Sorry it has taken me so long to get this blog created, I just haven't been able to sit down and get everything posted. I know what you're thinking and you're right, I've spent pretty much the entire last week sitting next to Tennyson watching him. I'm not sure I can accucrately recount everything that has happened in the last week however will try and be as detailed as I can however this will be a really long post...so here goes:
Sunday morning, September 23, I was fixing dinner for the college age ministry at Christ's Church of Oronogo and wasn't feeling well all the sudden. I called the nurses' hotline and was connected with Dr. Barillo who recommended I come in to be monitored. So I called poor Rachel Bond and she got ahold of Travis who was running sound at the church and he met me at Freeman. I was monitored for a couple hours (with Travis complaining about the uncomfortable chairs) and then released. They ran a test called a fetile fibronectin test which basically tells with 99% accuracy if it's negative that you will not go into labor in the next two weeks. Ours was positive however with there being no contractions and the babies heartrate being so stable, Dr. Barillo recommended we head home, I stay in bed Monday and then repeat the test Tuesday. Dr. Fogarty our physician was unavailable until Wednesday so Monday morning I scheduled a follow up appointment with her patrner Dr. Cox for Tuesday morning. I then rested the rest of the day however there was a sharp pain in my back that kept radiating to the front of my stomach however I thought these were probably just third trimester pains intensified because I'd been in bed all day. Travis came home and made dinner but they were getting worse and so again I called the nurse hotline and Dr. Cox was on duty and recommended I again come in for monitoring. Travis and I each grabbed a book and I grabbed my purse and we headed this direction. Once we got here (around 8:15-8:30) the nurses got me hooked up to monitors and Dr. Chandler (who had come on duty following the 7pm shift change) assessed me. He stated that my cervix was effaced but not dialated and my contractions were showing at a great intensity 2:30 minutes apart so they started me on a Magnesium bolus to stop labor. They ran the bolus for 1/2 hour and the contractions had spread out some so they decided the labor was stopping. So poor Travis called our parents back and let them know they had gotten my labor stopped no reason to head this direction. Fifteen minutes later the contractions were back, frequent and more intense than before. Dr. Chandler again assessed and I was dialated to a 6, and there was no way they could get the labor stopped, but hopefully the Magnesium (which was restarted) would prolong labor so they could get a corticosteroid shot into me to help the baby's lungs develop before delivery. They like the steriod to be in mom's system for 12 hours before delivery, I was thinking we had a long night ahead of us and Travis had to call our folks back and say he's coming. Fifteen minutes later I was reassessed by a nurse and I was dialted to an 8 so they stopped the Magnesium and started antibiotics to protect me and fifteen minutes later I was dialted to a ten so there was no holding this little boy back. Dr. Chandler arrived, broke my water, about four pushes later the little guy was here. Dr. Chandler's student resident got there in time to help with cleanup it was that quick. Travis and I had asked how big we could expect him to be and they told us he would be 2 lbs., 2 1/2 at best and to expect him to be unresponsive as they usually are when born this early. Tennyson had other plans, he came out crying with his eyes open and weighed in at 3lbs. 6 1/2 oz. and was 17 in. long. So Travis had to call his folks back who were headed this way and had made it to Faucett since the last call, that's how quickly everything progressed. They let me hold him for a moment, Travis cut the cord and the NICU staff whisked him away to get him all cleaned up and taken care of. They brought him back and let us each kiss him before they took him to the unit. Dr. Porte, the neonatologist here at Freeman visited with us about all the complications we could expect with such a preterm baby which of course was failure of every system of the body however Tennyson is holding his own.
Here is a brief look at how he's done over the last week (which is excerpted from an email my mom sent as I figured she'd get all the technical jargon correct and I wouldn't) Tennyson John, 11 weeks early, born September 24, 2007 at 11:56 p.m.. He weighed in at a whopping 3 lbs. 6 1/2 oz. and was 17 inches long (actually pretty good size for a baby with a gestational age of 28 weeks, 6 days). He was due Dec. 11 or 13th. Tennyson John has had a really good first week. Dr. Porte, Neonatologist tells the kids that Tennyson has surpassed even his expectations for a baby born this early (Thank the good Lord for this) as well as everyone who has been praying for Tennyson, Lindsay, and Travis. Tennyson has progressed nicely, going from the ventilator, to the C-PAP, to face mask and has now graduated to the nasal cannula for his oxygen. Dr. Porte has told the kids several times, that he could end up on the ventilator again in the next week or two, because as his lungs continue to develop, Tennyson may require the assistance of the vent (most premature babies don't know how to breathe deeply enough to keep their saturation levels up however Tennyson is doing great and his Oxygen levels have been reduced to 4 liters at this time). He only required two doses of the surfactant (a material that coats the lungs like a detergent that keeps them from sticking together, many premies can inhale however then their lungs stick together making them unable to exhale)after his delivery, instead of three. An echocardiogram on Thursday did show that he had pulmonary ductus ateriosus, which means a small bloodvessel between the pulmonary artery and aorta had not closed (it usually does this automatically in full term babies, if this ductus remains open it dumps blood into the lungs and will basically drown the baby). Upon recommendation from a Cardiologist in Springfield, Tennyson was given three doses of Ibuprofen (isn't it amazing something we take for pain has a side effect of closing the ductus arteriosus in premie babies) to treat this and we all prayed that the vessel would close (if it did not Tennyson would have to have heart surgery where a metal clamp would be put on the vessel this next week. Dr. Porte said in babies that have the surgery if they lose this it's to infection as the surgery greatly increase the infection risk). On Sunday, the echocardiogram was repeated and there was no opening in the vessel (Praise God and thank you again for all the prayers for Tennyson). Monday afternoon, they performed an ultrasound of his brain to evaluate him for any possible brain bleeds, big or small. The kids should know the results sometime tomorrow, however, Tennyson's progress thus far should indicate no problems at this time. The nurse verified this morning that the Radiologist had posted Tennyson's results in the comptuer and his scan showed that all in his head was normal, there was no bleeding anywhere (again praise the Lord). Tennyson also graduated from an open bed covered with a plastic wrap (they use the plastic wrap to keep moisture in the babies skin as many times they dry out and their skin cracks, increasing the risk of infection. They are covered with a thick vaseline like substance, giving them the look of a "greased pig" and then the wrap covers their bed to keep the moisture locked in) to allow quick and frequent access to him by the NICU nurses,to an Isolette (the boxes with the holes you can stick your hands in) Sunday night (Good news!). When he was moved his IV lines were removed from his umbilical vein and artery, and he now has a PICC line in his little foot for nutrition and antibiotics (this meant his nurse Jenny who we love, was able to put him in a onesie, I called in to check on him at 3am and she told me, she and I were both so excited, so was Travis after the initial shock of being woke up by a screaming wife at 3am wore off). At this time, the biggest concern for him is to avoid acquiring any infections and just allowing him time to sleep, eat, and grow! He is tolerating breast milk - 4 ml. over 2 hours every three hours. As of Monday, he has shown a smallweight gain back to 3 lb. 1 1/2 oz. Lindsay and Travis both got to hold him last night for the first time since he was born and tonight will begin Kangaroo Therapy with him (Yea!!!).
We are very blessed by all Tennyson has accomplished this first week. We and they need continued prayers and support that he will continue to do well.
Lindsay is returning to work 1/2 days tomorrow and Travis is back to work full time. Know this is hard for them - and the next several weeks will be very exhausting for them.
We are so fortunate to have friends and family such as all of you. Keep praying for his recovery as they told us to expect to be in the NICU until his due date which is roughly 10 weeks from today so it will be an interesting and exhausting 10 weeks with hopefully no set backs. They have all warned us (the doctors, nurses and other families at the Ronald McDonald house) that preemies go through a honeymoon period lasting usually a few days and then there will be set backs, everything thus far the Lord has blessed beyond even our wildest imaginations and we're hoping to ride in His arms all the way home but we also know realistically that probably isn't feasible as they are introducing so many new things to our little boy and he's being stimulated much earlier than he should have had to be.
Know that we love all of you and thanks for sharing this with us.
Sunday morning, September 23, I was fixing dinner for the college age ministry at Christ's Church of Oronogo and wasn't feeling well all the sudden. I called the nurses' hotline and was connected with Dr. Barillo who recommended I come in to be monitored. So I called poor Rachel Bond and she got ahold of Travis who was running sound at the church and he met me at Freeman. I was monitored for a couple hours (with Travis complaining about the uncomfortable chairs) and then released. They ran a test called a fetile fibronectin test which basically tells with 99% accuracy if it's negative that you will not go into labor in the next two weeks. Ours was positive however with there being no contractions and the babies heartrate being so stable, Dr. Barillo recommended we head home, I stay in bed Monday and then repeat the test Tuesday. Dr. Fogarty our physician was unavailable until Wednesday so Monday morning I scheduled a follow up appointment with her patrner Dr. Cox for Tuesday morning. I then rested the rest of the day however there was a sharp pain in my back that kept radiating to the front of my stomach however I thought these were probably just third trimester pains intensified because I'd been in bed all day. Travis came home and made dinner but they were getting worse and so again I called the nurse hotline and Dr. Cox was on duty and recommended I again come in for monitoring. Travis and I each grabbed a book and I grabbed my purse and we headed this direction. Once we got here (around 8:15-8:30) the nurses got me hooked up to monitors and Dr. Chandler (who had come on duty following the 7pm shift change) assessed me. He stated that my cervix was effaced but not dialated and my contractions were showing at a great intensity 2:30 minutes apart so they started me on a Magnesium bolus to stop labor. They ran the bolus for 1/2 hour and the contractions had spread out some so they decided the labor was stopping. So poor Travis called our parents back and let them know they had gotten my labor stopped no reason to head this direction. Fifteen minutes later the contractions were back, frequent and more intense than before. Dr. Chandler again assessed and I was dialated to a 6, and there was no way they could get the labor stopped, but hopefully the Magnesium (which was restarted) would prolong labor so they could get a corticosteroid shot into me to help the baby's lungs develop before delivery. They like the steriod to be in mom's system for 12 hours before delivery, I was thinking we had a long night ahead of us and Travis had to call our folks back and say he's coming. Fifteen minutes later I was reassessed by a nurse and I was dialted to an 8 so they stopped the Magnesium and started antibiotics to protect me and fifteen minutes later I was dialted to a ten so there was no holding this little boy back. Dr. Chandler arrived, broke my water, about four pushes later the little guy was here. Dr. Chandler's student resident got there in time to help with cleanup it was that quick. Travis and I had asked how big we could expect him to be and they told us he would be 2 lbs., 2 1/2 at best and to expect him to be unresponsive as they usually are when born this early. Tennyson had other plans, he came out crying with his eyes open and weighed in at 3lbs. 6 1/2 oz. and was 17 in. long. So Travis had to call his folks back who were headed this way and had made it to Faucett since the last call, that's how quickly everything progressed. They let me hold him for a moment, Travis cut the cord and the NICU staff whisked him away to get him all cleaned up and taken care of. They brought him back and let us each kiss him before they took him to the unit. Dr. Porte, the neonatologist here at Freeman visited with us about all the complications we could expect with such a preterm baby which of course was failure of every system of the body however Tennyson is holding his own.
Here is a brief look at how he's done over the last week (which is excerpted from an email my mom sent as I figured she'd get all the technical jargon correct and I wouldn't) Tennyson John, 11 weeks early, born September 24, 2007 at 11:56 p.m.. He weighed in at a whopping 3 lbs. 6 1/2 oz. and was 17 inches long (actually pretty good size for a baby with a gestational age of 28 weeks, 6 days). He was due Dec. 11 or 13th. Tennyson John has had a really good first week. Dr. Porte, Neonatologist tells the kids that Tennyson has surpassed even his expectations for a baby born this early (Thank the good Lord for this) as well as everyone who has been praying for Tennyson, Lindsay, and Travis. Tennyson has progressed nicely, going from the ventilator, to the C-PAP, to face mask and has now graduated to the nasal cannula for his oxygen. Dr. Porte has told the kids several times, that he could end up on the ventilator again in the next week or two, because as his lungs continue to develop, Tennyson may require the assistance of the vent (most premature babies don't know how to breathe deeply enough to keep their saturation levels up however Tennyson is doing great and his Oxygen levels have been reduced to 4 liters at this time). He only required two doses of the surfactant (a material that coats the lungs like a detergent that keeps them from sticking together, many premies can inhale however then their lungs stick together making them unable to exhale)after his delivery, instead of three. An echocardiogram on Thursday did show that he had pulmonary ductus ateriosus, which means a small bloodvessel between the pulmonary artery and aorta had not closed (it usually does this automatically in full term babies, if this ductus remains open it dumps blood into the lungs and will basically drown the baby). Upon recommendation from a Cardiologist in Springfield, Tennyson was given three doses of Ibuprofen (isn't it amazing something we take for pain has a side effect of closing the ductus arteriosus in premie babies) to treat this and we all prayed that the vessel would close (if it did not Tennyson would have to have heart surgery where a metal clamp would be put on the vessel this next week. Dr. Porte said in babies that have the surgery if they lose this it's to infection as the surgery greatly increase the infection risk). On Sunday, the echocardiogram was repeated and there was no opening in the vessel (Praise God and thank you again for all the prayers for Tennyson). Monday afternoon, they performed an ultrasound of his brain to evaluate him for any possible brain bleeds, big or small. The kids should know the results sometime tomorrow, however, Tennyson's progress thus far should indicate no problems at this time. The nurse verified this morning that the Radiologist had posted Tennyson's results in the comptuer and his scan showed that all in his head was normal, there was no bleeding anywhere (again praise the Lord). Tennyson also graduated from an open bed covered with a plastic wrap (they use the plastic wrap to keep moisture in the babies skin as many times they dry out and their skin cracks, increasing the risk of infection. They are covered with a thick vaseline like substance, giving them the look of a "greased pig" and then the wrap covers their bed to keep the moisture locked in) to allow quick and frequent access to him by the NICU nurses,to an Isolette (the boxes with the holes you can stick your hands in) Sunday night (Good news!). When he was moved his IV lines were removed from his umbilical vein and artery, and he now has a PICC line in his little foot for nutrition and antibiotics (this meant his nurse Jenny who we love, was able to put him in a onesie, I called in to check on him at 3am and she told me, she and I were both so excited, so was Travis after the initial shock of being woke up by a screaming wife at 3am wore off). At this time, the biggest concern for him is to avoid acquiring any infections and just allowing him time to sleep, eat, and grow! He is tolerating breast milk - 4 ml. over 2 hours every three hours. As of Monday, he has shown a smallweight gain back to 3 lb. 1 1/2 oz. Lindsay and Travis both got to hold him last night for the first time since he was born and tonight will begin Kangaroo Therapy with him (Yea!!!).
We are very blessed by all Tennyson has accomplished this first week. We and they need continued prayers and support that he will continue to do well.
Lindsay is returning to work 1/2 days tomorrow and Travis is back to work full time. Know this is hard for them - and the next several weeks will be very exhausting for them.
We are so fortunate to have friends and family such as all of you. Keep praying for his recovery as they told us to expect to be in the NICU until his due date which is roughly 10 weeks from today so it will be an interesting and exhausting 10 weeks with hopefully no set backs. They have all warned us (the doctors, nurses and other families at the Ronald McDonald house) that preemies go through a honeymoon period lasting usually a few days and then there will be set backs, everything thus far the Lord has blessed beyond even our wildest imaginations and we're hoping to ride in His arms all the way home but we also know realistically that probably isn't feasible as they are introducing so many new things to our little boy and he's being stimulated much earlier than he should have had to be.
Know that we love all of you and thanks for sharing this with us.
3 comments:
Lindsay and Travis
It was great to hear from you. We have been wondering how things are going. He is a precious little bundle of joy. We pray for only good days ahead. I will update Cori and Travis on your little one. God Bless.
Karen
Just think out of all the Mommies and Daddies in the whole world God chose you, Lindsay and Travis, to bring precious Tennyson into this world. Tennyson is blessed to have such a good mommy and daddy - and good grandparents too!! We love you guys.
The Kennedys
We have so much enjoyed reading your journey over the last week. Thanks for sharing and keeing us up to date. God Bless you both. You are in our thoughts and prayers daily. Like you said God is good all the tme. He brought you two quite the miracle and gave Tennyson some awesome parents. Stay strong and remember we love you and will continue praying!
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