Day 13

Well, we are still at Cardinal Glennon and have been on a roller coaster ride since Allie's birthday. We've had ups and downs, but feel like Allie is getting the best care possible, and that we are on the right track to getting her better. She is gaining weight like a champ; she is 8 lb, 12 oz. now and is so unbelievably cute I could stare at her all day every day. She is the best baby too. For all that she has been through, she really isn't too fussy (only when we change her diaper) she eats well and sleeps well in between feedings. The plan at this point is to continue her on the Prostaglandin (PGE) for a few more days, fix her breathing issues (her throat is irritated from the intubation process) and hopefully when we can stop her PGE again her little heart valve will be big enough to take over and keep her oxygenated. If she can't do without the PGE we will have to look into more invasive procedures, either with a stent or shunt placement in her heart. She truly is a strong little girl and we love her more than can be expressed in words. Now I know what people are talking about when they say "how you never can explain how much you love your children until you have children of your own."


This was when we were first reunited with Allie after she was transferred.


Daddy's first time feeding Allie. What a natural!!


Granny feeding Allie. Granny was so happy to finally get to meet Allie and to see how she was doing when she arrived the next day.


Oh what a sweet baby girl!!!!!

My Beautiful Baby

I love this picture of Allie. Just had to share!! More to come.

Welcome Little One

Wow! What a week! So, let me tell you my labor and delivery stories. On Tuesday (Nov. 10th) I started having to breathe through my contractions around 5am and was unable to go back to sleep. I told Mike that morning to be on stand-by at work in case it was "time". I continued to contract for a few hours and called Mike around 10am and decided it was time to go to the hospital. Knowing in my mind I had no idea if I was even dilating, and hoping that when I got to the hospital I wasn't like one centimeter or less (being a labor and delivery nurse after all). So we got there and the Nurse Practitioner checked my cervix and wouldn't you know it, I was one centimeter!! How could that be? I had been contracting every 5 minutes and pretty uncomfortable at that. However, I was 100% effaced (meaning my cervix had completely thinned out) and her head was at +1 station (meaning her head was very very low in my pelvis). At least that was something and headed in the right direction. My doctor went ahead and sent me home on labor precautions. So Mike and I walked for a short time and then went on home. However, at that time my contractions were closer and closer (3-4 minutes apart) and more and more excruciating. At that point I was unsure when I should even go back to the hospital since I was only one centimeter. I didn't want to be sent home again--I would never be able to live that one down from my nurse buddies!!! Around 5pm I really couldn't bear the pain any longer and Mike was getting nervous that the baby would come at home, so he went ahead and took me back to the hospital. As I was walking into the unit, tears were strolling down my face and I headed straight for a bed. They checked my cervix and alas! I was 4 cm, still 100% effaced and +1 station. Epidural here I come!! They admitted me as quickly as possible, I took some IV pain medicine (which was lovely) and received my epidural shortly after. From about 6pm to 7:30 pm I went from 4cm to 7cm. Thank goodness for epidurals, because I had a fabulous one and was so comfortable!! My water broke around 8 pm and I was 10 centimeters around 10 pm or so. My doctor let me labor down the baby till 11 pm and then I started pushing. I pushed for about an hour and little Allie arrived at 6 minutes after midnight on the 11th. I could not have asked for a better labor and delivery experience. Everything went so smoothly while in the hospital. Allie tolerated labor so well, I didn't even need any oxygen or other interventions to keep her happy. I was so lucky!! Allie weighed 7lbs. 7oz. and was 18 1/2 inches long.
Then, we got a surprise about 2 hrs after her birth. The nursery nurse had discovered a heart murmur and when put her on the oxygen monitor found she could not keep up her oxygen saturation. When the pediatrician at the hospital evaluated her, her chest x-ray showed an enlarged heart as well. So she needed further evaluating by a cardiologist and neonatologist. Around 6:30 that morning Allie was transferred to a local Children's Hospital (Cardinal Glennon) and has been doing great ever since they started her on a special medication to help keep her oxygenated while we await a cardiac cath procedure to enlarge her pulmonary valve. We are planning to do the procedure on Tuesday this coming week.
I was discharged early from the hospital (15 hrs after I delivered) so I could go and be with my baby. My wonderful nurse friends went above and beyond to take care of me and to make sure I was discharged quickly. I truly felt like they rolled out the red carpet and actually didn't want to leave their good care!! But it was wonderful when I was reunited with my little girl. Mike has been such a doting father and husband as well. He never left Allie's side when she was in the nursery at DePaul. He was really scarred and felt helpless when she was put on the monitors. He loves to feed her now, but is a little nervous when it comes to changing her diaper because she gets so mad and lets everyone know it!
I'm here in Cardinal Glennon with Allie and I really can't leave her side. She has a private room and a place for me to sleep. It is so nice here. The nurses and doctors are amazing and really try to make it as easy as possible in a very stressful situation.
We are so truly blessed to have Allie and feel that her heart condition could be so much worse. The doctors are confident that she will respond well to the treatment, and if not, there are other plans in place if needed.
We had no idea what God had in store for us, but as one of Mike's brothers (Craig) told me, God gave us Allie because he knew that we could handle whatever came our way. At times it is tough, but as I look at her laying in her hospital bed and see her thriving and doing so well, I know that she is strong and can only be positive for what the future holds.