It's been 5 months since I last blogged, and my oh my how life has changed!!

Well, the last time I blogged I was a 28 week pregnant woman, dreading the stress of the impending end of the 2010-2011 schoolyear, as well as the thought of being pregnant for another 12 weeks throughout the hottest summer since 1980. On April 14, I was blogging about my daughter's future, and little did I know that just 2 weeks later she would be gracing this world with her beautiful, surprising presence!


The last 4-5 months have been a huge roller coaster....on April 26th the course of my pregnancy changed for good......
I will not go on forever about details, so to make a long story short, on April 26th I wobbled  in for my weekly appointment at 30 weeks pregnant (yes, I started having weekly appointments at around 25 or 26 weeks due to some complications), and was told that due to very high blood pressure and increasing edema, I needed to have bloodwork done to be tested for the possibility of preeclampsia, which can be very serious and life threatening for the baby and mother during labor. So about 2 days later, my husband took me to the ER at 4am because I was feeling sick and having cramps and chest pains, and sure enough, I had severe preeclampsia. Originally my doctor's goal was to keep me on bedrest in the hospital and get me to 34 weeks, but when they saw my protein levels (over 10,000, when normal level is around 300), they decided that Katelyn and I were both safer with her out of the womb, and that they needed to induce asap to deliver the baby. This was the morning of Friday April 29th, so from then on, they induced, wanting to deliver naturally, but after over 24 hours of labor, I had to have an emergency c-section when the baby's heartrate started dropping rapidly. (Which I knew was going to happen because she was 2 1/2 pounds so I knew she couldn't handle going through the birth canal.) That was the scariest part, because they wisked me away, (without Matt being able to be in the room) knocked me out, and within like 10 minutes Katelyn was born at 12:36 pm on Saturday, April 30th, weighing 2.9lbs, and 14 1/2 inches long.
It was not the labor and delivery scenario I pictured.....I always pictured Matt being there holding my hand, seeing his daughter being born, and getting to cut the cord....I pictured the joyous crying at the end of it all, with us getting to see her and hold her for a second before they took her to clean her off. But since it had to happen so fast, and she was 2.9lbs and in danger, and I was drugged up, Matt wasn't there, and I didn't get to see her until the next day. I wasn't even "awake" or coherent since I was put under anesthesia, and they rushed her off to the NICU and I to recovery......I don't remember much of that day, and I hate that that is the memory I will always have of the moment she was born---nothing at all.  :(
Anyway, 8 days later I got to go home, but Katelyn had to stay in the NICU. She was there for just over 5 weeks, and it was the longest 5 weeks of my life. But I did learn how strong I was, and how absolutely  FAITHFUL  God is. If not for Him, i wouldn't have made it. By the grace of God, and the WONDERFUL angels on earth, (aka the NICU nurses and doctors),  she got to come home at 4.5lbs. on June 7, 2011.  Since her birth, it has been nothing but chaos. But I wouldn't have it any other way. I had my baby showers AFTER she was born, finished her nursery AFTER she was born, and have been up to my knees in stress and chaos. But our miracle is home and doing well, and I can't complain about that! She is now about 18 weeks old, and just over 10 pounds. Her doctor is very impressed with how well she is gaining weight, and has full confidence that she will be all caught up by her first birthday!
So much more than I can explain and write about has been going on,  but I haven't had the time to write about every little detail over the last 5 months, and I'm so sad that I've neglected to document and share all of that with you....but my goal is to truly start from now on......stay tuned, as I will be blogging at least once a month to give monthly updates on our sweet miracle from God! :)