Our First Few Weeks with Marley Jeene

On Friday, December 11th at 1:45pm, Marley Jeene Morgan made her entrance into this world. She weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces and was 20 inches long. Marley has added more love to our family than I thought possible in the short 17 days that she has been with us so far.

I look like a zombie in this picture
because it was taken at 11:30pm the night before
Marley was born. I was 41 weeks and 2 days
pregnant and completely exhausted. But, for the
sake of remembering, I included
this awful super flattering picture.

I'm going to write out my experience at the hospital simply so that I have it written somewhere. If you don't like reading this kind of stuff, simply skip the next three paragraphs.

I was due December 2nd. My due date came and went with nothing to get excited about. I went to an appointment the next day only to find out I wasn't dilated any further than I was the week before. At my appointment a week later I was dilated a little more, but not much. Being already eight days late my doctor wanted to induce me. I was set to receive a phone call from the hospital the next day as early as 4:00am telling me to come in. That night I made sure my phone's volume was all the way up and set to an incredibly obnoxious ringtone (I am a really heavy sleeper). I woke up at 4:30am to the most awful sound, fumbled around for my phone, and answered it. It was the hospital and they wanted me there at 6:00am! I was so excited. After a shower and some breakfast, Derek and I headed to the hospital. My mom was going to meet us there a little later, and my dad was all set to drop Reece off with my sister-in-law.

We checked into the hospital at 6:15am and they started me on pitocin at 7:30am. The anesthesiologist at the hospital was scheduled to be in a C-section at 9:00am, so my doctor called and said that I could wait until the anesthesiologist was done with the surgery, but by then I might have progressed too far to get an epidural. So we decided to get it before he went into surgery. Getting the epidural was painless and easy, however it only worked on one side. My right leg was completely numb. I couldn't even lift it off the bed, yet my left leg felt completely normal. I still wasn't feeling any painful contractions, but they were about 3-6 minutes apart and I was dilated to a 6. My doctor got to the hospital and broke my water at 12:20pm. At that point I was dilated to an 8, and still not feeling painful contractions. But once they broke my water, the contractions came on strong.

By 1:00pm I was feeling full labor contractions all on my left side, while my right side was still totally numb. Marley's heart rate was dropping with each contraction and taking longer to recover than they like to see, which made my nurse wonder if the cord had wrapped around Marley's neck when the water broke. My doctor came back at 1:30pm (she had been in surgery for the last hour) to check on me. I was fully dilated, but Marley was still up really high. She hung around, watched Marley's charts, and told me to let her know if I felt the need to push. Five minutes and a few more contractions later, and I felt like I wanted to push. A few minutes later my doctor was gowned and had everything she needed to deliver the baby. After just a few short minutes (they didn't feel very short to me at the time) Marley was born! She had the cord wrapped around her body and neck. The nurses laid her on my chest immediately  and started checking her vitals. Because the cord had been wrapped around her neck her heart was having a hard time recovering. So they took her to a little table in my room to monitor her until her heart recovered. Derek stood next to her the entire time holding her hand. I loved that their first priority was getting Marley skin-to-skin and that when they needed to keep a closer eye on her they kept her in my room where I could see her. I was in complete relief once she was born. And when they laid Marley on my chest I was just in awe at how beautiful and perfect she was.

Me and Marley just seconds after she was born.

That night we had so many family members come visit us, it was wonderful! I loved getting to see them all and I love that they all got to meet Marley when she was less than a day old. Family is such an amazing blessing, and I count myself even more blessed to have most of our family members so close!

The bili-bed model Marley was on.

The next day we found out that Marley had jaundice, like Reece. We left the hospital that evening with Marley's bilirubin levels at a 9. The next morning when we took her to the lab to get her levels checked again she had jumped up to a 14.4. A company that provides in-home phototherapy for infants came to the house that night and brought a bili-bed for Marley to use. Essentially, it's a platform with a clear top that has ultraviolet lights that shine on the baby as they lay on it. There is a blanket that covers the top of the platform that has a sleeper sewn onto it, however the back of the sleeper is mesh so that the lights can shine through and be on her skin. Marley was on the lights from Sunday evening until Friday morning. It was a challenge for me because she was only supposed to be off of the lights when she needed to be fed, and they wanted her to be off the lights for no more than 30-45 minutes at a time. We couldn't just hold her and snuggle her any time we wanted. I felt like I was being robbed of the sweetness of the newborn stage. I was pretty negative the entire time Marley was on the lights, just waiting and waiting for her bilirubin levels to go low enough so she could be done with phototherapy. However, I realize how blessed we were to have her be treated in our home instead of at the hospital, that her bilirubin levels never got dangerously high, and that she handled being on the bed so well. She hardly ever fussed at us when she was strapped in there.

Once she was able to come off the lights I felt like I got to live the normal life of a mom with a newborn. It was so nice to be able to sit and snuggle with her for as long as I wanted! Marley hardly spent more than a few minutes in her swing or bouncer seat before Derek, Reece, or my parents went over to hold her. She has been spoiled with so much love!

  

We had settled on the name Marley a while before she was born, but we didn't settle on a middle name until just a few weeks before. We kept it a secret because we knew that we wanted to be able to tell our moms first once Marley was born. Marley's middle name is Jeene. Jeene is a combination of my mom's name (Jerri) and my mother-in-law's name (Dorene). You take the first two letters of Jerri and the last three letters of Dorene and you get Jeene! It was maybe an hour after Marley was born, and it was me, Derek, my mom, and my mother-in-law in the hospital room. We told them Marley's middle name and they both looked happy. But when we explained why we chose the name we did, they both got tears in their eyes. It was a really sweet moment. We love that this little girl is named after both of her terrific grandmas!

Marley is the sweetest little thing, and I can't imagine life without her! I love seeing Reece as a big sister. If Marley starts making any kind of noise, Reece rushes over, pats her cheek and says, "It's okay Marley, your big sisters here. She's right here." It melts my heart.

These two little beauties are my whole world. I love being their mom. It has been interesting adjusting to the demands of a three year old and a newborn, but I think we've found our rhythm. We love our Miss Marley!