Introducing Margaret Esme

For a while, I held off on writing a post about Maggie or anything at all for this blog. It’s been hard to find the time. But now Maggie is two months old and I want to share about her.

She was born three weeks early on Friday morning, December 14.

I had a doctor’s appointment that Tuesday and was told that I was showing signs that I could go into labor. However, the baby was breach so unless that changed, I would need a C-section.

You see where this is going? It’s not that simple though. I never went into labor. That’s not why she needed to be born early.

I had been going to the pare-natal center at the hospital because of a condition having to do with my thyroid. The baby’s heart rate went down too low on two different days, the second time being two days after that doctor’s appointment I just mentioned. A quick ultrasound showed the baby was still breach and now the amniotic fluid was too low, much lower than two days before.

After more testing and hospital staff communicating with my doctor, I was admitted for a C-section to be performed by my doctor appointment the next morning.

That wasn’t what I was expecting either. I was lucky enough to get an amazing surgical team. They were friendly and kind. The needle in my back didn’t hurt much. I felt a little out of it when she was born. The surgery was quick but recovery was long. I got good nurses for recovery too though. They helped me walk again. I had Paul’s help when we got home too.

The breastfeeding class I signed up for was the night I was admitted. I was admitted early afternoon and therefore couldn’t go. I hadn’t ordered my breast pump yet either.

I hadn’t decorated the nursery yet. At least we had the changing table/dresser combo and bassinet ready.

We didn’t have the car seat installed either. My husband was planning on doing that in a few days because he had an appointment for a car seat inspection at the hospital. Instead, he got in contact with our local police department and the police chief himself checked to see if Paul installed the seat correctly on the day we went home.

We could have been more prepared. But it’s okay. Our early bird baby girl is happy and well loved. She’s more than we expected in a lot of ways.

Maggie is such a sweetheart. She loves cuddles, looking at faces and listening. At 10 weeks now, she is doing a lot of smiling and making expressive noises. She bats the toys on her activity gym and lately she likes staring at patterns, such as the zig zag pattern on her car seat. She’s playful and curious.

She is named after my aunt who died of breast cancer not long after I found out I was pregnant. She was a great person. Very loving, generous, loyal and independent. Maybe it’s because I try to, but I think I see her in Maggie.

Thank you all for your love and support. We’re grateful to have such a good community of people around us.