The Sidwell Family: August 2017

Quinsey’s birth

July 21^st was Avenleys birthday and we partied with Nana and Papa and some neighbors. I was feeling super pregnant but nothing more than that, but that night I started having contractions that were so hard I couldn’t sleep through them and it made me think that it might be the real thing. But the next day, they stopped. I was exhausted.

The 23^rd was the same thing. I slept downstairs on the recliner because my back was hurting so badly. I had contractions all night and when Nick came down around 6 am we decided to go to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital around 7:45am and when they checked me I was at a 3. I got the feeling the nurses didn’t want to keep me, but with them checking me twice, I was getting contractions that were feeling more intense. Laura stripped my membranes and we started walking the halls for about an hour. After the hour I was at a 4 so they admitted us. Around noon I got an epidural and Laura broke my water. I had meconium in the water which signaled them to have respitory there just in case for the delivery. Around 4:30 I was at an 8 and close to 5 I was a 10. They called Laura in and it was time to push. The epidural was light enough that I could feel the contractions and the baby desending which was great and helped me a lot with pushing. Laura let Nick help to deliver her.

She was born at 5:53pm on July 24^th 2017. I had a 1^st degree tear but everything else looked good. We spent some time with her cleaning her up, but she cried loud and everything seemed to be great. Mom and the girls came to meet their new sister. It was one of the most special moment to see the girls google over their new sister who didn’t have a name yet. They sang to her, watched her get her first bath and kissed her. Then Molly and Avey wanted to sing her a lalaby. The song they sang to the baby was “This is my fight song,” which is a pop song, but they sang it so sweetly is was perfect. Little did we know that about an hour later, she would need to fight for her health. The girls left and I was holding the baby. She was making a sound that we were calling “singing” but when we mentioned it to the nurse she said that it wasn’t a sound they liked and they were going to take her to the nursery to listen more. I got cleaned up and we went to a different room. That night they brought her into our room to feed but kept her in the nursery all night to assess her. Nick gave her a blessing before she went back to the nursery and he also gave me one too. It was the only thing that got me through the night.

The next morning Nick went with Quinsey to get a chest x-ray and to be evaluated by the pediatrician. They said she had some haziness in lungs and they were going to put her on oxygen to help her out. I went down to feed soon after and they had started checking her glucose levels to check for something else. They found that they were low, so we started a 3 hour feeding schedule and before every feeding they would prick her foot and check the levels. They kept going down throughout the morning so we tried supplementing with formula after I nursed. In the afternoon they still weren’t up so they put in an IV. That night the pediatrician came in and assessed her again and admitted her to the NCIU.

Then our stay at the hospital became longer. I was really struggling with my emotions/hormones and I was starting to have panic attacks. I couldn’t sleep at all and was so tired. Laura came and checked on me several times and gave me something to help me to relax and sleep. Except for feeding times when they would call our room and I would go to the NCIU to feed. Quincy was on the IV, oxygen and billi lights for a few days. She was improving her glucose levels so they slowly started weaning her off that and she completed her time under the lights. She was doing well so on Friday the IV was out and you could no longer hear a murmer in her heart, her glucose levels were better, so the last thing to do was try to wean her off oxygen and we would be heading home with her.

While the nurses were working on weaning her off the oxygen she experienced a BradyCardia where her heartrate went down to 63 and then her oxygen went low too. They had to arouse her to get her heart rate back up and put the oxygen back on. They neionatal doctor said she would need 5 more days in the hospital to make sure it didn’t happen again. I broke down crying! It was so hard to see my baby struggle and to not be with my other children. Nick gave Quinsey another blessing and me also. So thankful to be able to have a husband worthy of the priesthood! A girl who also had a baby in the NICU, Julie, brought us a sweet note and candy telling us to hang in there through the setbacks. She became someone I could talk to at feedings and learn from. Her baby had been there for 3 three weeks. Nick was so supportive and stayed by my side almost constantly. Everyday mom would bring the girls down to visit too which helped lift my spirits, even though they could only see her through the window.

So for 5 more days we stayed in the hospital while I tried to manage my nerves and Quinsey tried to get stronger. They told us she would come home on oxygen and monitors and that actually calmed me a bit. There were several NCIU nurses who were really helpful; Sarah, Alecia, Sherlock, Julie, Barb and Melissa. Alecia was on night shifts for the last few nights that we were there and we had some sweet conversations. Nick did a PUSH session with her and Sherlock one night and I was able to talk about emotion work. It was so helpful to just have people to talk to.

On August 1^st we got to have her in our room on oxygen for 12 hours to prepare to go home. It felt like heaven because the girls came too and we had our family together. That night they did a carseat check and the next morning around 11 am we got to go home!

Life the last 10 days has been amazing! I am extremely tired, sore chest, sore shoulders from nursing, etc. but I am so happy! Being together with my family is bliss and I feel so blessed!! The girls absolutely love her and fight over who gets to hold her next. They protect her by telling everyone that comes that they need to wash their hands.

We have been blessed with so many people praying for us, sending us texts, bringing us meals, and helping with the kids. Mom stayed for two whole weeks and helped with everything. Then Allison came for a few days to help too. We have been so blessed.

Quinsey is now almost 3 weeks old. She is still on oxygen, but everyday she has time without it and is going longer and longer periods without it. I suspect she will be off it soon.