Turkey, little man and I took off for Denver the middle of December. We planned on staying 2 weeks. James had to work but was able to get Christmas off to fly down and be with us. My folks drove over and met us there to help me with the kids.
Little man and me were at the hospital from 7-7 everyday. We originally went down for allergy testing. After getting looked at and going everything they decided he needed to be seen by a neurologist, gastroenterologist, pulmonologist, immunologist, ENT and the allergist.
Little man was scoped on both ends and had a pH probe placed. When they scoped him the took biopsies to check for various things. The pH probe was placed through his nose and it went down into his stomach. It monitored the acid reflux and how often it happen. He had to keep the probe in his nose for 24 hours. In that 24 hour period he had over 70 reflux moments that went at least throat high. That was also while he was on massive doses of reflux medicine.
He had about every test under the sun done. He did a swallow study which showed he doesn't swallow right and is high risk for liquids to go into his lungs. They did a chest x-ray and found scarring from aspirating stomach acid and formula. They also found out he has asthma. He doesn't talk or make a whole lot of noise so they checked his vocal cords. That test was positive! His vocal cords work great and have no damage. He had an EEG done which came back normal, his seizures are still unexplained but that means he might be able to grow out of them. They did a emptying study to see how fast his stomach drains. On a liquid diet a baby his age should have about 1/2 their stomach drain in 60 minutes, little mans stomach drained by 1/2 in 182 minutes.
He has what is called delayed gastric emptying. He eats and his formula just sits in his stomach. He never cried when he was hungry so I always fed him every 3-4 hours and he always slept. He was rocking 5+ naps a day and sleeping through the night. His stomach was always full.
We went through skin testing for some allergies and even a few food challenges. When we left Denver he was approved to eat: sweet potatoes, white potatoes, carrots, apples, rice, peas, and pears.
After many meetings and tests we sat down with the GI doctor and the lung doctor. Because of the damage to little mans lungs something needed to be done. His GI doctor suggested a Nissen fundoplication and a G tube.
The Nissen is where the surgeon goes in and tightens the top of the stomach to help stop/reduce the reflux. Little mans stomach never really closed on the top. Then they would put in a G tube to help with gas and if he eats to much because of the delayed emptying. We decided it was the best choice and we did the surgery.
Everything went well with the surgery and he came home two days later. By this time we had been in Denver well over a month. In the months time we had found out so much about little mans health.
He has some protein issues that make it so he is unable to ate meats. He is a grain free vegan at this point in his life.
We have to go back this summer for more testing and follow ups. They will redo his biopsies to see if anything has changed. He will go do more allergy testing and hopefully be able to add more foods to his list!
Denver changed our lives and little mans quality of life. He is now up to 12 foods he can safely eat, he is able to play with other children, he has started saying mum and hi, he has been able to get rid of majority of his medications! He does have a feeding pump to help him get what he needs in calories everyday. After his surgery he has had some struggles with eating but we expected that.
Our lives are becoming more normal. He has become quite a monkey who likes to climb and attack Turkey. He thinks she is the best big sister a boy could ask for. Turkey has been through so much with little man being sick and she has been a trooper! She loves that my mom comes and spends time with her and I find time to sneak away for special dates.
I think I am caught up on all that has happened in the last 18 months of our lives.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
The bumps in our road
Once we brought little man home he was growing and doing awesome! We had been out 2 weeks when everything changed. I noticed his diapers were not normal and had bits of blood in them. I went from having an alert baby to a baby that was lethargic and non responsive. We rushed him up the the ER where they started IVs and ran tons of tests. His iron levels were extremely low and he was allergic to cows milk. I was breastfeeding him and he also had fortified bottles to add some extra calories. I stopped drinking and eating anything that had cows milk and we switch formulas. He spent several days in the NICU until his iron levels went up a little.
He was put on a hypoallergenic formula since he had issues with others. After we got out of the hospital again we spent 3 more weeks at my folks before we headed home. Our normal 2 day trip back to North Dakota took 3 days. Day 2 of our trip little mans oxygen monitor stopped working. Luckily we were able to find a place to get a new one. Traveling without a monitor is scary. Because of the altitude changes he needed more oxygen.
Once we made it home we had to get back into our routines and get Turkey back in school. I have some amazing friends up here. I had friends bring us dinners, some helped clean, some helped with Turkey, and some helped my sanity. A good friend of mine has a son who is a NICU baby. She would come over and just talk and help. I was still having some health issues and had appointments where I couldn't bring little man. She was always there to watch him for me.
Two weeks after being home we had another scare. It was a Friday afternoon and I took little man into the doctor because something wasn't right. The doctor thought he might just be getting a cold and to keep an eye on him. By Saturday morning he was completely limp, like scary limp. I rushed him to the ER where they did an emergency blood transfusion. His poor little body couldn't keep up with making enough blood. He had half what he should of had. We found out he had also started bleeding in his intestines and bowels. After many tests he was officially diagnosed with acid reflux/GERD and severe allergies. We found out he was allergic to milk, soy, and eggs. My breast milk was destroying my little man. I was eating only veggies and rice when I had to quit breastfeeding him. My health started to suffer because I wasn't able to eat much.
The doctors put him on a prescription elemental formula. After his blood transfusion he was taken off oxygen and started to grow. They did blood draws often to make sure his levels were staying up. He still struggles with his iron levels.
We spent lots of time in doctors offices. It was an exciting day if we made it a week without going to the ER or doctor. He was hospitalized for pneumonia in January. He went back on oxygen for a little while with that. It just seemed never ending.
He finally started to do well once spring came around. The end of April we introduced him to his first food, bananas. He seemed to like them at first.
The beginning of May came around and little man started having seizures. He would be hanging out playing on the floor and start to shake. Turkey noticed it one day while playing next to him. He had a seizure in my arms while I was feeding him one afternoon. After that the doctors started him on seizure medication to help control them.
After starting his new medicine we had to travel back to Utah for follow ups and to celebrate my Poppas 90th birthday. The kids went to their first baseball games and we had a great time with family. It was nice to get away from doctors.
We spent the summer visiting family and enjoying the gorgeous weather. After we had finished up our travels for the summer little man had surgery to put tubes in his ears. He has chronic ear infections and just couldn't kick it. It was amazing after the surgery to watch him. Before the surgery they did a hearing test and told me he might be deaf. We found out his ear drums worked but he just couldn't hear. A few days after his surgery we went to church, it was amazing to watch his face light up when he heard the piano for the first time. Every sound was new to him. It was amazing how much of a difference two little tubes made.
Little man started new foods and everything we tried ended badly. He started breaking out in hives, blisters, or rash every time he had foods. We stopped trying new foods and stuck to formula until we could get answers.
Turkey spent her summer doing summer camps and T-ball! She loved all the activities that our small town has during the summer. She would rather be outside playing then home.
In the fall Turkey started kindergarten. It was lonely at home, little man and me missed her. She loves school! She is in a private school and keeps pretty busy.
Little man spent most of the fall sick with one thing or another. Our doctors agreed he needed to be seen by specialist somewhere else. We got the call the week before Thanksgiving that we were headed to Denver.
He was put on a hypoallergenic formula since he had issues with others. After we got out of the hospital again we spent 3 more weeks at my folks before we headed home. Our normal 2 day trip back to North Dakota took 3 days. Day 2 of our trip little mans oxygen monitor stopped working. Luckily we were able to find a place to get a new one. Traveling without a monitor is scary. Because of the altitude changes he needed more oxygen.
Once we made it home we had to get back into our routines and get Turkey back in school. I have some amazing friends up here. I had friends bring us dinners, some helped clean, some helped with Turkey, and some helped my sanity. A good friend of mine has a son who is a NICU baby. She would come over and just talk and help. I was still having some health issues and had appointments where I couldn't bring little man. She was always there to watch him for me.
Two weeks after being home we had another scare. It was a Friday afternoon and I took little man into the doctor because something wasn't right. The doctor thought he might just be getting a cold and to keep an eye on him. By Saturday morning he was completely limp, like scary limp. I rushed him to the ER where they did an emergency blood transfusion. His poor little body couldn't keep up with making enough blood. He had half what he should of had. We found out he had also started bleeding in his intestines and bowels. After many tests he was officially diagnosed with acid reflux/GERD and severe allergies. We found out he was allergic to milk, soy, and eggs. My breast milk was destroying my little man. I was eating only veggies and rice when I had to quit breastfeeding him. My health started to suffer because I wasn't able to eat much.
The doctors put him on a prescription elemental formula. After his blood transfusion he was taken off oxygen and started to grow. They did blood draws often to make sure his levels were staying up. He still struggles with his iron levels.
We spent lots of time in doctors offices. It was an exciting day if we made it a week without going to the ER or doctor. He was hospitalized for pneumonia in January. He went back on oxygen for a little while with that. It just seemed never ending.
He finally started to do well once spring came around. The end of April we introduced him to his first food, bananas. He seemed to like them at first.
The beginning of May came around and little man started having seizures. He would be hanging out playing on the floor and start to shake. Turkey noticed it one day while playing next to him. He had a seizure in my arms while I was feeding him one afternoon. After that the doctors started him on seizure medication to help control them.
After starting his new medicine we had to travel back to Utah for follow ups and to celebrate my Poppas 90th birthday. The kids went to their first baseball games and we had a great time with family. It was nice to get away from doctors.
We spent the summer visiting family and enjoying the gorgeous weather. After we had finished up our travels for the summer little man had surgery to put tubes in his ears. He has chronic ear infections and just couldn't kick it. It was amazing after the surgery to watch him. Before the surgery they did a hearing test and told me he might be deaf. We found out his ear drums worked but he just couldn't hear. A few days after his surgery we went to church, it was amazing to watch his face light up when he heard the piano for the first time. Every sound was new to him. It was amazing how much of a difference two little tubes made.
Little man started new foods and everything we tried ended badly. He started breaking out in hives, blisters, or rash every time he had foods. We stopped trying new foods and stuck to formula until we could get answers.
Turkey spent her summer doing summer camps and T-ball! She loved all the activities that our small town has during the summer. She would rather be outside playing then home.
In the fall Turkey started kindergarten. It was lonely at home, little man and me missed her. She loves school! She is in a private school and keeps pretty busy.
Little man spent most of the fall sick with one thing or another. Our doctors agreed he needed to be seen by specialist somewhere else. We got the call the week before Thanksgiving that we were headed to Denver.
The long road that ended with the best miracle
I spent 4 weeks in the hospital on strict bed rest. I was only allowed to get out of bed to go to the restroom. It was one of the hardest thing I have had to do. My family would come down and visit me everyday and bring me a treat or a magazine to read. My sanity was tested daily. I think that if I didn't have the nurses that I did that I wouldn't have done so well. We referred to my room as more of a jail cell then a hospital room. After the first week one of my doctors decided that it would be best if I went for daily wheelchair rides and went outside once a week. My first visit outside was amazing. It made me appreciate the simple things in life. I loved how the sun felt on my legs and how great the fresh air smelled. I could have sat out in the sun for hours.
Every week I went to a Fetal Medicine appointment where they measured the amount of amniotic fluid I had and monitored the baby. Every day we would monitor the baby in the morning and the evening. I had my blood drawn damn near every morning. I found out how crappy my veins were. When they found a good vein they would take blood from it about 8 times before it would blow. My days were filled with doctors and nurses coming and going. Every morning the doctors would stop by and check on me. I had weekly visits from social work, dietitians, physical therapy, child and family life, and a few others that I can't remember at this time.
I felt so unprepared for everything. I hadn't been able to put together my babies nursery or get anything ready. There was a lot of unknown that I was facing. I had one social worker who understood this and made sure I was prepared for anything. I took tours of the NICU and saw babies that were perfectly healthy and were there to grow, I also saw babies that were not healthy and fighting to live. It was heart breaking at times. But it prepared me for things to come. I was able to see what a ventilator looked like, how the feeding tubes worked and how they did IVs on such tiny babies. My social worker would let me sit and talk to the babies and just take it in.
I went into labor several times a week. Sometimes I ended up in Labor & Delivery and other times I stayed in my room. It just depended on how my contractions went. I would make goals some times they were just to make it to tomorrow. I love the show Greys Anatomy, one of my goals was to make it to Thursday so I could watch it. Sometimes my goals were to make it until a certain nurse worked. It helped time go by.
My very best friend Kami would come visit me every week and bring lunch from different yummy places around town. A few times she got to hang out with me in L&D. I think she learned the hospital pretty well.
Closer to the end of my pregnancy I was done. I remember telling my doctor that I was done. My body hurt.
I knew it was time on Friday night. I started to feel horrible. By Saturday my stomach was sore to the point that I couldn't have a sheet on me or even my gown. I was miserable and knew something wasn't right. My nurse came in at one point and knew it was time. They did some blood work and my white count was raised. I had started to get an infection. They induced me at 3 am Sunday morning.
I waited until I was completely hooked up and we knew it was for real before calling James and my parents. James had to drive 13+ hours to get to me. My mom came down and was with me until James arrived that night.
Every contraction was horrific because of the pain I had in my stomach. Things were better after I got my epidural. I slept on and off all day. One thing I remember about that day was how we described James to the nurses. We let them know that my husband was on his way and was a panicked grizzly bear. When he finally arrived they didn't even question who he was!
My nurse the evening before I had my sweet boy was the same nurse that helped me the first night I was there. She remembered who I was.
My sweet boy was delivered the next morning at 10:18am. He weighed 4 lbs 15 oz and was 18 inches long.
He came out and made a little noise and was placed on my belly while James cut the cord. He was quickly taken away to be attended to by the NICU staff. He had to be resuscitated and then put on a ventilator to help him breath.
I was taken back to my room and James was shown to the NICU to be with our little boy. Our family came down to see us all afternoon. I wasn't able to go see my little boy until that night. It is a very hard thing to not be able to see your baby. Everyone had been able to see him but me. I struggled emotionally after having him. I just wanted to be with him. Once I was able to be in the NICU with him I spent my days there.
He had his ventilator for only 2 days! That was the best thing to come into see him and the ventilator be gone. He had his ups and downs in the weeks that he was in the NICU.
I stayed in the hospital for 2 weeks before moving to a guest house. I was incredibly hard for me to leave the hospital even just to go grab food. I also did not have very much strength. After spending a month in bed my muscles were gone and I wore out fast. It took everything out of me to walk from my room to the NICU. The first week, maybe longer, I walked with a wheelchair so I had somewhere to sit. Once I moved into the guest house I would walk over every morning and spend the entire day in the NICU. I only left when Turkey and my mom came to visit. I spent one night away at my folks house and cried the entire time.
For our little boy to come home he had to be able to eat every 3 hrs without struggling and without drops on his oxygen. He was a big fan of freaking us out, he would start eating then forget to breath. That was some of my scariest moments. I would be feeding him and look up and his stats dropping and he would go limp. Once he made it 7 days from the last apnea moment he could come home as long as he passed everything else.
The day they told me he might be coming home I had some massive panic attacks. Was I ready to bring home my tiny baby? What if something happened? The hospital was my bubble and safe zone. Leaving was scary.
My mom dropped Turkey off at school that morning and came down and we spent 3 hours shopping for everything we needed to bring him home. Everything I had for him was at my house 13+ hours away. We had to by a special car seat that was made for a baby that was small. The nurses were sweet and gave me a list of things we might need.
The day he came home was unreal. It felt like a dream. I dressed him in a super tiny three piece outfit. It was baby blue with a striped onesie and a baby blue jacket. We got him loaded into the car and never looked back.
We made it probably 15 minutes away when his oxygen levels tanked. My mom had to pull over and we made some adjustments and waited to see if we had to go back. That was the only time on that drive we had an issue.
Once we were at my moms the home health company met us there and set us up with 2 different machines and oxygen tanks.
He had weekly and sometimes twice a week appointments with the peds doctor to make sure he was growing and healthy.
He is my little fighter and miracle baby.
Every week I went to a Fetal Medicine appointment where they measured the amount of amniotic fluid I had and monitored the baby. Every day we would monitor the baby in the morning and the evening. I had my blood drawn damn near every morning. I found out how crappy my veins were. When they found a good vein they would take blood from it about 8 times before it would blow. My days were filled with doctors and nurses coming and going. Every morning the doctors would stop by and check on me. I had weekly visits from social work, dietitians, physical therapy, child and family life, and a few others that I can't remember at this time.
I felt so unprepared for everything. I hadn't been able to put together my babies nursery or get anything ready. There was a lot of unknown that I was facing. I had one social worker who understood this and made sure I was prepared for anything. I took tours of the NICU and saw babies that were perfectly healthy and were there to grow, I also saw babies that were not healthy and fighting to live. It was heart breaking at times. But it prepared me for things to come. I was able to see what a ventilator looked like, how the feeding tubes worked and how they did IVs on such tiny babies. My social worker would let me sit and talk to the babies and just take it in.
I went into labor several times a week. Sometimes I ended up in Labor & Delivery and other times I stayed in my room. It just depended on how my contractions went. I would make goals some times they were just to make it to tomorrow. I love the show Greys Anatomy, one of my goals was to make it to Thursday so I could watch it. Sometimes my goals were to make it until a certain nurse worked. It helped time go by.
My very best friend Kami would come visit me every week and bring lunch from different yummy places around town. A few times she got to hang out with me in L&D. I think she learned the hospital pretty well.
Closer to the end of my pregnancy I was done. I remember telling my doctor that I was done. My body hurt.
I knew it was time on Friday night. I started to feel horrible. By Saturday my stomach was sore to the point that I couldn't have a sheet on me or even my gown. I was miserable and knew something wasn't right. My nurse came in at one point and knew it was time. They did some blood work and my white count was raised. I had started to get an infection. They induced me at 3 am Sunday morning.
I waited until I was completely hooked up and we knew it was for real before calling James and my parents. James had to drive 13+ hours to get to me. My mom came down and was with me until James arrived that night.
Every contraction was horrific because of the pain I had in my stomach. Things were better after I got my epidural. I slept on and off all day. One thing I remember about that day was how we described James to the nurses. We let them know that my husband was on his way and was a panicked grizzly bear. When he finally arrived they didn't even question who he was!
My nurse the evening before I had my sweet boy was the same nurse that helped me the first night I was there. She remembered who I was.
My sweet boy was delivered the next morning at 10:18am. He weighed 4 lbs 15 oz and was 18 inches long.
He came out and made a little noise and was placed on my belly while James cut the cord. He was quickly taken away to be attended to by the NICU staff. He had to be resuscitated and then put on a ventilator to help him breath.
I was taken back to my room and James was shown to the NICU to be with our little boy. Our family came down to see us all afternoon. I wasn't able to go see my little boy until that night. It is a very hard thing to not be able to see your baby. Everyone had been able to see him but me. I struggled emotionally after having him. I just wanted to be with him. Once I was able to be in the NICU with him I spent my days there.
He had his ventilator for only 2 days! That was the best thing to come into see him and the ventilator be gone. He had his ups and downs in the weeks that he was in the NICU.
I stayed in the hospital for 2 weeks before moving to a guest house. I was incredibly hard for me to leave the hospital even just to go grab food. I also did not have very much strength. After spending a month in bed my muscles were gone and I wore out fast. It took everything out of me to walk from my room to the NICU. The first week, maybe longer, I walked with a wheelchair so I had somewhere to sit. Once I moved into the guest house I would walk over every morning and spend the entire day in the NICU. I only left when Turkey and my mom came to visit. I spent one night away at my folks house and cried the entire time.
For our little boy to come home he had to be able to eat every 3 hrs without struggling and without drops on his oxygen. He was a big fan of freaking us out, he would start eating then forget to breath. That was some of my scariest moments. I would be feeding him and look up and his stats dropping and he would go limp. Once he made it 7 days from the last apnea moment he could come home as long as he passed everything else.
The day they told me he might be coming home I had some massive panic attacks. Was I ready to bring home my tiny baby? What if something happened? The hospital was my bubble and safe zone. Leaving was scary.
My mom dropped Turkey off at school that morning and came down and we spent 3 hours shopping for everything we needed to bring him home. Everything I had for him was at my house 13+ hours away. We had to by a special car seat that was made for a baby that was small. The nurses were sweet and gave me a list of things we might need.
The day he came home was unreal. It felt like a dream. I dressed him in a super tiny three piece outfit. It was baby blue with a striped onesie and a baby blue jacket. We got him loaded into the car and never looked back.
We made it probably 15 minutes away when his oxygen levels tanked. My mom had to pull over and we made some adjustments and waited to see if we had to go back. That was the only time on that drive we had an issue.
Once we were at my moms the home health company met us there and set us up with 2 different machines and oxygen tanks.
He had weekly and sometimes twice a week appointments with the peds doctor to make sure he was growing and healthy.
He is my little fighter and miracle baby.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
The start of our world blowing up, Part Two
****This post contains medical terminology and grossness******
I left off on the last post with where I was waiting for my transfer. My dad has helped me with the time frame of everything. I went into surgery around 5 pm Friday night. My dad got the phone call that I was in labor at about 5 minutes to 7 pm. The ambulance came to get me from the hospital at round 9:30 pm. I had thought it was later at night. Like I said before time did not exist to me. Everything is still very fuzzy.
I remember the paramedics coming in to get me and move me to the ambulance. I was still having contractions and they were very kind to me and explained where we were going. This was my first time in an ambulance and we did lights and sirens and the whole deal. The one paramedic was in the back with me making sure my vitals stayed stable and nothing happened. He had told me he would have to at one point sit behind me in a seat to be buckled. He ended up holding my hand most of the way. He let me squeeze his hand through contractions and talked to me in between contractions to keep my mind off of things. I have odd little memories of the transfer. I remember hitting bumps in the road, I remember the kindness of the paramedics, I remember hearing the sirens. I don't know how long it took us to get here. When we pulled up to the hospital we hit some bumps and the paramedic said to me " I promise those are the last bumps" I remember laughing and telling him we were gonna hit more just to spite. They unloaded me out of the ambulance and going into the hospital we hit a few more bumps. I made a comment about the bumps and I remember the paramedics laughing a little.
I don't remember anything after that until I was in Labor & Delivery hooked up to monitors. I was having huge gushed of water and incredible horrible contractions. My catheter was bothering that they had put in surgery and I was assured it was just pain from the surgery. A nurse finally checked the catheter and found that it was a latex catheter. I am allergic to latex, it makes me have blisters and it sucks. Once they realized that the catheter was latex they took it out. It had been in me for at least 3 hours by that point. It was an amazing difference to have it out. After a little while they had to put in a new catheter and I think every nurse in the room double checked it to make sure it was latex free. The latex had done more damage to my bladder. It had made my bladder raw on the inside and incredibly painful. I lost majority of my function and control of my bladder. There was no option of not having a catheter.
My dad drove to the hospital to be with me. It took him a little while to get down to me. Once he arrived the doctors had started figuring out a game plan. Since my water had broken they couldn't do anything to stop the contractions. It ended up being a bit of a waiting game. They were able to give me something for the pain and I fell asleep. I woke up several times through the night with contractions but was able to get some sleep.
Saturday morning I woke up and my dad wasn't in the room and I panicked. The nurse was there and explained my dad had just got down to get some breakfast. I was still very scared and nervous and not sure what was going on. My dad was very positive when he came back up to my room. He wasn't gone very long. If anyone knows my dad they know he always looks on the bright side of things and has a very positive attitude. Once he returned we started the long day of meetings with doctors. We met with the NICU doctor and discussed what was going to happen if I delivered now. We discussed everything from worse case scenario to best case. Every day that baby stays inside me the better we are. If I get an infection then they will induce me and I will have the baby same day. With having my water broken baby is vulnerable, he can get infection easy. Once he is born we will bring in donated breast milk from Denver to make sure he is getting all the nutrition he can until my milk comes in. I have always believed in donating breast milk for those who aren't able to breast feed. I am very very thankful for the women who donate their milk.
We also met with the new ob/gyn who is looking after me and talked about how long I am going to stay pregnant. Our goal is 32-34 weeks. They gave me steroid shots to help develop babies lungs in case he decided to come earlier then that. They started me on antibiotics to make sure I had no infections. After all of our meetings with doctors they transferred me out of Labor & Delivery and over to the Mom/Baby unit.
I left off on the last post with where I was waiting for my transfer. My dad has helped me with the time frame of everything. I went into surgery around 5 pm Friday night. My dad got the phone call that I was in labor at about 5 minutes to 7 pm. The ambulance came to get me from the hospital at round 9:30 pm. I had thought it was later at night. Like I said before time did not exist to me. Everything is still very fuzzy.
I remember the paramedics coming in to get me and move me to the ambulance. I was still having contractions and they were very kind to me and explained where we were going. This was my first time in an ambulance and we did lights and sirens and the whole deal. The one paramedic was in the back with me making sure my vitals stayed stable and nothing happened. He had told me he would have to at one point sit behind me in a seat to be buckled. He ended up holding my hand most of the way. He let me squeeze his hand through contractions and talked to me in between contractions to keep my mind off of things. I have odd little memories of the transfer. I remember hitting bumps in the road, I remember the kindness of the paramedics, I remember hearing the sirens. I don't know how long it took us to get here. When we pulled up to the hospital we hit some bumps and the paramedic said to me " I promise those are the last bumps" I remember laughing and telling him we were gonna hit more just to spite. They unloaded me out of the ambulance and going into the hospital we hit a few more bumps. I made a comment about the bumps and I remember the paramedics laughing a little.
I don't remember anything after that until I was in Labor & Delivery hooked up to monitors. I was having huge gushed of water and incredible horrible contractions. My catheter was bothering that they had put in surgery and I was assured it was just pain from the surgery. A nurse finally checked the catheter and found that it was a latex catheter. I am allergic to latex, it makes me have blisters and it sucks. Once they realized that the catheter was latex they took it out. It had been in me for at least 3 hours by that point. It was an amazing difference to have it out. After a little while they had to put in a new catheter and I think every nurse in the room double checked it to make sure it was latex free. The latex had done more damage to my bladder. It had made my bladder raw on the inside and incredibly painful. I lost majority of my function and control of my bladder. There was no option of not having a catheter.
My dad drove to the hospital to be with me. It took him a little while to get down to me. Once he arrived the doctors had started figuring out a game plan. Since my water had broken they couldn't do anything to stop the contractions. It ended up being a bit of a waiting game. They were able to give me something for the pain and I fell asleep. I woke up several times through the night with contractions but was able to get some sleep.
Saturday morning I woke up and my dad wasn't in the room and I panicked. The nurse was there and explained my dad had just got down to get some breakfast. I was still very scared and nervous and not sure what was going on. My dad was very positive when he came back up to my room. He wasn't gone very long. If anyone knows my dad they know he always looks on the bright side of things and has a very positive attitude. Once he returned we started the long day of meetings with doctors. We met with the NICU doctor and discussed what was going to happen if I delivered now. We discussed everything from worse case scenario to best case. Every day that baby stays inside me the better we are. If I get an infection then they will induce me and I will have the baby same day. With having my water broken baby is vulnerable, he can get infection easy. Once he is born we will bring in donated breast milk from Denver to make sure he is getting all the nutrition he can until my milk comes in. I have always believed in donating breast milk for those who aren't able to breast feed. I am very very thankful for the women who donate their milk.
We also met with the new ob/gyn who is looking after me and talked about how long I am going to stay pregnant. Our goal is 32-34 weeks. They gave me steroid shots to help develop babies lungs in case he decided to come earlier then that. They started me on antibiotics to make sure I had no infections. After all of our meetings with doctors they transferred me out of Labor & Delivery and over to the Mom/Baby unit.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
The start of our world blowing up, Part One
****This contains some medical terminology and grossness!
(When I talk about Turkey I am talking about my daughter)
****
I have not had the easiest pregnancy. My first trimester I was so sick and food and smells made my stomach turn inside out. Once I hit about 13 weeks life got a little easier and I got hungry! I was on bed rest on and off from 7 weeks on. It seemed that once I finally felt better I would get sick again. At 20 weeks we found out we were having a baby boy! We could not be more thrilled to be having a boy. I started having kidney problems the end of July. I ended up going to a urologist to get an ultrasound of my kidneys. They found that my right kidney was full of stones. I spent the next week or so in horrible pain passing this loving bunch of coconuts, well that is at least what it felt like I was passing. After I got them all passed I still had some horrible pain. They ended up doing a dye test to test my kidney function. It came back saying that my baby was blocking off my kidneys. I learned how to do stretches and some yoga type positions to move baby off my kidneys. This all is happening the week before I am suppose to go to Utah for a vacation. Once I got the okay to travel Turkey and I jumped on a plane and flew to Utah. By the time we had gotten there I was having more issues. My throat had swelled and so did my mouth. I ended up having about 200-300 canker sores in my mouth. My lips swelled huge, my glands in my throat looked like golf balls, my whole mouth was a wreck. I ended up going to the dentist to see if he could offer some relief. I was able to get a numbing mouth rinse that made it so I could at least drink a Boost to get some nutrition. I was very thankful of my parents for helping take care of Turkey while I was so sick. After almost a week my mouth was getting better and I was able to eat. I was able to feel better in time to go on a trip to Portland for some adventures and to spread my cousin Floyd's ashes. We got back from Portland and spent a few in Utah before we flew back to North Dakota. We arrived in North Dakota on a Friday night. It was so nice to be home and around James! We hadn't seen him in 3 weeks. That is a long time to be away from home. I was exhausted all weekend from traveling and Monday came around and I wasn't feeling the best. I figured I could tough it out because I had an appointment the next day. Well I am a wuss. My dinner time I was hurting really bad in my back and kidneys. I ended up going to Labor and Delivery and they admitted me Monday night. Tuesday morning they did a renal ultrasound to check my kidneys for stones. The ultrasound showed no stones but that my kidneys were blocked again and swelling. My doctor suggested that it would be a good idea for me to get stints in my kidneys so the fluid would drain and hopefully fix the problem. Since the urologist we had in town had fallen ill and had a major back surgery he would be no help to me. My doctor told me to find a good hospital and get admitted so they would do the surgery. James and me talked it over and decided that coming back to Utah would be the best choice since I have an ob/gyn here and we have family here to help with Turkey while I recovered from surgery.
Turkey and I jumped on a plane Wednesday at 5 am and made it to Utah by 9 am. My mom picked us up from the airport and we drove straight to the hospital in Logan and I got admitted. We met with the urologist who wanted to give me a few days before we did anything. By the time I got admitted into the hospital my bladder had stopped working. So not only was my kidneys swollen my bladder wouldn't drain. They ended up having to put a catheter in. My bladder was holding twice its capacity. I got transferred from the ER to Labor & Delivery to Mother/Baby.
Thursday I was still hurting really bad and was showing no signs of improvement. I took a nap that afternoon and woke up cramping and I was sure my water had broke. We ran some tests and I was assured that everything was fine. Thursday evening was long and I didn't feel the best.
Friday they decided to do the surgery and put the stints in both kidneys since nothing had improved. Before surgery Turkey and my mom took me for a walk and I felt something go down my leg. I had forgotten about it because I was taken to surgery shortly after. I went in and they put the stints in. I woke in recovery the most awake I have ever been coming out of surgery. I was very aware of what was going on. I was in labor. I was having contractions and was having gushes of fluid. I freaked out! I was 27 weeks 6 days, I couldn't have my baby yet. The nurse thought I was just being out of control from the surgery. She realized after a little bit that guess what I was really having contractions. I got rushed to Labor & Delivery. They ran tests to make sure that my water had actually broken. They determined that my water had broke Thursday sometime. They got a doctor in there to check me and I had not dilated. I was having contractions about 5 minutes about. I don't remember a lot of what happened. I remember there was one nurse who really helped me focus and get through a lot of the pain. And who stayed with me through everything. My sense of time is non existent. I have no idea how long I was in Labor & Delivery. They called the ambulance to transfer me to hospital that has one of the best NICUs in the US. I will write about my transfer and what has happened since in another post. I am tired and going to bed.
(When I talk about Turkey I am talking about my daughter)
****
I have not had the easiest pregnancy. My first trimester I was so sick and food and smells made my stomach turn inside out. Once I hit about 13 weeks life got a little easier and I got hungry! I was on bed rest on and off from 7 weeks on. It seemed that once I finally felt better I would get sick again. At 20 weeks we found out we were having a baby boy! We could not be more thrilled to be having a boy. I started having kidney problems the end of July. I ended up going to a urologist to get an ultrasound of my kidneys. They found that my right kidney was full of stones. I spent the next week or so in horrible pain passing this loving bunch of coconuts, well that is at least what it felt like I was passing. After I got them all passed I still had some horrible pain. They ended up doing a dye test to test my kidney function. It came back saying that my baby was blocking off my kidneys. I learned how to do stretches and some yoga type positions to move baby off my kidneys. This all is happening the week before I am suppose to go to Utah for a vacation. Once I got the okay to travel Turkey and I jumped on a plane and flew to Utah. By the time we had gotten there I was having more issues. My throat had swelled and so did my mouth. I ended up having about 200-300 canker sores in my mouth. My lips swelled huge, my glands in my throat looked like golf balls, my whole mouth was a wreck. I ended up going to the dentist to see if he could offer some relief. I was able to get a numbing mouth rinse that made it so I could at least drink a Boost to get some nutrition. I was very thankful of my parents for helping take care of Turkey while I was so sick. After almost a week my mouth was getting better and I was able to eat. I was able to feel better in time to go on a trip to Portland for some adventures and to spread my cousin Floyd's ashes. We got back from Portland and spent a few in Utah before we flew back to North Dakota. We arrived in North Dakota on a Friday night. It was so nice to be home and around James! We hadn't seen him in 3 weeks. That is a long time to be away from home. I was exhausted all weekend from traveling and Monday came around and I wasn't feeling the best. I figured I could tough it out because I had an appointment the next day. Well I am a wuss. My dinner time I was hurting really bad in my back and kidneys. I ended up going to Labor and Delivery and they admitted me Monday night. Tuesday morning they did a renal ultrasound to check my kidneys for stones. The ultrasound showed no stones but that my kidneys were blocked again and swelling. My doctor suggested that it would be a good idea for me to get stints in my kidneys so the fluid would drain and hopefully fix the problem. Since the urologist we had in town had fallen ill and had a major back surgery he would be no help to me. My doctor told me to find a good hospital and get admitted so they would do the surgery. James and me talked it over and decided that coming back to Utah would be the best choice since I have an ob/gyn here and we have family here to help with Turkey while I recovered from surgery.
Turkey and I jumped on a plane Wednesday at 5 am and made it to Utah by 9 am. My mom picked us up from the airport and we drove straight to the hospital in Logan and I got admitted. We met with the urologist who wanted to give me a few days before we did anything. By the time I got admitted into the hospital my bladder had stopped working. So not only was my kidneys swollen my bladder wouldn't drain. They ended up having to put a catheter in. My bladder was holding twice its capacity. I got transferred from the ER to Labor & Delivery to Mother/Baby.
Thursday I was still hurting really bad and was showing no signs of improvement. I took a nap that afternoon and woke up cramping and I was sure my water had broke. We ran some tests and I was assured that everything was fine. Thursday evening was long and I didn't feel the best.
Friday they decided to do the surgery and put the stints in both kidneys since nothing had improved. Before surgery Turkey and my mom took me for a walk and I felt something go down my leg. I had forgotten about it because I was taken to surgery shortly after. I went in and they put the stints in. I woke in recovery the most awake I have ever been coming out of surgery. I was very aware of what was going on. I was in labor. I was having contractions and was having gushes of fluid. I freaked out! I was 27 weeks 6 days, I couldn't have my baby yet. The nurse thought I was just being out of control from the surgery. She realized after a little bit that guess what I was really having contractions. I got rushed to Labor & Delivery. They ran tests to make sure that my water had actually broken. They determined that my water had broke Thursday sometime. They got a doctor in there to check me and I had not dilated. I was having contractions about 5 minutes about. I don't remember a lot of what happened. I remember there was one nurse who really helped me focus and get through a lot of the pain. And who stayed with me through everything. My sense of time is non existent. I have no idea how long I was in Labor & Delivery. They called the ambulance to transfer me to hospital that has one of the best NICUs in the US. I will write about my transfer and what has happened since in another post. I am tired and going to bed.
Monday, May 16, 2011
I want Rhubarb!!!
This is the time of year for making strawberry rhubarb crisp or pie or really anything with strawberries and rhubarb. A friend of mine had posted this weekend she was making a strawberry rhubarb pie. It sounded so good to me. I decided that today I was gonna make a strawberry rhubarb crisp. I called my mom and got her yummy and super easy recipe. I went to the grocery store and they didn't have any rhubarb. They had gorgeous strawberries so I bought 2 pounds of them. Turkey barely made it out of the store before attacking me for strawberries. I called all of the grocery stores in town and none of them had rhubarb. It gets frustrating when you wanna cook something or you are craving something and you can't find it. I ended up just making a strawberry crisp and it was super yummy! I am gonna have to save some for breakfast tomorrow. It was good incentive to eat dinner.
The last few days James has been off in the afternoons. It has been so nice to have him home. I have been super exhausted lately so I have been able to take a nap in the afternoons that James is home. Turkey has been loving having daddy home. The other day they washed the work truck together, cleaned the garage out and all sorts of fun things. Yesterday I took a really long nap, when I woke up they were in the backyard building a sandbox. It was the cutest thing to see. Turkey was wearing a leotard and a sparkly purple skirt and was helping James measure the wood to cut. The sandbox is about 5 feet square. They did a great job building it. James got out paint to paint the sandbox white. Turkey really wanted to help so he figured sure why not. I got her some clothes that didn't matter if paint got on them. I should have worried about other things then her clothes. She came in the house and her hands were covered in white paint. Her whole hands down to her wrists were covered in it! I got her on a chair and started to scrub her hands with soap and water. Oye ve! The paint did not come off. I now have little white finger prints all over my kitchen. My kitchen chairs have black backs, well had black backs. One of them is spotted with white. I kicked her back out side in hopes the paint would dry or it would magically come off. James had something to get the sticky part of the paint off her hands. She still has cute little white hands.
Not only did they build a sandbox they also mowed the lawn and installed a new screen door on our front door. They were super busy!
I don't think I ever posted what I got for Mother's Day. James got me an automatic garage door opener. If James takes the Jeep to work then my car is held hostage in the garage because I can't open the garage door because it is too heavy. James would open the garage before he would go to work but then I couldn't get it closed and we worried about people stealing our stuff. I am very excited about my new garage door opener. I just wanna go push the button to get it to open. I am easily pleased with the simple things in life. I am now 12 weeks pregnant. They tell me I will start feeling better in the next week or so. I don't really believe them that it will all be better but I have been feeling a little bit better. I can eat and food sounds good lately. I am kinda forced to eat food all day now. My blood sugar has been low so if I don't eat then I get dizzy. I still have some morning sickness but not as bad. I am getting excited for my next appointment we are hopefully going to find out what we are having. Hopefully we will find out if its a boy or girl before we go to the lake in July. It would be exciting to be able to tell my family when we are there. Turkey is getting more and more excited about being a big sister. She is constantly talking to my belly and giving my belly kisses. She is gonna be the best big sister and a great helper. I don't have a belly picture from this week maybe next.
Monday, May 9, 2011
The Blizzard of 2011
It all started on April 29th with a down pour of rain. We all went to bed with the sound of rain outside. At around 4:30 in the morning I woke up to the wind whipping outside and realized the power was out. Turkey woke up around 5 am because of the wind making the tree in our backyard hit her window and her night lights being out. She climbed into bed with us. After asking a million questions about why I couldn't make the power turn back on, why I couldn't make the wind stop, and every other why question she could come up with James decided she needed to go back to her own bed. He carried her in and I went to look out her window. James got Turkey into bed after tons of tears then joined me at the window. The tree is technically in the neighbors yard and a little ways from the house. The wind was blowing so hard it was hitting her window. James picked Turkey back out of bed and decided she was sleeping with us. It was kind of scary how hard the wind was blowing. I am pretty sure James went back to sleep I however did not. I was convinced we were going to have a tornado hit the house and we were gonna die. We have an AC unit in our bedroom and it was shaking with the wind, I was waiting for it to get ripped out. I am kind of a sissy lala when it comes to bad storms.
The alarms went off on our phones at 6 am and James called his boss man who said not to come in it was to dangerous to get there and there was no power and that he would be in touch. We all went back to bed. After awhile we went to look out the window and everything was white, we couldn't even see out the windows. We went downstairs and opened the door and there was a snow drift halfway up the door. Every time anyone open the door the wind would blow tons of snow into the house. Our windows were packed with snow so we would bang on them to get the snow to fall off so we could see. Not being able to look out the windows adds some panic to the situation. Everyone in our house slept and was lazy for most of the day. We kept taking turns with our neighbor to shovel out our doors in case we needed to get out of our house. James brought the grill through the house and put it in the garage so we could cook food. James grilled hot dogs, boiled water for Ramen noodles, grilled cheese sandwiches, heated up left over Chinese food and all sorts of things for lunch and dinner. I am very glad I brought our grill up here with me. James went for an adventure in the afternoon to see what was going on and if anyone had power. He made it all the way around town and got stuck down the street from our house. Turkey and me were in need of a bath so we figured we might as well take advantage of the hot water left in the water heater. I have constantly bitched that our water is way to hot, I officially take that back. We still had boiling hot water! We took baths by flashlight! I told James that was probably the most relaxing bath I have ever taken.
Sunday morning when we woke up the storm had stopped and it was beautiful outside. We checked on our neighbors and found one of our neighbors a few house town was completely snowed in. She had snow drifts covering her front door and we found out once the boys got her dug out that both her doors were snow packed and she had been trapped inside. Once every ones doors were dug out, we started on breakfast. I had some pancake mix and found some bacon in the fridge that needed to be cooked. My grandfather had given me the coolest crepe pan when I went home in April. It is one of those great pans that is solid metal and really old but great quality. We used it on the grill to cook the pancakes and the bacon. We shared some with the neighbors who didn't have any food to eat. No one was prepared for this storm. The weather had said rain and a possibility of 1-3 inches of snow. No one expected this blizzard. James built Turkey a penguin slide from the huge snow drift in our front yard. We made stairs up to it so she could go on it all by herself. It was great fun. We had a converter that hooks up to the car battery and you can plug in stuff. We were able to charge our phones and the computer. After everything was charged we checked our messages. I had messages about places that were open and updates on the electricity. The power lines that brought in power for the whole city were snapped in half by the storm and there was no estimated time that the power would be back on. A lot of our neighbors took off to Montana, we decided that it was a waste of money. We decided after awhile playing outside that we were gonna go see the damage in town and try and get gas. We were shocked with how much snow there was and how many trees were turned over and fences that had been blown away. We ended up going down to the river to go fishing with my cousin. There was no snow by the river. It was seriously only us who was hit by this freak blizzard. After a while by the river we decided be better go get gas before they run out. We waited in line for about an hour to get gas. Turkey and me went inside to go potty and get some food while we waited. The gas station was serving hot food! We got some chicken strips and pizza. I think it was the best pizza I have ever eaten! The shelves were bare in the store. People were buying whatever they could get. After getting gas we took off into town to see what supplies we could get. We had noticed that one of the grocery stores was open but had heard there was 6 hour wait to get in the door. We pulled in and the line was maybe 5 people long. They were only letting one person per household in, you could only get 10 items and they had to be non-perishables. Since I can not carry that much James went in and Turkey and me sat in the car. James came out with bread, tuna, mayo, chips, and a few other things. He said it reminded him of those zombie movies where the world is ending and people are running around the store in the dark grabbing whatever they can. He said there was a sense of panic in the store. After we left there we went on a search for more propane. A gas station on the north end of town was open so we were gonna head there. As we were pulling in we noticed Walmart was open. We were able to get a propane tank there. It was an interesting day. As we were driving home we noticed that someone had broken out the window at the gas station down the street from our house. I am very surprised not more places were broken into. Some people were very freaked out by the storm and not having power. We just acted like we were camping.
When I was home I got some shelf stable milk from the cheese factory! It was fantastic for Turkey to be able to have milk since we couldn't buy any! I ended up talking to a neighbor who didn't have any milk for her kids so we traded a bag of milk boxes for some meat. We ended up making steak and fettuccine alfredo for dinner that night. Our neighbor right next store had only been eating little bits of food all day so we made him up a plate and shared. We believe in helping out our neighbors and sharing!
We ran an extension cord from the car to the house so we could have a lamp after the sun set. Once we put Turkey to bed we all sat down and played some cards and had a great time. Sunday night was a lot colder then Saturday. There was a lot of moisture in the air. Monday morning James had to go to work. The oil field doesn't ever stop. It was nice to have him home for those two days. He left for work early then called me from Walmart because the guys had stopped there and he wanted us to come so he could help us get some supplies. We spent the rest of the day outside and Turkey played in the snow. For dinner we made tin foil dinners! It was perfect because I have been craving them! When James got home he had to take a shower. My poor husband. He took an ice cold shower. I am surprised he didn't come out of there blue! After dinner we all curled up on the couch and watched a movie on the computer. James and me went into the kitchen and was just looking out the window chatting when we realized the neighbors a block up had power. We had original heard we wouldn't have power until Wednesday at the soonest some people said we wouldn't have it for another week. We were very excited once our power popped on. The neighbors a block up went out once ours came on. We had power surges for the next few hours but we had power! Turkey looked up from where she was laying on the couch and all she could say was "Whoa" it was pretty funny. James kicked himself later for not waiting to shower. It was quite the adventure and a weekend we will probably always remember. By Thursday we had no more snow and were playing at the park in 60 degree weather. Go figure! There is lakes of water everywhere and things are finally turning green.
Here are the photos from the weekend:
The boys getting ready to grill!
The essentials for making sandwiches
The snow that was building up at our front door
Our snow drift :)
Turkey checking out the snow piled at the front door
Snow covered streets. This was taken Sunday afternoon when the snow was melting
Some of the neighbors snow drifts. They ended up digging a tunnel to get to their front door
The snow drift that was blocking one of the roads to our house. It was a lot higher before the sun melted it. It was crazy!
Turkey playing in the snow drifts
Turkey playing with the worms for fishing
James playing in the dirt (notice no snow)
Turkey was very proud of her worms
Bruce and Turkey best buddies!
Playing with the worms!
The tunnel of snow we had to drive through to get home. A tractor had to come dig out the road because the drifts were so high and the snow was so heavy.
Turkey and Bruce with the fish he caught
Turkey freaking out cause the fish moved
Bruce showing Turkey how to clean a fish
She was very interested in learning all about it!
"Is that blood?"
Moms a dang good cook on the grill! I made ravioli and pancakes for lunch.
I am ready to go camping this summer!
My pancakes and a pot filled with snow so I could clean it out
Dinner! Tin foil dinners and corn!
Those look like bushes in front of that house but no those are trees that once stood tall. They were ripped out of the ground from the storm. There are tons all over town.
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