Life with a Newborn



First bath!



As I sit here to update what has gone on in our lives in the last couple of weeks, I can’t help but smile and stare at my husband as we whistles and dances his way around the living room with Carley. I am so blessed. Although tonight is calm, the last couple of weeks haven’t been the easiest by any means. We are exhausted, we’ve already made our first trip to the ER, and sometimes we just don’t even know what to do. And we are only 3 weeks in! Neither one of us would trade it for the world though. Here’s a bit of what’s been going on...

On Tuesday night, Carley wasn’t acting like herself. I monitored her temperature throughout the night. At 5 am on Wednesday the 8^th, her temperature spiked to 100.5, which is considered dangerous for a newborn. We got up and went straight to Children’s Hospital. Because they can’t be sure exactly what causes a temperature in a newborn, they run a full workup to rule out any possibility. Carley had to have a spinal tap, a urinary catheter and blood work. She was started on an IV and given antibiotics as a precautionary measure. I was in tears. We were admitted so they could observe her for 48 hours until the lab work came back. She had to have a second IV started because the first one collapsed the vein in her arm. The second one lasted 24 hours in her leg before it went bad, too. The doctors agreed to take her off of the antibiotics after that, but we still had to stay so they could monitor her vitals. We were finally released on Friday morning. She was diagnosed with viral meningitis, which just has to run its course. We are so grateful that she is healthy and nothing was seriously wrong with her. It was an exhausting and trying experience.

Friday night, I felt pretty tired and not the greatest. I chalked it up to spending the past two days in the hospital. By the time I woke up on Saturday, I had a fever of 101.8. I had chills during the night and felt like I had the flu. Late in the afternoon, we finally figured out I had mastitis. After a phone call to my doctor, he called in some antibiotics that I was able to start the next day.

My mom came to stay with us the week after we came home from the hospital. The BEST help I could have ever asked for. She cooked, cleaned, organized, and made me rest. She was here through us being in the hospital and while I was sick. It was great to have her help through it all. Chris and I are so grateful and really appreciate all that she did for us.

We are finally all starting to feel better and slowly settling in to this new life. Like I said, it’s been a little crazy, but it’s so worth it when I wake up to my sweet little girl every morning.