Monday, January 10, 2011

New Life

As most of you have already heard via Facebook (gotta love it) my little niece, Kayla, has been born. She came Dec. 29 (my exact half birthday... if that's worth anything!). The c-section surgery was very quick, within 5 min. the baby is pulled out and crying. I was not in the operating room, but my brother was with the video camera. That has got to be the weirdest thing, seeing a woman's belly cut and a baby pulled out....whoa! Natural birth has got to be even more crazy I suppose.

Anyway, everything went smoothly and we were able to immediately see the baby, but her oxygen was low so they had to keep her for a couple hours. The next few days were a constant back and forth to the hospital- there in the morning, home for nap time, and back in the evening. It was a bit hard on Lalita seeing mama in bed and not able to hold her. So when the day to return home came we were all so happy.

walking to the hospital to meet the new baby

pre-surgery check-up. whichever nurses aren't busy come right in to see the foreigners... Funny story- at one point it was only Pook and I in the room with the baby and Kayla needed a change. So I got everything ready and right as I'm about to start, no joke, 8 nurses crowd in for something and decide to stay and watch me change and re-swaddle the infant... it was pretty intense.

right after the birth
Day 2
On day 4, my brother and sister were just waiting around to be released when they were told bad news. Kayla has a severe case of jaundice and will have to stay another night under special lights. Major let down on top of scary news- the nurses didn't explain much about what was going on which only heightened fears from a lack of understanding. Since I was home I Googled jaundice and everything that must be going on to bring some clarity. I joined them at the hospital to help in any way.


It is tough keeping a baby under the lights, because all a new born wants is to be swaddled and cradled, but she had to be open and alone. To say the least, it was a very difficult night I think Phil and Pook only slept a couple hours. The doctor had to check her blood again and if it hadn't decreased we had to stay another night. Luckily the test came back lower, so we were allowed to leave. But had to return in a couple days as it can come back and be very serious.

Apparently 70% of babies get some form of jaundice and the main reason is because the baby's blood type is different than the mothers. But more serious forms can lead to the baby needing a blood transfusion.

The next day she looked extremely yellow and was difficult to wake up (a symptom) so they returned to the hospital. Her levels had increased but since she was almost a week old, it was not as serious, so they released her and had to return a couple days later. By this time everyone was stressed and tired, especially my little niece, she desperately wanted her parents back and focused. Thankfully through prayer, Kayla made a speedy recovery and is doing just fine now. She is quite an easy baby, which makes it so nice with a busy-body toddler needing constant attention. :)

When the baby is crying Lalita will go over pretend to pat her and say, "Ooo, you ok. You ok." It is the cutest thing. I'll have to try to catch it on video.

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