Ella Maayan

Oren and Suzanne are the proud parents of a beautiful and healthy baby girl: Ella Maayan Minc. She came into this world on 4-10-10 at 6:20pm and weighed 5lbs 3 oz and is 18 ½ in long.

Note of Thanks

We are so grateful to our family and friends for all of your well wishes and assistance, as our life changed for the better! A special thanks to Rachel and Michelle for setting up meals for us. Sometimes you do not realize you need assistance until such a life change, especially when the delivery was 3 weeks early. We look forward to introducing Ella to everyone. We promise at some point you will get to meet Ella. Right now, we are settling into our new routine, mom is recovering and are taking limited guests.

Our Little Bundle of Joy Arrives Early:

With Ella’s early arrival, we have had little time to share with our family and friends the details leading up to her birth. ADVISORY NOTE: Details may not be completely accurate due to the fact mother was being pumped with lots of drugs and parents are sleep deprived! Also, we realize this is a long blog but it is also so we can put it in our baby book memories.

On Thursday, April 8 Suzanne had her 37 week prenatal appointments with her OB. Since it was her birthday, she thought it would be a great day to find out that our little one is doing well in the womb. To Suzanne’s surprise when the nurse checked her blood pressure it was high. She has never had high blood pressure before and thought it was a fluke. After several more checks, it was still reading high and she had protein in her urine. The Dr. diagnosed her with Pregnancy Induced Hypertension (PIH) and told her that she is done working and on bed rest until the baby arrives (but made one exception for her to go out to dinner with her family to celebrate her B-day). Suzanne was told not to be too worried because the baby’s heart rate was registering normal and the Dr. would be monitoring her condition closely.

Still in a bit of shock, Suzanne left the Dr.’s office, called Oren and headed to the office to pick up last bits of work to be completed at home. Although Suzanne has been “Nesting” for the last couple weeks, the urge came in stronger with the new change in health status. Suzanne spent the day resting, updating her to-do list and thinking of ways that she could entertain herself until the due date (which was now moved to 39 weeks). That evening she went out for a very nice and relaxing evening with her family to Olive Garden and then we came back to the house so we could show our parents the nursery. Since there was so much to process, Suzanne was not able to fall asleep that night as many other past pregnancy evenings. She decided it would be a good idea to take the laptop out and finish anything she needed to do for work, so she could fully concentrate on her leave.

On Friday, April 9 she woke up at about 10 am (because she spent the entire night on the laptop) and started to make her first day of bed rest plans. Oren and our friend Mindi-Sue were going to bring lunch in about an hour and then Suzanne was going to take it easy. After e-mailing Oren her lunch order, she received a call from her Dr. at 10:30am. She said that it was not safe for Suzanne or the baby to continue the pregnancy and addressed us start heading to the hospital and that Suzanne should not eat or drink (in hindsight she wishes she ate something because it would be over 36 hours before her next meal). The Dr’s elevated concern was the result of high liver enzymes found in Suzanne's blood from the previous day in conjunction with high blood pressure and protein in the urine confirming that Suzanne has PIH which can lead to preeclampsia. In total shock, disbelief and nervousness, Suzanne called Oren and said you are going to have a baby today or tomorrow come home from work ASAP. She then called her parents to tell them they would soon be grandparents.

Despite all the spread sheets and pre-preparation for the baby nothing can prepare you for this moment. A list of things ran through our mind. First priority is for baby and mom to be healthy and safe. Second, our bag for the hospital isn’t packed, we didn’t install the car seat, and we had a bunch of things we were going to get ready over the weekend. Staring at the wall trying to figure out what to pack, Suzanne called Rachel who had a very handsome baby boy 8 weeks earlier to find out what she needed to put in the suitcase and get someone to calm her down a bit.

After arriving in labor and delivery at about 12pm, we were immediately sent back to triage. For the next 4-5 hours we sat there not really knowing what was happening and waiting for Dr. or a nurse to explain. Would Suzanne have her baby today? Would it be natural? What is her condition? Is the baby ok? Around 5ish, we were moved up to the high risk unit and told that they would start the induction process and in the morning Suzanne would be given pitocin to fully induce labor.

Once settled in the room, the nurses started an IV, gave Suzanne a medicine that starts the “ripening” process and hooked up to lots of monitors. Shortly afterwards, her OB stopped in the room and told us that we were doing the right thing, a bit about what to expect, and that we would have a baby girl in the morning. Oh yeah, and Suzanne could have a sleeping pill so she could sleep through the night. FAT CHANCE, that did not happen at all despite the drugs! That evening Rachel and Mindi-Sue came to visit and did a great job of preoccupying us so that we did not worry as much and even had some good laughs.

After a very long night, we were brought down to labor and delivery at 7am on Saturday, April 10. Suzanne was quickly assessed and put on Magnesium Sulfate (to help prevent seizures and this is what made Suzanne so loopy for the next 30 + hours on top of almost no sleep) and Pitocin. The progression seemed slow. At about 1pm Suzanne was checked and about 3cm. Oren called our families to let them know it might be a while until there granddaughter is born. Soon afterwards the Dr. came in and broke her water and it is all a blur from there. Suzanne immediately began feeling contractions and the nurse sent for her epidural (approx 3ish). The epidural provided immediate relief and within the next hour the Dr. said she is ready to push. The anesthesiologist must be the most loved Dr. on the Labor and Delivery Floor!!! At 6:20pm we were blessed with a little angel.

From there a ton of people came in to assess Ella. Luckily she weighed just enough that she did not have be brought up to the neonatal unit and could stay with her parents for some bonding time. The first several hours she was very alert and we enjoyed staring at her. At this point, one forgets everything they have gone through during the pregnancy and delivery and just want to bond with their new family. After about an hour of bonding with Ella (who did not have a name, yet) was taken to the nursery to have her next assessment and bath. Dad followed her up to the nursery and joyfully watched and took pictures of his new bundle. Suzanne rested in labor and delivery where she would be monitored for the next 4 hours. Soon afterwards the grandparents all arrived to meet the new addition. Everyone was overcome with excitement after waiting for 9 months to meet her. We spent the rest of the time in Labor and Delivery relaxing and staring at Ella (who we now had an official name. For those who are curious the other possibilities were: Maayan Ella or Dahlia Maayan). At this point, only mom and dad were holding her to get in bonding time.

Around midnight Mom, Dad and Ella were brought back to the high risk area. Suzanne was not allowed out of bed or to be left alone with baby until she was off the Mag, because it makes you so loopy. The night was spent with breastfeeding, constant monitoring and a lot of blur!

Sunday morning and afternoon we had several visitors including Rachel and Isaac, Mindi-Sue and Brian, Uncle Eric, Pappa Neil and Savta Bracha. WHATEVER SUZANNE DID OR SAY DURING THIS TIME PERIOD CAN NOT BE HELD AGAINST HER, AS SHE WAS STILL DRUGGED AND DID NOT HAVE ALMOST ANY SLEEP! During the afternoon, Oren went home for a quick rest, to install the car seat and gather some needed items. At about 3pm a Dr. came in to say all Suzanne’s test are back to normal and she can get off the mag within the next hour or two instead of at 7pm.

By dinner time we were on the main post partum floor. Suzanne finally had a clear head and we enjoyed having less nurses popping in and out. Sunday night, Ella met Lisa and Jimmy. Lisa made some very pretty picture cubes with Ella’s name on it that will soon be displayed in her room. She also spent quality time being held by her Pappa and Nanny. By 9pm all visitors were gone and we decided to attempt getting sleep. Ella had something else in store for mommy and daddy! Apparently, the first 24 hours newborns are very tired but during the second day they can want something called Marathon Feeding or Cluster Feeding. Starting at 11:30pm Ella was hungry and did not stop (except for 10-20 minute breaks) wanting to feed. Although this was very challenging, Suzanne felt like she really bonded with Ella. The first night Suzanne was too drugged to make the connection she desired.

Luckily, before our release on Monday we had arrangements to meet with a lactation specialist. Due to her small size and the wait for Suzanne’s milk to come in we made the decision to supplement with some formula. We were hesitant at first to give her formula but after the first feeding we knew we made the right decision. She slept so soundly and peacefully for 3 hours. Ella also met two very special visitors before our release: Davina and LeAnne.

First Night at Home

We are excited to say the first night at home went very smoothly. Suzanne and Oren make a GREAT team. We arrived home at about 5pm from the hospital with Ella. Oren was very sweet and on our way home we stopped by Nothing Bundt Cakes to pick up a cake to celebrate. We were planning on getting one for Suzanne’s B-day but that did not work out, so he made sure we got one for this momentous occasion.

When we arrived at home we were greeted by Ella’s big brother Choomy, Pappa and Nanny. We have anticipated this moment for a very long time, wondering how Choomy would react to his little sister. Just as we hoped and thought, Choomy sniffed her and immediately began kissing her on the forhead. See pictures! It is very comforting to know that we will not have to worry about Choomy and the baby. Our only concern is that Choomy will be more protective at the house and bark more when visitors come.

During the evening we settled in. Oren and Pappa put together the pack in play (which was on the to do list this last weekend before we found out she was coming early). Soon after, Uncle Ryan came to meet his niece. Pappa went out to get us dinner while Ryan assembled the rocker/swing, Oren arranged things and Suzanne and Nanny did a bit too. Our visitor for the night was Rachel and Caleb. It is amazing how big 8 week Caleb looks now that Ella is here is so tiny. In a couple of weeks, we cannot wait to put Ella and Caleb together to play (that means both mommies taking photos and admiring their future kid-in-laws). Rachel was very helpful offering new mother advice and comfort.

By 8pm everyone was gone. By 8:30pm, Suzanne and shortly afterwards Oren fell asleep awaiting Ella’s first feeding of the night. We are happy to say the entire evening went very smoothly. Ella would eat and sleep for approximately 2 ½ hours. Mommy and Daddy worked as a team feeding her, rocking her and changing her.

Stay tuned for future updates, although do not expect to so much detail!