Austin had an appt today with an Oral Surgeon. At his dental appt a couple weeks ago the dentist noticed an "extra" adult tooth in the top front of his mouth. This tooth is facing the wrong direction (up towards his brain as opposed to pointing down into his mouth) so this tooth will never come in. Had they not taken an xray of that area (he was having pain up there) they would have never known it was there. So they referred us to an oral surgeon to see when/if it needed to be removed.
We went today and the oral surgeon actually believes looking at the xray that there are TWO extra teeth. What needs to happen though is he'll need to be put completely to sleep for them to take it out as they are in the bone requiring them to cut his upper palate open to get to them and remove them and then stitch his palate back shut. The oral surgeon thinks we should do the procedure sooner rather than later because he's afraid the extra teeth are preventing the adult teeth from coming in. He's also afraid the extra teeth COULD be fused to the adult teeth. If that is the case Austin would have to lose both adult front top teeth.
Not sure what would happen if that is the case. Hoping for best case scenerio right now and just that they go in, take out the extra tooth/teeth, and no issues come up.
We'll go in on March 17th and they will give Austin some nitrous. Then insert an IV to put him to sleep and do the procedure and then he'll be in the recovery room for 30-45 min and then come home. He'll have to miss 2 days of school. I scheduled the appt on a Thursday so that he would be home thursday and friday from school but it would still give him an additional 2 days to recoup. I also got a prescription for pain meds and an antibiotic for him to use after the procedure.
I think I'm more nervous then anything. He's completely and totally excited about it. The oral surgeon told him he will need to miss 2 days of school, eat ice cream and pudding and jello that first day and play video games or watch movies all day. That sold him! LOL
I'm gonna leave him being excited about it, because hopefully that will help the start of the procedure anyway. But I know what kind of pain he's going to be in afterwards (I had all 4 wisdom teeth out and had to be put completely to sleep because they were completely in the bone and not going to come in). So I am NOT looking forward to his recovery. I'm going to ask my MIL to come down and stay that weekend (thurs-sun) because Roy has already said he'd rather not take off work and I NEED someone to get the other boys off to school and stuff when I take him.
Never a dull moment huh?!
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
You know it's bad when...
You know it's bad when you have to read your last entry just to figure out what you have or have not told yet!
So after that last entry two days later Andrew started having another breathing episode. Another one where it scared me that he couldn't breathe. I called the new pediatrician and she told me to bring him right in. I called Roy and told him I needed him on standby incase I couldn't be at the boys' school in time to pick them up and off I went to the doc with Andrew and Avery.
She listened to his lungs again and said he was definitely noisy and having trouble. She said his breathing rate was up again and with the way he was crying she felt it was time to take the next step. She set him up with a breathing treatment right there in the office. She warned me that he would probably hate it and would most likely scream the entire time. We put the mask on him and turned the machine on and he suddenly went calm and still. So calm in fact that he fell asleep! After the treatment was over she told me "that's how you know that he needed the treatment. It helped so much he fell asleep!" She listened to his lungs again and said it was nice and smooth now. She sent me home with a nebulizer, a prescription for Albuterol (enough for 4 months!) and a prescription for prednisone (steriod). Told me to give him a treatment every 4 hours for a couple days, and give him the steriod too.
She called me this morning to check on him and told me that RSV can last up to 6 weeks and even longer in a baby with lung issues to begin with. She said to stop the breathing treatments and now only use them when I felt he needed them.
He seems to be breathing better that's for sure. He's still really congested in his nose though.
Spring's right around the corner right?!
The boys all had their Valentine Parties at school today. I felt bad because I emailed Avery's teacher to see if Parents could come to the party and got a response saying
"well we're going to do valentine's at circle time and IF Willow's mom shows and IF she brings the cookies we'll decorate cookies at 11am."
Well to me it didn't sound like parents were going, so I didn't go up to the school. When I went to pick Avery up I was sitting outside the school saying to myself "wow I can't believe no parents are here yet!" And when the door opened and they started coming out I thought "I'm the only parent here so far still." Until I realized the kids were coming out WITH their parents!!! UGH! I felt HORRIBLE! I couldn't believe I didn't go to Avery's party because I didn't think parents were going and then parents DID go! I'm sure Avery didn't care. I mean he didn't say anything to me, but I knew it ya know?! UGH!
Went this afternoon to the other Elementary School to attend Aidan and Austin's Valentine's Parties. Their parties were from 3-3:45pm. I had Roy come home and watch Avery and Andrew since siblings aren't allowed in their school. Again I felt bad because I had to split the time between both boys. So of course when I went to Aidan's class from Austin's class I got the "where WERE you?!" and vice versa. Only nice thing was I was able to bring the boys home at 3:40 when I left instead of having to wait till 3:55 when they get out, so I beat all the after school traffic.
My boys have 1/2 days wednesday and thursday and no school Friday or Monday so I made plans for us to go to my mother in laws on Thursday after school. I'll drive us up there (since Roy has to work Thursday and Friday) and I'll stay there till Friday afternoon at some point. The 3 older boys will come home Monday at some point. I figure this way she'll get to see Andrew for a little bit since it's been a while since she's seen him. And the 3 older boys will get some time away from having to share the spotlight with Andrew.
We're thinking about moving Aidan into the toy room in the basement. Of course we'd take the toys out of there and everything, but with him turning 9 tomorrow (OMG is he seriously turning 9 tomorrow?!?) we feel like he deserves his own space. Him and Austin have really been fighting like cats and dogs lately and maybe not having to share a room together will help that situation some. It just makes me nervous him being on a different floor than us at night.
Alright it's almost midnight...I'm off to bed.
So after that last entry two days later Andrew started having another breathing episode. Another one where it scared me that he couldn't breathe. I called the new pediatrician and she told me to bring him right in. I called Roy and told him I needed him on standby incase I couldn't be at the boys' school in time to pick them up and off I went to the doc with Andrew and Avery.
She listened to his lungs again and said he was definitely noisy and having trouble. She said his breathing rate was up again and with the way he was crying she felt it was time to take the next step. She set him up with a breathing treatment right there in the office. She warned me that he would probably hate it and would most likely scream the entire time. We put the mask on him and turned the machine on and he suddenly went calm and still. So calm in fact that he fell asleep! After the treatment was over she told me "that's how you know that he needed the treatment. It helped so much he fell asleep!" She listened to his lungs again and said it was nice and smooth now. She sent me home with a nebulizer, a prescription for Albuterol (enough for 4 months!) and a prescription for prednisone (steriod). Told me to give him a treatment every 4 hours for a couple days, and give him the steriod too.
She called me this morning to check on him and told me that RSV can last up to 6 weeks and even longer in a baby with lung issues to begin with. She said to stop the breathing treatments and now only use them when I felt he needed them.
He seems to be breathing better that's for sure. He's still really congested in his nose though.
Spring's right around the corner right?!
The boys all had their Valentine Parties at school today. I felt bad because I emailed Avery's teacher to see if Parents could come to the party and got a response saying
"well we're going to do valentine's at circle time and IF Willow's mom shows and IF she brings the cookies we'll decorate cookies at 11am."
Well to me it didn't sound like parents were going, so I didn't go up to the school. When I went to pick Avery up I was sitting outside the school saying to myself "wow I can't believe no parents are here yet!" And when the door opened and they started coming out I thought "I'm the only parent here so far still." Until I realized the kids were coming out WITH their parents!!! UGH! I felt HORRIBLE! I couldn't believe I didn't go to Avery's party because I didn't think parents were going and then parents DID go! I'm sure Avery didn't care. I mean he didn't say anything to me, but I knew it ya know?! UGH!
Went this afternoon to the other Elementary School to attend Aidan and Austin's Valentine's Parties. Their parties were from 3-3:45pm. I had Roy come home and watch Avery and Andrew since siblings aren't allowed in their school. Again I felt bad because I had to split the time between both boys. So of course when I went to Aidan's class from Austin's class I got the "where WERE you?!" and vice versa. Only nice thing was I was able to bring the boys home at 3:40 when I left instead of having to wait till 3:55 when they get out, so I beat all the after school traffic.
My boys have 1/2 days wednesday and thursday and no school Friday or Monday so I made plans for us to go to my mother in laws on Thursday after school. I'll drive us up there (since Roy has to work Thursday and Friday) and I'll stay there till Friday afternoon at some point. The 3 older boys will come home Monday at some point. I figure this way she'll get to see Andrew for a little bit since it's been a while since she's seen him. And the 3 older boys will get some time away from having to share the spotlight with Andrew.
We're thinking about moving Aidan into the toy room in the basement. Of course we'd take the toys out of there and everything, but with him turning 9 tomorrow (OMG is he seriously turning 9 tomorrow?!?) we feel like he deserves his own space. Him and Austin have really been fighting like cats and dogs lately and maybe not having to share a room together will help that situation some. It just makes me nervous him being on a different floor than us at night.
Alright it's almost midnight...I'm off to bed.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Letters of Intent Friday!
It's time for a few "letters of intent" today! It's been a while since I've done an entry like this! I'm linking up with Foursons for my letters today!
Dear Old Pediatrician,
After hearing you tell me "let it run it's course" for over 3 weeks I had my 2 month old seen by a different pediatrician. It was then that he was diagnosed with RSV and Bronchialitis. That was your last straw. We will now be seeing the new pediatrician.
Goodbye!
The lady who is sick of feeling like she's going crazy when she calls you and is told nothing is wrong.
Dear Preschool Teacher:
It's been 2 weeks and I'm still upset About Avery having his snack taken away for "not saying Hi to his friends". When a child has a communication disorder like Apraxia the last thing you should do is take away his snack for not talking. Don't let me hear that it happened again, or there will be hell to pay.
Signed,
A mother you don't wanna mess with
Dear Refridgerator repairman:
Seriously where do you get off telling a mom of 4 boys that I don't know true love until a daughter climbs up in your lap and says "I love you." I guarantee you that it's pretty much the same as when one of my boys do it, just in a higher pitch voice.
Jerk!
Signed the woman who has to pay your invoice so I'd watch your mouth.
To read more "letters of intent" Click the picture at the top of this entry!!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
New Pediatrician and a Cardiologist update
So I switched the kids to a new pediatrician. I researched and researched and looked for a pediatrician who is a small office. I'm sick of the offices that have 9 doctors and 4 nurses plus a whole office staff. I feel like we don't get any kind of personalized care. They kept telling me to "let it run it's course" with Andrew and then look what happened. They told me they only vaccinate their way, and there was no way around that.
So I found this pediatrician nearby (closer than the other office!) and set up a consultation with her. I saw her and she looked at Andrew the very same day. Gave me meds for him and talked to me. I set up his 2 month well check (although 2 weeks late!) with her. I took him yesterday for his 2 month well visit.
12lbs 12oz and 21 1/3 inches long. His head was 17cm and she asked me about any concerns I had about him. I told her about the congestion that he STILL has and she agreed with me that it's still all in his nose and at least for now his lungs and everything sound much better and are clear. She said that RSV can last up to 6 weeks so she wants to give him 2 more weeks to try to clear up. If he's not better then, then we'll talk more. She mentioned how she looked in his nose to see if the boys might have put a bead or something in there. I can promise you they did NOT. First of all we don't have any beads or anything small enough to put in his nose. Second of all I pay way to close of attention to them when they are with Andrew for that to happen. She didn't see anything in his nose (told ya!) and said maybe because he has such a small nasal passageway it's causing him to remain congested.
She asked me what we were doing about vaccinations and I told her we wanted to follow the delayed vaccination schedule and without even blinking an eye she said "no problem." and went to the front desk and grabbed the delayed schedule and showed me it to see if it was the one I wanted to follow. It was, and she stapled it to his chart. She said "Today he'll get the DTAP then!" and I said "and the rotavirus right?" She then told me that she doesn't give the rotavirus vaccine. She said she has found that the risks outweigh the benefits in that vaccine. She went on to say that everyone gets rotavirus and even with the vaccine you still get the virus. She said that they feel that we have great access to medical care with her and the hospital and urgent care that the risk of the children getting dehydrated with the virus are very minimal. She said that most children get a gastrointestinal effect from the vaccine and they just don't feel it's worth it.
Fine by me! So Andrew got his DTAP and will go back next month for 2 more vaccines. He'll be seen monthly basically with every other month just being a vaccine appt. He'll only get 1-2 vaccines at a time. Which is exactly what I wanted.
And now he's crying so I gotta go!
**
Ok back....I also went back to the cardiologist last week. They ran another EKG and told me my ECHO that I had done a few weeks before didn't show anything. Everything looked normal on it. The only thing they say was some "gurgling" or something or other in some part of my heart. I asked what that meant and she said "it's basically heartburn" But because I was only a week out of having Andrew she wasn't concerned because I had HORRIBLE heartburn at the end of the pregnancy. She will re-do the ECHO in 6 months to see if it's gone away completely. I was told I'd get a call the next day with the results from the EKG they ran. I never did get that phone call. It took them a full week to call me back. When they called back she said "Everything looks normal" I said "so the extended QT is gone?" And she said "Everything is normal". Why don't I trust them?! Roy says that they have to be telling the truth or it could be a lawsuit. But I still don't trust them. Nothing I can do though. So as of right now it looks like everything was caused by the pregnancy and the fluid retention afterwards.
So I found this pediatrician nearby (closer than the other office!) and set up a consultation with her. I saw her and she looked at Andrew the very same day. Gave me meds for him and talked to me. I set up his 2 month well check (although 2 weeks late!) with her. I took him yesterday for his 2 month well visit.
12lbs 12oz and 21 1/3 inches long. His head was 17cm and she asked me about any concerns I had about him. I told her about the congestion that he STILL has and she agreed with me that it's still all in his nose and at least for now his lungs and everything sound much better and are clear. She said that RSV can last up to 6 weeks so she wants to give him 2 more weeks to try to clear up. If he's not better then, then we'll talk more. She mentioned how she looked in his nose to see if the boys might have put a bead or something in there. I can promise you they did NOT. First of all we don't have any beads or anything small enough to put in his nose. Second of all I pay way to close of attention to them when they are with Andrew for that to happen. She didn't see anything in his nose (told ya!) and said maybe because he has such a small nasal passageway it's causing him to remain congested.
She asked me what we were doing about vaccinations and I told her we wanted to follow the delayed vaccination schedule and without even blinking an eye she said "no problem." and went to the front desk and grabbed the delayed schedule and showed me it to see if it was the one I wanted to follow. It was, and she stapled it to his chart. She said "Today he'll get the DTAP then!" and I said "and the rotavirus right?" She then told me that she doesn't give the rotavirus vaccine. She said she has found that the risks outweigh the benefits in that vaccine. She went on to say that everyone gets rotavirus and even with the vaccine you still get the virus. She said that they feel that we have great access to medical care with her and the hospital and urgent care that the risk of the children getting dehydrated with the virus are very minimal. She said that most children get a gastrointestinal effect from the vaccine and they just don't feel it's worth it.
Fine by me! So Andrew got his DTAP and will go back next month for 2 more vaccines. He'll be seen monthly basically with every other month just being a vaccine appt. He'll only get 1-2 vaccines at a time. Which is exactly what I wanted.
And now he's crying so I gotta go!
**
Ok back....I also went back to the cardiologist last week. They ran another EKG and told me my ECHO that I had done a few weeks before didn't show anything. Everything looked normal on it. The only thing they say was some "gurgling" or something or other in some part of my heart. I asked what that meant and she said "it's basically heartburn" But because I was only a week out of having Andrew she wasn't concerned because I had HORRIBLE heartburn at the end of the pregnancy. She will re-do the ECHO in 6 months to see if it's gone away completely. I was told I'd get a call the next day with the results from the EKG they ran. I never did get that phone call. It took them a full week to call me back. When they called back she said "Everything looks normal" I said "so the extended QT is gone?" And she said "Everything is normal". Why don't I trust them?! Roy says that they have to be telling the truth or it could be a lawsuit. But I still don't trust them. Nothing I can do though. So as of right now it looks like everything was caused by the pregnancy and the fluid retention afterwards.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Thursday, December 9, 2010
A Rough Start
So Andrew is 2 1/2 weeks old now. He's been home for a week and a half! Seems like he's been here a lot longer though.
We've had quite the rough start though. First his whole NICU stay. Then it took a lot longer than usual for me to feel "back to myself" after the c-section. The doctor said it was because I spent the first week of my recovery back and forth to and from the NICU instead of recovering at home. Ended up back at the doctor due to swelling in my legs and a pain in my calf. After that appt I ended up in the ER because they were afraid I had a blood clot in my leg. No blood clot, but the ER found something wrong with my heart. Seems my heart rate is extremely low. By low I mean instead of the average 79 beats a minute, my heart is beating at 38 beats a minute. They haven't been able to find a blood pressure on me. When they do find one it's extremely low at 96/70 or something like that. ER ran a bunch of tests and everything came back fine. I was then referred to a cardiologist. The cardiologist wanted to put me on a heart monitor for 24 hours and do an Echocardiograham. They also did an EKG on me too. During the EKG they found an extended QT interval. I did the 24 hour heart monitor and when I went back to turn it in they did the Echo on me.
I got a phone call this morning saying they couldn't get anything off of the 24 hour monitor because there was to much "interference". I went back this afternoon to have a new 24 hour monitor put on and was then told that they couldn't do another 24 hour monitor because it was the breastfeeding that was causing the interference. They talked to the doctor to see if there was another monitor they could put on me. They said that me lifting the netting on the monitor to nurse Andrew and my milk coming in caused the interference. They asked if I had thought about not nursing. I told her "the baby is only 2 weeks old." At that point I was told until I stop nursing there wasn't anything they could do. They told me to call back when I stop nursing to have a new monitor put on. Until then "if you experience any symptoms of heart problems go straight to the ER"
I know my health is more important than breastfeeding Andrew, but he's only 2 weeks old!
*sigh*
I'm really having a rough start here. I'm sure Andrew senses it too cause he's been crying constantly the last few days. I'm up every hour and a half to 2 hours with him at night and still getting up to get the boys off to school even though my mother in law has been here helping out. She's doing all the running around taking them to and from school and cleaning and cooking and everything, but I just feel like I'm not getting any breaks.
My Mother in law leaves Saturday morning and in one sense I'm looking forward to getting into our own routine and figuring things out on my own. On the other hand I just don't know how I'm gonna handle it all on my own.
I feel like the world is leaving me behind. I haven't had time to get online lately and it's almost like no one calls me anymore "just to talk".
I know this entry sounds like I'm depressed or have a touch of the "baby blues" but I promise I don't. I'm just trying to find my way with all this stuff going on.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
My NICU baby
So after what seemed like an eternal wait Andrew Jacob was born on Friday November 19th 2010 at 1:45pm.
The c-section went well. We are glad that we had the baseball team of specialists in the OR as I did have a lot of scar tissue and I did have a lot of adhesions. I had signed the papers to agree to a tubal while in the OR but it didn't matter anyway as they were not able to get to my tubes. The doctor said there was to much scar tissue and because Roy has had a vasectomy already he had told me beforehand that he would just do the tubal if it was easy to do. He wasn't going to add any risks to me or fight his way in there. He told me after the c-section that he basically just did what he had to do. He got me open, got to my uterus, got Andrew out and closed me up. He said that was the most important thing and he wasn't going to add any risks to me without needing to. I was SO happy that things went so well.
Going into this c-section I was SO scared. I knew the risks, I knew what could very possibly go wrong. Before I went in I made sure I had kissed my kids and told them I loved them. I made sure I told Roy what to do if something happened to me. I was just very nervous and everything about this c-section. So when I was on the table and they said they were done and were closing me up I started tearing up.
We joked during the entire c-section about how everyone was to yell "It's a GIRL!" when Andrew was born even though he was a boy. I told my doc that I'd never heard that said during a c-section and I wanted to know what it sounded like. LMAO One of the nurses told me she was going to tell me "Surprise it's triplets!" I told her "that's fine as long as at least one of them is a girl!" LOL
When Andrew was born my doctor said "ok here you go, even though it's not true...."It's a girl!" LMAO! The other specialist was like "OMG is it really?! I didn't see what it was when we pulled the baby out!" And we all said at the same time "Nope sorry to disappoint you, but it's a boy." LOL
Andrew came out screaming. I listened to him crying for a minute and listened as the nurse's said how HUGE he was, then listened as they said how small he was. I was telling Roy I didn't understand. One of the nurses came over to me and said they were bringing the NICU team in to take a look at him and my face must have dropped because she looked me in the eyes and said "I'm calm, you're calm." "you don't see me running around do you?" "You don't see him being rushed out of here. The longer he stays in here the better!" And I just started crying and nodding my head.
I saw them wheel an incubator by my head and started saying to Roy "what's wrong with him? what's going on?" and Roy told me he didn't know that he couldn't see the baby because there was to many nurses around him. The nurse came back over to me and told me that they were going to take the baby to the NICU as he was having some trouble breathing. She said they would bring him over to me and let me see him first but that the NICU team thinks he's actually a lot younger than we think he is. I asked what that meant and she said my chart showed me as 39 weeks, but the NICU team thinks Andrew is closer to 35-36 weeks. He was having trouble breathing and that his "features" were premature even though he was 8lbs 4oz. When they brought him over to me I could immediately see what they were talking about. Although he was a good size baby his face just seemed a lot smaller. He had lots of wrinkly skin and just looked tiny.
I went into recovery and my dad and stepmom came in and I started telling them what was going on. We said how much sense that makes because the amnio had come back SO immature that we were questioning it. I had asked my OB "could something be wrong? It doesn't make sense for the levels to be SO low this late in pregnancy." Well it DOES make sense if I was actually only 31-32 weeks along at the amnio instead of the 36 we though I was.
Andrew has been in the NICU since.he had to be intubated and put on a ventilator. He has been given two doses of surfactant and was requiring pretty significant help breathing.
Let me tell you it has been the hardest thing I've gone though EVER I think. I've broken down more times in the last 4 days than I've done my entire life. Just seeing another baby being wheeled into the room next to me was enough for me to break down. A nurse walking into my room and asking where my baby was would cause me to start crying. I told Roy "do you realize how hard it is to hear a baby crying in the room next to you and knowing your baby isn't with you?" Just looking at Andrew with all the tubes and wires all over him just caused me to break on more than one occasion.
Andrew received his second dose of surfactant (which required him to be intubated again to do) and has gotten a spinal tap to check for menengitis, and a head ultrasound to check for brain bleeds. He had an umbilical line placed to be able to draw blood for blood gas level checking without having to poke him a million times each day. He was put on an IV to give him vitamins and minerals. He had a feeding tube placed to be able to remove fluid and air from him belly (which gets there due to the oxygen they have him on). He is now on a CPAP machine and making tons of progress. If you're on my facebook you already know all the nitty gritty details. If you aren't on my facebook go ahead and add me to find out! You can find my facebook on the front page of my diary.
It's now 5am and I just finished pumping. I am home now, without Andrew. And again it's been SO difficult. But I just keep telling myself "he'll be home soon."
I wish I knew who to "blame" for all this. But then I tell myself "having someone to blame isn't going to do anything to help Andrew." Roy keeps saying if Andrew IS only 35-36 weeks and was 8lbs 4oz he almost certainly would have ruptured me if I had gone full term.
SO I'm gonna end this now and just ask for any thoughts and prayers as we continue our NICU journey and pray that Andrew can come home soon and be with us like it should be.
That last pic was taken during the rare 5 minutes they remove all the tubes and wires to rub him.
The c-section went well. We are glad that we had the baseball team of specialists in the OR as I did have a lot of scar tissue and I did have a lot of adhesions. I had signed the papers to agree to a tubal while in the OR but it didn't matter anyway as they were not able to get to my tubes. The doctor said there was to much scar tissue and because Roy has had a vasectomy already he had told me beforehand that he would just do the tubal if it was easy to do. He wasn't going to add any risks to me or fight his way in there. He told me after the c-section that he basically just did what he had to do. He got me open, got to my uterus, got Andrew out and closed me up. He said that was the most important thing and he wasn't going to add any risks to me without needing to. I was SO happy that things went so well.
Going into this c-section I was SO scared. I knew the risks, I knew what could very possibly go wrong. Before I went in I made sure I had kissed my kids and told them I loved them. I made sure I told Roy what to do if something happened to me. I was just very nervous and everything about this c-section. So when I was on the table and they said they were done and were closing me up I started tearing up.
We joked during the entire c-section about how everyone was to yell "It's a GIRL!" when Andrew was born even though he was a boy. I told my doc that I'd never heard that said during a c-section and I wanted to know what it sounded like. LMAO One of the nurses told me she was going to tell me "Surprise it's triplets!" I told her "that's fine as long as at least one of them is a girl!" LOL
When Andrew was born my doctor said "ok here you go, even though it's not true...."It's a girl!" LMAO! The other specialist was like "OMG is it really?! I didn't see what it was when we pulled the baby out!" And we all said at the same time "Nope sorry to disappoint you, but it's a boy." LOL
Andrew came out screaming. I listened to him crying for a minute and listened as the nurse's said how HUGE he was, then listened as they said how small he was. I was telling Roy I didn't understand. One of the nurses came over to me and said they were bringing the NICU team in to take a look at him and my face must have dropped because she looked me in the eyes and said "I'm calm, you're calm." "you don't see me running around do you?" "You don't see him being rushed out of here. The longer he stays in here the better!" And I just started crying and nodding my head.
I saw them wheel an incubator by my head and started saying to Roy "what's wrong with him? what's going on?" and Roy told me he didn't know that he couldn't see the baby because there was to many nurses around him. The nurse came back over to me and told me that they were going to take the baby to the NICU as he was having some trouble breathing. She said they would bring him over to me and let me see him first but that the NICU team thinks he's actually a lot younger than we think he is. I asked what that meant and she said my chart showed me as 39 weeks, but the NICU team thinks Andrew is closer to 35-36 weeks. He was having trouble breathing and that his "features" were premature even though he was 8lbs 4oz. When they brought him over to me I could immediately see what they were talking about. Although he was a good size baby his face just seemed a lot smaller. He had lots of wrinkly skin and just looked tiny.
I went into recovery and my dad and stepmom came in and I started telling them what was going on. We said how much sense that makes because the amnio had come back SO immature that we were questioning it. I had asked my OB "could something be wrong? It doesn't make sense for the levels to be SO low this late in pregnancy." Well it DOES make sense if I was actually only 31-32 weeks along at the amnio instead of the 36 we though I was.
Andrew has been in the NICU since.he had to be intubated and put on a ventilator. He has been given two doses of surfactant and was requiring pretty significant help breathing.
Let me tell you it has been the hardest thing I've gone though EVER I think. I've broken down more times in the last 4 days than I've done my entire life. Just seeing another baby being wheeled into the room next to me was enough for me to break down. A nurse walking into my room and asking where my baby was would cause me to start crying. I told Roy "do you realize how hard it is to hear a baby crying in the room next to you and knowing your baby isn't with you?" Just looking at Andrew with all the tubes and wires all over him just caused me to break on more than one occasion.
Andrew received his second dose of surfactant (which required him to be intubated again to do) and has gotten a spinal tap to check for menengitis, and a head ultrasound to check for brain bleeds. He had an umbilical line placed to be able to draw blood for blood gas level checking without having to poke him a million times each day. He was put on an IV to give him vitamins and minerals. He had a feeding tube placed to be able to remove fluid and air from him belly (which gets there due to the oxygen they have him on). He is now on a CPAP machine and making tons of progress. If you're on my facebook you already know all the nitty gritty details. If you aren't on my facebook go ahead and add me to find out! You can find my facebook on the front page of my diary.
It's now 5am and I just finished pumping. I am home now, without Andrew. And again it's been SO difficult. But I just keep telling myself "he'll be home soon."
I wish I knew who to "blame" for all this. But then I tell myself "having someone to blame isn't going to do anything to help Andrew." Roy keeps saying if Andrew IS only 35-36 weeks and was 8lbs 4oz he almost certainly would have ruptured me if I had gone full term.
SO I'm gonna end this now and just ask for any thoughts and prayers as we continue our NICU journey and pray that Andrew can come home soon and be with us like it should be.
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