided to go ahead with things since we were here.  I was also exactly 39/0 weeks placing me as a induction candidate.

Around midnight my first dose of antibiotics was finished infusing.  We needed to wait 4 hours before doing anything else.  During those 4 hours, we tried to get some sleep, but it was hard because I was contracting and generally uncomfortable.  They were doing continuous fetal monitoring to watch the baby closely and I couldn't move freely because of that.  After a few 'eye rests,' it was time to proceed.

My contractions had started to slow down and space out.  It was around 3:30am when the doctor broke my water and we talked about starting Pitocin to help bring my contractions back more regularly.  I was now 4cm dilated and 50% effaced.  Pitocin was started at 1 unit around 4am and would be titrated up by 1, every 30 mins until my contractions were consistent.

After they broke my water and started the Pit, I asked if I could stand at the bedside to stretch and move a little.  I was really starting to stiffen up in my neck, shoulders, and back from the accident.  I knew that if I could move, it would help me start to feel better.  Since I couldn't actually walk around due to the continuous baby monitoring, just standing was okay with me.

Around 5am was when I really started to feel generally uncomfortable.  I continued to stand and rock at the bedside, leaning on the bed in between contractions to keep stretching my body/back.  I 'gently' encouraged John to go out to the car and bring our bags in, especially the camera, to have in the room for later.  He came back and started to unpack a few things.

Around 5:40 or so, I asked John to call the nurse because I was starting to sweat and become more uncomfortable.  I figured I would have her check me to see how far things had moved along since starting the process.  She came in, helped me back into bed, and checked me.  I was 6-7 and 80% effaced.  I asked if I could get back up and stand at the bedside since that felt better than lying in bed, but she asked me to stay put because the fetal monitoring hadn't been reading very well.  She wanted a good 15 minute strip and then would let me get back up.  At the same time, I also felt the need to.. uh-hum, go to the bathroom.  I knew I wouldn't be allowed to actually sit on the toilet, but she offered some assistance for me in bed.  So as I'm uncomfortably trying to go, the chaos ensues.

She politely asks me to stop pushing because the baby's head is now visibly crowning.  (Side note- please don't ever tell a laboring patient to stop pushing.. I mean, really?!).  Nurses come running in to help, the NICU team is called because baby's heart rate has dropped a few times, but my OB and fellow are in an emergency c-section and not immediately available.  An oxygen mask is applied to my face, I can feel John standing at the bedside now rubbing my head, no doubt freaking out once again because the room is a crazy mess of people rushing in and out.  As hard as I tried not to push, it didn't matter.  The nurse successfully delivered baby's head as another resident quickly put on a sterile gown/gloves to help.  At this time, my OB fellow quickly rushed in, prepped, and was instructing me to push hard, her shoulders were stuck.  Push hard, now that I can do!  After a push or 2, she was out, crying, and placed onto my chest.
In the span of about 10 mins, I had progressed from 6-7cm/80% to complete (10cm/100% effaced) and baby completely delivered.  Talk about a whirlwind experience!

Thankfully our little GIRL was healthy, pink, crying, and ever so unbelievably perfect!!

 
                                                                                                                    Proud and exhausted Daddy
 
    Absolutely blessed                               There is nothing greater than a Mother's love
 

We were moved over to Mother Baby and able to sneak in a few moments of sleep before John's parents brought Hannah and Noah to the hospital around 10am to meet their new baby sibling.

We still hadn't told anyone that we had a girl because we wanted the kids to see her and find out what we had first.  When they walked into the room, they were hesitant, but Hannah immediately walked over to see the baby.  We asked her if she thought it was a boy or girl and she said, "its a girl, I just know it".  Sure enough, she was right.  We introduced both kids to their new baby sister, Leah!
 
 
The kids were more intrigued with the hospital gloves....
 
 
 
 
                           LaMacchia's -- Party of 5!

 


Grandpa and Grandma meeting their new grand baby!
 
 

Leah's first bath :)
 
 

Squeaky clean from her bath                            Daddy has the magic touch
  

Lots of snuggles with Mommy
  

And 30-ish hours later, we were headed home.  Both John and I were ready to sleep in our own bed and be able to relax in our home.  We were ready to begin our journey as a family of FIVE!
 

We are so incredibly blessed for our family and friends who were willing and able to help when everything was unfolding.  Our neighbors, the Speidels, who graciously watched our older 2 for John to rush to be by my side at the accident until his parents arrived.  My in-laws who jumped immediately when John called them to be with Hannah and Noah, inadvertently being stuck behind my car and the ambulance as it blocked Airport Rd on their way to our house, but being able to peek in on me in the ambulance and have a sense that I was okay.  And also, for assisting us with drop off's, pick ups, and any other transportation issues we needed help with as we didn't have a second vehicle for a couple weeks.  We could not have done it without their help.

And of course, all of the phone calls, texts, and visitors stopping to say hello and make sure we were all okay.  It was certainly a scary experience, but thankfully, both Leah and myself were perfectly fine.

And with that, our journey continues, One Step at A Time :)

November 9, 2016

Welcome to the world baby LaMacchia #3!!

Now let's start from the beginning...

I went to work on Wednesday 11/9 like any other day.  Hoping that maybe I would go into labor while I was there, I packed our Traverse with both mine and John's hospital bags and loaded the baby's car seat in, just in case.  After my uneventful shift was over (no baby/no labor) I headed home.

I was traveling north on Airport Road about 3 miles from our house when out of nowhere a deer ran out in front of my car.  I was going about 50 mph and without any warning, slammed head on into the doe.  In a split second I was stopped.  The airbags all deployed, the smell was like burning fumes.  I quickly unbuckled my seat belt, grabbed my phone from the cup holder, and climbed out of the car.  Something didn't quite feel right with my belly and I thought my water broke.  I immediately called John, I'm sure I know I was a hysterical mess.  I do remember telling him to hurry up, my water broke, and get there now.  As I was on the phone with him, a gentleman was slowly approaching my car and drove around me.  He had his window down as he passed and asked if I was okay and needed any help.  I told him that I thought my water broke, but otherwise I felt okay.  He pulled over in front of my car and stopped to help.  At the same time a husband and wife who lived about 30 yards away were running out of their house towards me.  The man literally took the shirt off his own back to have me sit down.  As the woman approached I could hear her say "Oh my god, she's pregnant".  I'm not sure if she was talking to 911 or just saying that out loud.  But in the process, someone called 911.  The man in the house said he heard the crash/impact and heard my squealing breaks.  I'm so thankful they were quick in responding.  A few minutes later, another car passed and pulled over to stop and help.  She was a nurse at Sparrow as well and offered to stay with me.  She said "I'm not an OB nurse but I can sit with you to help until the ambulance arrives."  It was reassuring to have her there as she talked to me and tried to calm me down.  Another man stopped and he was a paramedic, off duty at the time.  He began to assess me and make sure the baby was okay.  At that point, I felt like I may have been leaking more, but I wasn't sure because I was shaking, crying, and pretty much a mess :(

A few minutes later John arrived.  Even though it took him about 8 minutes to get there (as he says), it seemed like an eternity.  After John got the call from me, he immediately called our neighbors across the street, took the kids outside, and walked them over to their house.  In the car he called his parents to come over and stay with the kids.  They immediately left their house and were on their way.

John arrived a few minutes before the ambulance arrived.  At this point, my car and the ambulance were completely blocking the road.  No one could pass in either direction.  The EMS asked me some questions then had me get into the ambulance to assess me.  After a quick check, they informed me that I did NOT need to go to the hospital by ambulance if I felt safe to drive to the hospital with John.  I did feel okay and knew we would be going there for observation anyway, so I initially declined.  The EMS guy called ahead to the hospital to let them know that I would be coming.  As I'm still sitting in the back of the ambulance, the EMS hands me the phone and tells me that the doctor would like to speak to me.  So I answered, "hello this is Dana".
The voice I heard back said "Hello, this is Dr. McGowan"
Me- "Hello"
Doctor- "Dana, this is Jeff"
"Oh hi Jeff" ---
Talk about a small world...I knew this doctor very well.  I had just recently taken care of his premature twin babies in the NICU and they had been discharged just a few days prior.  Talk about a small world (although I did know he was a physician in the ER).  The Doc told me that I absolutely had no choice and I would be riding in the ambulance to the hospital.  I was just in a trauma-accident, pregnant, with possible injury to myself and the baby.  In no way was I going to take myself to the hospital.  Doctors orders, so off we went.  John followed behind the ambulance in his car.  At this point in the journey, I am starting to feel contractions.  They are about 4 minutes apart, but not terribly strong or uncomfortable, just enough to feel and actually time.

We arrived at the hospital and I was immediately swarmed by the trauma team of at least 15 people.  I was quickly hooked up to machines, assessed, asked a million questions, and was a shaking mess.  John parked and went upstairs to L&D because he wasn't sure where I was headed.  Eventually he made his was to the ER and was just as anxious as I was.

The OB, OB fellow, and one of the OB nurses made their way into my ER room amidst all the chaos.  The OB fellow assessed me and assured me that my water had not broken, I was dilated to 3cm.  I was hooked up to the fetal monitoring machine and baby was watched closely.  (along with my continuing contractions)

Once they had a good monitoring strip of baby and knew that baby was doing well, I had an Ultra sound to assess my internal organs.  I also had a full body CT scan to assess for any internal injuries to myself and the baby.  Thankfully all the tests came back negative and I was cleared from ER and the trauma team.  Next I was sent upstairs to L&D for a 24 hour observation period.  This is standard procedure for any pregnant women who has any potential injury or risk for placenta abruption.

Continued onto the next post....

Some frightening pictures of my car, which was totalled.