Twas the night before Christmas

 

Twas the night before Christmas, and in each isolette
Little creatures were squirming and getting all set;
Machinery sat by their bedsides with care,
In hopes that good breathing skills soon would be there.
Day shifters were home all snug in their beds,
As visions of overtime danced in their heads;
While preemies on ventilators, and some on CPAP,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap...
When out in the hall there arose such a clatter,
The residents woke up to see what was the matter.
Away from the sink I flew like a jet
To make sure all was well at my baby's isolette.
Some bilirubin lights with their powerful glow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to babies below,
When, there before my wondering eyes, it would seem,
Was an oversized stroller and a medical team.
With a handful of needles with which they could stick you,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nicu.
More rapid than eagles his specialists came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
"Now, Nurses! Now, Residents! Now, Neonatologists!
On, Social Workers! On, Respiratory and Occupational Therapists!
From the front of the unit! To the end of the hall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"
Up to each baby's cribside they flew,
With the stroller full of toys, and St. Nicu too.
And then, in a twinkling, they stopped at each bed
And tucked in the babies and got them all fed.
As I looked at my baby, and was turning around,
Down our aisle St. Nicu came with a bound.
He was dressed in red scrubs, and I could instantly tell
That his clothes had an obvious hospital smell;
A bag of stuffed animals was flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
A little red pen he held tight in his teeth,
And a stethoscope encircled his neck like a wreath.
He was chubby and plump, with a few extra pounds,
And I laughed when I saw him there doing his rounds.
A turn of his clipboard and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke few words, but came straight to my side,
And running down his face was a tear he had cried.
And laying his hand on the back of my head,
He gave me a nod, and slowly he said:
"Each night you come here you're aware of the danger,
But your baby is loved by the One in the manger."
Then the medical team gave a thumbs-up and smiled
And St. Nicu placed an animal next to my child.
But I heard him exclaim, as they rolled out of sight,
"Merry Christmas, tiny baby, and have a wonderful night!

 

    I have so many other pictures of Jake, Emma, and Grady hanging stockings and getting ready for Santa, but I really wanted to share this poem I found.  I guess the Christmas post will have to do double duty.

   Gretchen is holding her own, we will get an update posted soon.  Keep praying for us, and hopefully she’ll be home by New Years.

Sweet Sunday Surprise

 

    My day did not start our well at all, but it sure finished sweet.  About 4 AM, my sleep deprived mind snapped and I had a little bit of a breakdown.  Being pregnant, pumped full of IV fluids, fetal monitors strapped to my tummy and trying to sleep in an unfamiliar bed finally took its toll.  Thankfully my wonderful doctor decided that I needed rest more than anything and disconnected all the monitors and IV fluids and I was able to sleep for a couple of hours.

  I was awoken to the news that my lab work was improving, and if the numbers were the same on Monday the decision to induce labor was even less clear.  The question of sending me home came up, but they still couldn’t guarantee that I would be home for Christmas.   So once again, my condition was “clear as mud” – but getting murkier.

   I got up to use the potty and everything changed.  I won’t go into details for the fainter of tummy, but let’s just say it was obvious something was wrong.  My nurse checked me and I had gone to 4 cm, so she called in Dr. Greenhaw.  The pitocin was started and epidural ordered….things progressed quickly.  I went from 4cm to  7cm in 45 minutes.  All that time I was frantically calling Jason, who had taken the kids to church.   I finally got a hold of  Brother Jackson on the church phone line, who had the fun job of finding Jason and telling him the news.

   After a very easy (and short!) labor, Gretchen made her way into this world screaming like a banshee at 3:05 PM.  She is 6 lbs, 2oz, and 19.5 inches long.  Quite the big girl for 34 weeks and 6 days – I shudder to think how big she would have been if I went full term!   She is breathing on her own, and has some minor preemie issues so she is in the NICU, we hope not for too long.  The neonatologist said maybe by Christmas.

  I forgot to put the memory card back into the camera after downloading pictures last night, so all the great shots Jason took of her being cleaned up, weighed, and measured don’t exist.  Thankfully they let him follow them to the NICU and he was able to get some there.

  We both thank all of you for your prayers, well wishes, offers of meals once we get home, and babysitting!  Without our extended family this would have been so much harder.  We can’t wait to get her home so we can share this tiny Christmas miracle with all of you.

Family Field Trip

 

     Since I have some catching up to do, I figure I might as well start with the more recent events, since they are still “fresh” in my mind…

  Last weekend we took the kids on a surprise trip to Gainesville.  We didn’t tell them where or why we were going, just piled them in the car.  Why Gainesville, you might ask?  Because that’s the nearest Macy’s.

  It all started when Emma wrote her letter to Santa.  She mentioned how neat it would be to drop it in the big red mailbox at Macy’s just like in the commercial.  I thought the closest one was Orlando, but thankfully I was wrong!  I told Jason (World’s Greatest Daddy) about Emma’s wish and he was all for it.

  So Saturday morning we loaded up and drove down to Macy’s. We had to make one stop to photocopy Emma’s letter – thankfully Jason knew a place ; )  We pulled into the parking lot and I asked Emma if she knew where she was…I told her “ ‘Yes, Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus’ ”.  She said “Moooom, that’s from the Macy’s commercial with the Santa mailbox.”  Then she yelled, “We’re at Macy’s! The big red mailbox!”  It was all we could do to get keep her buckled in until we got the car parked.  Thankfully the mailbox was right inside the door, so they didn’t have to wait long to mail their letters to Santa.

  After we mailed our letters we had some lunch at the food court…It was so crazy busy!  I remarked to Jason that I couldn’t remember the last time I had been at a mall on a Saturday…he responded with “let alone in December!”  After lunch we took the kids to play on the playground – they had such a great time running, squealing, climbing, and carrying on that Jason and I were happy to just sit back and watch them play.

   The kids hated to leave the mall, but we had one more surprise for them…but that will just have to wait until next time!

Slacker

Yep, that’s me. I could use the excuse that I have been really busy, but I know all my other mommy friends have been just as (if not) busier than me.  I could use the excuse that I haven’t been feeling up to par, but since the whole swine flu thing I’ve been off my game and still managed to post a couple of times.  The only excuse I have this time is I’m lazy, and forgetful. Every time I powered up the computer to start blogging I would think of another website I needed to check, or an email I needed to return, or some other thing and before I knew it the laptop was turned off and I had (again) forgotten to post anything.

  Well, no excuses this time.  I am currently attached to a hospital bed by no less than 4 tethers (fetal heart monitor, contraction monitor, BP cuff, and IV)…and I will be until they decide to deliver this baby.  I have been given a chance to catch up.

   I am currently 34 weeks and 5 days pregnant.  I am also having runs of high blood pressure that is breaking through the medication, and labs that slightly indicate pre-eclampsia.  It is too dangerous to send me home – the condition could worsen to a coma stage in less than an hour without constant monitoring and medications.  My doctor consulted with my high risk doctor last night and agreed that my course of treatment was “clear as mud”.  If I were 36 weeks, they would have already delivered Gretchen, but only being 34.5…they need to wait.  If my blood pressure continues to rise, or if the protein markers in my lab work  increase, or if I go into labor naturally (which could happen, I am 3cm dilated)  they will deliver.  If not, they will consider delivering Monday, when I roll over to 35 weeks. 

   I can understand the caution, but if they don’t induce Monday, I will probably be here for Christmas.  This especially upsets me because of the visitation rules – due to flu risks, no children under five are allowed to visit.  We could bring Christmas here, but not without my whole family.  It has barely been 24 hours, and already I am missing them like crazy.

  At least I get to see Emma.  She prepared for her visit! She made me a craft (with a little help) and picked out flowers:

And she brought me friends to keep me company:

I love the beds she created for them in my bedside table.

     I am trying to be a trooper through all of this, but I miss my family and I hate all the Christmas things I am missing like the ward party,  “Christmas” sacrament meeting, baking cookies with the kids, Christmas lights, and all that fun stuff.   I keep telling myself that this is all happening for a reason, and it is all the will of Heavenly Father.  I am just not good at accepting trials with grace! I have been shown many times though…

  Ye can not behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation.  For after much tribulation come the blessings.   (Doctrine & Covenants 58: 3&4)

   This is but a small bit of tribulation in the grand scheme of eternity, and enough of me complaining.  Just say a prayer for us and hopefully I’ll (and Gretchen) be home for Christmas.

   In the meantime, check back often.  I just might go backwards and catch up on all the year’s excitement I never posted!