Hello World! Here I Am!! (Week of 5/11/08)

Wow, what a crazy, fast-paced week Mom and I had! My Nana came on Monday, 5/12, to help my Dad by taking Mom and me to my MD appointments (remember, Mom is on bedrest and not allowed to drive) since there were going to be 3/week and they last anywhere from 2-3 hrs/each. So, Monday evening, we all took a tour of the Providence Everett Medical Center Pavilion for Women and Children, where I was going to be born. The birthing suites were very nice and new, with wood floors and your own bath/shower. The rooms on the west side of the building had beautiful views of the Puget Sound, the port in Everett and evergreen trees.

On Tuesday, Nana took us to my ultrasound to measure the growth of my head, belly, arms and legs. Apparently, I had been working really hard to keep things in balance and my belly had shrunk to way below average and I was sending all my blood to my brain. The MD told my Mom we would be admitted to the hospital right then for 48 hr monitoring. Later that day, the NICU MD visited Mom and said she needed to get a series of steriod shots for my lungs and respiratory system to develop as I would likely be born within a week. My Mom's OB/GYN also came and said Mom would stay in the hospital on strict bed rest until I was delivered. A lot of news all in one day!!

Wednesday came along and the blood flow in my brain and umbilical cord were again measured. The MD reported that we would not do another ultrasound Thursday as no significant change had occured. Mom was sad because she always received pictures of my parts to keep whenever she had an ultrasound. I also didn't have to have my heartrate monitored constantly.

During the day on Thursday, nothing eventful occured, Mom just had to stay in bed. Her MD expected her to have cabin fever by this time, but Mom just loved the care of the nurses (her day nurse was Kelly and night nurse Mary Ann) and MDs who were in and out of her room. That afternoon, a couple of Mom's good friends visited her (Eleanor, Jen, and Uyen) and all of them brought food! Yum! (The hospital food was also tasty, but homemade and Thai food are always good.) Mom started to feel like she was getting reflux again (not uncommon these last couple of weeks) and was not able to eat too much. That night, she threw up for 1 1/2 hours, convincing the nurse she was relieving the acid in her esophagus. Well, an hour later, the area just below her sternum became too painful so the nurse called the on-call MD who ordered blood to be drawn. Now, Mom had done a 24 hr urine sample again during this admit and her protein was 900+, not good! When the labs came back, Mom was told that I would be born in 6-12 hrs as her liver enzymes were 884 (they should not be above 30!). Mom called Dad at 4 am and told him I was coming soon, but he could go back to sleep--which is what he did.

At 8 am, Dr. Sharmahd came in and told Mom she would be having a c-section at 9 or 10 am and that she should call Dad if she wanted him to be present. Fortunately, Dad and Nana were already awake and made it in time!! Dr. Wear, my anesthesiologist told my Mom step by step what would take place and was very honest when Mom asked what would happen if I was not removed immediately by saying that my Mom would die since her liver would rupture. Nana and Mom's friend and former co-worker Crystal were present for the c-section (Crystal took some great pics of my birth!) and Dad got to go with me to the NICU and watch me get prepared for this new life.

I was born at 10:08 a.m. on 5/16/08, was 2 lbs, 3.1 oz and was 14 inches long (although my Dad was told 13.5 inches). You should look at my pictures and see how cute and teeny-tiny I am!

A Busy Week

My serial non-stress tests started this week--I have 2/week. These monitor my heart rate to see if it will go up 10 beats/minute two times in an hour. My heart rate was about 145 baseline, but it plummeted temporarily to 70 on Tuesday and 90 on Thursday, so my Mom and I were admitted to the hospital both days for further monitoring. No further decline occurred while in triage. Mom's blood pressure is now considered "labile" or temperamental as it was as low as 87 and then 101 a couple hours later. Apparently, she's on the largest dose of medicine possible, so not much more than bed rest can be done at this time. Mom also had many contractions that she couldn't feel during hospitalized monitoring, so the MD isn't too concerned since they aren't strong enough for her to feel. Mom now has to drink as much fluid as possible and tally my movements every hour that she's awake. Mom also takes something to do each visit now in case we are admitted again!!



But I'm doing great! I love to kick and stretch and make my Mom wonder what I'm doing inside that makes her tummy sort of roll around. I still love it when Dad's around and get so excited. My activity is so strong now that you can see Mom's belly jumping around! I'm good at kicking the monitors too and making them move!!



My Nana is coming next week so my Dad can actually get some work done--he spent a lot of time at the hospital this week so he has to make up work. Nana is going to come look at me during my ultrasound on Tuesday which will show if I'm growing. Dad is going to go to a "new dad's class" to learn that he's not the only one who is concerned about having a little sprite like me enter his world!!