Day 61
Hello to you all.
As I titled today's entry, I found it somewhat ironic that this is day 61 of our hospital saga. Our first visit to the hospital prior to this was just after we learned we were pregnant. That morning, a Friday, Rebecca was spotting. Being new to all of this, and terrified by the Internet reports, we went to the emergency room at PVH. There we saw our child for the first time and he was then 61 days old.
To continue from yesterday's entry, after yesterday's ultrasound, Dr. Yong had Rebecca admitted to the hospital. We asked if we could check in later in the day. I'm thinking "We drove here in two cars. I need to get to work." and several other thoughts. Rebecca had thoughts of her own. Based on the good results of our scheduled NST (which followed the ultrasound), we were allowed to check in later. Xavier did well on the NST.
I headed to work and Rebecca headed home to pack, find a place with a patio to enjoy a lunch, then get a pedicure. At 3:30 I packed the car and drove Rebecca to University Hospital.
Upon arrival Rebecca was beset by nurses and hooked up to monitors, oxygen, blood pressure cuff; the doctors even (after much persuasion) tapped her with an IV (the persuasive reason that the sterile water drip would help hydrate her and help Xavier with his decels (explained later)). At one time we had no less than six medical staff in the room, two doctors, an anesthesiologist, and various nurses. During the hooking up of monitors, blood pressure cups, and a host of other circus attractions, we were briefed on C-section procedures and probabilities (all this while the anesthesiologist was fitting Rebecca with a catheter in her hand). We also got the low-down on all the anesthetic possibilities. If you haven't realized it, the doctors, based on the NST graphs pumping out over the past hour, were thinking a C-section last night was a high probability (one doctor turned to me and said, "I wouldn't go home any time soon if I were you"). Around 6:00, Rebecca was given a steroid injection to help "jump start" Xavier in the event he needed to be delivered. (this is what they did as we transferred from PVH so many weeks ago). Rebecca had blood drawn through another "poke" and started a 24-hour urine collection (to test for pre-eclampsia markers).
We sat for many hours watching Xavier's NST chart thrash. We learned new terminology like "decel" and "variable" or "variable decel". These refer to deep drops in Xavier's heart rate which persisted for twenty or thirty seconds. These decels were the center of concern for the doctors and the nurses. Every time Xavier demonstrated a decel, a nurse instantly showed up in the room. We were living literally hour by hour, and the "hour-long" NST is still on-going as I type (25 hours now). Rebecca was not allowed to have any dinner because a delivery of Xavier was so close; she was not allowed to even drink water (though she did have a sterile water drip bag draining into her arm). She regrets her 1:00 lunch choice was a couple of Lamar's cake donuts.
We made it through the night, and Xavier's NST graph grew more stable (the nurses kept coming in to have Rebecca change position to see if that would help. It did, once we found the magic positioning). I left the hospital about 10:30 PM to go home and let the dog in the house, feed her, and find something to eat for myself. I returned to the hospital about 12:30. Rebecca was asleep and Jenny, our night nurse, was working to get Xavier back on the monitor (he has been very good about slipping under the radar). Through the night Xavier's NST graph maintained a good, steady, healthy rhythm, though I got little sleep because the drip-feed alarms kept going off for various reasons.
About 10:00 this morning, we met with the team of doctors who came in at the same time as we were getting Xavier's daily Doppler test. Dr. Rick, whom we have seen several times already, once again mentioned how little Xavier continues to prove him wrong. (to which I say, "Go, Xavier, go! Keep it up!"). Today's dopplers look the same as yesterdays, which is good. Dr. Rick checked another artery in Xavier, and one we have not seen checked before. It is the artery connecting the liver to the heart (I have forgotten what they called it, so much information was flying around the room one could not catch it with a butterfly net!). It looked really good, a healthy, strong flow. As a sign of the doctors' comfort, Rebecca was allowed clear liquids.
With Xavier looking good on his Dopplers and his NST graph putting the doctors' nerves at ease, Rebecca and I visited with Father Mark, who drove down to give Rebecca communion, then Rebecca returned some of the phone calls which came in during all of this. I left to let the dog out into the yard for her "business" and to feed her. I also needed (quite desperately) to mow the Southern Outpost's lawn before it started eating people.
I returned in the late afternoon to find Rebecca watching "The Jungle Book 2" and Xavier's NST graph looking good. I spoke with the nurse (Bethany) on my way in to ask her how "my girl and my boy are doing." She gave a glowing report. Xavier has continued to show some variable decels, but nothing alarming.
Currently, Rebecca is doing well. We made another goal tonight. Twenty-four hours after yesterday's steroid injection, Rebecca got the second one (it takes two doses to jump-start things, although one is better than none). The "jump start" is good for two weeks, but is best served if Xavier has another 24 hours to absorb the dose. That is our next goal. After that, our goal is always one more day and one more ounce. We really want to make it to June, and that is not out of reach, but it will be day by day and NST/Doppler by NST/Doppler. I have written on the room's white board Xavier's longer-term goals of 7 ounces and 3 weeks. Rebecca really wants him to make 2 pounds (which is another 3 ounces away) and another 10 days.
Rebecca was allowed solid food and wasted no time ordering an omelet. She requested, and was granted, time away from the monitors and all the hoses and wires to shower and clean up. We are awaiting pizza, broccoli and chocolate cake from the kitchen. One of our friends who wrote back to us this morning cited a wonderful scripture, one I thought was Spirit-led, timely and right on the money: Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Ephesians 3:20
Great is our God! Today (and yesterday) have been a ride, though not like the "Space Mountain" of last week. His hand has walked us through it. We even saw a miracle: Rebecca let an anesthesiologist insert a catheter!