Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
The Delivery of Jacob Alan
Now we're a family of 3! Jacob Alan was delivered March 6th, weighing 5 lbs, 17 1/2 " - five weeks early to the day. Things didn't quite go as planned and you could say we were quite unprepared for such an early delivery!
I had started having severe, upper abdominal stomach pains on Monday night prior. They lasted through the next day and finally subsided that afternoon, only to come back again that night - same time. I stayed home from work the next day, but worked on Wednesday, much to my demise. Same thing occurred Wed evening, so bad that I called the answering service for the OB dr's office. He wanted me to try to hold off until morning to come in and get checked out. I managed to hold out, taking some Tylenol PM, Zantec and Gas-X. I wasn't in preterm labor, but they did a urine and blood test anyway. We hung around A'ville to wait on the results, so we headed over to get a bagel. The PA dr called back saying my blood platelet levels were low and liver enzymes were high. We were to go directly to the hospital, check into Labor & delivery and have the tests rerun.
So at 9ish, my blood platelets were 86, dropping to 74 at the hospital. They're supposed to be around 200. My OB dr diagnosed me with HELLP Syndrome (HELLP stands for Hemolysis, Elevated Liver enzyme levels and a Low Platelet count.) This is a very serious, sometimes fatal diagnosis - a severe form of preeclamsia. The only thing was, I didn't have high blood pressure, which is a symptom. The only cure is delivery. They couldn't operate right away because of needing to wait for my bagel to digest, so C-Section was scheduled for 4:00 pm. They couldn't wait too long because I risked bleeding out and not clotting. My levels dropped to 56 by 4:00.
It was a lot to take in all in one afternoon. We didn't have much time to get worked up about it, just had to deal with it as it came. We had a chance to call our parents and see them before surgery. We threw some names back and forth between nurses popping in and checking me and the fetal monitor. We finally decided right before I was wheeled back for delivery.
I was able to get a local, spinal anesthetic and Bill got to come back to sit with me. Everything was explained thoroughly and all the dr's and nurses were in place when I entered the operating room. I even got to pick my own genre of music to listen to! They didn't waste any time putting up the "curtain" and getting started. I was tested to see how quickly I numbed and I soon felt this strange tugging sensation. It seemed to take forever, but it probably didn't. I had to wear one of those silver space caps to keep my head warm and they covered my outstretched arms with warm blankets. Finally at 4:48pm, I heard the joyous sound of our new son's lungs filling with air as he was delivered. They lowered the curtain for an instant and let us see him.
Bill soon left my side to go tend to Jacob. He seemed overcome with joy and relief that he was here. I felt a little helpless since I couldn't just hop right up and go see for myself. I only had 2 anesthetisiologists to talk to, asking what was happening and how things were going. Stitching me up took quite a while too. In the meantime, Bill was able to bring Jacob over to me and let me see him. I was very happy he was here, but it all seemed so surreal.
Not too long after, I was whisked to a different bed and wheeled into recovery. It was kind of hectic as I arrived during shift change for the nurses. Jacob got to come too - in a bassinet beside me. A nurse tended to him and monitored his vital signs. I even got to breastfeed him for a few minutes before our parents came back. Bill flipped a coin to see who would come back first. Bill's dad won, but the grandma's were out in the hall pacing, so my mom came back first. We finally told each one his name as they came back as they didn't yet know what we had named him.
The first night, Jacob got to room in with me on the Labor & Delivery floor. The nurses came in every hour or so to check on the both of us and take blood to see how we were progressing. I was hooked up to IV bags with the normal stuff, magnesium sulfate (to control risk of seizures and/or stroke from my diagnosis), and Pitocin. I was also itching all over from being on Morphine, so they gave me some benedryl. Later, I got some good ole Purceset for the pain management.
Bill was a trooper during the whole event - up every time Jacob cried, feeding him, changing his diaper, watching the nurses, tending to me. He seemed to know exactly what to do at all times.
Jacob's blood sugar levels dropped, so he ended up going to NICU for a couple of days. That was hard on Bill, trying to be both at my side and his at the same time - and finding time to run home, clean up the house and run errands to get all the necessities (like diapers!). It was tough on me as I was left on the Labor and Delivery floor; while most thought they were helping out by letting me sleep, I was often awake just waiting for someone to come back to give me an update on how everything was. They proud grandparents didn't waste anytime spoiling little Jacob in NICU, taking turns hold him and there for family support. Bill did get a room to sleep in up in NICU but it was about as good as sleeping on a piece of plywood. The window/couch unit in my room wasn't much better. You would think they would provide something a little better for the birth partners with what they have to go through as well.
The nurses eventually trailed off a bit on tending to my every need. Especially at night. Even all drugged up, it's still pretty hard to sleep on a hopping floor of delivering babies. I eventually got very upset and frustrated that I wasn't being moved a floor up to the mother/baby unit. Seemed that I was in this loophole and no one was telling me what needed to take place before I could be moved. Turns out, I couldn't go up until Jacob could come down out of NICU. Bill finally pulled some strings and we moved up Sunday afternoon around 5:30pm. A nurse came in and said as soon as I was done with supper, that they would move me up. I pushed back the tray and said "I'm done!".
My blood platelet count kept dropping after surgery and bottomed out at 20. They wanted me to be really careful with things like brushing my teeth too hard, making sure my gums didn't bleed. They didn't want to do a transfusion unless I was bleeding out somewhere. Finally, my levels started to increase to 74 and we were cleared to be released Tuesday afternoon.
Life at home has been very stressful and challenging - at least for me. The lack of sleep and no routine schedule for nighttime feedings has been tough. I'm finally starting to get around a little better. Just getting out of bed the first couple of days was a feat. Jacob's dr seems to think he is doing very well weight wise and otherwise and that we looked more rested than he expected. Although, he did say their 5 month old son had them up 3 times the previous night, so he may have been hallucinating!
That's it in a nutshell. We've had great family support. We've been well stocked with food and meals and we'll eventually get on track with there being 3, 5 weeks early.
A huge thanks goes out to all of you for your support and prayers through all of this. We couldn't have done it without you!
Pics coming as soon as we download them from the camera!
I had started having severe, upper abdominal stomach pains on Monday night prior. They lasted through the next day and finally subsided that afternoon, only to come back again that night - same time. I stayed home from work the next day, but worked on Wednesday, much to my demise. Same thing occurred Wed evening, so bad that I called the answering service for the OB dr's office. He wanted me to try to hold off until morning to come in and get checked out. I managed to hold out, taking some Tylenol PM, Zantec and Gas-X. I wasn't in preterm labor, but they did a urine and blood test anyway. We hung around A'ville to wait on the results, so we headed over to get a bagel. The PA dr called back saying my blood platelet levels were low and liver enzymes were high. We were to go directly to the hospital, check into Labor & delivery and have the tests rerun.
So at 9ish, my blood platelets were 86, dropping to 74 at the hospital. They're supposed to be around 200. My OB dr diagnosed me with HELLP Syndrome (HELLP stands for Hemolysis, Elevated Liver enzyme levels and a Low Platelet count.) This is a very serious, sometimes fatal diagnosis - a severe form of preeclamsia. The only thing was, I didn't have high blood pressure, which is a symptom. The only cure is delivery. They couldn't operate right away because of needing to wait for my bagel to digest, so C-Section was scheduled for 4:00 pm. They couldn't wait too long because I risked bleeding out and not clotting. My levels dropped to 56 by 4:00.
It was a lot to take in all in one afternoon. We didn't have much time to get worked up about it, just had to deal with it as it came. We had a chance to call our parents and see them before surgery. We threw some names back and forth between nurses popping in and checking me and the fetal monitor. We finally decided right before I was wheeled back for delivery.
I was able to get a local, spinal anesthetic and Bill got to come back to sit with me. Everything was explained thoroughly and all the dr's and nurses were in place when I entered the operating room. I even got to pick my own genre of music to listen to! They didn't waste any time putting up the "curtain" and getting started. I was tested to see how quickly I numbed and I soon felt this strange tugging sensation. It seemed to take forever, but it probably didn't. I had to wear one of those silver space caps to keep my head warm and they covered my outstretched arms with warm blankets. Finally at 4:48pm, I heard the joyous sound of our new son's lungs filling with air as he was delivered. They lowered the curtain for an instant and let us see him.
Bill soon left my side to go tend to Jacob. He seemed overcome with joy and relief that he was here. I felt a little helpless since I couldn't just hop right up and go see for myself. I only had 2 anesthetisiologists to talk to, asking what was happening and how things were going. Stitching me up took quite a while too. In the meantime, Bill was able to bring Jacob over to me and let me see him. I was very happy he was here, but it all seemed so surreal.
Not too long after, I was whisked to a different bed and wheeled into recovery. It was kind of hectic as I arrived during shift change for the nurses. Jacob got to come too - in a bassinet beside me. A nurse tended to him and monitored his vital signs. I even got to breastfeed him for a few minutes before our parents came back. Bill flipped a coin to see who would come back first. Bill's dad won, but the grandma's were out in the hall pacing, so my mom came back first. We finally told each one his name as they came back as they didn't yet know what we had named him.
The first night, Jacob got to room in with me on the Labor & Delivery floor. The nurses came in every hour or so to check on the both of us and take blood to see how we were progressing. I was hooked up to IV bags with the normal stuff, magnesium sulfate (to control risk of seizures and/or stroke from my diagnosis), and Pitocin. I was also itching all over from being on Morphine, so they gave me some benedryl. Later, I got some good ole Purceset for the pain management.
Bill was a trooper during the whole event - up every time Jacob cried, feeding him, changing his diaper, watching the nurses, tending to me. He seemed to know exactly what to do at all times.
Jacob's blood sugar levels dropped, so he ended up going to NICU for a couple of days. That was hard on Bill, trying to be both at my side and his at the same time - and finding time to run home, clean up the house and run errands to get all the necessities (like diapers!). It was tough on me as I was left on the Labor and Delivery floor; while most thought they were helping out by letting me sleep, I was often awake just waiting for someone to come back to give me an update on how everything was. They proud grandparents didn't waste anytime spoiling little Jacob in NICU, taking turns hold him and there for family support. Bill did get a room to sleep in up in NICU but it was about as good as sleeping on a piece of plywood. The window/couch unit in my room wasn't much better. You would think they would provide something a little better for the birth partners with what they have to go through as well.
The nurses eventually trailed off a bit on tending to my every need. Especially at night. Even all drugged up, it's still pretty hard to sleep on a hopping floor of delivering babies. I eventually got very upset and frustrated that I wasn't being moved a floor up to the mother/baby unit. Seemed that I was in this loophole and no one was telling me what needed to take place before I could be moved. Turns out, I couldn't go up until Jacob could come down out of NICU. Bill finally pulled some strings and we moved up Sunday afternoon around 5:30pm. A nurse came in and said as soon as I was done with supper, that they would move me up. I pushed back the tray and said "I'm done!".
My blood platelet count kept dropping after surgery and bottomed out at 20. They wanted me to be really careful with things like brushing my teeth too hard, making sure my gums didn't bleed. They didn't want to do a transfusion unless I was bleeding out somewhere. Finally, my levels started to increase to 74 and we were cleared to be released Tuesday afternoon.
Life at home has been very stressful and challenging - at least for me. The lack of sleep and no routine schedule for nighttime feedings has been tough. I'm finally starting to get around a little better. Just getting out of bed the first couple of days was a feat. Jacob's dr seems to think he is doing very well weight wise and otherwise and that we looked more rested than he expected. Although, he did say their 5 month old son had them up 3 times the previous night, so he may have been hallucinating!
That's it in a nutshell. We've had great family support. We've been well stocked with food and meals and we'll eventually get on track with there being 3, 5 weeks early.
A huge thanks goes out to all of you for your support and prayers through all of this. We couldn't have done it without you!
Pics coming as soon as we download them from the camera!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Jacob Alan Quade
For those of you who just cannot wait for some additional pics I'll start you off with just a few. If some of you are wondering how we came up with his name here it goes: I have been persistant with Alan being part of the name since we found out it was a boy. I was named after my Grandpa Quade (William) and wanted to pass along the name of my dad to my son. Jacob had been a name that Rhonda liked for a while and about a minute before she got wheeled back for the c-section we decided that would be his first name. Jacob(s) is my mom's maiden name and the middle name of my brother Josh. Alan is also the middle name of my older brother Doug. 
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Countin' them down!
Finally, a picture! I'm sure you'll forgive me when I say I completely forgot to take our camera out at all, so thanks Marcia for taking some snapshots at the shower!
It was great to see everyone at the shower! Sorry if we missed some of you. 2 hours just wasn't enough time to visit! We enjoyed it though and got lots of great stuff. Bill's been busy washing everything up and getting it ready. For now, everything is piling up in the crib, but soon, it will all have a home.
I'm just about to complete a website project for a client, so that means I'll be able to relax, have (some) more free time and start getting ready for the big event! ...and maybe even make some more blog posts if you're lucky!
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