An Angel is Born...

February 11, 2010 at 6:22AM
Gabriella Marie Shaw
5 lbs 7 oz.

This happened sooner than planned. Wednesday night I did not feel baby moving as much as she should. I was sent to the hospital immediately for a Cesarean Delivery. Nate wasn't here yet, so my Mom was my support in the operating room during the C-section, she is a great Mom!!
After birth, Gabriella was quickly taken to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) to prepare her for surgery. Her doctor was able to get all of her bowel in and then we watched Gabriella improve day by day.

Day one:
Here is a picture of Gabriella on the day of her birth, after surgery. She was born at 35 weeks. Here you can see she is covered in wires, has a breathing tube and is sleeping in an incubator. They keep the incubator warm and have to monitor her temperature and keep it between 36.7 -37.3 degrees Celsius. Nate flew in this night and saw his little girl for the first time.





Day two:
This is the day after surgery, she is still very sleepy and she has less wires. I am in the same hospital and try to visit her as often as I can. There are very strict rules in the NICU. We have to scrub in for two minutes and wash up to our elbows. At the baby's bedside before touching her, I have to sanitize my hands. No children or visitors are allowed in the NICU. Only the parents of the child.




Day three:
I'm holding her for the first time!! After they removed her breathing tube they called me to hold her.
They promote skin to skin contact between mother and baby, this is called Kangaroo care. It has shown to improve baby's recovery during their stay at the NICU. I held her and did not let go...
We cuddled for about three hours. It was the best experience ever!! I went back that evening and did it again.
The tubing coming from her mouth is to drain her stomach from bile (green stuff) that is found in your intestines. When it clears up (hopefully in a couple of weeks) then they will try to feed her for the first time. She is receiving her nutrition through an IV.



Day Four:
They start to wean her off of her pain medicine and she does not sleep as much. Nate held her for his first time!! On Valentine's day!!

Day Five:
I held her in my arms especially tight on this day. I was discharged from the hospital today. I have called to check up on my baby girl. She was fussy today and a nurse had to carry her to calm her down. Now we have to wait for her intestines to work properly and it may be a couple of weeks. I saw the Pediatric Surgeon today and he said these next couple of weeks will be very hard for us, waiting to see progress and setbacks.

Thank you all for blessing us with your prayers and good wishes. Please keep up the prayer for our family, we still have a long road ahead of us. Gabriella is expected to be in the hospital for three months. I believe that prayer has gotten Gabriella to this point, she is doing excellent so far.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart,

Sharon