Within seconds of the midwifes's "catching," the transition nurses took our little girl, did a very quick cleaning (inside and out) and started with crazy, Tim Burton-movie looking equipment.
October 5, 2009 - The Clean-Up and Post-Partem Exam
Jill developed a temperature in the last 2 hours of the delivery.
When it became evident that that wasn't just a passing event, the midwife called for the "Transition" team, who brought in a typical-sized lobster tank and stood quietly in the corner as the delivery progressed. Their presence was mildly disturbing, but we had other concerns at the time upon which to focus, namely Jill.
Normally, you'd expect the nurses to calmly take the baby from the midwife/catcher, finish cleaning out its nose and mouth, wash it off, calmly measure and weigh the baby, then hand it to mom.
That is not what happened with us.
Within seconds of the midwifes's "catching," the transition nurses took our little girl, did a very quick cleaning (inside and out) and started with crazy, Tim Burton-movie looking equipment.
Why would such an apparatus need two tubes and a bag?
In actuality, I think this was a measuring device of some sort - oxygen content, inhalation strength, something like that.)
I stayed with Jill while the grandparents watched over the baby.
It was about then that mom, Carey, and Bill realized that our little girl was crying short, fairly quiet cries, with grunts in between.
The cries were normal. The grunts weren't, but didn't sound that bad to the untrained ear.
This flash shot shows a more realistically-colored view of what was going on, as demonstrated by the blue of the scrubs - and the baby.
Another cleaning of her nose and mouth helped. They did this over and over.
Color starts to fill her skin.
They start with a traditional 'bag.'
Her first hat.
She starts to look very normal at the moment.
Another round with the bag. This seems strange.
Now for the vitals.
To us, she looks normal and she's crying. Both are good signs...
However, what none of us realized was that her breathing was very rapid, but worse - extremely uneven.
She looks so scared.
She looks right...
...then left. She's really taking it all in.
I missed all of this since I was with Jill. Thanks, mom and Bill for taking all these great shots (and more).
I'm guessing they do some additional cleaning at this point.
This one really looks like Jill!
They're clearly checking for something...
The hat goes back on...
They put her back down and keep testing.
All of this unfolds in just a few minutes.
They make a burrito out of her...
...and hand her to mommy.
Mommy's SO glad to hold her...
So glad!
She immediately stops crying...
...but that means she is still grunting.
My mom helps replace the hat she keeps losing.
Our little girl is finally calm and closes her eyes.
But when Jill talks, she looks up.
Jill is exhausted, but so relieved to finally hold her.
So sweet...
It's about now that we only have to share a look and know the name...
It was the front-runner before, but it fits her-
Marcella Wren Mulcay
(but she'll be called "Ella")
Next: "Transition" in the Special Care Nursery (a.k.a. NICU)