Mia Jane Summers

Looking at the countdown on my blog, I see it says we still have 2 weeks to go until we meet our little girl. Luckily, we have already known her for a month. I guess I am a little late in announcing her arrival...my oh my, how time goes by fast! :)

Mia Jane Summers was born May 2nd at 8:47 am, which was 6.5 weeks premature. She weighed 6 pounds 12 ounces and was 20.78 inches long. We absolutely adore her and couldn't be happier!

Name explanation:
When Eric and I first started listing off names that we liked, Eric kept asking me what I thought about the name, Jane. I have always liked names that are kind of unique and not mainstream and I kept saying no. He had always really liked the name and kept bringing it up, but I kept saying no. Then I asked him what he thought about the names Maya (pronounced Miiiia) and Mia (pronounced Meeea). He didn't like Maya, but he agreed that Mia was cute. Once we realized that Mia meant "My," I knew it was perfect. Mia Jane translates as My Jane. We also liked that MJ was also another option if Mia wanted a nickname.


Birth Story:
For those of you who want the details, here they are. If you want to skip this stuff, go ahead. I don't blame you. It's a long story.

Let me back up to about two weeks before she was born. At the last ultrasound of our baby girl, we were told that her size was in the 97th percentile and that she was going to be over 10 pounds if she went full term. We had a c-section scheduled at the 39 week point because the doctor was concerned about the possible need to break her shoulders if I delivered naturally.

A week later I went in for a non-stress test and although everything came back normal, the doctor started saying that we should be prepared to have our baby girl come earlier. At that point he was guessing she might come between 37 and 39 weeks gestation.

The next time I saw him, he started saying that we should have our hospital bag packed and ready to go when we came in for our 36 week ultrasound. Again, everything was normal and he just kept saying that she might come earlier than we were expecting.

After that conversation I started thinking that I should probably find out exactly what the bare essentials would be and buy them, so that we wouldn't be stressed if she decided to come as early as the doctor was saying. I asked a few people and decided to go to Target to get everything just a few days after that conversation with the doctor.

Well...Mia decided that she didn't want to wait until 36 weeks. She arrived only 2 days after I bought everything we needed.

On Saturday, April 30th, I went into the hospital because I was having contractions that were 3-4 minutes apart. They didn't go away with the normal stuff that is supposed to stop them. Eric and I spent about 3 hours in the hospital while they monitored everything and before we left all they could tell us was that I was a pre-term contractor. I wasn't showing any signs (at that point) of pre-term labor, so they explained that I would probably have contractions until the baby came, but that they weren't anything to worry about because they weren't affecting my cervix at all. We went home that night and kept doing what we had planned.


On Sunday, we went to church and even went into Seattle to take some pictures, since the weather was gorgeous. We even got one more prego picture of me, while were there. That night I decided to just take it easy and rest. By 6pm, I started having contractions again that were 3-4 minutes apart and they kept getting worse and worse. I tried drinking water, lying down, taking a hot shower and nothing seemed to make them go away. We decided to call the hospital again and explained what was going on. They told us to come back in, so they could check on me again. This time, my cervix was dilated at a 1 and they started to be a little concerned. They started asking questions and we figured out that my water had started leaking. It hadn't broke completely, so I hadn't noticed it right away. It took us a while to figure it out, but we soon realized that it had started leaking within an hour of leaving the hospital the day before (over 24 hours earlier). The doctors were concerned about an infection starting and affecting the baby. They explained that their main priority was to stop the contractions and that I would need to remain at the hospital, on bedrest until I reached 36 weeks gestation (total of 2.5 weeks). I took a pill that was supposed to stop the contractions, but they kept coming. The new plan was to put me on magnesium sulfate, a muscle relaxer, to stop the contractions. They were hoping to be able to postpone labor for 48 hours, so they could get two steroid injections in to help our baby girl's lungs develop. They only got to do one injection, because the contractions kept coming. The magnesium sulfate made me really tired and caused my vision to go blurry. I guess I confused the doctors because I started sleeping through the contractions. Apparently I wasn't showing enough pain so they didn't check my cervix again until the next morning, around 8am. By the time the doctor checked it, he said I was at a 9! I was terrified. I had no intentions of giving a natural birth and I knew that I was already past the point of getting an epidural, like I had planned. I also knew that I definitely did not have enough energy to push a baby out. My first response was, "Can I please have c-section? I'm too tired to push right now." Of course his response was no. The baby had to come out now. Within seconds, an entire team of nurses showed up in our room and it was already time to push. Unfortunately, Eric and I had not read anything about what to expect, so we had no idea how to breathe through contractions or what was coming next. Luckily we had an awesome nurse who helped us the entire time. I know that I was extremely tired and was sooo not ready for labor right then.I remember a few things about her labor, but not everything. Eric was trying to text his boss, since he was supposed to be at work already, and I got mad at him for not helping me with the contractions. Sorry Hubby! I also remember that the nurse kept telling me to hold my legs up and I just kept telling her that I was way too tired. She and Eric somehow managed to do that for me. I think I only had to push through 3 contractions and then Mia was out. When she came out, I thought it was a balloon or something and I kind of freaked out. I turned to Eric and said, "What was that?" (imagine a super dramatic tone). Within a second after that, the doctor threw the baby on my chest and the nurses quickly took her away. All that I saw was that she had dark hair. Unfortunately, my vision was just too blurry. She didn't cry right away, but once she did, I knew everything was going to be okay. The nurses had to clean her off immediately and she cried at the perfect moment. If she had cried sooner, she would have inhaled meconium. The nurses held her up for me to see her again before they took her to the NICU, but again, all I could see was that she had hair. She was healthy enough for Eric to carry her to the NICU and although I didn't see him, I know he was super proud to be a Daddy finally and to have his little girl in his arms.

Unfortunately, after labor, my blood pressure went up really high and I started to have some other complications. The doctors had to keep me on the magnesium sulfate for another 24 hours to prevent seizures. I didn't get to see my baby girl for the first time until 12 hours after she was born. Eric brought me down to her room in the NICU earlier that day, but my vision was still so blurry, that I couldn't really see her very well. The nurse that was in charge of her, brought her down to my room late that night so I could hold her for the first time. I knew she had hair, but I still couldn't see her very well. It was kind of aggravating. The blurry vision didn't wear off until a day and a half after she was born. I was sooo excited to finally be able to see my little girl! She was sooo cute! I remember that I just kept looking at her and thinking to myself how weird it was to see myself, but not see myself at the same time. She had my facial structure, but Eric's nose and chin. She was and is adorable and I fell in love with her immediately.

Since Mia was born so early, she had to stay in the NICU at Evergreen for 12 days. Even though that seemed like such a long time, it was way shorter than the 6 and a half weeks the doctors said in the very beginning. I think her extra big size helped her graduate from the NICU early. Most of the preemies that we saw there were only half her size. She amazed all of the nurses and the doctors by how well she managed to do things on her own from the very beginning. She was able to nurse almost immediately without any problems and could handle a bottle well. She also could regulate her body temperature well. The main reason she was there was because she had a scary sleep apnea episode during her first night there. Once she proved that she wasn't going to have another major one, the doctors decided she could go home. I think she had the first one because she still had magnesium sulfate in her system from what they had given me before labor. After the magnesium sulfate was out of her system, she only had minor ones, but nothing major.
It might sound strange, but I'm actually really grateful that we were able to be in the NICU with her for that long. Evergreen is one of the top 10 hospitals in the country because they have private rooms for their NICU patients. There were two beds in her room that we were able to use, so luckily we were able to be her almost 24/7 while she was there. Since we were there so much, we got lots of training from the nurses on breastfeeding, bottle feeding, changing diapers, taking temperatures, etc. If we had been sent home after the typical 2 nights in the hospital, I know I would have had a nervous breakdown. There was soo much to learn! By the time she was able to come home, I felt like I had a good handle on things and wasn't too stressed (the stress didn't come until after my Mom left :( ).

There are a couple of reasons as to why we think Mia came early. I think she wanted to be here before Mother's Day. She must have heard Eric boasting about how he got the first Father's Day and wanted to prove him wrong. The doctors think she came at the perfect time because if she had been inside of me much longer, she would have had to deal with all of the complications I had after labor. I don't know how they would have affected her, but it could have been bad. Once my Mom got here, she reminded me that Mia was born on the same day that my grandmother had passed away a few years prior. We're sure that my grandmother and grandfather helped her survive and come out strong enough to make it through what she needed to. When I went in for my postpartum check-up, one of the nurses commented on how skinny I looked, considering that I had just had a baby. I told her that I really hadn't started gaining a significant amount of weight until only 2 or 3 weeks prior to when I had Mia. Her response after looking through my chart, was that it is amazing to see how our bodies just know how to prepare for what's coming up next. She thought my body somehow knew it needed to get my baby ready to come out early and just started adding on weight. Whatever the reason, we know that Mia came exactly when she was supposed to and we are so glad that we have been able to share the last month as a family with her.

Upon arriving home, Lexi and Mia were able to finally meet. For the first few days after Mia was born, I had to stay at the hospital (obviously) and Eric or my Mom would have to stop at the house. Lexi had the hardest time with me not being there too. She would keep looking in the car windows and run around the house searching each room over and over again trying to figure out where I was at. Once I finally was able to come home, Mia was still in the NICU and we could only stop by for a few hours. Lexi knew something was going on, but hadn't figured it out yet. I thought it was kind of sad that she didn't respond to me the same. She knew it was me, but I must have smelled different or something, so she didn't know what to think. We ended up having Lexi go to one of my co-worker's houses, so that she wouldn't be so confused. She finally came home after we brought Mia home and got to meet her. There is definitely some jealousy since Lexi has to share my lap with someone else and since she isn't the only one getting attention now. For some reason she hasn't realized that she actually gets more attention, now that I'm home from work all day. She even gets to sit on Eric's lap sometimes now and still gets jealous of Mia. For example, the other day Eric was holding Mia and told Lexi she could come up too and Lexi sat on Mia's head. Her butt was in Mia's face. Luckily Eric moved her right away and Mia was asleep and didn't notice. Although there is that bit of jealousy, Lexi has been great with Mia. She is very curious about her and gives her kisses when we let her. She has also been very protective of Mia since the very beginning. We can't wait for Mia to get a little older, so we can watch her interact with Lexi. They are going to be best friends.
I owe a huge thank you to my Mom for coming and helping us for two-and-a-half weeks. I don't know how I would have done it without her. She was with me in the hospital, helped us with Lexi, helped me with midnight feedings, cooked meals, made sure I ate, made sure I slept, cleaned our apartment, spoiled us with lots of treats, helped organize the nursery, and held Mia whenever someone else wasn't holding her. Thank you Mom! I hope you got to enjoy your first few weeks as a grandma and that we didn't work you too hard. You're the best! We love you!