Ellie came off the ventilator today...thank goodness! She sounds really raspy and wheezy which the nurses and doctors attribute to irritation due to the tube that was in her throat. She is eating like a champ and resting comfortably.
Its been a scary few days but I hope we are turning a corner now.
Thanks everyone for your prayers and good wishes, they are much appreciated!
After initially doing well after the surgery, at about 2:30AM Ellie was put on a ventilator.
Any and all prayers are appreciated.
If you could send some prayers or good thoughts my way today I would appreciate it. Ellie is having her shunt placed today to drain the fluid from her brain.
I think I'm going to throw up.
Birth Day:
In the NICU - my first time holding Ellie
Other pictures from our hospital stay:
Gabe meeting his sister
Some pictures from home:
Ellie and I are both doing great! Things are just crazy around here right now so I don't have time to tell the whole story. I am being discharged tomorrow and there is a chance Ellie will be coming home with us as well pending how well she eats the rest of the day and how her bilirubin is tomorrow.
Despite the emergency nature of her delivery, my c-section went as smooth as could be and since it was in the wee hours of the morning, I did not have the balloons inserted. I still have a uterus so I guess she and I will have to learn to coexist a little while longer. Ben and my mom even made it in time for the surgery and I didn't have to be put under. I also did not require a blood transfusion. So while it was an emergency, it wasn't too rushed to be out of control.
Ellie is doing amazing. She never required any medical intervention after her birth execpt for an IV line. We will be visiting the pediatric neurosurgeon two weeks post discharge, but she is not going to be transferred to Children's Hospital. Hooray! Also, initial cat scans are ruling out the Dandy Walker issues, but a final determination hasn't been made. Obviously, she will still need to be shunted but we will wait until we see the neurosurgeon for that.
I will try to tell the whole story soon. I'm not exactly sure when that will be since we need to get home and find our groove. I'm really happy and feel really lucky. What a scary and difficult ride its been. Thank you to everyone for your well wishes!
Argh! I tried to attach some pictures but I've had major issues with the hospital internet and any Yahoo site (Flickr included). I will have to load them once I am home.
Eliana Louise Nelson was born this morning, June 16th, 2009 at 5:49 am. She was 4 lbs 6oz, 17 inches long, and absolutely beautiful!
More details to follow when Kim is able.
Eight more days.....provided Ms. Ellie is ready.
I told Ben that if the amnio comes back as immature, then when Ellie asks to go on her first date I'm going to tell her she has to wait a week as payback for making me wait an extra week. Fair is fair.
I don't really have anything exciting to report, hence the silence. I'm pretty sure that yesterday was the longest day on record. I paced the room most of the day, probably making my roommate nuts. Then I would just stand in the doorway of our room staring forlornly into the hall (since I'm not allowed to leave my room except for 20 minute wheelchair rides when Ben visits). It was dark and dreary yesterday and that probably didn't help matters either.
Dr. Ma did rounds a few days ago and sat and talked with Ben and me for awhile. He doesn't seem to think that they will want to transfer Ellie to Children's until after I am released from the hospital. This knowledge makes me feel so much better about the whole situation. I was really stressed out about being separated from her. He also said that they were discussing the complications of my c-section in their group meeting and drawing pictures of how they plan to sew me back up. Apparently, I have my own stitch now...the Nelson stitch. Just what I always dreamed of. Just as I told Dr. Mo and Dr. G, I explained to Dr. Ma that I did not care if I lost my uterus. Unlike the other two, he wasn't horrified and said that maybe they should mark that in my chart. I told him to go right ahead and write, "No heroic measures to save uterus". He actually thought it was pretty funny.
If my surgery goes as planned, Dr. G will be the one performing it with Doc Dracula as the resident. Oh, I never told you that story. One of the residents I see often was doing his rounds while one of my favorite night nurses was getting ready to monitor me. After he left, she leaned over and whispered, "One of the other ladies thinks he looks like a vampire." After laughing quite a bit, I agreed. Now its all I think about whenever I see him.
Another funny Gabe story: On Friday, Gabe and Ben came up and we had dinner together and then took a wheel chair ride outside (bliss!). When we returned to my room, Gabe exclaimed in a loud voice, "Yuck, it smells like dog bones in here". Ben and I laughed so hard at this and even now, whenever I think about it, I laugh out loud. It does smell like dog bones....or something like that.
Well, guess I better go shower. Aside from visitors, its the highlight of my day.....well, that and the sherbet of course. Although, I think the sherbet is losing its luster a bit. One can only consume so much. Here's to hoping these last days go fast. I've already been here over two weeks, I'm not sure how much longer I can hold out.
I'm doing much better now. Thank you everyone who commented for your support, I really appreciate it! You guys are the best.
My roommate is fine, she pretty much keeps to herself. Her story is pretty sucky. At 25 weeks she went to another hospital because she had a little fever. I don't recall why, but they had to put in a catheter and instead of putting it in her urethra, they inserted it in her vagina and broke her water. Can you believe that? She's been in for three weeks now and hopes to make it to 34 weeks, but it is unlikely. The big risk with an early rupture is infection and she's been having low grade fevers and feeling lousy over the last few days. She's 28 weeks now and I wonder how much longer she will last.
She and I have talked a few times, joking about the nurses, doctors, residents, and the joys of hospital bed rest. I feel kinda bad because she is Arabic and a Muslim** and every time a male comes in the room (doctors, visitors, etc.) she has to cover her head and any additional exposed body part (except hands, feet, and face). Her husband is really sweet it seems, he is here often and will just sit in the chair and watch her sleep. He also steals the nurse's thermometer and takes her temperature constantly. Although yesterday he opened an emergency door and the most annoying alarms went off for 20 minutes straight.
All in all, aside from some differing opinions on what temperature the room should be (me: frigid....her: stifling) we are getting on OK. It certainly could be worse....she could be a yapper. That would drive me nuts. I'm not the most social person on the planet.
Sunday I had myself a little field trip. I spent the day back down in labor and delivery. Saturday night I was having some more mild contractions. They gave me a liter of IV fluids and monitored them until they died down a bit. Sunday morning during my normal monitoring I was having contraction after contraction about 3-5 minutes apart. On the monitor, you could see the intensity climb all the way up to the top of the grid. They didn't really hurt per se, but they were uncomfortable. They gave me another liter of IV fluids, but it didn't really change anything. Of course, that was a day Dr. Mo was on call so, to the shock of the nurses, he sent me down to L&D and threatened to start me on magnesium if they didn't stop by the afternoon. I was shocked by this as well. I could tell these contractions weren't going anywhere and I was told that after 34 weeks, they would not put me on mag because I was pretty much good to go at that point. But you know, it was Dr. Mo, so down I went. The nurses packed up all my stuff and I was moved. I spent the whole day on IV fluids and unable to move or even roll over due to the fetal monitors. I also wasn't allowed to eat or drink, which lasted for 22 hours and made me very sick. At about 8:30 they finally moved me and all my stuff back to antepartum. The contractions were still there but I wasn't really feeling them as much and they had spaced out. All in all, it wasn't very exciting.
Today I got the good word from Dr. G that they scheduled the lung amniocentesis for June 22 and if it comes back as mature then my c-section is scheduled for noon on June 23. Please, please, please, come back as mature! Otherwise I have to wait another full week. I'm so ready to have this baby.
**Dearborn, the city where the hospital is and also where I work and went to college, has the most concentrated population of Arabic people outside of the middle east. There are certainly more Arabic people than any other race. It is so common to hear Arabic languages and see women/girls with head coverings that no one even really notices anymore. With one exception, the perfume.....she has visitors in right now and the perfume is out of control. I must move by the window in order to breathe.
My rooommate is here now.
More shower chair crying ensued.
I think I should stop blogging at this point since I'm pretty much just sad and pathetic and I don't want to come across as ungrateful. But I'm not going to be able to just perk up at this point. I doubt anyone wants to read my depressing posts.
Ellie likes to stick her foot (feet?) in my left rib.
In turn, I take the heel of my hand and push it out.
She then gives my hand three hard peeved off kicks.
I can tell already, the teenage years are going to be fun.
