Eluned Brianne Avril
Born at 2.40 pm, Thursday April 9th 2009 weighing 3.52 kg, measuring 50cm at 37 weeks and 2 days gestation.
I stayed in Maternity overnight but was moved to the cardiac unit for a couple of days - all the time I was had a variety of drips and was on strict bedrest - couldn’t even get up to go to the loo. The chest pain went away and all the tests were fine so I was moved back to Maternity as the contractions were continuing. I then spent another week in Maternity while they monitored my newly diagnosed GD, kept me on a strictly sugar free diet and tried to stop the contractions - I was at least allowed to go to the loo and take a shower but otherwise was on bedrest. After 10 days in hospital, they decided that I needed to be transferred to a different hospital as they didn’t have a neo-natal unit there and were concerned not only by the contractions but also the GD and the fact that I was taking anti-depressants which could lead to issues for the baby after delivery.
I ended up spending the next four weeks or so at the next hospital, they moved me to insulin injections which did improve my blood sugar results (which at one point were being checked every two hours!), the contractions continued and we started to lower the dosage of anti-depressants ready for the birth. At 36 weeks plus a few days, they stopped the medication which was meant to be reducing/preventing contractions with the aim of labour progressing naturally at around 37 weeks. I was also allowed to start moving around little more. An ultrasound at 36+4 weeks estimated the baby’s weight to be 3.6 kg and an induction was planned for 37+2 weeks. I’ve always been against inductions but at that point I’d had enough. The contractions didn’t seem to progress so the induction went ahead. I only need the gel - a pessary which was inserted for a couple of hours at about 8 am- to get things going. The first stage took some time but once I got to 5-6cm dilated everything got very intense - I used gas and air only for pain relief - and to everyone’s surprise Eluned was born about 20 mins later and needed just one push!
Her initial Apgars were fine but after a while it became obvious that she was very sleepy still and she was taken to the Neo-Natal unit.
When she arrived at the Neo-Natal Unit (Thursday pm) she was put into a warmer and put on a glucose drip as she was too sleep to feed. Her oxygen saturation kept dipping below 90% the first night so she had a little bit of oxygen then but she improved very quickly. I was able to cuddle her every now and then and I also put her face on my breast for contact. After 36 hours or so in the warmer she was taken off the drip and moved to a crib where she was still monitored (Saturday AM). She was fed by bottle although I found that she wouldn’t bottle feed for me- she just fell asleep. She started to nuzzle at the boob more and started to actually feed. I’d been trying to pump regularly back in my room but hadn’t had much success - I’d pump for 20 mins on each side and get only a couple of drops of colostrum. Sunday morning she fed really well and the paediatrician decided that she could come back to Maternity with me as it would be much more practical - her oxygen saturation was right up to 98-100% by that time also.On the Monday morning, I was told that we could leave, pending a check by the paediatrician. When she was checked everything was fine except she’d lost more weight - 100g so I was told that we’d have to stay another day. Tuesday morning, she had again lost weight - 40g - but we were allowed to leave but she had to be reweighed in 48hrs (there is a service here called the PMI, they work a bit like health visitors in the UK).
Tuesday night and Wednesday, she fed a lot, sometimes with only 30-45 minutes between feeds. On Thursday, the lady from the PMI came and weighed her. She did warn us that her scales tended to weigh a little on the heavy side and that the difference between that weighing and the next would give a better indication of weight gain/loss. Once she was weighed though, it became obvious that even allowing for the scales weighing a little heavy, Eluned had gained at least 100g! I was so relieved! She’s being weighed again on Monday but I think that she’ll be fine. (The every 48 hrs thing is just not possible as the PMI don’t work weekends.)
On Names:
Eluned and Brianne are both Welsh (eh-LIN-ed bree-AN), Eluned is more traditional while Brianne is more modern in its usage as a name. Eluned is the 'just for her' name while Brianne is to honour my Dad, Brian, who died a few years ago. Avril was a last minute addition. French for April, it's also my grandmother's first name (although she's never used it and has been known as Peggy all her life). We'd been expecting a May baby so it hadn't seemed appropriate. The change in circumstances meant that we were able to add it.
Sisters, there were never such devoted sisters...
Meleri and Rhianwen are both absolutely enchanted with their new sister. The hard part is keeping Rhianwen from picking her up to cuddle! She get's regular assisted cuddles but obviously is too young for anything more.
Looking back at Rhianwen's baby photos, she looks almost identical at the same age, here's a photo of Rhainwen as a newborn for comparison:
Llongyfarchiadau ar hagan fach ddel! Thought you'd been quiet on Rav! Ellie
Posted by: Ellie | Apr 18, 2009 at 12:08 AM