Annie's Arrival: Part 4 (The final post)
Annie was transferred to North Kansas City hospital, which has a level 3 NICU on Monday, October 22nd when she was barely over 24 hours old. Her breathing wasn't improving and the doctors were afraid that she was getting too tired. She needed some extra help.
The overall diagnosis was that her lungs just hadn't developed enough surfactant which is what enables our lungs to expand. Without enough surfactant, lungs can't expand & we can't breathe. Since Annie was early, she just didn't have enough.
There were a lot of things that the doctors were considering doing to help her breathe a little easier and they decided to start with cpap - which is a ventilation therapy where continuous positive pressure is applied to maintain a continuous level of positive airway pressure. This seemed to work beautifully.
After I got out of the hospital on Tuesday, October 23rd, my hubby took me to see our sweet baby. When we got there, several nurses were in her room. Apparently she kicked the IV out of her foot & were trying to get it back in. After several blown veins and a failed attempt to start a central line through her umbilical cord, the nurse practitioner had to call the neonatlogoist in. We asked if we could hold her and they originally told us no way. After everything they'd done to her... she was too touchy. This upset me tremendously, as you could only imagine. My baby girl was almost 48 hours old and I had yet to get my hands on her. The nurse finally decided to go ahead and let me hold her while they waited on the doctor to arrive. It would take him an hour. It was quite the process getting her out of bed. She had so many wires attached to her it was overwhelming. I was so excited and oddly enough wasn't scared that I was going to break her. When they put her in my arms I could have died. It was the most amazing feeling I've ever experienced. Up until this point I still didnt' feel like she was my baby. I had little contact with her and was still recovering from my surgery. Steven was the one who was taking care of all things Annie. He bonded with her instantly and carried the weight of her problems on his shoulders. As soon as I got her in my arms, she was mine. This was my daughter, my sweet little baby girl. She looked pitiful, she was breathing so hard, but she was incredibly perfect. I loved her so much.
Wednesday, October 24th
We went to the hospital to see our girl, and walked in to see that they had taken her off of cpap!! She was improving! Her breathing was still pretty hard, but she was doing so much better. She was pretty touchy, so we didnt get to hold her today. We did however, get to touch her. Have I mentioned how in love I am with this little baby!?
October 25th -
Annie is now 4 days old and her biliruben levels are up a bit. She has to go under the lights. Up to this point she was eating via tube. They were, however, feeding her the breast milk I was pumping. I have to say we were thrilled about this. We were so glad that they were giving her my milk instead of formula. The best part of all .. is I got to nurse her that evening for the first time. It was such an incredible experience. She had a lot of wires, so maneuvering her was a bit difficult - especially with her new IV that they had so much trouble starting. I would have died if I would have pulled that out of her foot. Her little hands were already so bruised from failed attempts. They went ahead and fed her via tube at the same time I was nursing her, in the event that it went poorly. She had a little trouble attaching, but overall we did pretty well!
October 26th - 5 days old.
Annie is doing... AMAZING. Her biliruben levels were up and she got to get rid of her lights! They also allowed me to nurse her four times throughout the day. At one point I held her for four hours straight. I loved every moment. I cried when I got home because it was so hard leaving her. I hated leaving her. I actually talked to Steven about me staying in their guest housing because I could hardly bear it. AND one of the hurdles she had to jump through in order to go home was to be able to eat without a tube...and I wanted to be there to feed her.
October 27th - 6 days old
That morning we went to see Annie & Steven asked about her prognosis. The nurse told us the same thing they'd been telling us all along "it really just depends on... X...X...X...X." I stayed to nurse her twice and then we went home, feeling pretty defeated at the news. They still kept telling us that "it just depends." I hated "just depends." Before we left the nurse told us that she'd like for me to come back that evening and nurse Annie some more. When I got back to the hospital her nurse (who was incredibly awesome) asked me if the doctor had called me. He hadn't, so she told me that he decided that Annie was doing so well.. that they wanted me to spend the night in the "parent room" (which was only a few doors down from Annie's room) and come in to her room and nurse her every time she was supposed to eat, which was every 3 hours. I was so excited I could pop! The best news of all though... is that they also wanted Steven and I both to stay in the parent room the next evening, October 28th and "room in" with her. This means that she stays in the room with us instead of us having to go to her room. If all of this went well - she would get to go home!!!
I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed being with her. I got to get up and see her sweet face and hold her tiny body every three hours. Parents complain about this so much... but it was sheer joy!!
October 28th - 7 days old
Steven came to the hospital after he got off of work and stayed with us all day. Annie got to lose her oxygen, IV, and her feeding tube (they kept it in just incase she did poorly nursing). She was SO great at nursing. I can't believe how well she caught on. Once the doctor made his rounds, we were able to take her to our room. No more wires. No more tubes. Just our sweet little baby. She did amazingly and they let us go home on Monday, October 29th.
We are completely amazed at how quickly Annie progressed and are so thankful to our God for his healing on her tiny body! A HUGE thanks to everyone who prayed for us during her week long stay at North KC. This was probably the longest week of our lives, but we consider ourselves blessed that she was able to go home after only a week. So now we start the adventure of having our newborn at home. So far it has been an amazing experience and we are loving every single moment of it!
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| Annie with cpap |
There were a lot of things that the doctors were considering doing to help her breathe a little easier and they decided to start with cpap - which is a ventilation therapy where continuous positive pressure is applied to maintain a continuous level of positive airway pressure. This seemed to work beautifully.
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| The day I got released from the hospital... and the first time I got to lay hands on my sweet baby Annie! |
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| Daddy holding his 3 day old sweetie |
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| Oct 24 - holding our 3 day old |
We went to the hospital to see our girl, and walked in to see that they had taken her off of cpap!! She was improving! Her breathing was still pretty hard, but she was doing so much better. She was pretty touchy, so we didnt get to hold her today. We did however, get to touch her. Have I mentioned how in love I am with this little baby!?
October 25th -
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| Annie's first tanning appointment |
October 26th - 5 days old.
Annie is doing... AMAZING. Her biliruben levels were up and she got to get rid of her lights! They also allowed me to nurse her four times throughout the day. At one point I held her for four hours straight. I loved every moment. I cried when I got home because it was so hard leaving her. I hated leaving her. I actually talked to Steven about me staying in their guest housing because I could hardly bear it. AND one of the hurdles she had to jump through in order to go home was to be able to eat without a tube...and I wanted to be there to feed her.
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| Me spending the night at the hospital with my girl! I am very tired, but overwhelmed with joy!! |
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| 6 days old |
October 27th - 6 days old
That morning we went to see Annie & Steven asked about her prognosis. The nurse told us the same thing they'd been telling us all along "it really just depends on... X...X...X...X." I stayed to nurse her twice and then we went home, feeling pretty defeated at the news. They still kept telling us that "it just depends." I hated "just depends." Before we left the nurse told us that she'd like for me to come back that evening and nurse Annie some more. When I got back to the hospital her nurse (who was incredibly awesome) asked me if the doctor had called me. He hadn't, so she told me that he decided that Annie was doing so well.. that they wanted me to spend the night in the "parent room" (which was only a few doors down from Annie's room) and come in to her room and nurse her every time she was supposed to eat, which was every 3 hours. I was so excited I could pop! The best news of all though... is that they also wanted Steven and I both to stay in the parent room the next evening, October 28th and "room in" with her. This means that she stays in the room with us instead of us having to go to her room. If all of this went well - she would get to go home!!!
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| Her ankle bracelet... so we couldnt steal her. Dont you just love those teeny feet? |
I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed being with her. I got to get up and see her sweet face and hold her tiny body every three hours. Parents complain about this so much... but it was sheer joy!!
October 28th - 7 days old
Steven came to the hospital after he got off of work and stayed with us all day. Annie got to lose her oxygen, IV, and her feeding tube (they kept it in just incase she did poorly nursing). She was SO great at nursing. I can't believe how well she caught on. Once the doctor made his rounds, we were able to take her to our room. No more wires. No more tubes. Just our sweet little baby. She did amazingly and they let us go home on Monday, October 29th.
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| I can't believe we have our own little family! Getting ready to leave the hospital! Thank you Jesus. |
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| Me and my tiny love getting ready to go home! |
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| All loaded up and ready to go home for the first time |
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