from birth to coming home
pregnancy
and "marcus at home" journal here
**Scroll Down For Updates & Pictures**
March 31
My pregnancy was
going along just fine... no puking, no real swelling, no weird stuff, no
nothing. I never missed a day of work and I always felt great.
One morning (March 8) I woke up and my ankles were super swollen.
They were never like that in the morning, and I had been doing a lot of
reading on everything prego-related and I recognized this as a possible
symptom of preeclampsia (also called toxemia). I decided to check
my blood pressure on the way to work at the grocery store... sure enough,
my readings were through the roof. I knew I was at risk for stroke
and seizures with blood pressure like that, so I called my doctor and they
had me come in and put me on bed rest while setting up an appointment with
a high risk pregnancy specialist at the birthing center where I was going
to deliver.
I went in to see the specialist on Thursday, March 14 to test me for preeclampsia. I had an appointment for 9:00 AM, after that I was going to go pick up a bassinet, go home and do some laundry and pack my "going to the hospital" bag and get ready for when I went into labor. I was due on April 16. After 3 hours of testing, extensive sonograms and blood work... the doctor would not let me leave the hospital. They admitted me immediately for further observation and ended up inducing me the next night (March 15)... My blood pressure readings were so high that along with the risk for seizures and stroke, the placenta was beginning to break down and was becoming a hostile environment for the baby.
Our little man was born (28 hours after inducing) at 11:44 PM on March 16 and weighed a good 5 lb. 10 oz... not bad for a preemie. We named him Marcus Alexander. He's a sweet little angel... unfortunately, his lungs had not developed fully and he went straight into the Baby ICU. I didn't get to hold him until almost a week later... it was hard seeing him lay there with tubes down his throat, needles, probes, and all kinds of things hooked up to him, but he's in the best possible place he can be.
My blood pressure readings were still so high after having him, they did not release me from the hospital until March 22 - 9 days after my first appointment with the high risk pregnancy specialist. They put me on 2 different blood pressure medications in order to keep it under control. The preeclampsia causing the high blood pressure should be completely out of my system sometime near the end of April.
It's been a scary ride... on Wednesday, March 20, one of Marcus' Neonatolgists came into my room and told me that Marcus was working his under-developed lungs so hard, he ripped a hole in each of them, and they had collapsed. They were putting a tube in his chest to drain fluids that had built up in the lining of his lungs, and then they put him on a ventilator and injected a drug to help the elasticity in his lungs. He's improved dramatically since then. On top of everything else, he was jaundiced, but that was the least of his worries.
He is now off the ventilator and they took the chest tube out after his lung x-rays were clear. They started him on feedings so he would learn how to suck, swallow & breathe at the same time and he wasn't taking too well to a bottle, but he was processing all his food very well and gaining weight. The nurses called him "Little Fatso" because he gained 2 ounces over night on one of their shifts. Whatever he didn't eat by mouth was administered through a feeding tube which didn't seem to bother him at all.
On March 30, I got a call from the doctor... Marcus was running a fever and they were going to test him for a possible infection. They had to stop all his feedings, set him up with a new IV and started him on antibiotics. Blood test results should come back April 1 & 2 to see if there is an infection. If there is, they will have to treat it for the next 10-14 days. Two steps forward, one step back... that's the way this whole ordeal has been going with him, but they say that's typical for preemies.
So in a nutshell... I went in for some routine tests one day... I left my TV on and decided to finish cleaning the kitchen after my doctor's appointment and a little shopping. Well, THAT didn't happen! All I took with me was my purse and the clothes on my back. I had no "going to the hospital" bag packed and was totally NOT prepared for all this. I was induced, gave birth, continued to be hospitalized almost a week after giving birth, then I was sent home without our baby. We now visit him in the ICU several times a day.
Brian has been there every step of the way. He was very familiar with this situation since he went through something similar with his son 5 years ago, so he wasn't in the state of shock I was in and could deal with things with a clear mind. I, on the other hand was so pumped with drugs and emotions, I was a basket case. He also understood everything the doctors were talking about and doing to Marcus and was able to explain everything to me and help keep me focused. I wouldn't have made it this far without him...
Updates to follow. We can't wait to bring him home.
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UPDATES
April 1
Day 16 in the I.C.U.
The 48 hour test results came back today... everything looked great. Tomorrow, the last test results for the infection come in. Regardless, he will be on a 7 day antibiotic treatment which started on Saturday, March 30.
He is doing much better today. He's back on feedings, gradually working his way back up to where he was before the infection scare. I bottle fed him this evening, and he's starting to get the suck-swallow-breathe coordination down, he's just a little slow at it right now. He did a pretty good job... he even gained a little weight today.
April 2
It looks like things
are on the up-swing again. Marcus has been taking to the bottle much
better now and is eating more efficiently. The doctor said that if
he can get up to where he needs to be eating, he should be able to go home
when his 7 day course of antibiotics is completed (that would be Saturday).
They also said that the results from the lab work on his old IV line from his belly button tested positive for bacterial growth which is what made him sick the other day, but his blood work still is not showing signs of the bacteria. That's a good thing, but they want to still treat him with antibiotics to prevent the bacteria from showing up down the road after he is home. That's fine by me!
April 3
Feedings are progressing
along nicely. He's just short of the 2 ounce minimum. The feeding
tube came out this morning, but was in when we went to see him in the evening.
They said they put it in because he wasn't finishing his feeding, but as
soon as they got it in he guzzled the rest of his bottle. He's starting
to look and act like a normal baby now.
April 6
Marcus is definitely
not coming home today. He has been digesting his 2 ounce minimum
consistently like he's supposed to, but he's still not taking it all by
mouth. Sometimes he'll guzzle almost all of it, and the next time
he'll take 4 or 5 gulps and he tires out. They have to keep giving
him a "direct deposit" through the food tube in order to get it all in.
This is a problem. He's got be taking it all in by mouth before they'll
let him go. They're going to start alternating bottle and food tube
feedings for the next 24 hours which they say will give his jaw muscles
a longer rest between feedings. In their experience, by doing this
alternate feeding, something should *click* and the bottle feedings should
be easier for the baby to finish after 24 hours of this sort of therapy.
On a more positive note, he should be completing his course of antibiotics tonight which means they will take the Picc Line out of his head. They want to observe him for a minimum of 24 hours without antibiotics to be sure there is no danger of the infection reoccurring.
April 7
The alternating
feeding therapy seems to be working. Marcus took just less than 3
ounces all by mouth tonight. That's his record. Before tonight,
he would typically only eat about a half ounce per feeding. Tomorrow
they will adjust the bottle frequency to two feedings by bottle then one
by "direct deposit." I think he's really getting the hang of it...
he ripped his feeding tube out twice before noon today. Maybe he's
trying to tell them something!
April 9
Big day today.
Marcus passed his hearing test, car seat / repiratory test, and was circumcized
all in one afternoon. In spite of all the action, he still managed
to eat consistantly like a pig and burp louder than either of the other
two babies in the ICU.
Aside from all that, the doctor said that Marcus can come home tomorrow. :D
April 10
Marcus is home finally
after 25 days in the I.C.U.
*whew*
PICTURES
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