Back Track, Do it Again

This morning I passed some tissue, and long story short, I'm back at TMC because obstetrics saw that there is still something on the inside. I'm getting a round of antibiotics tonight and then I will have my procedure tomorrow afternoon. I'm told it will take all of five minutes and I will be able to be discharged shortly after. 

I've never been put under before so I am a little nervous. But I will certainly be glad when I no longer have to worry about this and can concentrate on baby. Who, by the way, no longer has tubes in her nose or mouth. Yay! We're just waiting for her to poop now and then they will try feeding her milk. 

Tube free and smiling. 

Helpy McHelperton

We went back to Safford yesterday, and on to Morenci for a few hours to check on the house and our animals. Thankfully our dogs have a Chow Hound and an automatic watering bowl connected to city water, so their needs are met, as long as we check in from time-to-time to love on them and let them know we haven't completely abandoned them.

Anyway... We got back to Tucson and settled into the McDonald House at 1 this morning... another long day and late night.

The moments of fatigue continue, as to the comical moments, I'm told... This morning at 3am(a scheduled pumping time), my wife and I apparently had the following conversation:

Laura: Justin...
Justin: *ZZZZZ*
Laura: Justin! Where's the pump?
Justin: Zzz-snort- Pump? Pump?
Laura: Where did you put it??
Justin: One on each breast. *zzzZZZZZzzzz*

Glad I could help.

She found it eventually on her own.

Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed

By now, we're all seeing how much spirit Elizabeth has. She also has one heck of a grip.

No, Lizzy. Don't pull out your stomach tube.

 

It's there to help you, don't pull it out!

*Sigh* Fine, Mom.

We both got some more skin to skin time or "Kangaroo Care" as they call it. This picture was just too cute to pass up, though we found out later, we're not supposed to fall asleep while holding her. Though the nurse conceded too that it's dang hard not to with the lights down low and a warm, sleeping baby on your chest. It's so relaxing. 

We then had an appointment with my OB in Safford and right as we really needed to head out, this happened.

Hello world. Hello eyes! It was the longest I'd ever seen her eyes open and she was just looking around, taking everything in. It broke my heart to leave her at that point when I felt like she was getting a good look at us. But go we did to the appointment and then home to Morenci to check on the house and get a few more things. I called the NICU that afternoon and got more news than I bargained for.

The surgeons had come by and looked at her stomach tube, telling her nurse not to change anything, UNLESS she pulled her tube out again. Well, as you can see above, it's no surprise... she pulled that sucker right out. (Ha! Punny.) So the nurse got to take it all off and try letting her go without for a little while and she did great! No distended tummy or spit up. So they put a smaller tube down her nose that works using gravity and will pull stuff out if needs be. It also gives her a better chance of passing gas and poop which is what we want. She'll stay on that tube for a day or two while they monitor how she handles it. If all goes well, she'll come off it completely and I'm guessing they'll then try breast milk again.

I was also happy to hear this meant it was a lot easier for her to keep a hold of her binkie so she was pretty quiet all afternoon, sucking away at that thing. That's our little fighter. :)

On the Lighter Side

Because it's good to laugh after adversity. We had a few funny moments from our ER trip last night I forgot to mention.

1. We finally got checked in and I was past due to pump so Justin went out of the room to ask if he had time to go to the NICU and find a pump for me to use. The nurse said yes, but then I hear a doctor tell him, "Um, sir. Your wife is having abdominal pain, you shouldn't be getting her a soda." Pump, not pop sir...

2. So there was a doctor who I didn't see until the end of our stay, Dr. No Soda, and his student who actually worked on me. As a side note, I tell you what, that student will make a phenomenal doctor someday. He was really good, caring, and even the nurse had nothing but compliments for him. Anyway, Dr. No Soda came in with the student to let us know the ultrasound results and when he said there was no extra tissue remaining, I was so happy I leaned over and gave the student a fist bump. He got all excited at my response and laughing said "Bones!" (Not sure if this is a new fist bump thing?) Good job dude.

The Neverends

Well, this afternoon was interesting. After a wonderful morning spent with our baby, we ran a few errands and then headed back to what I have dubbed, "The Clown House" because I just wasn't feeling well. Then the cramping and mild fever started and it seemed all too much like mild contractions so we headed over to our favorite hospital and checked in at the ER. After much talking and answering of questions, we finally came to a diagnosis that was later proved as he pulled a piece of leftover placenta out of me.

As I told my mom, I must have loved giving birth so much I just had to do it again. (To which I say to Justin's sister Erin, maybe that was our "triplet".) I was then wheeled down to ultrasound where they made sure there weren't any other remnants and thank goodness there wasn't. This made me very happy as if there was it sounded rather painful to remove. We even went to see Elizabeth for a short bit which made me happy again. Anyway, we are back at the clown house and ready for bed. My symptoms have abated significantly and I hope there won't be anything else to deal with like this. As Justin put on the Gofundme page:

“I know God won't give me anything I can't handle. I just wish he didn't trust me so much.” - Mother Teresa

(Though I know He was with us tonight and I was very thankful for his presence and blessings.)

Skin to Skin

Now when we first had Elizabeth they kept telling us how important skin to skin time is, especially for NICU babies. Important as it was though, it kept getting put off when her stomach problems started, persisted, and then put her in surgery. Well, today Justin suggested going in to pump there for our next session and I almost didn't because it's a lot more complicated doing it there. Thank goodness I opted to go anyway because when we got there and explained we wanted to pump bedside to help motivate me, I got a very fussy baby put on my chest where she immediately calmed and went to sleep. I was trying so hard not to cry too much from being so happy because I didn't want to jostle her. But the feeling was like no other.

Daddy got a turn while I pumped.

She does still have some jaundice but thankfully it was low enough that they could use this blanket version of the lights so she could be swaddled which always helps. She became our little glow-worm, glow-stick baby, or as Justin calls her, our blue blanket burrito baby. 

And if you notice one more thing, she has a binkie in her mouth. Blue blanket binkie burrito baby! This makes us happy by the way because a week ago (HAPPY ONE WEEK LIZZY!) she would gladly take a binkie, she loves it, but then her primitive brain would forget to tell her to breathe at the same time and her oxygen would dip. Well, we watched that screen with her nurse for quite awhile and she seems to have finally figured it out. Yay! So much happiness today!

Look Ma, No Hands!

They've been swaddling her a lot lately so we don't get to see hands and feet quite as often. But it comforts her and it keeps her from ripping things off/out of her. I've taken to calling her our little Burrito Baby.

It was high time I stopped hogging all the snuggle time and let Daddy have a turn.

And they did take off the up-the-nose oxygen thingy. (Technical term). They were only using it to ease her back up to breathing on her own, but we were very happy, and I'm sure she was too, to have it gone. One less thing stuck to her.

She is now 3lbs 10oz

What are Little Girls Made of?

The nurses sure love to doll our little girl up. :) 

Peach Bow

Blue Bow

And a bonus picture. Eyes wide open!

In the Beginning

As you all know, our sweet Elizabeth came into our lives a little earlier than expected and has already had an exciting life so far. It started on Monday, the 20th of July when I started to have contractions in the middle of the night resulting in Justin taking me on an hour's drive to the hospital. We spent the day with our nurse trying to get things under control and felt well enough to go home that evening. 

Middle of the night we once again set out to Safford where we found out I was now dilated and got a one-way helicopter ride to Tucson Medical Center. I have to admit, contractions and uncomfortable gurney aside, it was a pretty cool way to travel, though Justin had to drive himself there. Thankfully he got there half an hour after I did and shortly after, I finally got an epidural and was able to rest for a few hours before our beautiful baby came.

Day three of her life resulted in a diagnosis of atresia which means that a portion of her intestine was dead-ended and needed to be attached to the rest of it. They laid out the different possibilities, told us how the procedure would go, and after much assurance from the nursing staff that these surgeons were amazing, we went forward and she did incredibly well. We are so proud of our little fighter! She is so full of life and spirit, the doctors and nurses just seem amazed by her. On many occasion by several people, they've remarked that she looks like a term baby, just small. 

So with all of the texting, facebooking, and word of mouth going on I wanted to find one place where we could give updates on how she is doing, though we certainly hope we don't have anymore scares. But with the help of this blog, we can keep everyone updated, and I'm sure pictures will still make their way onto Facebook and here from time to time. 
Welcome, to Elizabeth's Journey.