September 8, 2005
Macy Jane Selma Severs
5 lb, 4 oz
47 cm/18 in
9:37 pm
Updates
October 18, 2005:
Well, Macy came home Sept 28 and we're getting into our new routine. Tracey's doing a great job breastfeeding and Macy's pretty easy, except sometimes she's gassy and uncomfortable. Quinn and Tate are both excited about her. I'm so relieved they're not jealous or threatened. Quinn especially really plays well with little kids.
Here's a birth announcement we're working on:
September 27, 2005: Macy got her feeding tube removed today. I'll have to go down after work and get our first photo of her without it! Thought for a while that she might go home today, but they decided to keep her for now. Macy will get Tate's room and Tate will move in with Quinn. Tracey has almost finished painting the boys' room, so we're nearly ready to bring her home.
September 26, 2005:
September 19, 2005:
Day 11 pics.
Day 10 pics (1.8 mb .bmp). Quinn and his mom came down after church for a visit. What a beaming big brother! Now I'm all verklempt. I'm sorry, talk amongst yourselves....
Low-res Day 7 pics. They keep the lights low in NICU, which is good for Macy and bad for taking photos. Next cameraphone will have a flash.
Here are some low-res Day 5 pics:
Day 2 video. I love it because Macy smiles.
Here's one where you can hear her cry. We haven't heard that very often because she was intubated shortly after birth.
All's well that ends well. After having some difficulty early on, Tracey gave birth to a healthy baby girl Thursday evening. Tracey came home from work and said, "I am so ready to have this kid". She then said she felt crampy, but didn't think they were contractions. They were. When we got to the hospital at 8:00, she was 5 cm and fully effaced. Her contractions grew more intense and moments after the epidural was set, a BIG contraction came and Tracey hollered, "She's coming out!". The baby had crowned and Tracey was just along for the ride. One more and our little girl was born. Tracey said it was all involuntary, no pushing, just uncontrollable expelling. Kind of like vomiting, but full of beauty and wonder.
Macy was born at 33 weeks, 5 days. The protocol is to round back to the nearest week, so they're treating her like a 33 week preemie. Her weight was very good for her age, so the main issue is that her lungs are not fully developed. In spite of that, she required just a little supplemental oxygen and they didn't administer surfactant, which is often needed to keep the immature alveoli from collapsing. Surfactant is like the stuff that's in Pam non-stick spray and lowers the surface tension on the air sacs. Immature babies don't produce enough of their own until they are more mature. This is why JFK's baby died in 1963. It's called RDS, respiratory distress syndrome. We are so lucky to have such good care. And the staff at IMMC NICU is excellent in every way: expert and compassionate with great customer service. Very impressed.
As soon as Macy was born, the neo-natal crew went to work. Her Apgar score was 6 in spite of being so early. Here's one of the first shots (1.3 mb):
Here are a couple of hi-res pics (1.3 mb) from Day 2.
Here are some .3 mb shots from my cameraphone. Faster downloading:
We were relieved to have a girl because we had no boy names picked out. "Stella" was the front-runner until lately, with "Phoebe" a second choice. Tracey's sister suggested "Macy" a couple weeks ago and it sort of took root. When Macy was born, we both agreed she wasn't a "Stella", so it was between Phoebe and Macy. We liked Macy because it was more unusual. "Jane" is after Tracey's best friend, Jane Huerta. "Selma" is after my mom's swedish grandmother, Selma Peterson. I never met her but feel like I do, since I know many people who did. She was a smoldering beauty as a young woman and there's a rambling book her husband wrote in which she is the main character.
