More Hospital

Sunday morning Ayla was brought to me for breast feeding.  Apparently they had tried to give her formula but she wouldn't take it.  I was upset that they tried to give her formula without consulting me first, but grateful that she wouldn't drink it so it forced them to bring her to me and allow us to breastfeed.  Ayla latched on within seconds.  It was amazing.  I was worried we would have a difficult time breast feeding since we weren't able to do that initial bond right after her birth and were forced to wait till the following day.  She is a great eater and I love that we have that special connection.  She had to stay in the NICU all day Sunday and through the night. They had to give her an IV to make sure she was getting enough fluid.  It was sad to see her with that big IV on her tiny delicate little hand.  They hooked her up to a monitor to watch her respiratory system.  She was breathing faster than they like for a newborn.  So she needed to stay in the NICU to be monitored till her breathing was back to a normal rate. 

Monday morning Ayla's breathing was at a normal rate so they took her out of the NICU and she got to stay with us in my room all day and through the night. 

Tuesday morning Ayla was looking fairly yellow.  I thought these photos of her sleeping were so precious even though her skin is yellow.  The pediatrition came in to check her and tested her blood for jaundice.

 While we waited for the test results we got to bath Ayla for the first time.   She didn't like it very much. 

 Happy and clean again.

After her bath, we got the test results back and sure enough Ayla had jaundice and had to go under the light for photo therapy treatment.  This was extremely hard for me.  They would only let us take her out for breastfeeding and even then they wanted to keep it short to only 20 mins. 

They didn't want Ayla to get dehydrated and she needed extra fluids to compensate for the lights.  My milk hadn't come in yet so we had to supplement formula.  I wasn't to excited about that.  We had her drink out of a cup instead of a bottle and that made it feel a little bit easier to deal with.  It was amazing to see a newborn only 3 days old drink from a cup.  She did so good.  

This day was an emotional one.  If all had been well we would have been discharged from the hospital.  I was so ready to go home.  I had been in the hospital for 5 days and now I had to stay a 6th night and I couldn't even have my baby with me.  We were having to supplement formula and were limited on breastfeeding and it was one more thing that didn't go as I would have preferred.  The hardest part was when Ayla would cry and we couldn't pick her up to console her, we did our best to talk to her through the glass and reach our hands in the holes to hold her hand and rub her back.  It was heart breaking.  Luckily, Ayla is comforted easily and that was usually enough to calm her down. 

Right when I was having the most difficult time we received some very uplifting news.  We have insurance through Chris's work, but they only cover maternity if you have been insured by them for at least 10 months prior to pregnancy.  Since we were already pregnant before we even came to Grand Cayman we knew we would be paying for the pregnancy and delivery on our own.  Given everything that had happened the last few days Chris and I were both scared to see what this hospital bill was going to be.  It was one of those things that you try not to think/stress about but is always in the back of your mind.  Well, the Lord has truly blessed us.  Corrine from the financial service office came to tell us that she had just confirmed with two people that our insurance was going to cover the delivery.   Such a huge blessing, something totally unexpected, that we hadn't even thought to pray for.   Our prayers had been focused on Ayla and getting her healthy so we could all go home.  I was immediately comforted when hearing this and knew the lord was watching over us and everything was going to be fine.   This will forever be an added strength to my testimony that the Lord knows us, he is aware of our needs, and he wants to bless us.  If we strive to live our life the best we can he will always be there to help us through any trial or hardship and the blessings will be abundant. 
My heart is full of gratitude! 
And remember to always pay your tithing!