Margaret Ellen Oliver

 This was written over several days. I'm finally getting it posted.

Margaret Ellen Oliver was born Tuesday, May 10, 2016, at 8:19 a.m. She was 19 inches long and weighed 6 lbs., 11 oz.--not small at all! All her measurements--including her 13-inch h were in the 45th-50th percentiles for her gestational age, just short of 37 weeks. We are calling her Maggie.

We thought we were going to have a scheduled C-section, but this one was unscheduled. Maggie decided that May 10 was her birthday and started coming. My water broke at 4:30 in the morning. The only warning we had was that my mucous plug came out exactly 24 hours earlier. (That was a little dramatic because it had fresh blood in it, but a call to the hospital told me it was OK.) Matt had recently gone to bed but got in motion quickly when I turned on the light on my way to the bathroom and returned a minute later with a towel announcing that my water broke. Lucy was asleep between us and didn't even stir. Shawn and Susie came over right away to stay with Lucy. We got to the hospital around 5:30. They admitted and started prepping me, and then we waited for the doctor to arrive. Surgery went quickly: I was in and out in about an hour. I bled quite a bit because I've been on aspirin, but the bleeding stopped well. Maggie cried long and loud when she was delivered. I got to see her before and after she was cleaned a bit. Matt went to the nursery with her while I went to recovery. We were both in really good shape.

The doctor looked up my latest toxoplasmosis numbers and told us that they had gone down. The first result was a false positive after all. We heard from Louisville on Wednesday that the result of their test was negative for live parasites. Maggie is just fine.

She nursed as soon as I got to hold her when I got back to my room. With my experience and her natural talent, it went really well. She nursed again a couple hours later. Then she went 8+ hours without eating. She just wanted to sleep. Eventually, her blood sugar started decreasing, and we convinced her to eat a bit. Four hours later the nurse brought a very alert Maggie to me, and she ate like a champ again. Sometimes she really eats, and sometimes she just wants to snuggle. She's very sweet. She's lost only 7 oz. since birth. She's had no signs of jaundice. Her hearing, vision, and circulation tests have been perfect, especially impressive because she was born before 37 weeks.

I don't remember exactly how we came up with Maggie's name. I did look for a saint name so that she gets a name day like Lucy does. St Margaret's day (Nov.16) doesn't have traditions like St Lucia's day, but we can make our own. St Margaret was an English princess raised in exile, who married illiterate King Malcolm of Scotland. She read the Bible to him, converted him, and had a great civilizing influence on Scotland while caring for the poor. Her story isn't as flashy as Lucia's, but she was a devout woman who changed a country by reading and caring for those in need. Those are traits we'd like Maggie to have. Margaret is a Persian name that means "child of light." Ellen is a Greek name that means "light." I've been thinking of the meaning of her name as "light from light," a phrase from the Nicene  creed describing Jesus. Ellen also happens to be Matt's mom's first name, although she goes by her middle name, Kay. And Maggie shares Matt's initials (MEO), my doing not his. I don't remember how those pieces came together, but it shows the kind of thought we've put into both of the girls' names. (Both of our girls are little lights.) We also think Maggie is a cute nickname.

Lucy came to see us around 4:30 on Tuesday. At first, she was a bit shy. She's never been in a hospital before, and seeing mama in a weird gown and attached to multiple machines was probably strange. She sat next to me and looked at "baby Emmie." We'll get her used to the name change eventually. I'm still getting used to it myself. Eventually, Lucy got close to Maggie and repeatedly called her "sweet baby." She didn't touch the sweet baby the first day, but it was a successful first meeting. Lucy had a busy day with Shawn and Susie. She handled our being gone when she woke pretty well, and Susie sent me a message that dinner, bath, and bedtime at their house went really well. Matt went home with Lucy for a while on Wednesday. When they came to visit us at the hospital, Lucy was willing to hold Maggie. She wanted to hold her again and again. While Matt or I held Maggie, Lucy rubbed her hair. At least one of those times, Lucy's fingers were covered in Cheetos. Lucy is going to love her baby sister to cheese-dust-coated pieces. Lucy told a nurse "that one sweet baby is Maggie." Lucy watched me nurse Maggie, and she's been told that Maggie only drinks mama milk and can't share the ice chips and Cheetos that Lucy has tried to share. When Maggie cries, Lucy motions for her to go to me and says "come eat." Lucy also told another nurse that baby Maggie "eat mama armpit." Well, it's something like that. The nurses got a kick out of it.

I'm doing as well or better than I'd hoped. By Wednesday I was already moving better than I did when we left the hospital with Lucy. The anesthesiologist put something in my spinal to manage pain for 24 hours. Whatever it was worked terrifically. I got out of bed twice with assistance to sit in the rocking chair in the first 24 hours, and walked the halls on Wednesday. Percocet has managed the pain well, and the doctor said Motrin can be even better if taken regularly. We're heading home on Thursday.