Finally another entry.
I spontaneously gave birth to Micah on the Saturday morning of May 31, 2014 at 5:54am. I was 37 weeks and 3 days along when he arrived. He weighed 7lbs 2oz and was 19in long! He has the biggest cheeks I ever saw! Labor lasted about 6 hours and I felt really good afterwards! Micah was born pink and not blue (yay!) and Ray and I got to hold him before the NICU team took him away.
I've been sending out email updates to family over the last few days. I've posted them below for all to see how things have developed over the last few days. It's been really emotional for me and Ray. I can't describe how helpless I feel seeing Micah's little body fluctuate between what is considered "good" levels and "dangerous" levels. It was a comfort to have him in my belly knowing that he wasn't struggling. And now we're facing the reality of it. I have to admit, it's not as terrible as I thought it would be, maybe I'm stronger than I think.
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(May 31, 12:05pm) Hi family,
I'm sorry we haven't been very frequent with updates. Ray and I were able to hold Micah right when he was born. The NICU doctors said he had trouble breathing so they intubated him. Micah is with Ray at Children's Hospital (right next door to Washington Hospital Center where I'm staying). The cardiologists don't seem too concerned with his breathing. They said it could have been from fluids during the birthing process. If everything seems to be going well then they'll take the tube out later today. Micah is just now getting his echocardiogram so we should know a bit more about his heart condition soon. Here are a few pictures that were taken soon after he was intubated.
Love you guys so so much!!!!
Update (May 31, 2:30pm):
The echo confirmed no pulmonary artery (PA) but they see three other collateral arteries that are trying to make up for the function of the PA. They're going to take the tube out and see if his oxygen levels stay above 70. They're currently at 81. If levels are stable then we'll try eating and if that's successful then we might get to take him home. Lots of ifs at this point.
Update (June 1, 1:00am):
They extubated him at 11:30pmbut he's still on oxygen - his oxygen levels are at 92. He's currently asleep and sucking on a pacifier! They're going to try feeding him around 3:30am.
Update (June 1, 9:30am):
I called Children's around 4:00am. They fed him 8cc (not very much). The nurse said that's all he would take and it's to be expected since he had really busy first day of life.
They tried feeding him again at 6:30am and he didn't seem interested in eating. He only took 2-3cc. So they're going to keep trying throughout the morning. He appears to have a good sucking and swallowing reflex (I hope they're right!). He's still on an IV drip to stay hydrated and to receive glucose.
His "normal" oxygen saturation levels is between 75 and 85 but when he cries it drops to 60 which is lower than they'd like to see. For normal anatomy, oxygen levels are usually between 93 and 100.
I get discharged today at lunchtime and I can finally be reunited with my baby! I haven't seen him in over 24 hours :( I'll send new pictures now that he doesn't have tubes in his throat anymore.
Update (June 2, 11:30am):
Hey everyone! Spending time with Micah yesterday was amazing! We had a scare at one point, his heart rate randomly dropped to 60bpm and it's supposed to be between 110-160. It hasn't happened again since
This morning the speech therapist came in to assess his feeding abilities. He drank 15cc and passed the assessment! I can even breastfeed if I want :)
Update (June 3, 7:50am):
Yesterday the doctors held a surgical conference at 4:00pm. Our cardiologist, Dr. Donofrio, briefed me at 6:30p stating that they were going to take Micah off the prostaglandin (medication to keep certain arteries open) and if he was able to maintain his oxygen level then we could take him home soon and fatten him up before his surgery (which will take place when he's about a month old).
Well, they took him off the prostaglandin at midnight and his oxygen levels slowly decreased. By 6am his levels were between 60-65 (their goal is 75+) they put him back on the prostaglandin... So I'm not sure what that means as far as going home or staying in the hospital. The good news is that he's eating a pretty good amount every 3 hours, which I'm really thankful for.
You guys are all doing amazing! You have been in our constant thoughts and prayers.
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