Our time in the hospital

We had to stay in the hospital a little longer than planned. Originally, the plan was to give birth in a water birthing center, but had to switch care to OHSU due to Tara's complications. Since Bonnie was born via c-section, we had to stay three days for Tara to recover and have tests done to be sure her heart was okay since it was beating too fast during delivery and afterward in recovery. They were getting ready to discharge us on the third day, but noticed Bonnie looked a little yellow, so they did some tests and found she was a little jaundice. So we stayed until late the following night so Bonnie could do some light therapy to get her jaundice under control. That coupled with the two days in labor meant we were there for six days. I think we were all relieved when Bonnie's tests came back okay and they released us... Jake especially since he had been sleeping in what was essentially a window seat during recovery and a rock-hard chair during induction (not that he slept much during that time). Bonnie was a fabulous baby from the start. She had no trouble eating, and hardly ever cried when we were in the hospital. She was so alert after she was born that Tara stayed up most the night just staring at her. After her first night, Bonnie pretty much slept and ate the rest of our stay in the hospital... at least one of us was well rested!

The Guppy Arrives

Bonnie Anna Herring was born at 10:11 pm on January 20, 2007. She was due on Valentine's Day, but Tara had to be induced early after developing cholestasis (a pregnancy-related liver condition that can cause an increase in still-birth if the baby isn't delivered before 37 weeks gestation). It was sort of a rough pregnancy from the very beginning, but of course worth every second (have you seen her?). After confirming cholestasis, her doctor decided to schedule induction to begin January 23... but after the fetal monitoring wasn't looking exactly how the doctors wanted, they decided to induce after her appointment on the 19th. We had thought that may happen (they had almost done it the previous appointment), so we had our bags packed and with us, the carseat ready, and a key under our doormat so someone could get in to take care of our dogs. Induction was by no means pleasant, but Tara progressed well... until time to push. After nearly 3 hours of pushing, Tara ended up with an emergency c-section (she was definitely ready for pushing to be over) because of her and Bonnie's irregular heart rhythms. "Little" Bonnie was 3 weeks and 4 days ahead of schedule and still weighed in at 7 lb. 0 oz. and measured 20 inches long (lucky for us, easy stats to remember) and had a full head of hair. We consider her to be our little miracle baby after doctors told us we may never be able to have children due to Jake's cancer, and she has been an absolute blessing. She is named "Bonnie" after Tara's mom and "Anna" after Jake's grandma.