Today my 5am wake up call consisted of at 12 hour fast, 6 viles of blood drawn, extra IV fluids, a shower and a shaved belly. All of this in preparation for my c-section.
Well, they wanted to run the blood test to make sure that delivery was still the best plan. The results were better than expected; my pre-eclampsia is mild enough to possibly wait a few more days. The parinatologist came in and recommended that we could wait until 35 weeks because the baby was still looking good and my blood pressure has been better. He needs to be delivered by 35 weeks because he is not growing at the correct rate due to my pre-eclampsia. My doctors were busy with several emergency c-sections this morning, so I had to wait a little while to learn what the plan would be.
Dr. Croland came in to tell me that our new plan was to schedule the c-section for Sunday unless my blood pressure readings were bad. I know that this will be best for the baby, but this was difficult news to hear after I had been completely prepared to have the c-section today. My tolerance for all the needle sticks is wearing thin and my emotional state was not too happy about having to endure 5 more days of pokes and new iv's. Hopefully these extra days of sticks and hospital time will make a difference in the baby's health at birth and that is what is important. My pregnancy hormones along with my fear of hospitals are starting to make me a little bit of a wreck, but I know that we will make it through.
We had a visit from a NICU new parent support person today and she was very helpful. I think we will be going on a tour this afternoon to see what we can expect when our little guy arrives. I appreciate that the hospital staff is doing everything to prepare us for our son to be born premature.
Through all of this I am feeling a great deal of support from friends and family which I appreciate very much. We have received many emails and phone calls of encouragement. Both Pastor Lightly and Pastor Johnston and Don and Jeanne have visited to pray with us. We feel very fortunate to have such great support from our loved ones at this time. I will continue to keep you all updated.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
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Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Hospital Day 2
I was woken up at 5 am this morning because the nurses needed to draw more blood. I then got to get out of bed to be weighed. 5am is so early for this! I am running out of veins now, so I hope they are about done sticking me soon.
John and I met with a perinatologist this morning to have an ultrasound and talk about how the baby is doing. Dr. Gross explained to us that I do have pre-eclampsia and it is starting to be a bad thing for the baby too. The baby's growth has been slowed because of his environment right now. He weighs about 3 lbs 11 oz which is behind about 3 weeks. His organs look good and are functioning well though. He is in a transverse position, so we will be having a c-section this week.
Dr. Gross said that babies born around this time tend to do well and that our baby scored an 8 out of 10 on his assessment today which is great. We could be looking at 10-15 days in the nicu after he is delivered, but he may be breathing fine we just won't know until he is here. Dr. Gross told me that one of my doctors would be talking to be later today to go over what we learned.
Dr. Mueller came in and let us know that we would be having a c-section before the new year and most likely tomorrow. I need to have one more steriod shot this afternoon (painful!) which will help his lungs even more. I will be put on a fast at midnight and then have more bloodwork checked in the morning to make sure we can go ahead with the birth that afternoon/evening.
My blood pressure is still high, so I am laying low and trying to get as much rest as I can before tomorrow.
John and I met with a perinatologist this morning to have an ultrasound and talk about how the baby is doing. Dr. Gross explained to us that I do have pre-eclampsia and it is starting to be a bad thing for the baby too. The baby's growth has been slowed because of his environment right now. He weighs about 3 lbs 11 oz which is behind about 3 weeks. His organs look good and are functioning well though. He is in a transverse position, so we will be having a c-section this week.
Dr. Gross said that babies born around this time tend to do well and that our baby scored an 8 out of 10 on his assessment today which is great. We could be looking at 10-15 days in the nicu after he is delivered, but he may be breathing fine we just won't know until he is here. Dr. Gross told me that one of my doctors would be talking to be later today to go over what we learned.
Dr. Mueller came in and let us know that we would be having a c-section before the new year and most likely tomorrow. I need to have one more steriod shot this afternoon (painful!) which will help his lungs even more. I will be put on a fast at midnight and then have more bloodwork checked in the morning to make sure we can go ahead with the birth that afternoon/evening.
My blood pressure is still high, so I am laying low and trying to get as much rest as I can before tomorrow.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Pre eclampsia
It's official, I have pre-eclampsia. I had to get a steriod shot to help the baby's lungs develop further. We will meet with a few doctors tonight and tomorrow to talk about what will happen when we deliver. It is looking like we will be induced before the end of the week. Please pray for our baby boy who is just of 34 weeks along.
OSF ...in December?
Well we went to our Doctors appointment this morning and after a visit with one of our Midwives we were sent home to rest some more and that our Doctor would call if we needed to do any thing about our test results. We had just left the building headed to our car when one of the Nurses came running out to us and told us that the doctor just called and wanted us to head straight to the Hospital! After a brief detour to our house we arrived at OSF and were admitted to the antipartum wing of the hospital. (I think that OSF is rather slow and has trouble communicating between departments on the low levels) So after a few surveys and specimen draws (three sticks with needles is not good for Julie) Julie is resting just waiting on the lab results of the blood work. She is starving but that is all part of what a hospital does right? Keep Julie and the baby in your prayers as her blood pressure and protein is still rather high. We are praying that we can hold out till the first of the year which will be 35 weeks. If the results come back for delivery today she already has her IV in.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Wednesday's Dr. Visit
My doctor appointment on Wednesday was not until 2pm, so I had to lay around all day waiting to find out my test results. John and I went to the doctor and I had to have my blood pressure checked. Once again it was very high. They took me into an exam room and had me lay down on my left side for 10 minutes and checked again. It was still high, but had gone down. They did this another time to watch it improve.
Dr. Croland came in to tell me that the blood pressure was high and that I am done working. He also said that my blood work looked good (praise God!). He said that I need to be laying down all the time now and that he will need to see me weekly. The baby will need to come out sooner rather than later. He then asked me to take a urine test and this is when the fun part happens.
I took the test and he came back in to tell me that I am spilling protein in my urine which means that my body cannot be pregnant much longer. He said that he needed to run one more test and if that comes back with too much protein, that he will need to deliver the baby. For this test, I was given two huge jugs to collect all of my urine for the next 24 hours. John will have to take my urine to the hospital as soon as the 24 hours are done on Christmas Eve.
Dr. Croland said that it will take another day to get the test run, but when he has the results he will call us if we need to meet him at the hospital to be induced! It would be better for the baby if he could stay in for at least one more week, but if this test comes back bad, they need to get him out. I know that OSF has the facilities and that the baby is past the critical development, but I was not expecting this! The good news is that Dr. Croland will be the doctor on call, so if we have to deliver at least I will have my doctor.
Dr. Croland came in to tell me that the blood pressure was high and that I am done working. He also said that my blood work looked good (praise God!). He said that I need to be laying down all the time now and that he will need to see me weekly. The baby will need to come out sooner rather than later. He then asked me to take a urine test and this is when the fun part happens.
I took the test and he came back in to tell me that I am spilling protein in my urine which means that my body cannot be pregnant much longer. He said that he needed to run one more test and if that comes back with too much protein, that he will need to deliver the baby. For this test, I was given two huge jugs to collect all of my urine for the next 24 hours. John will have to take my urine to the hospital as soon as the 24 hours are done on Christmas Eve.
Dr. Croland said that it will take another day to get the test run, but when he has the results he will call us if we need to meet him at the hospital to be induced! It would be better for the baby if he could stay in for at least one more week, but if this test comes back bad, they need to get him out. I know that OSF has the facilities and that the baby is past the critical development, but I was not expecting this! The good news is that Dr. Croland will be the doctor on call, so if we have to deliver at least I will have my doctor.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Bedrest Blues
Pregnancy is a wild ride. Strange things happen and sometimes those things are dangerous. Well, on Tuesday I experienced some strange new pregnancy symptoms. As I was driving to work, I noticed that I was seeing spots out of my right eye. It wasn't like the little spots that you see when you stand up too quickly, but more like huge bright lights flashing. I could not see the cars on my right side without using my left eye. I made it safely to work and called the doctor's office just to be safe because I was also having a lot of swelling in my ankles and feet. (I had not been able to see my ankles or ankle bones in about a week.)
When I call the doctor, I usually have to describe my symptoms and the nurse will call me back later in the day. Well, Tuesday when I described my symptoms I was able to speak to a nurse right away who scheduled me an appointment with the doctor that morning. Since I couldn't see very well, my boss drove me to the doctor.
I had to get my blood pressure checked and it was high which is why my eye was doing weird things and my feet were swollen. They had me lay down on my left side for a while and it went down a bit. The doctor told me that he needed to have some blood work done and that I would need to be off work and on bed rest until at least 35 weeks. At this point I was 33.5 weeks. He then started to tell me that he needs to get the baby to 35 weeks and then we may want to think about getting him out! He said not to worry because he would run the blood test and see me tomorrow to make sure I was doing OK. He also told me about the possibility of being put in the hospital depending on what the test results were. He also said I might be able to return to work part time after I made it to 35 weeks. I left there pretty in shock! I was worried that I might have to be in the hospital over Christmas or that I might have the baby in 2 weeks or that I might go full term! So many questions needed to be answered by the blood test! Wow.
Needless to say, I went back to work, grabbed my computer and headed home. I laid on the couch all evening and followed the doctor's orders.
When I call the doctor, I usually have to describe my symptoms and the nurse will call me back later in the day. Well, Tuesday when I described my symptoms I was able to speak to a nurse right away who scheduled me an appointment with the doctor that morning. Since I couldn't see very well, my boss drove me to the doctor.
I had to get my blood pressure checked and it was high which is why my eye was doing weird things and my feet were swollen. They had me lay down on my left side for a while and it went down a bit. The doctor told me that he needed to have some blood work done and that I would need to be off work and on bed rest until at least 35 weeks. At this point I was 33.5 weeks. He then started to tell me that he needs to get the baby to 35 weeks and then we may want to think about getting him out! He said not to worry because he would run the blood test and see me tomorrow to make sure I was doing OK. He also told me about the possibility of being put in the hospital depending on what the test results were. He also said I might be able to return to work part time after I made it to 35 weeks. I left there pretty in shock! I was worried that I might have to be in the hospital over Christmas or that I might have the baby in 2 weeks or that I might go full term! So many questions needed to be answered by the blood test! Wow.
Needless to say, I went back to work, grabbed my computer and headed home. I laid on the couch all evening and followed the doctor's orders.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Nursery baskets
These are the baskets that we made to organize the baby closet. The little animals on them match the closet organizers in the hanging part of the closet. You can see that the green wall from when the room was our office is still there, it is just hidden by the new closet..JPG)
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Bradley Baby Shower
On December 5th my wonderful co-workers hosted a baby shower at Bradley. We had so much fun. The invitations and shower were jungle-themed to go along with the baby's room. It was so cute. They even bought us little wooden animals to decorate the walls with. The pictures are still on the camera at work, but I will upload them soon. I am so grateful for all the wonderful friends at work. They gave us our pack 'n play along with many other useful items for our little one. One really cool thing about this shower was that everyone brought books instead of cards so that baby Holmes would have plenty to read when he gets here.
Everyone kept asking what we were naming the little guy and we kept saying "it's a secret" and someone chimed in that his middle name was agent. So now I get periodic emails with secret agent theme songs and spy gear to go along with his new nick name.
Everyone kept asking what we were naming the little guy and we kept saying "it's a secret" and someone chimed in that his middle name was agent. So now I get periodic emails with secret agent theme songs and spy gear to go along with his new nick name.
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