IN HOSPITAL

So Clint & I finally had our baby girl, now time for the fun stuff!
Because Charlii was a "premmy" baby she had to be checked into the nursery to be completely checked over & monitored for a while to make sure she was ok. The nurses immediately told us that her blood sugar levels were quite low so every night she needed to stay in the nursery, but we could have her during the day. She had to have blood taken everyday to check her levels & after 3 days of feeding they were back up again. :)


On the Friday the paediatrition came & checked her over & said that she had Jaundice so she will have to be placed under phototherapy.
Phototherapy is like an incubator, a clear plastic box with UV lights in, it helps to cook the babies a bit longer.
A little mask & hair net was placed on Charlii, she was stripped down to her nappy & in she went. The lights were to bring the yellowness out of her sking & to help her organs run better.




Being a first time mum this was so difficult to see. First i had to put up with her getting blood taken everyday (i know it's not so bad) which made her heels bleed then i had to see my little girl laying in a box under lights......let's just say there were a few tears being shed. I felt so helpless, all i wanted to do was help her so she wouldn't have to be under lights at all but there was nothing i could do, just pray that it worked. Again Clint got me through it, he's such a tough daddy.

She had to stay in there for 24 hrs a day aside from when she was feeding. We were allowed to take her out for 1/2 an hr for each feed so we got in as many cuddles as we could during that time. Eeach day she got more blood taken to check here levels & by Sunday night they were back up & she was allowed to be checked out of the nursery.
Sunday was the first night that she was allowed to stay in our room & we were leaving the hospital the next morning. The nurses helpred me through the night, waking me up for feeds, (that's if Charlii didn't wake me) helping me feed her properly in the nursery...it was all so overwhelming but they were great.

So Monday morning came & it was time to take our little chicken home. CLint & i were so excited to finally be able to cuddle her all day long & be a family. I was still extremely sore from the operation but i could move around slowly & it got easier as each day passed.

The Labour

30th August 2006

So i guess for my first official entry i will start with the labour....
On Sunday 23rd July 2006 my waters broke, which was a unique day as it was our 1 year wedding anniversary. (what good timing Charlii had!)
I told Clint that my waters had broke & that i thought we should go to the hospital to make sure everything was ok (afterall she was 4 weeks early which would make her a premature baby), to which i got the response "your such a hypocondriac, let's go to Bunnings Hardware store." I couldn't believe it but after a laugh off we went to Bunnings.

When we got home Clint went to have a sleep (still thinking that i was making it all up) so mum & i took ourselves off to the hopital, they then confirmed that my waters had actually broken but only slightly. Boy was i shocked, it was all actually about to happen!
The doctors decided they wanted to keep me in overnight for observations on me & Charlii & by the next morning my waters had completely broken but i still wasn't in labour. They decided that on Tuesday morning i would be induced to reduce the risk of getting an infection & to kick start the labour.
So on Tuesday morning i was all hooked up to the drip & the contractions started to come, slowly but surely. I couldn't belive that i was in labour!

By 10pm Charlii was no where near coming out & by that stage i was starting to get tired & cranky so the nurses took me off the drip, let me have a sleep & told me we would start again back on the drip in the morning. They were hoping that my body would continue the contractions by myself...unfortunately it didn't.
So Tuesday came & we started again & at 12pm i had an epidural to help with the strong contractions. (which may i add the epidural absolutely killed!!) I had been poked & prodded so much i felt like a pin cushion!

By 4pm i had been in labour for 18hours & still nothing was happening, i was having good contractions but Charlii still didn't want to budge.......the nurses then told me it was time for an emergency cesar. (this was to get her out & to reduce the risk of infections)















The anethetist came in to top up the epidural that i had earlier so i was completely numb & as he put the local in the muscles in my back went into spasm it was hurting so much.
As all of this was happening i got quite upset & I got really scared especially when they were wheeling me into theatre, i began to shake quite badly. The doctor asked me if i wanted some pethadine to calm me down a bit & i quickly agreed.....from then on i cannot remember much.
Clint told me afterwards that when they began the procedure i didn't feel them do the cut but when they got deeper i started to feel everything they were doing.....the epidural didn't take properly.
Clint said that i started to shake even more so in order for the surgeon to get Charlii out & so i didn't go into shock they had to give me a general anathetic...he agreed.
They had to kick Clint out of theatre which was a bummer but it had to be done, they had to get Charlii out quick.
Just sitting outside waiting for it all to be over was the most nerve wrecking time for Clint & at 5:15pm on Wednesday 26th July 2006 Clint finally had his little angel in his arms.
Throughout the entire labour mum & dad were with me & helped me through the rough bits & throughout the labour & cesar Clint was an absolute rock to me, i could not have done it without him. He rubbed my back, got me drinks & resurred me when i was scared...i have got myself a damn good man.

So after a bit of a rough time Charlii Grace Perry was born at 5:15pm, Wednesday 26th July 2006 weighing in at 6lb, 8oz.

30th August 2006

Hello everyone....
Well this is the 1st ever blog entry for the "Perry" family antics. Hopefully if i get a good1/2 hour a day i will be able to do some entries & update you on Charlii, Clint & myself.
I won't write much now as i am just starting to figure out how this "blog" thing works but hopefully will be able to write later on.
The picture is not that great as it was in the first couple of days that we brought Charlii home so we were quite tired :)