I suppose that writing a blog is about being honest and telling everyone that is reading it the whole story not just the things we will be celebrating threw out this journey. That being said we received some very concerning news yesterday. My baby girl has some hemorrhaging on her brain. They measure these bleeds on a scale of 1-4. On the right side of her brain she has a level 1 which is very common and shouldn't cause any problems the left side of her brain is another story. The radiologist said the left side is deff a stage 2 bleed possibly a 3. Let me vent my frustration here the difference between 2 and 3 is massive. To put this into perspective and not to alarm anyone but if a baby has a level 4 on both sides of the brain this is when they discuss removing life support. Olivia is nowhere near this level but you can understand my frustration when they can not give me an exact number. The plan now is to do another brain scan in 7 days. In a perfect situation and what I am praying for is that the spinal fluid will begin to remove these clots much like our bodies handle a bruise and all will resolve itself. The hard part is waiting 7 days. The minutes feel like hours and the hours feel like days. I'm trying to keep myself busy. With everything that is going on with the construction of our home this has been pretty easy so far. Sitting in the hotel or the NICU makes this situation much harder on me and doest change it.
On a better note our visit with miss Olivia yesterday was quite amazing. We heard her first little cry. I let her cry for a min and then began talking to her and soothing her holding her tiny hand. She calmed right down. One of the hardest things for me during this whole process is seeing her so upset and not being able to do anything about it. I wish there was more I could do for her. I would gladly take all her pain for myself if I could. I think any parent would.
Daddy also got to change her first poopy diaper. He was grinning ear to ear and I reminded him how much he loved it and will continue to change those dirty bums when we get home lol. She truly is my angel and I am remaining very hopeful and positive. She is so strong and Im confident that she will continue to impress me and the doctors.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Strong Girl
I have so much great news Im not quite sure where to start. So if this post comes off as a bit of a ramble please forgive me. Miss Olivia is doing Amazing!! After the transfusion yesterday her blood pressure improved dramatically and has maintained exceptional levels. Yesterday they switched her to a much weaker ventilator and she did so well they were forced to turn it down 3 times last night, because with her own breath and the ventilator she was receiving too much air. In a nut shell at the morning meeting with all her doctors they majority agreed my baby girl was more then ready to breath all on her own. While daddy and I sat by her side they removed the ventilator and now she just has prongs in her nose giving her small amounts of oxygen. So happy to announce she has tolerated this very well all day and they will continue to monitor her very closely to make sure she doesn't forget to breath which is a common problem in preemie babies.
This morning when we arrived there they had just given her a dose of caffeine (her morning coffee lol) they use the caffeine to stimulate the part in the brain that tells us to breath. You and I do this automatically and she just needs a little reminder every once in a while. Because of the caffeine she was wide eyed and bushy tailed. I saw her beautiful eyes for the first time I couldn't help but weeping the eyes are truly the window to the soul. As soon as I started talking to her she looked right at me. Talk about make my heart melt such a special experience that Im so grateful to have had. She is so much more comfortable now without having that tube down her throat. The only tube that remains in her mouth is her feeding tube.
Also she is tolerating her feedings very well and has already put on 10 grams which means she is back to her birth weight of 2lbs and we are hoping that she will continue to pack on that weight. They are feeding her a 1/2 oz every three hours. She has not had her bowl movement but you will all know about it when she does. I will be one proud mama to see her first poopy diaper. Never thought I would be saying that but it will be a huge step in the right direction. Indicating that her digestive system is working properly.
I am so proud of all the hard work my baby girl has done and how well she has progressed. Most preemies her age are on a ventilator for up to 3 weeks, my baby girl has managed to make it to this level in 6 short days. What a little fighter she is and so strong willed (hmm wonder where she gets that from lol). She was tugging and pulling at that ventilator line all morning it was such a relief to leave her today in a much more comfortable, peaceful state. It is simply amazing how much love I already have for this little angel and am really looking forward to holding her in my arms.
This morning when we arrived there they had just given her a dose of caffeine (her morning coffee lol) they use the caffeine to stimulate the part in the brain that tells us to breath. You and I do this automatically and she just needs a little reminder every once in a while. Because of the caffeine she was wide eyed and bushy tailed. I saw her beautiful eyes for the first time I couldn't help but weeping the eyes are truly the window to the soul. As soon as I started talking to her she looked right at me. Talk about make my heart melt such a special experience that Im so grateful to have had. She is so much more comfortable now without having that tube down her throat. The only tube that remains in her mouth is her feeding tube.
Also she is tolerating her feedings very well and has already put on 10 grams which means she is back to her birth weight of 2lbs and we are hoping that she will continue to pack on that weight. They are feeding her a 1/2 oz every three hours. She has not had her bowl movement but you will all know about it when she does. I will be one proud mama to see her first poopy diaper. Never thought I would be saying that but it will be a huge step in the right direction. Indicating that her digestive system is working properly.
I am so proud of all the hard work my baby girl has done and how well she has progressed. Most preemies her age are on a ventilator for up to 3 weeks, my baby girl has managed to make it to this level in 6 short days. What a little fighter she is and so strong willed (hmm wonder where she gets that from lol). She was tugging and pulling at that ventilator line all morning it was such a relief to leave her today in a much more comfortable, peaceful state. It is simply amazing how much love I already have for this little angel and am really looking forward to holding her in my arms.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Blood Transfusion
Today was a bit of a scary and stressful day. My baby girl has been unable to keep her blood pressure up. They had her on medication that was temporarily sustaining a reasonable blood pressure but as soon as they discontinued this it began to drop again. This is most likely happening because of all of the blood they have drawn from her for testing her little body has been unable to produce enough blood to replace what she has lost. The final conclusion was to do a blood transfusion today. Olivia is O+ and they found a donor with an exact match. With all preemie babies the blood goes threw many more steps of screening and they actually remove all of the white blood cells, only red blood cells are transfused into her.
They were about half way threw the transfusion while I was there. They gave her a total of 1cc of blood today and even with 1/2 of it her blood pressure went up significantly and her rate came down to a great level. With her blood pressure being so low her heart was forced to work much harder to move the blood to all her vital organs so it was reassuring to see this number dropping.
They were planning on doing her first tube feeding today, but decided it would be wise to wait until tomorrow after the transfusion. I did get to swab her mouth with colostrum. It was the sweetest thing ever as soon as I put the swab in her mouth she began licking her lips mmm Mommy's milk.... I cant tell you how grateful I am to be getting milk. It is really satisfying and rewarding to be able to do this one thing for her while everything else feels so out of my control. Deff a worrisome day but I know and believe it was the right and best decision for my little angel. Stay tuned to find out how her first meal goes tomorrow.
Posting some pics of her from today ... she is getting a bit of a sun tan to help with her jaundice.
They were about half way threw the transfusion while I was there. They gave her a total of 1cc of blood today and even with 1/2 of it her blood pressure went up significantly and her rate came down to a great level. With her blood pressure being so low her heart was forced to work much harder to move the blood to all her vital organs so it was reassuring to see this number dropping.
They were planning on doing her first tube feeding today, but decided it would be wise to wait until tomorrow after the transfusion. I did get to swab her mouth with colostrum. It was the sweetest thing ever as soon as I put the swab in her mouth she began licking her lips mmm Mommy's milk.... I cant tell you how grateful I am to be getting milk. It is really satisfying and rewarding to be able to do this one thing for her while everything else feels so out of my control. Deff a worrisome day but I know and believe it was the right and best decision for my little angel. Stay tuned to find out how her first meal goes tomorrow.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Olivia's Progress
Just a quick post about my little angel. She is doing great and is so strong. She did have an infection and will be on antibiotics for the next 7 days. Her blood pressure did drop and they were forced to introduce NO2 into her regiment. They have since lowered her levels of the gas and as long as she tolerates it they are hoping to discontinue this by tomorrow.
It was quite an amazing day. Her Daddy was able to change her bum and check her temp for the first time. Her little NICU diapers are still huge on her they go all the way up to her little boobs. They also swabbed some of my colostrum and let me coat the inside of her little mouth. The goal of this is that she will absorb some of the antibodies. She will not have anything running threw her digestive system for another week or so. They are sustaining her nutritional needs threw iv fluids with electrolytes and some sugar. Her bodies main priority is the cardiovascular and brain system. Digestive is still pretty low on her bodies list of priorities.
It is such a special experience to see her react to my voice. She deff knows who her Mom and Dad are every time we talk to her she reacts. I am very careful how often I do this because it frightens me when her heart rate accelerates too much. The nurses have encouraged me to continue talking to her and it is very soothing for her to hear my voice. I will deff be posting new pics tomorrow she already looks so much better. They have been giving her light therapy for her jandice that has really helped bring out her gorgeous olive skin tone. She was rocking a cute hot pink bow today that was surrounded by all her gorgeous black hair. So stay tuned for some updated pics. Until next time keep your prayers coming we really appreciate the support and cant thank you all enough.
It was quite an amazing day. Her Daddy was able to change her bum and check her temp for the first time. Her little NICU diapers are still huge on her they go all the way up to her little boobs. They also swabbed some of my colostrum and let me coat the inside of her little mouth. The goal of this is that she will absorb some of the antibodies. She will not have anything running threw her digestive system for another week or so. They are sustaining her nutritional needs threw iv fluids with electrolytes and some sugar. Her bodies main priority is the cardiovascular and brain system. Digestive is still pretty low on her bodies list of priorities.
It is such a special experience to see her react to my voice. She deff knows who her Mom and Dad are every time we talk to her she reacts. I am very careful how often I do this because it frightens me when her heart rate accelerates too much. The nurses have encouraged me to continue talking to her and it is very soothing for her to hear my voice. I will deff be posting new pics tomorrow she already looks so much better. They have been giving her light therapy for her jandice that has really helped bring out her gorgeous olive skin tone. She was rocking a cute hot pink bow today that was surrounded by all her gorgeous black hair. So stay tuned for some updated pics. Until next time keep your prayers coming we really appreciate the support and cant thank you all enough.
TMI
Sorry it has been a few "eventful" days since my last post. This post may be a bit too much information for some of you so feel free to skip over this one if you want. I just want to record and document everything about this experience so I can share it with Miss Olivia one day. I also want to remind her that when she becomes a sassy teenager that she has already used all of her naughty passes in the first few months of her life and to behave like a complete angel lol well see how well that works out for me.
After giving birth on Monday I was actually feeling pretty good considering. Unfortunately by Tuesday afternoon things took a turn for the worse. My pain was becoming increasingly worse I being a first time naive Mother just thought this was a normal part of the post par tum process. The pain was mostly concentrated on my right side and had got to a point that it was unbearable I felt like I was going threw labor all over again. The nurse called the doctor up who examined me and noticed that the right side of my stomach was beginning to descend out and was very tender to touch. She noted that it could be something with my appendix. My poor husband became increasingly worried as he has experienced an emergency appendectomy. One more event was sure to push him over the edge. He has been so strong and amazing threw this whole process but I truly believe this could have been too much for him. The doctor gave me another pain pill and said to give it another hour, and they would monitor my vitals very closely.
Not more then 30min had passed. I felt an urge to use the bathroom. As soon as I sat down something came out of me bigger then my fist. I immediately went into a hysterical panic crying, screaming and pulling the emergency cord in the bathroom. My nurse came running and immediately removed this foreign object from the toilet. Then began hugging and consoling me. On that note I must say the care I received at IMC was absolutely amazing. Long story short this object was a large piece of my placenta. The body will release the placenta after giving birth. This is usually a pretty fast process but because Olivia decided to join us so early my placenta was still very much in tact and took a bit longer then most. My doctors became impatient and instead of waiting decided it would be a good idea to pull it out. In doing this it caused the placenta to tear and un be knowns to them part of it still remained inside of me. After birth my body was viewing this as a foreign object and was doing everything to try and get rid of it.
My pain went away almost immediately after releasing this. I must say it was a huge relief to know that this was what was causing the pain and it was nothing more serious. I was pretty irritated with my doctor and she did come to see me the next morning with very sincere apologies. I am happy to announce I am recovering very well and feeling much better now. They discharged me from the hospital yesterday. Ricard and I are staying in a hotel about 15 min from the hospital until our home is complete.
As much as I was ready to get out of the hospital it was extremely difficult to leave my baby girl. I like many other Mothers had envisioned leaving the hospital in a wheel chair carrying my baby in her new car seat and loading her in the car to take her home with us. We will enjoy this moment we are just going to have to wait a few months until baby girl is ready.
After giving birth on Monday I was actually feeling pretty good considering. Unfortunately by Tuesday afternoon things took a turn for the worse. My pain was becoming increasingly worse I being a first time naive Mother just thought this was a normal part of the post par tum process. The pain was mostly concentrated on my right side and had got to a point that it was unbearable I felt like I was going threw labor all over again. The nurse called the doctor up who examined me and noticed that the right side of my stomach was beginning to descend out and was very tender to touch. She noted that it could be something with my appendix. My poor husband became increasingly worried as he has experienced an emergency appendectomy. One more event was sure to push him over the edge. He has been so strong and amazing threw this whole process but I truly believe this could have been too much for him. The doctor gave me another pain pill and said to give it another hour, and they would monitor my vitals very closely.
Not more then 30min had passed. I felt an urge to use the bathroom. As soon as I sat down something came out of me bigger then my fist. I immediately went into a hysterical panic crying, screaming and pulling the emergency cord in the bathroom. My nurse came running and immediately removed this foreign object from the toilet. Then began hugging and consoling me. On that note I must say the care I received at IMC was absolutely amazing. Long story short this object was a large piece of my placenta. The body will release the placenta after giving birth. This is usually a pretty fast process but because Olivia decided to join us so early my placenta was still very much in tact and took a bit longer then most. My doctors became impatient and instead of waiting decided it would be a good idea to pull it out. In doing this it caused the placenta to tear and un be knowns to them part of it still remained inside of me. After birth my body was viewing this as a foreign object and was doing everything to try and get rid of it.
My pain went away almost immediately after releasing this. I must say it was a huge relief to know that this was what was causing the pain and it was nothing more serious. I was pretty irritated with my doctor and she did come to see me the next morning with very sincere apologies. I am happy to announce I am recovering very well and feeling much better now. They discharged me from the hospital yesterday. Ricard and I are staying in a hotel about 15 min from the hospital until our home is complete.
As much as I was ready to get out of the hospital it was extremely difficult to leave my baby girl. I like many other Mothers had envisioned leaving the hospital in a wheel chair carrying my baby in her new car seat and loading her in the car to take her home with us. We will enjoy this moment we are just going to have to wait a few months until baby girl is ready.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Olivia's Brithday
Well friends and family ... Olivia pulls another 4am trick.. Let me fill you all in. It started about 2am Monday Oct 22. I began having what felt like period cramps. Maybe TMI but like I needed to use the bathroom and this has happened before. So I decided to try and wait until 5am when the wonderful intern comes in to check on me everyday. By about 4am I decided this was getting worse and not better and it was time to call the nurse. I explained my symptoms to the nurse and she called a high risk doctor from down stairs. She came in and did an exam my cervix was still completely closed but she wanted to monitor me and baby. She hooked up the monitors and said now try to get some rest and Ill be back up (some rest?? Seriously lol). After 45 min. of monitoring us she noticed a trend, that babies base line heart rate was extremely high and would drop dramatically indicating that I was having contractions. They moved us down stairs and even still people thought this was a fluke and we would be back up stairs in our cozy room that we anticipated staying in for at least 8 more weeks.
It was most certainly not a fluke. My contractions began to increase and the raw emotion set in that ready or not this baby was coming today. I think the most over whelming feeling for me was a sense of failure that I was unable to keep her in until at least 30 weeks. That had been my mental goal and I felt like I had let myself and Olivia down. After all it is a Mothers responsibility to provide a safe home for their children especially in the womb. I can honestly say I did everything I knew how to keep her safe for as long as possible. That 2 weeks of bed rest gave her a much better chance at life and a baby born at 27 weeks verses 25 which is when my water broke is much better off.
The contractions were coming on much stronger by later in the morning and as much as I would have loved to do a completely natural birth this was a very different situation for many reasons. Unfortunately with babies that are this small and especially because she is my first born they often have to do an emergency c-section. If you choose not to have an epidural and an emergency c-section is necessary they have to put mother and baby under general anesthesia. This being said the baby is born asleep and they would not be able to work on her for about 30-45 min after birth. It doesn't sound like too long but every single second that passes after a baby of her size and maturity is born is crucial. This being said an epidural was the safest and best decision for my daughter and myself. Quite honestly by this point the contractions were becoming unbearable and extremely uncomfortable I was deff ready for some pain relief. The anesthesiologist quickly became my best friend and as unnerving and scary as the epidural was I was happy to have some relief. By the time I received it my contractions were only one minute apart and very strong.
The doctor came in shortly after and I had dilated to a 3. I felt better for a little while after receiving the epidural but it wasn't long just over an hour to be exact that I began to feel very uncomfortable and a lot of pressure all over again. I began telling my nurse this and she just assumed that the medicine wasn't getting to my lower half after insisting that this pressure was getting worse she did call the doctor in to check me. Sure enough I was 9cm almost fully dilated. I had went from a 3 to a 9 so quickly I couldn't believe it. I was ready to get this baby out and was determined to be able to push her out without having to have a c-section. They moved us quickly into the OR. When a baby is born this early the have you deliver in the operating room verses a regular delivery room in case a c-section is necessary. Also there is a window to the NICU from the OR that they just hand the baby immediately over to them.
I was all set in the OR and again I was determined to get her out as quickly as possible to avoid a C-section I knew that because she was so low in the birth canal it would be more traumatic for her have to be pulled out threw my stomach. As soon as they said ok push I was there 100% focused and proud to say I pushed her out with 3 pushes and 2 contractions. I opened my eyes and there she was I got to see her for just a second and heard a little squeak and saw all that gorgeous black hair. They handed her off and that was the last time I was able to see her for 4 or 5 hours. They want to make sure she is stable and they have done everything to ensure that she is taken care before they would let us see her.
That 4-5 hours felt like a century I wanted nothing more then to see my baby girl. They did come up to get us but unfortunately I was still to numb so just Daddy got to go down and see his daughter for the first time. He took pictures and was so proud to show them off to me. It was later that night they let me go down and see her for the first time. I immediately cried and told her how much I loved her. They had put her on mild sedation but as soon as she heard my voice she began to kick and move. It was the most amazing feeling to know that without a doubt she knew my voice and knew I was there. The NICU nurse opened her incubator and encouraged me to touch her hand again her response to my touch was such a magical moment.
Oliva was born weighing exactly 2lbs, and is doing as well as can be expected. She will be hooked up to a ventilator and many other machines for quite a while. They will not feed her for 4 or 5 more days all she will be receiving right now is sugar water and some minerals. Her digestive system is the bottom of her list. Most of her bodies energy right now is being put into her brain and cardiovascular system. Once she is ready to digest any kind of food they will feed her threw her umbilical cord. For these next few weeks they try to keep her environment as much like the womb as possible. They keep blankets over her incubator and only touch her once a day at 7 am. We are hoping to be able to hold her in 4 weeks or so depending on how she does.
Words cant describe how much I love this little girl. She is such an angel and holds such a special place with me. I am continuing to stay positive and have faith that she is so strong and is going to pull threw this. I will continue to keep you guys posted on her progress. It is the little things and the baby steps that will keep us moving in the right direction. Today for example her oxygen requirement came down significantly. You and I breath 21% pure oxygen. When I was down with her yesterday she was at 75% requirement since then she has dropped to 32% which is amazing progress ,so quickly, all of the nurses were very impressed.
Thank you again for all of the support and encouragement we couldn't get threw this without each and every one of you. Forgive me for any spelling or punctual errors my brain is far from functioning right now.
It was most certainly not a fluke. My contractions began to increase and the raw emotion set in that ready or not this baby was coming today. I think the most over whelming feeling for me was a sense of failure that I was unable to keep her in until at least 30 weeks. That had been my mental goal and I felt like I had let myself and Olivia down. After all it is a Mothers responsibility to provide a safe home for their children especially in the womb. I can honestly say I did everything I knew how to keep her safe for as long as possible. That 2 weeks of bed rest gave her a much better chance at life and a baby born at 27 weeks verses 25 which is when my water broke is much better off.
The contractions were coming on much stronger by later in the morning and as much as I would have loved to do a completely natural birth this was a very different situation for many reasons. Unfortunately with babies that are this small and especially because she is my first born they often have to do an emergency c-section. If you choose not to have an epidural and an emergency c-section is necessary they have to put mother and baby under general anesthesia. This being said the baby is born asleep and they would not be able to work on her for about 30-45 min after birth. It doesn't sound like too long but every single second that passes after a baby of her size and maturity is born is crucial. This being said an epidural was the safest and best decision for my daughter and myself. Quite honestly by this point the contractions were becoming unbearable and extremely uncomfortable I was deff ready for some pain relief. The anesthesiologist quickly became my best friend and as unnerving and scary as the epidural was I was happy to have some relief. By the time I received it my contractions were only one minute apart and very strong.
The doctor came in shortly after and I had dilated to a 3. I felt better for a little while after receiving the epidural but it wasn't long just over an hour to be exact that I began to feel very uncomfortable and a lot of pressure all over again. I began telling my nurse this and she just assumed that the medicine wasn't getting to my lower half after insisting that this pressure was getting worse she did call the doctor in to check me. Sure enough I was 9cm almost fully dilated. I had went from a 3 to a 9 so quickly I couldn't believe it. I was ready to get this baby out and was determined to be able to push her out without having to have a c-section. They moved us quickly into the OR. When a baby is born this early the have you deliver in the operating room verses a regular delivery room in case a c-section is necessary. Also there is a window to the NICU from the OR that they just hand the baby immediately over to them.
I was all set in the OR and again I was determined to get her out as quickly as possible to avoid a C-section I knew that because she was so low in the birth canal it would be more traumatic for her have to be pulled out threw my stomach. As soon as they said ok push I was there 100% focused and proud to say I pushed her out with 3 pushes and 2 contractions. I opened my eyes and there she was I got to see her for just a second and heard a little squeak and saw all that gorgeous black hair. They handed her off and that was the last time I was able to see her for 4 or 5 hours. They want to make sure she is stable and they have done everything to ensure that she is taken care before they would let us see her.
That 4-5 hours felt like a century I wanted nothing more then to see my baby girl. They did come up to get us but unfortunately I was still to numb so just Daddy got to go down and see his daughter for the first time. He took pictures and was so proud to show them off to me. It was later that night they let me go down and see her for the first time. I immediately cried and told her how much I loved her. They had put her on mild sedation but as soon as she heard my voice she began to kick and move. It was the most amazing feeling to know that without a doubt she knew my voice and knew I was there. The NICU nurse opened her incubator and encouraged me to touch her hand again her response to my touch was such a magical moment.
Oliva was born weighing exactly 2lbs, and is doing as well as can be expected. She will be hooked up to a ventilator and many other machines for quite a while. They will not feed her for 4 or 5 more days all she will be receiving right now is sugar water and some minerals. Her digestive system is the bottom of her list. Most of her bodies energy right now is being put into her brain and cardiovascular system. Once she is ready to digest any kind of food they will feed her threw her umbilical cord. For these next few weeks they try to keep her environment as much like the womb as possible. They keep blankets over her incubator and only touch her once a day at 7 am. We are hoping to be able to hold her in 4 weeks or so depending on how she does.
Words cant describe how much I love this little girl. She is such an angel and holds such a special place with me. I am continuing to stay positive and have faith that she is so strong and is going to pull threw this. I will continue to keep you guys posted on her progress. It is the little things and the baby steps that will keep us moving in the right direction. Today for example her oxygen requirement came down significantly. You and I breath 21% pure oxygen. When I was down with her yesterday she was at 75% requirement since then she has dropped to 32% which is amazing progress ,so quickly, all of the nurses were very impressed.
Thank you again for all of the support and encouragement we couldn't get threw this without each and every one of you. Forgive me for any spelling or punctual errors my brain is far from functioning right now.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Good Times
Well first things first Olivia and I had a wonderful nutritious breakfast. 2 whole egss with 3 egg whits and 2 slices of whole wheat french toast ... aww now we are getting somewhere and eating to grow... I have to make sure this baby girl is getting nothing but the best.
Happy to announce they have taken out my IV (so grateful for that ) and yesterday was my last day of antibiotics. So just crossing our fingers and keeping our prayers going that there will be no infection anywhere in the near future.
Olivia is a true superstar and her NST (Non stress tests) continue to blow everyone away. Her heart is very strong and she is so active. Even with very little fluid this little one manages to kick squirm and wiggle like crazy. Her big brother is an amazing progressive trance dj and every time I start listening to one of his tracks Olivia goes insane its hilarious.. psst if you haven't checked him out you must http://
Sorry Im kind of all over the place today writing about everything, but my adorable brother and sister totally made my day yesterday. They brought 3 pumpkins and all kinds of fun stuff for us to carve them. How sweet is that? I couldn't go there so they came to me. I will deff be posting pics later of our masterpiece pumpkins lol... I am so grateful for the wonderful family I have been blessed with. They are so supportive and make this whole process so much easier. Love them so much.... well that's all for now pumpkin pics coming soon...
Happy to announce they have taken out my IV (so grateful for that ) and yesterday was my last day of antibiotics. So just crossing our fingers and keeping our prayers going that there will be no infection anywhere in the near future.
Olivia is a true superstar and her NST (Non stress tests) continue to blow everyone away. Her heart is very strong and she is so active. Even with very little fluid this little one manages to kick squirm and wiggle like crazy. Her big brother is an amazing progressive trance dj and every time I start listening to one of his tracks Olivia goes insane its hilarious.. psst if you haven't checked him out you must http://
Sorry Im kind of all over the place today writing about everything, but my adorable brother and sister totally made my day yesterday. They brought 3 pumpkins and all kinds of fun stuff for us to carve them. How sweet is that? I couldn't go there so they came to me. I will deff be posting pics later of our masterpiece pumpkins lol... I am so grateful for the wonderful family I have been blessed with. They are so supportive and make this whole process so much easier. Love them so much.... well that's all for now pumpkin pics coming soon...
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Winning
So happy to announce that Olivia and I will not be surviving off of hospital mystery meat and over processed lasagna for the next 9 weeks. I managed to chat with the dietitian for quite a long time. Considering this is a huge passion of mine and hers as well we had plenty to talk and complain about when it comes to hospital food. She totally hooked me up with the grill chef and we will be receiving daily protein shakes and real meat for dinner. With a complete protein and complex carb with each meal. Score Olivia we are "Winning" Dont get me wrong pregnancy is deff a time to enjoy some treats but come on people I cant even get out of bed I cant be eating this junk they were giving me. I will walk out of here at 350lbs and its not healthy for my baby girl so really happy we got this sorted out. Dinner tonight is mahi-mahi and veggies yum...
26.3
Well family and friends we have officially been in the hospital for one week with 9 more to go. Baby girl and I are both doing great. She is quite a spirited character already. We have daily non-stress tests done. They hook up monitors and track her hear rate for 20 min getting a base line and hoping to see at least 2 accelerations in that 20 min period. Well miss Olivia had an agenda all her own on Sunday the 20 min session turned into well over an hour of monitoring. She was way too active and kept moving making it virtually impossible to track her resting heart beat. She generally has a resting heart beat of 150bpm which is extremely strong for a baby her size. This is a typical base line of a full term baby. On Sunday she was closer to 165-170bpm, way too high for a base line number, but it was just because she was so active in there. Doing her cardio already lol. She finally did settle down but the nurses were all cracking up. So ladies and gentleman we have a wild child on our hands she is going to keep all of us on our toes, and I am really looking forward to all of it.
I had the opportunity to go downstairs the other day and scrap book with some mom's that are in very similar situations as me. It was therapeutic to chat with "real moms" instead of doctors or nurses. These were woman with the same worries and concerns as me. It was encouraging to hear the stories from the mothers that had older children that were born so early and are thriving and doing great. I shared a special moment with a Mother that Im sure will remain a dear friend of mine for a long time. Her baby girl was born 2 days ago at exactly 26 weeks along (exactly where we are right now)... she had just come down from the NICU and cried in my arms for quite a while. Her baby is doing good but it is so terrifying to see your baby in that circumstance. After calming her down she began to show me pictures and talk with me about her concerns and I think the fact that instead of just telling her its going to be fine I truly sympathized with her and just recognized the seriousness of the situation. Not being negative or pessimistic just being real, I think she really appreciate that. I know that her husband and family are doing everything in their power to just make her feel better by telling her everything is going to be fine but that's not always what you need to hear. Meeting this woman was very healing for her and I both. Sometimes a good cry is exactly what we need.
I had the opportunity to go downstairs the other day and scrap book with some mom's that are in very similar situations as me. It was therapeutic to chat with "real moms" instead of doctors or nurses. These were woman with the same worries and concerns as me. It was encouraging to hear the stories from the mothers that had older children that were born so early and are thriving and doing great. I shared a special moment with a Mother that Im sure will remain a dear friend of mine for a long time. Her baby girl was born 2 days ago at exactly 26 weeks along (exactly where we are right now)... she had just come down from the NICU and cried in my arms for quite a while. Her baby is doing good but it is so terrifying to see your baby in that circumstance. After calming her down she began to show me pictures and talk with me about her concerns and I think the fact that instead of just telling her its going to be fine I truly sympathized with her and just recognized the seriousness of the situation. Not being negative or pessimistic just being real, I think she really appreciate that. I know that her husband and family are doing everything in their power to just make her feel better by telling her everything is going to be fine but that's not always what you need to hear. Meeting this woman was very healing for her and I both. Sometimes a good cry is exactly what we need.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
The Unexpected
Just the beginning of the unexpected... it was a typical Monday evening. We had trained (nothing too crazy) and cooked dinner watched some TV and it was off to bed. Oh how uneventful life becomes when you become pregnant lol ... I wouldnt change it for the world just funny how life changes.
One of my many typical middle of the night bathroom runs ... this one sure proved to be a bit different. Standing in the bathroom then a huge gush of water running everywhere. My heart immediately sank, I felt like I was standing there for an eternity, Baby Baby you have to call someone my water broke. What do you mean Ricard stumbles in half asleep... it didnt take long for his eyes to become wide eyed and a look of disbelief. He immediately called 911. The sobbing and extreme panic began to sink in. Spike of course concerned as ever licking my feet non stop knowing that something was terribly wrong. The police were first on scene first and paramedics arrived shortly after. The rushed us to the hospital in Park City. After confirming that my water had indeed ruptured it was then they knew they would not have sufficient services to care for me or baby. Another ambulance ride to Salt Lake City (IMC Hospital)... here I was checked into the high risk maternity and both baby and I were monitored very closely. Good news I had not and still have not dilated at all. The cervix was still closed but there was a significant tear in the water bag. Being an uniformed first time Mom I just assumed that once the water broke that was it. That is deff not the case. The baby can survive with minimal fluid and actually still thrive in the womb thankfully. The main concern at this point is the risk of infection. For this reason they insist I stay in the hospital on bed rest for as long as possible. We are praying and shooting for 34 weeks. The doctors all agree this is a safe time to deliver baby and keep me out of harms way. I am 26.1 weeks today. Apparently 27 weeks is a milestone. All the NICU doctors have explained to me the difference between a baby born at 25 weeks verses 27 is night and day... so needless to say 6 more days and we will all be able to breath a little easier. We had an ultra sound done on Wed Olivia is weight 1 1/2lbs right now. Everyone has commented multiple times how strong her heart beat is... apparently she has the HR closer to that of a full term baby. What a spirited little angel this one is. She is deff going to keep us on our toes that's for sure. We are doing daily non-stress tests they hook her up to monitors and keep track of her heart rate and movement. They like to see the HR accelerate at least three times during a 20 min period, but res assured this very active little girl does not hold still long enough to let it come back down lol. Sunday they had to leave her hooked up for over an hour to give her a chance to calm down and bring her base line down to normal ... again a very active wild child is on my hands... Rest assured family and friends we are both in good hands and are doing everything in our power to ensure Olivia is a healthy happy baby girl. I will keep you guys posted as things progress and just want to thank all of you for all of your prayers and concern it means so much to us. We are very fortunate to have such an amazing support system. We couldnt do this without each and everyone of you.
One of my many typical middle of the night bathroom runs ... this one sure proved to be a bit different. Standing in the bathroom then a huge gush of water running everywhere. My heart immediately sank, I felt like I was standing there for an eternity, Baby Baby you have to call someone my water broke. What do you mean Ricard stumbles in half asleep... it didnt take long for his eyes to become wide eyed and a look of disbelief. He immediately called 911. The sobbing and extreme panic began to sink in. Spike of course concerned as ever licking my feet non stop knowing that something was terribly wrong. The police were first on scene first and paramedics arrived shortly after. The rushed us to the hospital in Park City. After confirming that my water had indeed ruptured it was then they knew they would not have sufficient services to care for me or baby. Another ambulance ride to Salt Lake City (IMC Hospital)... here I was checked into the high risk maternity and both baby and I were monitored very closely. Good news I had not and still have not dilated at all. The cervix was still closed but there was a significant tear in the water bag. Being an uniformed first time Mom I just assumed that once the water broke that was it. That is deff not the case. The baby can survive with minimal fluid and actually still thrive in the womb thankfully. The main concern at this point is the risk of infection. For this reason they insist I stay in the hospital on bed rest for as long as possible. We are praying and shooting for 34 weeks. The doctors all agree this is a safe time to deliver baby and keep me out of harms way. I am 26.1 weeks today. Apparently 27 weeks is a milestone. All the NICU doctors have explained to me the difference between a baby born at 25 weeks verses 27 is night and day... so needless to say 6 more days and we will all be able to breath a little easier. We had an ultra sound done on Wed Olivia is weight 1 1/2lbs right now. Everyone has commented multiple times how strong her heart beat is... apparently she has the HR closer to that of a full term baby. What a spirited little angel this one is. She is deff going to keep us on our toes that's for sure. We are doing daily non-stress tests they hook her up to monitors and keep track of her heart rate and movement. They like to see the HR accelerate at least three times during a 20 min period, but res assured this very active little girl does not hold still long enough to let it come back down lol. Sunday they had to leave her hooked up for over an hour to give her a chance to calm down and bring her base line down to normal ... again a very active wild child is on my hands... Rest assured family and friends we are both in good hands and are doing everything in our power to ensure Olivia is a healthy happy baby girl. I will keep you guys posted as things progress and just want to thank all of you for all of your prayers and concern it means so much to us. We are very fortunate to have such an amazing support system. We couldnt do this without each and everyone of you.
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