I think I've shared my story with most of you. I worked so desperately hard to grow my family these past 2 years. I suffered loss and put myself through countless fertility treatments. I was actually told at one point that I may not be able to conceive without an egg donor. It wasn't until I gave up completely, that I found myself pregnant! I knew with my medical history I needed an amazing doctor/team to take care of me. Dr. Brady, Dr. Hinton and team from Tri-State Maternal Fetal Medicine made sure my little miracle stayed safe and that I carried her to term. Turns out she was a VERY big baby! At one of my last scans they estimated her to be 10 lbs. 7 oz. .We decided I should be induced at 38 weeks.
On January 29th my husband and I checked into Labor & Delivery at Good Samaritan Hospital. I was induced the next morning, and by 6:31pm on January 30th Dr.Brady delivered our sweet baby girl, Leeann. To our surprise she only weighed 9 lbs. 12 oz.. Not as big as we thought, but still bigger than my son. Delivery went super smooth. A few hours later we were in our recovery room with our baby.
So, we must have had a Guardian Angel watching over us. Before we went to sleep a nurse came in to check our vitals. Everything seemed perfect. Right before the nurse left the room she happened to glance back at Leeann. Without any hesitation she swooped in and said she needed to take Leeann to the nursery for an evaluation. She had turned completely blue in just a few seconds. Soon after I was informed that she would be admitted into the NICU.
I was so sad that she had to spend her first 7 days of life in the NICU. We found out that she had inhaled some fluid on the way out and had trouble clearing it from her lungs. They worked to get her oxygen levels back up to normal and made sure she didn't get pneumonia. It was so hard to see my baby hooked up to all those monitors, tubes and attached to all those wires. It was hard to even hold her without setting off alarms. Definitely not the picture I had in my mind of bonding with my new baby. I did however, take comfort in the fact that she was in the very best Hospital NICU... and that they were monitoring her every second. The nurses and doctors were amazing! After 2 days I was discharged from the hospital and they arranged that I stay in a NICU Transition Room so I could stay with her and breastfeed her. I will never forget that crazy long walk from that room to the NICU every 3 hours for 7 days. Like clockwork.
Our family and friends surrounded us with love and support through everything! My brother came with food, my mom made sure I had plenty of snacks and Nathan's parents took care of our 3 year old son. Our phones were full of texts and messages checking on us, praying for us, offering to bring us anything we needed and lifting our spirits. We are so grateful! I want to mention that I have the best husband in the world! He always made sure Leeann and I were okay. He split his time going back and forth from the hospital to home and made sure Thomas felt loved... and had a bit of normal to go along with all the crazy. I want to say a special thank you to my friend Denise Donoghue. She gave us the beautiful gift of capturing our first moments with our daughter. She not only came to the NICU, but also came and helped me photograph her newborn portraits at the studio. I absolutely love them!
Thanks again Aunt Dee!
My family has changed in the most wonderful way! A new baby girl to love. I was a bit worried about how 3 year old Thomas would feel about a new baby sister. He absolutely LOVES her! He has always called her "Jojo" even when she was in my belly. Now he says, "can I hold Jojo? Did she miss me? I just love her Sooooo much!" My heart is so full, and I am constantly crying happy tears.
Welcome to the world Leeann Marie Milligan! My little miracle.
1 Comments
Mar 16, 2019, 4:05:20 PM
Toni Kessinger-Morgensen - Congratulations on your new baby girl! She's absolutely beautiful ❤️