Welcome Norah Piper Bruss!!!
I think we will have our hands full with this one if my pregnancy and her first week in this world is any indicator of what is to come. For the most part, I had a very easy pregnancy with Norah. I didn't throw up once and had a lot of energy throughout the months that went by. Norah was a mover and a shaker inside me by week 25 - much more than Jaxon ever was. "The force is strong with this one."
We had a few speed bumps along the way which makes having her here in our arms even that more meaningful. I had a lot of bleeding the first 15 weeks of my pregnancy with Norah, which can always be a scary thing for mommies, but I came to learn that I had a severe blood clot in my uterus, which thankfully wasn't affecting her. My bleeding had stopped by week 15. Once we got over that hurdle, we then learned Norah had a two-vessel umbilical cord, which about 2% of babies have (it's actually pretty common), but typically signals that the baby will be smaller in size and born premature. While learning that, my OBGYN also noticed that Norah's growth rate was dropping instead of increasing week-to-week, which threw up a big red flag for her. So, she referred us to another doctor and we began to see a Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) high-risk doctor in Omaha at Alegent-Creighton Health Lakeside Hospital for a few weeks. There, they took several tests, performed multiple ultrasounds and assessed the baby in utero in many different ways to understand even more over the course of the next 3-4 weeks. While I did not want to have an amniocentesis done due to the risk involved at 20 weeks, the physician highly recommended it to learn more about her and in order to make the best decisions possible. So, we moved forward.
The process was quite simple and painless. Initial results came back from the amnio perfect! We were so relieved. There wasn't anything alarming going on with her, and after about two weeks of them conducting a "micro-ray" examination on the amniotic fluid, where they essentially grow her cells in a petri dish for a week, we also received confirmation that she does not have any genetic abnormalities or markers, which we were grateful to learn. I also learned she does not have the same genetic condition I have (balanced translocation in her chromosones), which also made us very happy. Alas, she was just a small baby! Norah was consistently around the 25-30th percentile, which, while smaller, is completely within normal range. We'll take it!
The next several weeks were just waiting to see when baby Norah would arrive. How early would she be because of the two-vessel cord? Would she be okay? Many of these questions, and more, ran through our minds. My OBGYN mentioned babies with two-vessel cords arrive anywhere between 2-6 weeks early, so we prayed for two but prepared for six.
The planner in me, I had the nursery and all of our hospital bags packed weeks before her due date (June 20th) just in case. Checklists were made and checked-off. The colors of her nursery are lavender and gray with a splash of lime. I prepared a goodie bag for Jaxon with some of his favorite toys and snacks to take with him to the hospital to keep him occupied, as well as his "Big Brother" t-shirt he could proudly wear. I also found this cute idea on Etsy and created "Nurse thank yous" with a cute message and candy folded into a zip-log baggie to hand out to all of the nurses and doctors who would be helping us in the hospital. P.S. They were a big hit!
At about 32 weeks into the pregnancy, my doctor ordered a weekly BP ultrasound scan (APGAR test in utero) to be proactive about how baby Norah was doing. Through this testing, she would be given a score out of 8 points and it would help our doctor determine if the baby needed to arrive earlier based on the results of the test each week and how the baby was doing overall. Since Jaxon had a low in-utero APGAR test the day he was born, she wanted to make sure they were being more proactive with Baby #2 in case they would need to make any quick decisions. For several weeks, Norah's in-utero APGAR was an 8 out of 8. At 37 weeks, we noticed her growth rate had dropped again (45th percentile to 22nd percentile). The doctor gave us one more week to see how she would do. At almost 38 weeks, while her growth rate did increase, she felt it was time for baby to arrive given the week before it significantly dropped again. So, we scheduled the C-section for the next morning, June 6th at 9a.m. for baby Norah to make her way into this world. We immediately called our family to let them know and made plans for Jaxon so he could be taken care of, but also have the opportunity to be one of the first people to meet her.
The night before we had Norah was a normal night at the Bruss household. We took Jaxon out for Culver's ice cream, went home and played outside for awhile, had dinner together and tucked our first born in bed and prayed for baby Norah. We all went to bed a bit earlier that evening, but I think only Jaxon got a good night's sleep.
We woke up at 5:30 a.m. the next morning and left the house by 6:30 after my mother got there to watch Jaxon, so we could arrive at the hospital by 7a.m. The doctors were ready to go a bit early, so we gowned-up and rolled into the operating room by 8:20a.m. Kyle arrived shortly after they had my spinal block/epidural combo in me (which they had some difficulty at first getting in the right spot...). It's always strange to see people move your body parts around, but you feel absolutely nothing. Let's just say it plays tricks on your brain. They hung a blue sheet in front of my face so that I could only see Kyle to my right and the anesthesiologist to my left. Thinking only positive thoughts and focusing on getting to finally meet our baby girl, we were ready to go. I felt somewhat nauseated throughout the surgery, but nothing that the anesthesiologist couldn't fix. After a bunch of painless, yet slightly uncomfortable, tugging and pulling, our little baby girl Norah was born into this world. I heard her cry for the very first time and I began to ball. I never had the opportunity to hear Jaxon's cries after he was born because he was whisked away to the NICU, so hearing her cry was something I had held onto for quite some time - and once she did, I lost it. Kyle brought her over to me so I could see her cute little face. Her eyes were already opening up. We were cheek-to-cheek while the doctor and nurses sewed me up. And she never left my side since.
It's true what they say about how your love grows for your children. I always wondered how I could love another child as much as I love Jaxon. Or how I could open my heart up even wider for the love I have for Kyle alone. Your heart grows and your love for your family does too. We spent four nights and five days in the hospital and getting to know Norah during that time.
She had many visitors from her grand parents on each side (Grandma and Grandpa Bruss, Grandma and Grandpa Barr and Grandma Chris, as well as great grandma Paul and Ellen Singleton), aunts and uncles (Becki, Bob and Naomi and their kids, Jay and Carie and their kids, great aunt Linda and great uncle Keith, uncle John and aunt Sue Singleton and their son Justin, aunt Barbie and Uncle Logan), cousins (Rachel and Eric Barth), friends of ours (Shelly and Paul Kastl and their children, Andrea Riley, Brook Rote, Stephanie Dinger) and many many more. She is so loved already!
When I woke up Monday morning, June 10th, I walked down to the nursery because I had noticed Norah wasn't in the room so I had guessed the pediatrician had arrived for her regular assessment. We had known she was getting jaundice so I wasn't surprised to find the blinds drawn and the sunlight gleaming onto her naked body when I walked into the room. The on-call pediatrician was on the phone with our pediatrician when I arrived. When she got off she came over to me with a concerned look on her face and explained that she was worried about Norah because of her jaundice, but also because some of her behaviors had changed over the last couple of days - she had some recurring low temps, she suddenly wasn't breast feeding as well and was consistently sleepy and lethargic and not "waking up" often enough. So, she explained that she was worried she may have an infection, which of course got me very emotional because I wasn't sure the doctor was "really" telling me. She calmed my nerves by explaining infections can be cleared out through antibiotics. The decision was made to send Norah down to the NICU to do some testing and figure out what was going on. We packed our bags, made a few calls and moved everything down to the third floor.
A much smaller room and about 20 degrees hotter, the NICU room brought back a flood of memories and feelings for Kyle and I as we thought about our 7-day stint here nearly three years ago with Jaxon. In a nutshell, we've been here in the NICU with Norah for six days now. Our hope is they will discharge her by Monday, June 17th sometime. Her jaundice (Billyrubin) scores went from 15 to 10.4 in 24 hours so they were able to take her off the lights pretty early and out of the incubator. While all of her blood tests and cultures came back negative for an infection, they do believe that she has some viral bug that must've entered her system a couple of days before she was born, and since she doesn't have me to help her fight it off, there may have been a small amount of damage to her lungs which is causing her sleepy/lethargic attitude and the reason why she needs oxygen to help keep her oxygen levels up as they tend to dip every now and then. They gave her antibiotics anyway to be on the safe side, however.
The good news is that the only thing we're waiting on now is for them to take the oxygen off of her so that they can run a 24-hour test to ensure she'll be safe to send home. They've tried three times now and each time they've had to put her back on. They tried again this morning, Saturday, so now it's a waiting game to see how the next 24 hours goes. They will also perform a sleep study on her which takes about 12 hours. They'll do this on Sunday night, June 16th. The doctor told us on Thursday morning that he is anticipating taking the oxygen off of her within 24-48 hours and then we can go home the next day hopefully (Monday). The sleep study will tell us whether we'll be taking Norah home with or without an oxygen tank. In the meantime, while we are craving normalcy and missing our son like crazy, we want Norah to be healthy and strong. And she is making huge strides each day! She is feeding really well now and that will help to flush her system of anything bad as well.
To be honest, the most difficult part was not the delivery or the recovery or the breast feeding or the sleepless nights, but being away from Jaxon. THAT has been the hardest on us and has stirred emotions in me I didn't even knew existed - I love that little guy so much! Every now and then he asks, "Are you sick mommy?" when he sees my "braclets" (medical bands on my wrist) or proclaims, "You need a doctor!" because he sees the IVs in my hand or wondered why I was in a strange bed for so long when he'd come and visit. Or, the other day, we left the hospital and as we were making our way out of the building together, Jaxon stopped in the hallway, slumped over and began crying. We asked him what was wrong. He turned around and wimpered to us, "I wanted to take Norah home..." And then he lost it. Explaining all of this to him hasn't been easy, but I think he understands that his little sister needs some more time to grow and she'll be home very soon. In the meantime, we do our best to make sure he knows we're here for him, love him and things will be back to normal soon as well. I promise Jaxon.
The nice thing is that we have a routine down with Jaxon. He goes to daycare in the morning and we pick him up each day, spend a few hours with him at home and at the hospital in between feedings with Norah, so he has his time with us and with her. Then, Kyle will take him home and give him a bath, and one of our relatives will either spend the night at our place and watch him, or like in the last two days, he spent the night at Jay and Carie's place and enjoyed a "slumber party" with his cousins, Cody, Bailey and Derek. Because we were spending virtuallly 24/7 at the hospital, one of the doctors noticed I could barely keep my eyes open when he was talking to me, so he suggested we go home for a night and get some rest, knowing it would be the best thing for us and probably for Norah too as we care for her. He said, "your two-year old knows you're gone, but your 7-day old doesn't. It's okay to leave. That's what our staff is here for." I appreciated the nudge because I needed it in order to make that decision. I think all moms feel guilty leaving their children, and we were caught between two of them. So, for two nights now, we have gone home about 7pm, had dinner with Jaxon, played with him, tucked him in bed and went to bed ourselves in our own bed, returning to the NICU to see Norah by 7am the next morning. It's done us wonders for our frame of mind and for Jaxon's.
We hope to know more as the days go by, but are anxious to get back home and, oh, see a little sunlight too. Norah is doing really well and is such a good-natured baby. We feel blessed and thankful and can't wait to have our family of four together soon in our own home enjoying the summertime together.
Love, Beth, Kyle, Jaxon and introducing...Norah Piper :)
Here are some more pictures of our little gal enjoying her first few days at life:
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| Welcome to the world Norah Piper Bruss, seconds after your birth. |
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| Daddy, mommy and baby Norah |
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| Proud "Big Brother Jaxon" and Grandpa Bob with Norah |
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| Mommy meeting Norah for the very first time. |
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| Norah under the Billyrubin light in the NICU for her jaundice. |
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| Kyle, Beth and Norah - sleepy! |
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| Our precious baby Norah. Love those lips! |
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