Galactosemia Update

We received some good news today.  Lillie does not have full blown (classic) Galactosemia but rather a variant of it called Duarte's version.  It means that she has some capacity to break down milk sugars.  We will receive a second set of test results either on Friday or Monday that will better tell us how to proceed with feedings, but for the time being, I am allowed to alternate nursing sessions with soy formula.  

From what the doctor told me, she may be able to switch back to nursing full time depending on what we find out from the second set of tests.  She would just be monitored to make sure the milk sugar isn't building up in her system.  

So, for the past week, I had been pumping to maintain my supply and I'm relieved to find out that all that stored milk will go to good use!  All I can say is that it's a good thing that we have a chest freezer!

Accidental Smiles and Thumb Sucking

Lillie, Roger, and I survived our first week home from the hospital...barely! Having a baby changes everything is the understatement of the year. Until she gets on some sort of schedule, our lives revolve around her needs, end of story. Other mothers out there would probably ask, "didn't you know this before having a baby?!" and of course I knew it, but to live it day by day with severe sleep deprivation is another story!

So onto week one developments - Lillie found her thumb for the first time! From day 1, she normally puts her whole hand in her mouth and sucks on fingers when she's hungry (it's a great warning sign before she lets out a big cry!) but on day 7, she found her thumb and soothed herself while I got settled to feed her.

Lillie also gives us smiles from time to time. While not intentional at all (she only does them as she's drifting off to sleep after a feeding!), they are still very sweet and make my heart melt!

On to serious developments, we received some slightly unsettling news about Lillie's heel prick results from the hospital. She had an abnormal test result for something called Galactosemia. It has to do with the body's inability to break down sugars found in milk. We were advised to switch her to a soy formula right away and to bring her into Children's Hospital for additional bloodwork. Having to hold my baby while someone drew a vial of blood from her arm was very difficult! I was on the verge of tears the entire time. We will find out this week whether she has the disorder or is just a carrier of the disorder. I don't know much about genetics, but I do know that it is a recessive disorder so it would take both Roger and I being carriers for her to be more than just a carrier. The majority of cases are carrier cases (meaning that one parent is a carrier and passed it onto the child). If she is just a carrier, we can go back to nursing and she won't have milk allergies for the rest of her life.

Finally, we had our one week check up with the pediatrician on Friday and Lillie is already back up to her birth weight and then some! She was born 6lbs, 12oz, left the hospital at 6lbs, 6oz and was 6lbs, 15oz at her one week check up! Go Lillie! Now that she has surpassed her birth weight, we can feed her on demand (versus having to wake her up to feed) and she doesn't have to wear a little hat all the time (which was just about impossible to keep on her head!).

Our Birth Story

On Wednesday, August 6th, I had been to see my doctor for my weekly appointment and was told that I was still at 6 cm dilated. An induction was briefly mentioned, but no decision was made at the appointment as Roger and I wanted to discuss our options. We came home and eventually decided to hold off on an induction and give this baby more time to come on it's own.

I woke on Thursday August 7th and started about my normal routine. It happened to be my birthday that day, but obviously my thoughts were more on the baby and not on the fact that I was turning 29 that day! Around 9 pm, I noticed that my water had broken. It wasn't the big gush that you might expect, but rather a slow leak. I called my doctor at 10 pm and we headed to the hospital, arriving just after noon. Our doula, Julie, met us there within a half hour.

When your water breaks and you're in a hospital environment, you're sort of on the clock as far as how long they will let you go without intervening. Julie helped me try to get into an active labor pattern with her "bag of goodies". For 9 hours, we tried walking the halls, aromatherapy, drinking herbal drinks to help strengthen the uterus, position changes, etc. At 9 pm, the nurse on staff with me said that my doctor had called to suggest that we start pitocin since I was still 6 to maybe 7 cm dilated.

We asked for a few more hours. We were told that we had until midnight to try and get labor started on it's own. As the minutes passed by, it was obvious that my body was having trouble getting to the next phase of labor. Around 11:30 pm, Roger and I were siting next to each other on the sofa in the delivery room talking and coming to terms with the situation when we both heard and felt a pop in my pelvis. Immediately after the pop, I had a very intense contraction and the process of transition labor had begun! The best we can guess, it appears that up until the pop, the baby was in a position not suitable for delivery. In weeks past, my body had dilated on it's own until the point of transition and stopped because of the baby's position.

An hour and several position changes later, I was dilated to 10 cm. It happened so quickly that we were actually waiting on my doctor to get to the hospital so that we could begin the pushing phase of labor. For 30 additional minutes, I "practiced" pushed with the contractions, but I wasn't bearing down like you normally associate with pushing.

Dr. Shelton arrived around 1:15 am and the pushing process began. At this point, my contractions were lasting about 1 minute and were 2 minutes apart and I was pushing on my left side. In between contractions, my body was shaking uncontrolably so Roger would place pressure on my right hip and shoulder and Julie was applying pressure on my right knee. As the contraction began, the shaking would cease and Roger helped hold my right leg up and my chin to my chest.

The nurse brought in a mirror for the last 20 minutes of pushing and that really helped me connect with the pushing. Seeing the progress with each push was motivation that I could get through it! I remember asking Julie how many more pushes until the baby was out and she responded by asking me "how many more do you want it to be?". I knew no one had any answers for me, but I was so desperate to deliver our baby!

Julie and Roger were both amazing during the labor and delivery. Julie helped give us the peace of mind that at least one of us had been through this before. She was calm the entire time which helped give me confidence that I could actually do this! I never felt like the situation was out of control and that's entirely due to Julie. So many times during labor I was thankful she was there and couldn't have imagined trying to have our child without her.

My husband always joked about having his place in the delivery room - right up by my shoulder! When it came down to it, he was right in the thick of things helping me through every contraction. He was my biggest advocate and supporter, praising me with every push and motivating me with his words. We both saw sides of each other during that process that we had never seen before. For him, he saw the extreme strength - both physically and emotionally - necessary for bringing a child into the world and for me, I saw Roger's unwavering love and support in a stressful situation.

On August 8th at 2:23 am, our baby made it's outside appearance! Our baby was face down during delivery and my doctor made sure she had our attention before flipping the baby over to reveal whether our baby was a he or a she. To our surprise and delight, we had been blessed with a baby girl.

Lillie Lynn DeJean was 6 lbs 12 oz and 20 1/2 inches long at delivery (thank you Lillie for not being any bigger!). She has her daddy's eyes and mouth and a small amount of blonde hair like Roger and I both had at delivery.

Lillie represents a whole new kind of love like I have never experienced before. Granted, she also represents a whole new kind of responsibility! We're both learning about the other and her little coos and sighs are completely worth the dirty diapers and occasional crying fits!

Welcome Miss Lillie! For nine months, I've been amazed by the miracle of your development and curious to find out who you were. We are so blessed to have finally met you and are honored that you have chosen us to be your parents.

August 13, 2008?

Is this a more realistic due date?

In 1990, researchers re-examined this issue for modern American women. Results indicated that, for first-time Caucasian moms, an average pregnancy lasts 274 days from conception (approximately 288 days from the last menstrual period).

The old "40 week" rule of thumb is calculated as 266 days from conception (or 280 days from the last menstrual period).