The Bakes

Here's Jackie as we went inside to be induced. This is the last fat photo! We were supposed to go in at 4am, but they called as we were about to leave and told us to wait till they called back. They had one baby delivered the day before and apparently too many on Tuesday. They called back at about 8am and we headed in only to find out that yet another mom had come in before we got there, so we waited a couple more hours. When Jackie was finally in a room, had an I.V. going, and they started her induction drugs it was just after 11:30.

Here we are in the waiting area, watching the same news over and over. This is also a pretty good picture of Nathan's Bell's Palsy face. (It has now come back almost all the way!)

Below is Jackie getting settled into her bed, for the next 14 hours.

It took quite a while for the drugs to really do their job. After the first few contractions Jackie wimped out (who could blame her) and got the epidural put in. Good thing, considering how long the whole thing took. She was dilating about a centimeter per hour, but the cervix was very thick until almost the end when she went from about 60 to 5%. Once that was thinned out she had no trouble going from a 6 to a 10 in a little over an hour. When it finally came time to push she only needed a couple practice runs. She got it down pretty quick and the next thing you know we could see Natalie's scalp on its way out. The nurse got her close, called the doctor, and then the hard part, waiting. Once Dr. Liu was there it only took two contractions or so to deliver. It was amazing to see her little body come out and hear her little cry.

Daddy got to cut the cord and then Grandma Taylor took her to a little table to clean her and suck out her airways, etc. She was born at 2:06am on Wednesday, November 11th and weighed in at 7 lbs and 1 ounce and was 19 inches long. She also had quite the cone head, but that was pretty much gone by the next day.

Mom got to hold her first (not counting Grandma). The whole thing was very exciting and emotional. Mom and Dad both cried more than the baby. Then, Grandma took her down to the nursery to get her warm and pink (she was very pale when she first came out) while mom got cleaned up and dad tried to get a little rest.

It was while they were giving her injections and cleaning her up that they noticed a problem with her anus. She had what is called an imperforate anus. Hers was a very mild case; she had a working anus right next to her vagina but the rectal muscles were back where they should be. The whole thing was a bit scary at first, but once the doctors explained things we realized she would only need a simple surgery (mostly cosmetic) to put things where they should be so she could lead a normal life in the future and still have children of her own. With a lot of faith and prayers we slept easier.

The next morning (after a couple hours of sleep) everyone started to stop by to say hello. She picked up on nursing immediately, with zero hesitation, and was doing very well, including pooping from her misplaced anus, proving to everyone that she was more well than initially thought.

Here we have Grandma and Grandpa Taylor.

Below is Aunt Kate who cuddled her for almost an hour before dad finally took baby away for himself.

As nice as it was to get to go home in less than 24 hours, we were a little sad that we had to go without our baby, but at least we got that extra sleep.

On Thursday we came in to find Natalie in the NICU, already hooked up to her life machines and getting ready to go downstairs for her operation. She was very calm and sweet the whole time.

This picture below caught her in the box just before going. She opened her eyes and looked at us with this sort of sad, pathetic face. It made it a little harder to let her go.

We ran some errands while she was being operated on (to keep ourselves from worrying) and came back to find she had done extremely well. They were able to close her misplaced hole and pull the tube back to the rectal muscles that should have housed it originally. She now has a very normal looking bum which started working that night! We know that all the prayers in her behalf really helped and were answered. She was still pretty out of it so they held off eating till the next day. That night, we again got a lot of sleep, especially Jackie who was really worn out and sore (even though she didn't have to feel all those contractions she still had to feel the aftermath).

Friday morning we rushed in to see her before daddy had to go to work. They took out her air tube because she had started breathing on her own again and put just a little nose oxygen thing to back her up. When they weighed her she had only gained .1 ounces, but that afternoon she got some of mom's pumped milk and throughout the day worked her way up, drinking more and more as her stomach adjusted again.

Overnight she continued to awe the nurses and doctors. On Saturday she started breast feeding again and just couldn't get enough. She had to be given more from a bottle a few minutes afterward. She was also freed from all her tubes and what not, except the I.V. where they gave her the medicine she needed.

Sunday was Stake Conference, so while Nathan went to the priesthood session Jackie visited and fed baby. By the time Nate was home Jackie was calling to tell him that Natalie was coming home right then! He brought her clothes and went to get her and mom with Grandma.

You can see in the above picture that hungry little face. She can be quite forceful when she's hungry, snapping and screaming at everything near her face. You can also see that she's already getting chunkier. She'll probably end up a chubby bald baby like her dad was. We've figured out that she definitely has her mom's nose and chin and probably her dad's mouth. What do you all think?

We're so happy to have her home with us now. She eats all the time and has the sweetest girly voice when she yells. We've heard nothing but 'she's absolutely perfect, beautiful, pretty'... She really is, too. She's our precious little angel. Oh, and Sandy really loves her too. She can't stay away from her, always sniffing her head and licking her feet. She'll figure it out soon enough. Thanks to everyone for all your help and prayers and comfort. We'll see you all soon.

Today Jackie had a whole bunch of cousins, aunts, and friends come over to shower her with baby gifts. We got lots of goodies, only one double, and the girls all had a really fun time. (There will be more on this, hopefully, later.) Meanwhile, the men were shuffled out the door, so they had to come up with something fun to do, too. They enjoyed their day out in Nelson, NV, where a family friend owns an old mine and has restored a fair amount of it, including the tunnels themselves. The boys had a good time and learned a lot about the neat little ghost town.