Bella's first day.

She came into the world at 1:17 am after a fairly simple labor and an even easier delivery. Although when you hold back pushing when you *really* need to for 8 minutes waiting on the NICU team to get there, it shouldn't take much pushing. I've never tried to cross my legs in labor before. (OMG)

She tried to breath on her own right away, but being so small and early she still had the plugs in her nose and throat. Once they got her all suctioned though, she took her first breath and has been breathing great since then. She's staying at Childen's in the NICU until we know for sure what she'll need in terms of surgery and so on. As far as the cardiologists are concerned, Bella calls the shots and the steps they take are based on how she's doing with daily life. Both the cardiac and NICU doctors are pleased with how well she's doing so far. So are we.

Today has been a HUGE day for all of us. Having and greeting Bella, trying to keep ourselves from crashing but at the same time trying to make sure we're meeting with doctors, I'm pumping to feed her and we're eating and resting enough. Believe it or not, that is NOT a simple task. Oi! So far, I believe we've done okay and I hope we're able to continue to do okay or better.

Isabella got to meet her most of her siblings today and she got to hold her grandma as well. I think they all enjoyed the time spent whether our faces reflect it or not. :p

As for Bella's heart, she still has HRHS, Tricuspid Atresia and VSD. However she shouldn't require surgery in the very near future. It sounds like surgery is a good month or so off, which for the stage 1 surgery is good. The cardiologist told me that they're happy with how she's doing and if anything her heart working too well cycling too much blood back to the lungs for oxygenation.

Overall, she will still need surgeries and she is 7 weeks premature, but I think we have a little fighter on our hands and for that, I am thankful.

As for me, I had a 2 hour nap this morning, met with my doc and her docs pumped for her, took a 4 hour nap and then introduced siblings. I am still feeling exhausted, but I am giving myself a break on that since I just gave birth today. I think aside from waking up to pump I am going to try for a full night of sleep. Once we discharge from Abbott it's to Children's we go until Bella is also discharged. I have *no* idea when that will be, but I am okay with that until we know exactly what she will or wont need.