Meet Baby Ella Rae Waechter!

Hi everyone,
We are so excited to announce the arrival of our sweet baby girl, Ella Rae Waechter! We were induced on Wednesday, April 4th, and had her on Thursday, April 5th at 5:27 pm. It seems like a long haul, but the actual labor part was pretty fast! I got to about 5.5cm dilated then received the epidural and in under two hours or so I was ready to push! Dr. Gilbert and our nurse, Jenene, were excellent. Matt was coaching me through and was told to put on coveralls so that he could go with our baby to get all of her tests done quickly after she was born. After pushing for less than an hour, Ella joined us! (Talk about a different experience than Eli's delivery!) Dr. Gilbert was really great and threw Ella on my chest immediately because he knew I would want to get to hold her. I got to hold her for about a minute, which was unexpected, and it was one of the best minutes of my life. The other nurses quickly took her away and Matt followed. I was so thankful he could go and be with her.

The next couple of hours consisted of her getting lots of testing done. We were told that she does indeed have HLHS, but not a "classic" kind. I'd explain, but it's a lot of medical jargon that isn't too important 😀. She will be having the Norwood procedure done just as if it was "classic". I was able to go and see her again a few hours after she was born then I was transferred to my room. This was when it really hit me. I could hear babies crying around me and it just felt completely unfair that I wasn't able to be with mine.

The next day was filled with family visiting, more testing on our baby girl, and lots of emotions. In the NICU the previous night they gave her formula which didn't agree with her tummy so she has been given nutrition through IVs--which meant... more tubes. It felt like if we left for any extended time, we'd come back and she'd be "decorated" with more tubes. I couldn't help but cry multiple times all day. It's so hard to have your baby on a table instead of in your arms. I really wrestled with God last night and asked him why I couldn't hold my baby and about how a mom should be able to see her baby's eyes open in her first days of life, which I still had not. It feels so unfair. Why is our baby having to go through all that she's gone through? Why did God choose for her to have this condition? Why can't Eli get to meet his baby sister when he has been waiting for so long already? Why? Why? Why? I honestly don't think I will ever know the answer to these questions, but I know it's because that's how God has planned it and that's how He wants her to glorify Him. So I just have to find peace in that. Matt and I went down to the NICU once more before bed and said goodnight to our sweet girl. I was so thankful that we did this because she seemed aggravated all day. It was really hard for us to see because we wanted to help her and hold her and of course couldn't, but the night shift nurse decided to give her these weighted rice bags that acted similar to a swaddle and she loved them and slept so well after. So it was a gift to get to see her so much more comfortable.

This morning we went down to visit again and decided on the name ELLA RAE WAECHTER. We were torn between two names and decided she was definitely an Ella. I loved this name too because Eli told us that would be her name when she (as he says) popped out. We have loved this name all along but were a little hesitant because it seems to be so popular, but now that we have named her it just seems so perfect for her. We got excellent news this morning that she would be transferred to the PICU (Pediatric Intesive Care Unit) today instead of tomorrow and that meant that Eli would get to meet his baby sister and that she would have her own room where one of us can stay over night. They transferred her around 11 this morning and it felt like a totally different hospital. Her room is colorful and large and the nurses are able to give her a lot of attention. I am so thankful to have been given the gift of the extra day in the PICU. We have learned a lot and have talked a lot with the different doctors and overall she's doing well. Surgery will be Monday and will take around 6 hours.

Tonight is our first night at the Ronald MacDonald House. I am super thankful to have this place to come to, but I hate leaving Ella. It's such a weird feeling... Eli is staying with us tonight which we are thankful for, I just wish our family could be complete and we could all be snuggling together.

I am mostly just writing about what has happened and will eventually talk about how we are feeling about everything in a different blog post.

We will keep you posted as much as possible in the coming days and I will definitely be posting photos soon, but for now this will have to do 😁.

Love,
Jillian