2013 Nebraska Spring Game

Living in Nebraska you quickly learn a few things...  A "light snow" can be anywhere from 1 to 16 inches, summer is road construction season and Husker football is king!  While not quite as crazy as a regular season football game the Spring game is always a fun time!  Well, we decided that this was the year for Amelia to finally experience what it is like to go to a Husker game so we had planned for Beth and I to take her together.  My Brother Justin and his son Dominik also joined us.   However, with Eleanor's recent hospital visit at the last minute Pierson got to take Beth's seat so that she could stay home with Eleanor.  We had a fantastic time and all the kids seemed to really enjoy it! 

Here are a few pictures:

She's trying to make a "N" with her fingers...



Someone got a bit tuckered out about halftime...




Buds



- L

Firsts....

So there are many firsts that Eleanor has accomplished over the last month....
Having a "conversation" (this is where we blow raspberries back and forth), reaching for and grabbing at toys, rolling from back to front (then getting mad because she hates to be on her stomach and can't go the other way yet), and somewhere in between all that, our family's first hospital stay not related to a baby being born. 

Miss Eleanor Rae had an abscess on her bottom that appeared over the course of a few days.  On Easter weekend Grammy and I noticed that she didn't like to be held a certain way, but I just chalked it up to her being achy or uncomfortable due to her cold... She and I both had a cough and sore throat.  Mom and I never noticed anything during diaper changes that weekend.  By the Wednesday after Easter, she had a fever of 102.6F.  So I called the pediatrician's office.  I told them she wasn't feeling well all week so far, and that she had a fever.  They told me what to watch for--increased fever (to 104), but said it was probably related to whatever bug she had.  But to bring her in if she got worse.

I went to carry her into the kitchen later and she started crying very hard when I rested her bottom on my arm to pick her up.  I opened her diaper and noticed she was red and very swollen.  It was the length of her buttcheek and about 2 inches wide on the right side, and the left had swelling about the size of a quarter.  I called the office and told her we needed to bring her in, that I was pretty sure she had some sort of infection.

I got her to the pediatrician's office within 20 minutes (insert:  I'm super-mom because none of us were dressed and I got all three kids and myself dressed and at the office.  I know people have done it with more kids or less time, but don't bash my super-mom dreams)!

Dr.  Bargen told us it was a staph infection of some sort, and that it was probably MRSA.  It was too big to drain in the office and Miss E would have to be admitted so that she could be put under anesthesia to make incisions and drain it.

We were admitted that night where they took her from us for 25 minutes (from beginning to end), to cut the abscesses and drain the infection.  She was loved by all the nurses who came in to care for her.  Besides when we were first admitted and immediately following the surgery, she was incredibly happy and super smiley.  Everyone remarked that she was so beautiful (I know), and so sweet and mild mannered (I know, I know).  And "Does she EVER cry...?" oh, and..... "There are about 15 people here who would take her home, if you didn't want her anymore...."

The best story from being at the hospital:  We were in the Women's and Children's Tower at Bryan East, on the second floor.  My parents sent get well balloons and a teddy bear for E.  I'm not sure if the flower place messed up, or if the volunteers who bring the gifts to the floor messed up, but we received an "It's a girl!!" balloon bouquet!  The old lady volunteer brings in the balloons and walks across the room to put them on the table, she turns to me nursing a 15lb baby in my lap and says "......Congratulations....?" 
Yeah... I birthed a 15lb baby and lived to tell about it.... what up?

She's healed up and doing just fine now.  We found out that the infection was just a staph that was sensitive to the antibiotics and not MRSA (thank God!).... It came up pretty fast, and we are just supposed to keep our eyes peeled for anymore high fevers or anymore swollen or hard bumps.  There's not much we could've done to prevent it.  Hopefully we never have to go through this again; this is a first I hope to never repeat....

Eleanor's Birth

I want to make sure that E gets the same recognition as her siblings, so I wanted to go back and catch up on her birth since we missed posting it originally.

I had my regular check on the 5th. Had been getting high BP readings since the previous Friday and we decided to monitor them through the weekend. I was still getting high numbers in the office on Monday. He sent me to the hospital for induction at 10pm that night.


Induction was started with Cytotec, and pit started around 8am tues morning. Contractions came on strong and I decided to get the epidural around 1130 because otherwise I would have had to wait until anesthesiologist was done with 2 c-sections at 130. I'm not allowed to walk around due to BP issues, and laboring laying down is no fun... I was dilated to 9 around 1220 and my doctor was contacted and then on his way. About this time the baby's heart rate started to drop to 40-60bpm. Two nurses came in and started flipping me side to side to get it back up. Then my L&D nurse checked me and said it was bright red blood.  Luke and Mom both noticed something wasn't right. 

They called a category 3 for the baby and extra nurses from the nicu came in. Then someone asked if there was anyone in the hospital who could deliver me bc the baby needed to come now. There was no one.

The three nurses decided they were delivering the baby now. Pulled my legs up to rupture my water and it went everywhere!!!! They didn't even have me push with contractions--they just said to push. They were so encouraging and we all fought to get her out quickly.  It was really hard because I couldn't feel anything due to the epi--it was the strongest I've ever had--I couldn't feel my legs. I pushed a couple times, but had a hard time holding the push.  Then Luke counted the next several times and she came in about 6-8 pushes. She was very blue and the cord was around her neck once. She did not cry for a bit, he didn't get to cut the cord, and they took her straight over to the table. I remember praying over and over in my head that she be ok, and caring for nothing else happening in that room right then.... I can't even remember when they told me she was a girl... I cried and cried when she finally cried and they held her up for me to see her.  It still makes me choke up thinking about how close we were to losing her....

My doctor came about two min after she was out and said "I missed it!" He said he had run red lights but got stuck in traffic.

The placenta had some clotting which indicated it was detaching during labor. Which is also why the bright red bleeding. It was the scariest moment of my whole life and I feel those nurses saved our baby's life.

Eleanor Rae Proffitt is amazing!  She was born at 12:39pm on November 6, 2012.  She was our littlest at 6lb 3oz and 18.5 inches long.  I really felt she was going to be another boy--I'm officially awful at guessing babies' genders.... I've been wrong all three times now.  We don't have as many pictures from her birth since it was so fast but I will share a few.