Milo's turn around

Yesterday was a great day for Milo. Milo is having a pretty AMAZING day today as well.  A complete turn around from his first day in the NICU. At first he needed 100% oxygen yesterday he was down to 28 (We breathe 21%)! At first his blood pressure was too low and caused co2 to build up to 100% now his bp is in the 50s (perfect for his age) and his co2 is down to 35-44% (perfectly normal range) at first he was put on a catheter because he stopped urinating and yesterday they took it out because he is peeing up a storm. At first he was at a 20 (the max output) for nitric oxide (this is to help keep his lungs open to better receive oxygen) and yesterday he was at a 5. They are going to try and wean him off it completely today. They have also taken him off certain medications for his heart and lowering his dosages of all other meds! It was truly a miraculous day!! Thank you everyone for your support!

Major update from Dad

Hi everyone I wanted to take a little bit to give everyone an update on what has been going on the past few days.  Ill let Mom give the full update on whats happened over the past week, but there has been some major changes. On the May 28th in the evening Jess started having contractions. The doctor gave her a one time dose of morphine and Motrin to see if she was going into full on labor. She wasn't. The contractions eventually subsided and she fell asleep. On the morning of the 29th however we noticed that Jess was having an irregular pulse compared to what is has normally been on the NSTs. Her temp started going up and she started having a yellow discharge (We think the Motrin might have masked the fever for a few hours). We pretty much knew it was go time because it looked like the start of an infection. They ran her blood to double check and it came back positive. Her white blood cell count was 30. Our nurse said about 10 is normal. I'm really proud of my wife for paying such close attention to her body because I could tell that she knew something was up and was constantly informing her health care staff. She was prepped for her c-section which was the longest 10 minutes of my life because I had to wait outside the OR. She did great. She asked that I follow Milo to watch over him while they finished sewing her back together. He was born at 1:36pm on 5-29-13. He was 2lb 9oz and about 14 inches long. 

Mom is just recovering now and her temp has gone down, but milo has been having a hard time (Any prayers are much appreciated).  Jess knows a lot more about this stuff then I do so I won't go into to many details, but basically his lungs and heart are not doing well. They put him on nitric oxide but for a while he needed 100% oxygen from the ventilator. He seems to have a positive response so far. I know Mom will try to keep everyone updated as much as possible, but updates might be spread out (whenever she is feeling up to it). Thanks again for all your prayers and well wishes up to this point.

A very stressful non stress test

The past week was pretty uneventful until today. Today has been the most stressful day since I was admitted to the hospital. I started my NST (non stress test to check milos heart rate) around 11:30 this morning. This usually only takes 20-40 minutes, but an hour came and went and the nurses told me he wasn't recovering well when he grabbed his cord or bumped into it ( basically his heart rate drops when he hits the cord and he should just bounce back up right afterwards but it was taking him awhile to bounce back). They gave me oxygen for about 30 minutes to help him out and kept me on the monitor until 7:30pm when he was finally able to recover quickly again. They also scheduled an ultra sound to do another biophysical profile. This time they didn't see him practice breathing and there still wasn't fluid so he got 4/8 on this test. They say that's not bad when the mom is ruptured but last time he got 6/8 and with the stress of the day it is hard not to worry. I'm now at 29 and 4 so he has that going for him if something did go wrong and I had to deliver him but I would really love to make it to 32 weeks as planned. Everything seemed fine by the time I got off the monitor but its stressful knowing that it took nearly 8 hours for him to be in the clear. I'm hoping tomorrow's NST is completely uneventful and we got back to our routine of being dreadfully boring for the nurses. After all no news is good news in these situations. 

Mother's Day Weekend

This weekend was pretty phenomenal; Saturday we had lots of visitors including my best friend (since 5th grade) who is 38 weeks pregnant with her little boy!

Then on Sunday my siblings, parents and grandma came over for a picnic style lunch in the hospital. Apparently they got quite a few stares lugging coolers of food into the Maternity ward. We had salad and cooked up burgers stuffed with mozarella and basil on our electric skillet. There are a lot of crock pot cooking books out there but we have perfected the electric skillet. We have cooked anything from steaks to boiling water for pasta in that thing. The nurses say the smell of delicious food has permenately seeped into the walls of our room. One morning we were cooking bacon and all the nurses ended up taking an early lunch because the smell made them all so hungry! After lunch we exchanged cards and gifts and just enjoyed being together outside of my hospital room. My sister is amazing and made an engraved wood slice for the nursery (straight off my nursery inspirational board on pinterest!)

For some reason just having one piece of the nursery complete made it feel like everything would be done and ready for Milo when the time came haha. I also got a precious necklace from my parents that had a heart shaped charm with baby feet engraved on it. Apparently my mom was trying to get it engraved with the baby's name, back when we thought we were having a girl but the website wasn't cooperating so she decided to just order it without the name since it was the last one. The next morning was when I called to tell her we were having a boy! It was a perfect afternoon and felt so nice to feel like everything was normal again. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family :D

Brother, Grandma, Dad, Mom, Me and Sister

My Husband and I 

 

Finally 28 Weeks (well close enough)

So technically I am 28 weeks as of tomorrow but all the exciting stuff has already happened. We finished our last does of steroids this week and had our latest ultra sound. The tech searched high and low for any pocket of fluid and found one that was 0.6 cm which I think she counted just to humor us, but I appreciated her persistence  There was more but again it was all mixed in with the cord, which is by Baby's face so that is good, but doesn't count as measurable fluid. This week has definitely been a hard one, we've been in the hospital for a full month now and while I like to think we are at the halfway point it's really just the beginning. Even though he will be born in another month or so, that too is just the start of another terrifying experience. We have no idea what to expect or how long he will be in the NICU. Based on other stories he won't be ready to come home until closer to his due date (August 3rd). How hard things seem now is just the tip of the iceberg for how hard things will get when the time comes for me to leave the hospital and Milo behind. Knowing that it will be best for Milo doesn't make it any easier. I am torn between celebrating each passing day as we get closer to 32 weeks, and knowing that I am one day closer to being forced to leave him. In the end it will all be worth it; but it's so hard to imagine everything that must come first. I'm still trying to keep busy and stay positive but some days it's just too much. We are so blessed to have made it this far and just continue to pray and have faith; after all what else can we do?

On another note, Milo measured about 1lb 12 oz today which isn't too far from where he should be (just off by about 4 oz). So despite the circumstances he seems to be growing well and is very active. Feeling him move around is the highlight of my day, it's just something small to let me know that he is doing ok. My nurses and techs have all been so wonderful and I do like 3/6 doctors I see. So I am praying that if I don't make it to 32 weeks then at least one of those doctors is on call. Otherwise the one thing I would love to control about this crazy pregnancy is the doctor performing the c-section. But since nothing seems to go according to plan lately I am not getting my hopes up this : P.

27 Weeks!

We have finally hit another great milestone, the 3rd trimester! We are in our fourth week of our hospital stay and it's been 9 weeks since I ruptured : D Towards the end of the week I will get my next/last dose of the steroid injections. Although I have been leaking more often and larger amounts; but I don't see it as a bad thing. To me it is just a result of Milo's increased activity and size. He moves around constantly and frequently has the hiccups. The pink tint my fluid had comes and goes, but is considered very normal. My nurses and doctors were surprised it hadn't been pink yet. Pink fluid just means the cervix is irritated; which is expected when a baby is sitting on it :) Red blood would be indicative of placental abruption (where the placenta starts to detach from the uterine wall) and would be cause for concern, but pink is nothing to be worried about. I have my next growth and AFI (amniotic fluid index, basically how much fluid is in there I think it is safe to assume zero) ultrasound. I am really excited to see how much he has grown because he feels rather large to me; but I also want some reassurance after a freaky dream I had where he looked like a normal full term baby but was only 6 inches tall with cartoon features. I am certain that is not what he looks like but I would like to get some numbers just in case. We've had lots of visitors to keep me busy and I can hardly believe another week has gone by; even now I can't believe how fast this day has slipped away! Now that school is over I plan to keep busy with work and a few sewing projects. I bought materials to make my own nursing pillow and think the tray table over my bed will have no problem supporting my sewing machine.    We are also going to try and have an open house style baby shower here at the hospital over memorial weekend. We weren't sure if it made more sense to have one before or after but my mom pointed out that after Milo is born he won't be coming home for quite awhile. Plus now it gives me something else to look forward to during the next few weeks :)

Rounding Up

Yesterday I realized it was already May1st; which is really close to May 8th; which basically means June 8th is only a month away! I liked that better than thinking I still have 5 more weeks (atleast) to go. I have now reached that point where I have been here almost 3 weeks and am sick and tired of sitting around all day. The only thing I can see from my window is another hallway of the hospital and some weeds. I keep myself busy with books, homework, and black ops; but I am definitely getting restless. After all this is said and done I may never want to lay around all day again. I definitely will be spending as much time outdoors as possible. Unfortunately, I keep forgetting that when I came to the hospital it was beautiful 75-80 degree weather and when I leave it will be 120...Missing the only stretch of good weather in Phoenix is just cruel. I wouldn't say I am lonely (I get lots of visitors which I greatly appreciate, plus John is always around) and I am not necessarily bored but I do get depressed and overwhelmed by everything else I feel I should be doing or want to do. Milo could be here in a month and nothing is ready, and I have no control over getting things ready. The logical side of my brain realizes that even though Milo could be born in a month he won't be coming home for awhile after that. So I will have time to get things ready, but the emotional side of my brain is panicked at the thought of delivering a baby before everything is perfectly ready. All I have are a few clothes, diapers and a baby hat I made at last weeks arts and craft day. I realize a preemie baby who will stay in the NICU for quite awhile probably doesn't need much more than that; but it doesn't ease the panicked feeling (being a control freak is definitely not helping me in this matter). I have been so anxious over feeling prepared that I completely forgot I was suppose to graduate from my masters program next week! Even though I have been keeping up with my school work it just hasn't felt like a priority and with everything going on it just doesn't seem important. I wish I felt more proud or excited but it was just a one year accelerated program that went by so fast and has mostly been overshadowed by everything else going on (mainly buying our first house and getting pregnant). However I will still take a little time to celebrate from my room here; it went by fast but it is still a big (and expensive) accomplishment.