Annie's Arrival: Part 3 (Our stay at Liberty Hospital)
It has been one week since Annie's arrival, so all of the details of our week are beginning to mesh together. I have about 5 minutes to work on this post before she will be awake and ready to nurse. To help me sort out the details, I've enlisted the help of my husband who probably has a greater handle on our happenings than I do! Originally I planned to organize this post differently, but being how life is at the moment... it'll be what it'll be :)
So.
Annie is having trouble breathing.
Her respiratory rate is in the 120's and she is working hard to breathe. She sounds like she just ran a marathon with her huffing and puffing. She is so touchy that even the slightest movement sends her into a frenzy. Therefore, we are not allowed to put our hands on her. When they change her diaper it causes such a big fiasco that it takes a great while to calm her down. To help aid her in breathing, they place her under an oxygen tent on 40% (room air is 21) and continue to monitor her.
I want nothing more than to sleep because (1) I'm exhausted and (2) am still feeling the effects of the pain meds. However, sleep never comes. I am clawing my skin off because of a side effect of one drug and then there is this crazy pain in my right shoulder that the doc tells me is all a part of having a surgery like i did. Air gets in... and something to do with pushing on the diaphragm.. and gets stuck in my shoulder. it's excruciating. I can't take a deep breath without feeling the piercing pain...and the only thing that will help it is time. Its not like gas that you can push out. It will just have to reabsorb into my muscles. Getting comfortable is impossible... not to mention my baby girl is not doing well. I try to sleep but I cant. Between the itching and the shoulder pain, i can't seem to find rest. Also, they have these "pumps" on my feet to keep circulation going so that i don't get any blood clots. These pumps went off about every 10 seconds, so the moment I'd doze off... PUMP goes my feet, which makes me jump. This goes on. All. Night. Long.
Steven has been awake for a ridiculously long time by this point. He has gotten 4 hours of sleep in the last 60 something so we decide that it is best for him to go home and rest while my mom spends the night with me. I'm so glad we did this because it was a heck of a night.
At midnight the nurse lets me go see my baby girl for the first time after my surgery. I saw her when Steven held her up to me after they delivered her, but I haven't laid eyes on her since. I am basically naked and bleeding all over, so to get me up the nurse had to hold my gown and the back of my pad (they hadn't put panties on me yet) while I held the front of my pad. Mom is holding me up and hanging onto the wheelchair to make sure I get there. When I sat up I felt like my insides were going to fall on the floor. The good news is they didn't, but i did bleed all over the floor. Since I just had surgery they wheel me into the little NICU. She's beautiful! She still doesn't feel like mine though. I'm watching this little baby and I feel like I'm looking at someone else's daughter. I still cant believe it. After a few minutes of looking at her the nurse takes me back to my room. After getting me back in bed, i have to say I've never been more thankful for a catheter in all of my life. The fact that I didn't have to get up to go to the bathroom is a blessing in and of itself. I am hurting... but the fiasco to get me out of bed was worth every second getting to see Annie's sweet little face.
Monday: Annie seems to be better in the morning, her o2 rates were down... but by the afternoon they are up again. She doesn't seem to be improving and the doctors are getting worried because she is having to work so hard to breathe. She still hasn't had anything to eat. By night time they call in a neonatologist from Children's Mercy Hospital to evaluate her. They decide that she needs to be transferred to another hospital that has a higher grade NICU. Liberty Hospital doesn't have the ability to feed her or to do anything else for her respiratory rates. Ordinarily this would probably freak some people out, however, we are relieved. At this point we know that Annie will eventually be ok, but we also know that in order for her to be ok, she needs a higher level of care. That evening the transport team comes and takes her to North Kansas City Hospital, which has a level 3 NICU. Before they whisk her away the team brings her (all loaded up into their transport bed) into my room so that we can see her before she goes. She looks pitiful, but she seems comfortable. At this point I praise Jesus for sending her somewhere to get better. The situation seems so terrible, but in the midst of it we know that God is good!!!
As for me, today is the day that I have to get out of bed. I'm dreading it, but also looking forward to a shower since I have enough grease in my hair to fry a chicken. Not to mention I kind of reek. Both sets of our parents are in town so they hang out with us at the hospital for a little bit. In order to give me time to shower and rest, they decide to take off for a few hours. One set goes to the grocery store for us and the other set goes to our house. Steven's parents spend those hours making freezer meals for us and my parents clean my house and mow my yard. I can't begin to tell you how big of a blessing this was! I was actually supposed to spend my Sunday making freezer meals for her arrival, but instead... she was arriving!
The nurses come to help me get in the shower. All of my attachments, monitors, catheter, etc.. comes off and while that excites me beyond measure,I feel like death. They make sure the water temp in the shower is ok and they let me sit down in the shower chair and tidy up. I enjoy the water for a few minutes and then wash up. It hurts too bad to lift my legs, so I just let the soap run down them. Surely they're clean enough, right? It hurts to get up and out and dry off, but i manage. They told me to take the dressing off of my incision while I was in the shower... only it is stuck and I dont have the guts to rip it off. I ask the nurse to help me and she does. I still have a scab from where it ripped my skin off. After getting dressed and going to the bathroom, I'm tired. And so i sleep. For 2 whole hours. It's glorious. Steven spends the night with me and I seem to get more rest now that the foot pumps, etc are gone. You also have to keep in mind that I am even though my baby is not with me, i still have to build my milk supply for her. So, I am getting up every 3 hours to pump. Sleep is few and far between, but when I do sleep... I'm out like a light.
Tuesday: As soon as our parents arrive at the hospital, Steven and his family go\ to NKC to see how Annie is doing. She's stable... and thats fine by us. Stable is better than declining. They have her on cpap (the thing on her head) which pushes positive pressure into her lungs to help her breathe easier. She looks pitiful but is resting much better. Her respiratory rates are still crazy high though.
feel rested and my nurse tells me I may get to go home. They just need to watch my hemoglobin levels because I lost a lot of blood from the surgery. I went in with a level of 13 and today it was down to 7. That's half of my blood. Luckily I had a lot of extra from carrying a baby. We wait around and they continue to monitor me. When the labs come back at noon, my levels are up to an 8 which means i am on the mend. They're going to let me go home!!! We get discharged around 4:30. The nurse brings us all that we need and then we ask about my wheelchair. She snickers and then informs me that I have to walk myself out to my car. This is my final test. What tha. I move like a crippled granny, but I make it.
It feels good to be home! And tonight... I get to see my baby girl.
So.
Annie is having trouble breathing.
Her respiratory rate is in the 120's and she is working hard to breathe. She sounds like she just ran a marathon with her huffing and puffing. She is so touchy that even the slightest movement sends her into a frenzy. Therefore, we are not allowed to put our hands on her. When they change her diaper it causes such a big fiasco that it takes a great while to calm her down. To help aid her in breathing, they place her under an oxygen tent on 40% (room air is 21) and continue to monitor her.
I want nothing more than to sleep because (1) I'm exhausted and (2) am still feeling the effects of the pain meds. However, sleep never comes. I am clawing my skin off because of a side effect of one drug and then there is this crazy pain in my right shoulder that the doc tells me is all a part of having a surgery like i did. Air gets in... and something to do with pushing on the diaphragm.. and gets stuck in my shoulder. it's excruciating. I can't take a deep breath without feeling the piercing pain...and the only thing that will help it is time. Its not like gas that you can push out. It will just have to reabsorb into my muscles. Getting comfortable is impossible... not to mention my baby girl is not doing well. I try to sleep but I cant. Between the itching and the shoulder pain, i can't seem to find rest. Also, they have these "pumps" on my feet to keep circulation going so that i don't get any blood clots. These pumps went off about every 10 seconds, so the moment I'd doze off... PUMP goes my feet, which makes me jump. This goes on. All. Night. Long.
Steven has been awake for a ridiculously long time by this point. He has gotten 4 hours of sleep in the last 60 something so we decide that it is best for him to go home and rest while my mom spends the night with me. I'm so glad we did this because it was a heck of a night.
At midnight the nurse lets me go see my baby girl for the first time after my surgery. I saw her when Steven held her up to me after they delivered her, but I haven't laid eyes on her since. I am basically naked and bleeding all over, so to get me up the nurse had to hold my gown and the back of my pad (they hadn't put panties on me yet) while I held the front of my pad. Mom is holding me up and hanging onto the wheelchair to make sure I get there. When I sat up I felt like my insides were going to fall on the floor. The good news is they didn't, but i did bleed all over the floor. Since I just had surgery they wheel me into the little NICU. She's beautiful! She still doesn't feel like mine though. I'm watching this
 |
| Annie getting ready to be transported |
As for me, today is the day that I have to get out of bed. I'm dreading it, but also looking forward to a shower since I have enough grease in my hair to fry a chicken. Not to mention I kind of reek. Both sets of our parents are in town so they hang out with us at the hospital for a little bit. In order to give me time to shower and rest, they decide to take off for a few hours. One set goes to the grocery store for us and the other set goes to our house. Steven's parents spend those hours making freezer meals for us and my parents clean my house and mow my yard. I can't begin to tell you how big of a blessing this was! I was actually supposed to spend my Sunday making freezer meals for her arrival, but instead... she was arriving!
The nurses come to help me get in the shower. All of my attachments, monitors, catheter, etc.. comes off and while that excites me beyond measure,I feel like death. They make sure the water temp in the shower is ok and they let me sit down in the shower chair and tidy up. I enjoy the water for a few minutes and then wash up. It hurts too bad to lift my legs, so I just let the soap run down them. Surely they're clean enough, right? It hurts to get up and out and dry off, but i manage. They told me to take the dressing off of my incision while I was in the shower... only it is stuck and I dont have the guts to rip it off. I ask the nurse to help me and she does. I still have a scab from where it ripped my skin off. After getting dressed and going to the bathroom, I'm tired. And so i sleep. For 2 whole hours. It's glorious. Steven spends the night with me and I seem to get more rest now that the foot pumps, etc are gone. You also have to keep in mind that I am even though my baby is not with me, i still have to build my milk supply for her. So, I am getting up every 3 hours to pump. Sleep is few and far between, but when I do sleep... I'm out like a light.
 |
| Annie - Tuesday Oct 23, 2 days old. |
Tuesday: As soon as our parents arrive at the hospital, Steven and his family go\ to NKC to see how Annie is doing. She's stable... and thats fine by us. Stable is better than declining. They have her on cpap (the thing on her head) which pushes positive pressure into her lungs to help her breathe easier. She looks pitiful but is resting much better. Her respiratory rates are still crazy high though.
feel rested and my nurse tells me I may get to go home. They just need to watch my hemoglobin levels because I lost a lot of blood from the surgery. I went in with a level of 13 and today it was down to 7. That's half of my blood. Luckily I had a lot of extra from carrying a baby. We wait around and they continue to monitor me. When the labs come back at noon, my levels are up to an 8 which means i am on the mend. They're going to let me go home!!! We get discharged around 4:30. The nurse brings us all that we need and then we ask about my wheelchair. She snickers and then informs me that I have to walk myself out to my car. This is my final test. What tha. I move like a crippled granny, but I make it.
It feels good to be home! And tonight... I get to see my baby girl.
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