Introducing Ryleigh!

Meet our new baby girl, Ryleigh Renae. Ryleigh means valiant; defined as boldly courageous, brave, heroic, she definately earned her name. Ryleigh was a scheduled c-section on Valentine's Day. Once she was born she cried then we cried. At my request, the doctor immediately gave her to the nurses to have her lungs suctioned because our son was born with retained fluid in his lungs and we did not want to go through that again. They suctioned and suctioned and after all of her vitals were assessed they placed Ryleigh in her daddy's arms. She was noisy, constantly "purring" and grunting. I felt relieved that her first apgar score was an 8 and that I was able to see her (something I haven't been able to do with the first two). They even placed her on me while I was being stitched up from the surgery and I couldn't believe how beautiful she was. The entire time I kept worrying, praying for the best, but fearful something would go wrong. The maternity level was full, so Ryleigh and Jonathan came with me into a recovery area. I was able to hold Ryleigh and try to feed her. She weighed in at a healthy 8 lbs 8 0z! She continued to make noise and I thought she'd never stop. The nurse then said something I will never forget, "it's time to take her to the special care nursery and have her checked out." I was terrified that she would be taken to another hospital like Leighton and I wouldn't be able to see her for four or five days. Xrays showed that she too was born with excess fluid in her lungs, and she was started on IV antiobiotics in case it was pneumonia. She was kept on oxygen because she was unable to breathe properly on her own. Her first two days were spent in the special care nursery, but the nurses were great at helping me down there to see her. She was very difficult to calm down and although she would improve a little each day, they just couldn't give her the proper care there. On her third day the neonatologist came in and said that she too would be transferred to Children's Hopsital. Although I knew in my heart it was for the best, I couldn't help buy cry. My doctor was incredible and let me out of the hospital for a few hours so I could go and see her. I was also discharged the following morning so I could spend as much time with her as possible. They did an xray at Children's and it turns out she had cried so hard the night before that she ended up getting a small hole in her lung and filled her chest cavity up with air. That created yet another obstacle she needed to overcome before she would be able to come home. It was quite a juggling game finding people to take care of Mady and Leighton and to spend time with them and Ryleigh. She did very well at Children's, was much more calm, and ate like a horse! By day 4 she was off oxygen and her xrays had improved dramatically. On February 19, she was finally done with her antibiotics and doing well. She got to come home on her daddy's birthday and we were extremely happy to finally have her home. She is adjusting well, and tolerates her brother and sister very well. She has been a great baby, only fusses when she is hungry or getting changed. She has even gave us 8 hour stretches of sleep at night! We all love her like crazy! Here are some hospital pictures and a few from when she came home.