Forsyth NICU

Right after she arrived, a team of doctors took over in our room checking her out and making sure all was good. After being allowed to hold her for a few short moments, she was taken down the the NICU, where she would stay until she was strong enough to come home, and I was taken to another room where I could have a few days to recover. She had quite an adventure coming into the world, and we both had some bruises to show for it, but after a few days there in the hospital we both began to show some improvement. Adaline Kelly Brown was the name we chose for our new baby girl. She was beautiful! Adaline was a name we both liked, and Kelly is a family name on Shane's side.

Adaline was blessed to be born with some weight on her compared to other premature babies, but she still "acted her age" as the nurses said. The biggest issues she had to tackle were Jaundice (a common issue) and learning how to eat. Adaline had to spend her first week or so under a number of lights to combat the jaundice, and even wore little eye covers to protect her. She also started with a feeding tube and transferred over to a bottle as she learned sucking and swallowing motions. Adaline was in the NICU for a total of three weeks, during which Shane and I made trips back and forth from High Point each day. We enjoyed watching her grow and improve, and knew she was in the best place for her health, but had a difficult time leaving our little girl to come home at night. When she was transferred to the Intermediate nursery, we got excited and knew it was almost time for us to take her home. She spent only a week there in Intermediate, and we finally were told she would be released!

pictures of growth during Adaline's NICU stay:

In the beginning

We have decided to create a blog to follow our family through the adventures of raising a child(ren). We begin with the new addition to our twosome, Adaline Kelly, born February 14, 2009. She came as a complete surprise two months early, as her due date was April 18th. We didn't know her sex yet, but most of our friends and family were hoping for a girl for Shane, to work on his sensitive side, and we got one (a Valentine girl at that).

How it happened: We were just sitting on the couch on a Thursday night around dinner time, me eating grapefruit, when my water broke. In the majority of pregnancies contractions come first, but of course, not me. So, with this sudden emergency, we quickly (after brushing my teeth) traveled to the hospital. It was a very busy night for pregnant women and we were given a tiny room that we hardly fit in. Luckily (depending on how you look at it), since I was high risk and very early, High Point decided to move me to Forsyth. It was a positive move, as the staff there was wonderful and the room was huge!

As the time passed (they wanted 3 weeks to pass) I waited in the hospital room, on lots and lots of fluids and magnesium to keep the baby in. Doctors, nurses, and students were in and out every 30 mins., so I didn't get to sleep, but I was comforted by the baby's heart beat that was heard on the monitors. On Friday afternoon I began having bigger contractions, and they said the baby was probably going to come sooner than they would like. About 11:45 that night I started the pushing, and a baby girl made her way into the world at 5:14 AM Saturday morning. She was early, but arrived at 4 lbs, 7 ozs. It was a long process that I will not detail, but it was all worth it.