So I think I finally have more than a minute to be on the computer and thought I'd write down Brock's journey here. It's probably going to be a little long so if you have time go ahead and read. And if not, here's the end: Brock's home and happy with us.
10:45 pm Saturday Feb 7 my water broke - not a big gush, just enough for me to go 'umm, I think my water just broke
11:00 pm getting a few contractions - and since strep B positive decide to head to hospital like Dr advised earlier
11:45 pm arrive at the hospital and have confirmed that my water had indeed broken and dilated to a 2
still having contractions but not really going anywhere
admitted and spent a sleepless night with contractions off and on and Cliff slept on the floor :(
7:45 am Feb 8 Dr Mark Darby came to see us and decided to start me on the pitocin (sp?)drip - I figured for sure once I got some of that in me the contractions would pick up and just keep going and we'd have a baby in a couple of hours
12:30 pm Dr Darby has to leave for a family function and still no closer to having a baby. Still at a 2 and getting frustrated
1:45 pm at an 18 on the pitocin drip, at a 3 and Dr Badenhorst re-breaks my water (they figure I either had a smaller bag that broke first or it broke and re-sealed itself) Pitocin is cut down to a 4 and contractions immediately pick up and get intense in pain and duration
2:00 ish I got a shot of phentanol (sp?) and that took the edge off a little
2:45 pm I am declared a 10 and told that I can start pushing. I panicked a little bit here because I wasn't mentally ready to push yet. I figured I was only a 6 or maybe an 8 like I had been with Rhett when I felt like that
Cliff was great and counted for me so I could focus on something - the nurses weren't prepared for me to be ready to push quite so soon and Dr Badenhorst wasn't quite ready to catch. But everyone got organized and at 3:13 pm Brock came into the world screaming. I was thrilled because he's the first to come out crying
They whisked him over to the warmer and a few minutes later brought him for a kiss and told me they were taking him to the nursery for a little bit of oxygen and my first thought was " if they get him in that nursery he's not coming out"
Cliff followed Brock shortly while the doc and nurses kept working on me - I hemorrhaged last time so they were taking extra precautions this time around. I was finally allowed up, got showered and over to see Brock around 6:30. We met up with Grammie and the boys on the way over to the nursery and all got our first look together....he wasn't just in oxygen anymore - he was hooked up to a c-pap machine - it basically forces oxygen into their nose. I wasn't allowed to hold him and figured we were in a for a long run
Monday 3:13 pm Brock is intabated and given a dose of bless to open up his lungs. Still haven't got to hold him. Nurses ask me if we have a preference for Edmonton or Calgary if they have to ship him out to a bigger hospital. Cliff gave him a blessing that night and promised that he would be healthy and strong and that his lungs would heal.
Tuesday 4:30 am find doc on call and nurses all clustered around Brock's bed (I had been there pumping) They were comparing x-rays, doing blood gas tests etc trying to decide how best to wean him off the machine because he had started to let it do the work for him - I was pretty stressed and pretty out of it but managed to keep it together
11:00 am get to the nursery after being discharged to find Brock off the machine and in hyper oxygenation. Room air is 21% and he was in 60%. I was surprised that he was off the machine and thrilled at the progress. I also finally got to hold him. His nurse knew how desperate I was to hold this precious little boy and had waited to do some things in his isolette so she could take him out and let me hold him. I had to hold an oxygen mask a few inches away from his face so he would get enough oxygen but it was so sweet to hold him and get to know him. I sat and held my sweet boy and cried.
Wednesday Brock went under the lights for jaundice and was still in 60%. His respiratory rate was still pretty high - he had a pneumothorax (sp?) in his left lung and from my understanding that meant that he had a spot on his lung that wasn't fully opened yet. So instead of averaging 40-60 breaths a minute he was closer to 80-100 breaths a minute. Because of this the doc wouldn't let him eat and he was just getting electrolytes through his IV
Thursday not much changed.
Friday his nurse let me give him 5 mls of breast milk through a bottle which he sucked down in about 3 minutes flat! He was so hungry and was much happier after that. His oxygen sat levels and his resp levels just settled down nicely and he was the most settled he had been all day after that.
Friday afternoon they started weaning Brock off oxygen
Friday night or sometime early Saturday doctor decided he was ready for a nasal gastric tube and started a continuous milk drip
Saturday Brock was in room air by 12:30 pm and his IV came out
Sunday night we got to start nursing on demand and I stayed in the parent's suite
Monday I was at the hospital all day to nurse Brock whenever he was hungry and had nurses with differing opinions on the car seat test but we ended up doing the test which he passed with no problems. I also had a couple of nurses comment to me about how calm I had been through the whole thing - especially with a CRITICALLY ILL baby. Umm, critically ill? No one ever told me he was THAT bad! It's probably a good thing no one ever said critically ill around me 'cause I probably would have lost it. But I also know I drew a lot of strength from the blessing Cliff gave me before we left for the hospital and the one he gave to Brock in the nursery. So in just over a week Brock went from the sickest baby they had to the healthiest one! Thank goodness for the power of the priesthood.
Monday night the nursery got so full that Brock was actually moved into the middle of the nursery and not hooked up to anything anymore. I was tempted to grab him and run!
Tuesday morning I was the first one that our pediatrician assigned to Brock saw and he gave us the go ahead to come home! He told me that his lungs were good enough to come home but would still take a couple of months to fully heal so was given lots of counsel on avoiding certain places and screening visitors etc. Lots of hand washing and we're kind of quarantined for the next little while. So I won't be going to church for the next couple of weeks and if I do have to take him out I'll be doing my best to keep him covered up and hidden from view/germs etc.
It felt awesome to finally leave the hospital WITH Brock in tow and to walk in the house with him. Zane was so excited he was jumping around in circles and couldn't wash his hands fast enough to get a hold in. Rhett was very excited to come and look and point out all of Brock's things like his vibrating chair and blankets. He also raced down to Brock's room to bring him the toy that auntie Kizzy sent up with Grandpa.
Zane loves to hold Brock and look at him and talk to him. And Rhett is my best helper. As soon as he sees me getting ready to change Brock he's got a diaper, the wipes and cream ready. He's always concerned about where he is and what he's doing. He doesn't want to hold him yet but whatever.
And we are thrilled to have baby boy #3 here. Last night was a long night. I think he's hitting his 2 week growth spurt and most of the night was spent nursing, falling asleep nursing in the chair, waking up and nursing again etc. So I'm pretty tired today. Glad mom is still here and I can get a nap in this afternoon! Mom's leaving us Monday morning and I'm a little nervous but I know after a couple of days (or maybe weeks) we'll get into a routine and soon I'll wonder what in the world we ever did without Brock in our family. Mom is going to stay home tomorrow morning with Brock so I can go to sacrament meeting - I've already missed 2 weeks of church and probably won't be taking Brock until his blessing day - March 22. So she decided that I should go tomorrow.
And those are the details!
10:45 pm Saturday Feb 7 my water broke - not a big gush, just enough for me to go 'umm, I think my water just broke
11:00 pm getting a few contractions - and since strep B positive decide to head to hospital like Dr advised earlier
11:45 pm arrive at the hospital and have confirmed that my water had indeed broken and dilated to a 2
still having contractions but not really going anywhere
admitted and spent a sleepless night with contractions off and on and Cliff slept on the floor :(
7:45 am Feb 8 Dr Mark Darby came to see us and decided to start me on the pitocin (sp?)drip - I figured for sure once I got some of that in me the contractions would pick up and just keep going and we'd have a baby in a couple of hours
12:30 pm Dr Darby has to leave for a family function and still no closer to having a baby. Still at a 2 and getting frustrated
1:45 pm at an 18 on the pitocin drip, at a 3 and Dr Badenhorst re-breaks my water (they figure I either had a smaller bag that broke first or it broke and re-sealed itself) Pitocin is cut down to a 4 and contractions immediately pick up and get intense in pain and duration
2:00 ish I got a shot of phentanol (sp?) and that took the edge off a little
2:45 pm I am declared a 10 and told that I can start pushing. I panicked a little bit here because I wasn't mentally ready to push yet. I figured I was only a 6 or maybe an 8 like I had been with Rhett when I felt like that
Cliff was great and counted for me so I could focus on something - the nurses weren't prepared for me to be ready to push quite so soon and Dr Badenhorst wasn't quite ready to catch. But everyone got organized and at 3:13 pm Brock came into the world screaming. I was thrilled because he's the first to come out crying
They whisked him over to the warmer and a few minutes later brought him for a kiss and told me they were taking him to the nursery for a little bit of oxygen and my first thought was " if they get him in that nursery he's not coming out"
Cliff followed Brock shortly while the doc and nurses kept working on me - I hemorrhaged last time so they were taking extra precautions this time around. I was finally allowed up, got showered and over to see Brock around 6:30. We met up with Grammie and the boys on the way over to the nursery and all got our first look together....he wasn't just in oxygen anymore - he was hooked up to a c-pap machine - it basically forces oxygen into their nose. I wasn't allowed to hold him and figured we were in a for a long run
Monday 3:13 pm Brock is intabated and given a dose of bless to open up his lungs. Still haven't got to hold him. Nurses ask me if we have a preference for Edmonton or Calgary if they have to ship him out to a bigger hospital. Cliff gave him a blessing that night and promised that he would be healthy and strong and that his lungs would heal.
Tuesday 4:30 am find doc on call and nurses all clustered around Brock's bed (I had been there pumping) They were comparing x-rays, doing blood gas tests etc trying to decide how best to wean him off the machine because he had started to let it do the work for him - I was pretty stressed and pretty out of it but managed to keep it together
11:00 am get to the nursery after being discharged to find Brock off the machine and in hyper oxygenation. Room air is 21% and he was in 60%. I was surprised that he was off the machine and thrilled at the progress. I also finally got to hold him. His nurse knew how desperate I was to hold this precious little boy and had waited to do some things in his isolette so she could take him out and let me hold him. I had to hold an oxygen mask a few inches away from his face so he would get enough oxygen but it was so sweet to hold him and get to know him. I sat and held my sweet boy and cried.
Wednesday Brock went under the lights for jaundice and was still in 60%. His respiratory rate was still pretty high - he had a pneumothorax (sp?) in his left lung and from my understanding that meant that he had a spot on his lung that wasn't fully opened yet. So instead of averaging 40-60 breaths a minute he was closer to 80-100 breaths a minute. Because of this the doc wouldn't let him eat and he was just getting electrolytes through his IV
Thursday not much changed.
Friday his nurse let me give him 5 mls of breast milk through a bottle which he sucked down in about 3 minutes flat! He was so hungry and was much happier after that. His oxygen sat levels and his resp levels just settled down nicely and he was the most settled he had been all day after that.
Friday afternoon they started weaning Brock off oxygen
Friday night or sometime early Saturday doctor decided he was ready for a nasal gastric tube and started a continuous milk drip
Saturday Brock was in room air by 12:30 pm and his IV came out
Sunday night we got to start nursing on demand and I stayed in the parent's suite
Monday I was at the hospital all day to nurse Brock whenever he was hungry and had nurses with differing opinions on the car seat test but we ended up doing the test which he passed with no problems. I also had a couple of nurses comment to me about how calm I had been through the whole thing - especially with a CRITICALLY ILL baby. Umm, critically ill? No one ever told me he was THAT bad! It's probably a good thing no one ever said critically ill around me 'cause I probably would have lost it. But I also know I drew a lot of strength from the blessing Cliff gave me before we left for the hospital and the one he gave to Brock in the nursery. So in just over a week Brock went from the sickest baby they had to the healthiest one! Thank goodness for the power of the priesthood.
Monday night the nursery got so full that Brock was actually moved into the middle of the nursery and not hooked up to anything anymore. I was tempted to grab him and run!
Tuesday morning I was the first one that our pediatrician assigned to Brock saw and he gave us the go ahead to come home! He told me that his lungs were good enough to come home but would still take a couple of months to fully heal so was given lots of counsel on avoiding certain places and screening visitors etc. Lots of hand washing and we're kind of quarantined for the next little while. So I won't be going to church for the next couple of weeks and if I do have to take him out I'll be doing my best to keep him covered up and hidden from view/germs etc.
It felt awesome to finally leave the hospital WITH Brock in tow and to walk in the house with him. Zane was so excited he was jumping around in circles and couldn't wash his hands fast enough to get a hold in. Rhett was very excited to come and look and point out all of Brock's things like his vibrating chair and blankets. He also raced down to Brock's room to bring him the toy that auntie Kizzy sent up with Grandpa.
Zane loves to hold Brock and look at him and talk to him. And Rhett is my best helper. As soon as he sees me getting ready to change Brock he's got a diaper, the wipes and cream ready. He's always concerned about where he is and what he's doing. He doesn't want to hold him yet but whatever.
And we are thrilled to have baby boy #3 here. Last night was a long night. I think he's hitting his 2 week growth spurt and most of the night was spent nursing, falling asleep nursing in the chair, waking up and nursing again etc. So I'm pretty tired today. Glad mom is still here and I can get a nap in this afternoon! Mom's leaving us Monday morning and I'm a little nervous but I know after a couple of days (or maybe weeks) we'll get into a routine and soon I'll wonder what in the world we ever did without Brock in our family. Mom is going to stay home tomorrow morning with Brock so I can go to sacrament meeting - I've already missed 2 weeks of church and probably won't be taking Brock until his blessing day - March 22. So she decided that I should go tomorrow.
And those are the details!
