Happy Birth Day!

Sorry for the delay everyone....... Here is an update about how Alyssa's first day of life went:
Our sweet Alyssa Lorraine arrived on October 4th at 1:40pm.  She was 6 lbs 13 oz and 19 inches long.  We came to the hospital for our planned induction at 6:45 am.  By 8:30 am my water had been broke and pitocin was started.  At the very last minute the NICU requested that I deliver in the OR where they had all the equipment necessary to revive our little girl if they needed to.  Luckily they didn't need any special equipment at delivery and she was here within 5 minutes of the first push.  Despite having the cord wrapped around her neck pretty tight, she still came out with better color than anyone expected and within a couple minutes of stimulation she started to cry.  Best noise I have ever heard.  Our baby girl had arrived and was ready to fight.  Best of all, she was stable enough after delivery that both Chris and I got to hold her for a few minutes and take a couple pictures before they whisked her away to NICU.  Chris was able to be with her pretty much the entire day while I recovered and met with visitors.  She was really alert most of the day, but did have a few apnea spells which are a side effect of the prostaglandins (medicine) she is receiving to keep her PDA valve open until surgery.  The medicine makes her really sleepy and then she forgets to breathe, but after some quick stimulation she bounces right back.  The neonatologist also noticed a slight weakness on the right side of Alyssa's mouth and ordered a MRI to rule out facial nerve palsy.  We are hoping it is just a weak muscle that will get better with time.  It is hardly noticeable, but I'm glad the neonatologist caught it.  Chris spent the night in the NICU with Alyssa while I went back to my room to get some rest.  Because the prostaglandins also make her have an elevated temperature, they have to keep the room cool and Chris said that he about froze.  Best of all, our little peanut has been holding strong on just room air. 

Will post more updates hopefully tomorrow about how day 2 went.......to tired to do it right now.....I should have been asleep hours ago.