Welcome to Fiona! - March 26, 2007

At 6:42 PM on March 26, 2007, Fiona Lacey Gordon joined the family weighing in at 7 pounds, 4.2 ounces, 20 inches. :)

She arrived without incident after about 12 hours of labor, which was entirely tolerable following an epidural/intrathecal injection for mommy at around mid-day. Grammy and Grandpa Lacey, Uncle Mike & Aunt Marlo, and friends Courtney and Carolyn waited in the lobby for Fiona's debut. Daddy was a trooper and stayed in the delivery room to coach and cut the cord. At first glance everyone agreed miss Fiona was a dead ringer for her daddy, even without red hair.
With guests gone we settled into watch her first episode of Dancing with the Stars. Rest was short-lived however, when for some reason Fiona's temperature was slow to recover after her bath and she started spitting up swallowed amniotic fluid. An MD visit waited till morning but her nurse appeared every hour or so throughout the night to re-examen. (In infants a low temp can be a sign of infection; Swallowing amniotic fluid is normal but deters them from eating). By dawn she stabilized and her newborn MD exam was unremarkable. We spent the day learning to breastfeed, taking visitors, talking on the phone, and recovering. By discharge day on the 28th we noticed a tinge of jaundice and her regular pediatrician, Dr. O'Malley, noted an elevated bilirubin level (a measure for jaundice.) Since the discoloration was confined to her face and upper body the docs felt she was Ok to go home so long as we hydrated her and closely monitored skin tone. So, we shuffled out of the hospital, all the while our little bundle of joy, securely fastened in her carseat carrier, screached at the top of lungs.

While her lung function was never a question the jaundice lingered a few days. In fact by Friday I couldn't register whether or not she looked better or worse so I asked for another lab level to be sure (it was fine.) Although our household briefly turned upside down in efforts to bounce, rock, vibrate, swing, swaddle, change, or feed on demand we settled into some of our routines as a new, little family.