Happy Memorial Day!

In the Banta family, we never let an opportunity go by without thanking our armed forces and veterans. 

It is so important that we all pause on this day to say thank you to those many thousands of people who sacrificed so much so that we can live with the freedoms we have. These are losses that can never be recompensed. They are sacrifices that few of us can imagine. This is the painful cost of the lives we enjoy. It’s a price that has been paid so many times in our history by so many men, women and families. Thank you!

This weekend, Rob's sister Chelsea and her husband Michael and baby Cooper came to visit!  Cooper and Adeline are only 3.5 months apart, so we are looking forward to lots of fun together in the future.  For now, it is difficult to do many activities together, since we are trying to coordinate 2 different feeding/diapering/napping schedules.  Not to mention driving to and from the hospital!  On Saturday, Adeline met her Aunt Chelsea and Uncle Michael for the first time.  Unfortunately, we didnt take any pictures of them together, but we did capture a few of just Adeline.

And we took another family picture

 And of course we had to get some pictures of the adorable Cooper!

It's hard to believe this was Cooper only 3 months ago...

Thank you for visiting!  We had so much fun catching up and seeing Cooper. Can't wait to do it again in a couple months!

What's in a name?

Adeline is named after 2 of her great-grandmothers;
Adeline (Mae) Snyder Terry

 

 and Virginia (Mildred) Westlake Banta

The name Adeline means "noble" and the name Virginia means "maiden".  The first child born in the new world was Virginia Dare.  Also, the author Virginia Wolfe's real name is Adeline Virginia.

We chose these names because they represent two very important women in our lives.  My grandma, Adeline, is dynamic, generous, and fun-loving.  When I was young, my grandparents took my brother Ryan and I on long cross-country motor home trips.  My grandma could scramble up sand dunes and mountains with us, and she was always up for an adventure.  We used to literally shop til' we dropped. My grandparents helped me pay my way through college and grad school, and I will never be able to thank them enough for providing for me in so many ways.  In addition to loving the name "Adeline", we wanted to name our daughter after someone who was such an important influence in my life.

Rob's grammie, Virginia, is sweet, fun, and stylish.  She always looks beautiful.  She is adventurous as well - spending many years sailing with Rob's grandfather.  She is independent and generous and energetic.  We are fortunate enough to see them frequently in the summers, when they travel to Smith Mountain Lake for the season. We always have so much fun together - just chatting and telling stories. We also love the name Virginia, but we love our Ginny even more.

Adeline Virginia is sure to be quite a force to be reckoned with.  She has proven her tenacity already!

Wednesday Update: and Happy Anniversary Rob!

Three years ago today, I married the the love of my life. 

He is generous, loving, funny, and dependable and we are so lucky to have him.  We love you, Rob!

Adeline is doing very well and is growing every day.  We are focusing on feeding.  Because she is so young, she is not yet able to suck and swallow in a coordinated manner.  This usually develops around 34 weeks of gestational age, which Adeline will be tomorrow.  Every day, we work on feeding by using a pacifier or breastfeeding while the milk is fed to her through a tube going into her nose and down to her stomach (nasogastric tube)  We have to be careful not to tire her out or make her burn too many calories, so we only practice by-mouth feeding 2-3 times per day. 
Today, Adeline was alert for almost an hour during her 10am feeding, which was a great demonstration of progress.  As she matures, she should be able to stay awake for longer periods of time.

Every day, the nurses increase the amount of milk given to her each feeding (every 3 hours).  Every day, Adeline tolerates the increase and digests all of it. (They check the amount left in her stomach after each feeding, and so far she's never had anything left!) They will keep increasing the amount as tolerated, which will help her continue to grow and gain weight.

Adeline is maintaining her body temperature well, and all of her vital signs continue to be stable.  She doesnt have to reach a "magic number" in weight to go home, but she does have to take all of her nutrition by mouth.  Currently, she is taking all of her nutrition through the tube.  Once she is able to suck and swallow better, the tube feedings will decrease.  Hopefully this will develop within the next week!

I'll leave you with some pictures....
(the nice nurse last night cut a piece of tape in the shape of a heart to hold her tube down.  If she has to have tape on her face, it might as well be cute... right?!)

Saturday Update: Home Sweet Home

I was discharged from the hospital yesterday.  It was so nice to sleep in my own bed last night... I feel great today.  We've had a busy day visiting Adeline, running some errands, and organizing around the house.  We have been taking advantage of every minute together... we realized this week how precious life is.  We also marvel in gratitude over the kindness of others.  I think we literally had thousands of people praying for us and the power of prayer is great.  We are just so grateful and cannot thank everyone enough... and I'm sure I will say this many more times!

We've tried to be with Adeline for the majority of her feedings, which are every three hours.  It is important for her to begin practicing her rooting and sucking reflexes, as well as continue to increase the amount fed to her so she can gain some weight.  Here's a picture of us snuggling this morning:

This afternoon, we gave Adeline her first bath!  It was a sponge bath under a heat lamp to keep her extra warm ...very spa-like.  She didn't love the bath, but she did love having her hair washed and combed!  Here are pictures of her in her post-bath swaddle and hat:  (the red glow is from the heat lamp)

Tomorrow marks her one-week birthday!  We are hoping to see her surpass her birth weight next week by this time.  More to come!

Pictures of Adeline: 4 days old

Here's a picture of me holding Adeline this morning in "Kangaroo" position.  They put her in the front of my shirt so that we have skin-to-skin contact and it helps to maintain her body temperature. She loves it. She just sleeps and is so content the whole time.

Our First Family Picture

All of the stickers are for various monitors and the tube in her mouth will be used to feed her until she is able to coordinate sucking and swallowing... hopefully very soon!

Tonight we dressed Adeline in her first outfit!  Thank you to Jessi and Becky for thoughtfully providing a premie wardrobe!

Today was an awesome day. We spent hours with Adeline and she is growing and maturing by the minute.  Tomorrow, we will begin working on feeding and developing a coordinated suck/swallow reflex. 

Thursday Update

I am feeling great.  Other than the usual c-section related discomfort, I am back to normal and able to walk to and from the NICU to see Adeline several times a day.  Adeline is doing great as well!  She has been weaned off O2 and the lights, and now is just being monitored. She is on room air and doesnt need any support of any kind! They will keep watching her closely, but our goal is for her to come home in about 2 weeks.  And here are some long-awaited pictures.  They were taken with a cell phone, but we will have better pictures to post this evening or tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

I am being discharged either tomorrow or Saturday, but will keep a room at the hospital so I can stay here during the day next week and spend time with Adeline.  They offer this as a free service for parents will babies in the NICU, since I am not allowed to drive or walk to and from the hospital yet. More to come later!

Welcome to the World, Adeline!

Adeline Virginia Banta was born at 2:47pm on Sunday, May 15th.  She weighed 3 lbs, 10 oz and was 17 inches long.  She is beautiful.  She has blonde hair and looks just like her daddy. 

I'm not quite sure where to start in telling you the story of Adeline's arrival, but I will try to start at the beginning...
Shortly after writing the last blog post on Saturday, I began to experience some back pain.  Initially, I thought it was just muscle soreness from so much time spent in bed.  By midnight, the pain was severe and spread to my entire back and upper abdomen.  Within a few hours, it was determined that my liver and kidneys were failing and I was given morphine to control the pain. On Sunday morning, they decided to transfer me to the labor and delivery unit for closer monitoring.  Until this point, my blood pressure remained normal, which was somewhat confusing to the doctors and made it difficult to diagnose the problem.
Although my organs were shutting down, Adeline was doing well.  She was still moving well and showing good responses and good heart rate on the monitors.  Because of how quickly my medical status declined, it was determined that an emergency c-section would need to be done.  Because of the multiple medical issues going on, I was prepped quickly and put under general anesthesia for the operation.
Because I was under general anesthesia, I can't tell you much about Adeline's birth.  What I do know is that Rob was able to see her soon after delivery and we had an army of people supporting and praying for us.  My mom, Rob's parents, Tyler, and Kristen were all at the hospital at some point on Sunday.  I can't even begin to name and thank the many nurses who were instrumental in my care and were so sweet to my family.  I don't think Rob and my mom could have gotten through this without their help.

After surgery, I was taken to the ICU for continued monitoring.  It was determined that I had developed HELLP Syndrome, which is a rare life-threatening complication of pregnancy.  Typically, it is associated with high blood pressure, which I did not have until I was already in organ failure. The only treatment for HELLP is to deliver the baby.  In the ICU, they were able to give me lots of medications via IV to try and stabilize my liver, kidneys, and platelets.  Due to the anesthesia and morphine pump, Sunday and Monday are pretty clouded in my memory.  I was told that Adeline was doing well and I was able to watch her live on webcam in the NICU, so I was content.

Today, I was finally transferred to the Post-Partum Unit, where I am able to walk around and function on my own, with some monitoring from the nurses. Most of my organ function has returned to normal, but I will continue to be monitored over the next few days. I am also very close to the NICU, and can visit Adeline often. 

I know you all want to see pictures of Adeline, and I will post some as soon as I can.  We havent taken many pictures because the flash of the camera startles her, but we do have a few.  She has had some minor breathing problems due to the immaturity of her lungs, but otherwise is doing well.  Today she had some chest xrays and they decided to keep her on 100% oxygen for the next 24 hours and will continue to monitor her lung tissue and function.

I'm sure many of you have more questions, so please post them in the comments and I will do my best to answer them.  Most of all, I want to thank all of you for prayers, support, and countless other ways you have been there for us over the past few days.  We will never be able to thank all of you adequately, but we are truly overwhelmed by your generosity.

What a Weekend...

On Thursday at my monthly doctor appointment, they did a routine ultrasound and noticed that the amniotic fluids around Adeline were too low.  They said that they are not at a dangerous level yet, but that I would need to be admitted to the hospital for IV fluids and bedrest.  This was definitely unexpected, but I felt confident that I would be in good hands and felt relieved they had caught the issue before it became a major problem.  I spent the night in the hospital with IVs and lots of fluids, plus some steriod shots just in case Adeline ends up coming early. 
On Friday (the 13th... of course), they did a repeat ultrasound to check the fluid levels, and everything looked the same.  Not worse, but not an improvement either.  I was so disappointed to hear that I would have to remain in the hospital until Monday, but again I am glad to be in good hands.  The nurses and doctors here are awesome.  They are monitoring Adeline's heartrate 3 times per day for 30 minutes each, and they look for variable changes in her heartrate to make sure she is reacting well to certain stimuli, such as when I move or drink cold fluids.  So far, she has passed all the tests and has shown the nurses just how active she is.  She never stops moving!
On Monday, we'll have another ultrasound to check the fluid levels again.  Hopefully, things will be significantly better and I will be able to go home on bed rest.  If they are not better, I will probably have to stay in the hospital.  Either way, Adeline will continue to be monitored frequently and we will do our best to keep things stable for a few more weeks.  We dont want her coming into the world too early!

We've been joking that we should have known Adeline would be stubborn and want to do things her own way - she is named after 2 very strong women in our family, after all.  We are confident everything will work out well, and that God and Adeline have a plan - we just dont quite know what that plan is.  I will continue to update everyone - thank you for your support and keep us in your prayers!

Happy Birthday Rob!

We kicked off Rob's birthday weekend with a party at Ellie's to celebrate the Royal Wedding.  Although we did not make it to the 6am party to actually watch the wedding, we opted for the 6pm recap party. Ellie went all out on the decor, and even made british-themed food for the occasion.  When we walked in, we were greeted by these two...

And here are some of the fun details...

Prince William and Princess Elinor

Yes, these are copies of the official wedding programs... just in case you would like to follow along.

Rob has been told that he looks like Price William, so he had fun posing....

And I thought it would be fun to tell little Adeline that she was in mommy's belly when Prince William and Princess Catherine were married.

Saturday was a perfect spring day - 75 degrees and sunny.  We spent the morning running errands, then Rob and Fielding watched the lacrosse tournament at University of Richmond while Becky and I went to an outdoor art show and did some shopping. Afterwards, we all went to Water Grille for dinner.

Happy 28th Birthday Rob!

29 Weeks!

11 weeks to go!

Easter Weekend

Rob's parents came to visit for Easter weekend.  We had a wonderful weekend cooking, eating, and enjoying the beautiful weather!  On Saturday, we went to Maymont for a picnic lunch and a stroll through the gardens. 

On Saturday night, we went to dinner at "Pie" to celebrate Rob's upcoming birthday

After a wonderful church service on Sunday (I love the Hallelujah Chorus), we had a traditional Easter lunch at home and then the Bantas headed back to Raleigh.  It was a nice relaxing weekend  and we really enjoyed showing the Bantas around Richmond.