In the Spotlight

Wade and I are overjoyed with our precious miracle. It has been a roller-coaster of a ride the last 48 hours. Margaret Belle is already a fighter. The neonatologists continue to monitor her breathing. Last night they had to increase her oxygen percentage and continue to give her vapotherm treatments. This morning they decided to put her under the bili-lite to treat her jaundice. She is stable and maintaining a good temperature. Hopefully after 72 hours, we will start to see an improvement in her breathing; the doctors say usually it takes that long with a 32 weeker.

My health is improving. We had a few scares over the last 48 hours---but everything seems to be functioning appropriately now. My blood pressure has been so low that I haven't even had any medication for it since Friday morning. I actually passed out a few times yesterday due to hypotension. I am finally off of the magnesium and allowed to eat solid food today.

Here is a video from today. Please pray for her little lungs!

(PS-We don't know what we are going to call her yet. Margaret, Margaret Belle, Maggie, Maggie Belle, Meg, Megan Belle are all possibilities. Wade and I will let you know when we decide!)

Margaret Belle

Margaret Belle Rick

January 9, 2009

11:43 a.m.

3 lbs. 15.25 oz. 15 inches

Our precious angel has arrived! This morning after evaluating my blood work and urinalysis the doctors decided today was the day. The cesarean section went smoothly with Dr. B. and all of his assistants taking the best care of me and the baby. Margaret Belle looks great. She is in the NICU with constant 24 hour care. She is basically breathing on her own with a little supplemental oxygen and vapotherm. Her color is great, and her temperature is stable. She has lots of hair on her head, long legs and fingers like her daddy, and a round face like her mommy!

I will have magnesium administered in my IV for the next 24 hours to ward off any risk of developing severe preeclampsia, and then I should return to my old room for a few days. Margaret Belle will probably have to stay in the NICU for a couple of weeks, but the doctors and nurses really cannot predict how quickly she will gain weight and regulate her breathing. So we will take it one day at a time. All we know is that we are truly blessed, and both Wade and I have received the best gift in the world, the opportunity to love this beautiful little girl!

Blessingway Necklace

Thank you to my sister, Laura, for making this precious necklace for me and to all of my friends and family. I will hold it during my c-section or labor (if I am lucky) and focus on all of those positive thoughts, scriptures, and prayers. She will be here before we know it!

Baptist Round 2, Day 8, Confused

(Feel free to skip to the bottom of this entry for the real information-sorry it is so wordy.)

Well, it has not been the best day to say the least. Don't worry--nothing is wrong with the baby- just a day of miscommunication (which by the way doesn't seem to be good for my blood pressure).

I see many professionals here every day with many different opinions, and sometimes it becomes a little confusing and overwhelming. Typically, I see two different doctors a day, usually Dr. B. and Dr. C., unless they are out of the office. Then I see at least 2 different nurses in the day time and 2 at night. Every morning around 5 or 6 AM, my blood is drawn by another nurse. Yesterday, I also had a visit from a nutritionist, which I later learned is routine when a person stays over a week in the hospital. Finally, I see a sonographer twice a week for an ultrasound.

I feel like I need an agent or something to write everything down and translate it for me. My illness is not an easy one. Let's review preeclampsia. There is no cure, and researchers are still trying to predict it and understand it. Symptoms can include: excessive swelling in the hands, feet, and face; high blood pressure; protein in urine; headaches; major weight gain; and pain in the liver. Today I learned a few more possible symptoms: high red blood cell counts and indigestion. The annoying thing, which I think I have talked about before, is that most of these symptoms are normal third trimester symptoms.

So in the middle of last night, I had some awful chest pains. After the nurse checked me, we decided it was probably just indigestion. It went away an hour or so later. Dr. B. stopped by a few hours later and explained that my uric acid level was up a little but not high enough to cause any alarm. He prescribed a medication for the indigestion. He also said we should definitely make it to 32 weeks, which I found a little odd because I thought 32 weeks was tomorrow morning and of course I can make it 12 more hours. It looks like the hospital has my due date a day or two later, so I won't be 32 weeks until Saturday (confusion starts). I'm sure this sounds like a silly thing to get upset about, but when you sit in a hospital room all day marking each and every day as a major milestone it becomes a huge deal. So that upset me. I want time to speed up, and sometimes it feels like I am swimming backward.

Dr. C. stopped by next. He explained that the date is not important, and he wanted me to relax. He also explained that the goal is to have a baby and not worry about how premature she is or whether or not she will have to visit the NICU. I just get a little greedy; I have made it this far and would like to keep going for the baby's health, especially when I hear other success stories. Dr. C. helped me refocus and understand that we don't want mom (me) to get severe preeclampsia again---if only mom could stay healthy!!! He told me tomorrow morning we would evaluate the protein level in my urine and go from there (aka decide if we would deliver). Finally, he shared that my red blood count was a little high in the lab report, and that could possibly be a sign of preeclampsia (confusion growing). Both doctors also confirmed that I would have an ultrasound Friday morning, and that we wouldn't have another estimate on her weight since we just had one a week ago.

After Dr. C. left, the nurses put me on the monitor (monitoring contractions and baby's heartbeat). They do this after meals every morning and evening. However, fifteen minutes into my monitoring session, a sonographer knocks on the door and says that it is time for my ultrasound scan. What? I thought it was tomorrow--that's what the doctors just told me (confusion + anger). The sonographer showed me her paperwork which confirmed the date. Once again I understand it is not that big of a deal, but my mom was planning on coming tomorrow and I just didn't understand why I was told one thing and the sonographer another.

During the ultrasound the sonographer estimated the weight of the baby (confusion + happiness). I wasn't quite sure why she was doing this, but she had great news. Her estimate was 3 lbs. 15 ozs.! Remember it could be 6 oz. higher or lower due to human error, but it is still nice to know that she is getting close to 4 lbs.

I tried to take it easy the rest of the day. They monitored me again after lunch, since my blood pressure was high. Her heartbeat was above the red line which really scared me. However, once I calmed down, she was back on her baseline and stayed there for the remainder of the session.

So that's all we know for now. The lab will investigate my 24 hour urine test in the morning, and then we will know what the weekend will bring. Please pray for the baby, my dear husband, my blood pressure, indigestion, urine, and SANITY.

Baptist Round 2, Day 5

Well, considering that we really don't know what each day will bring, Wade and I seem to be pretty calm and positive. Sometimes the doctors talk like we could deliver in the next day or so, and then they make us think that we will keep going until there is a big change in my bp or urine (which could be a few more weeks).

Yesterday we revisited the NICU to see if there were any babies about the size or gestational age of our little girl. However, it is really hard to compare babies and how well they are doing, because each little one is so different and his/her health is dependent on many different factors (gestational age, weight, breathing ability, and their ability to keep their temperature stable.) We saw some babies about 3.5 pounds like our precious angel; however, they were born at different gestational ages and just are reaching 3.5 pounds now. It was reassuring to see them doing well. We also passed a room on the way to the NICU with a brand new 4 pound baby girl! The nurse held her up for us, and the baby was breathing on her own, regulating her own temp., and doing fine at just 4 lbs.

Although the NICU provided us with more information and helped me and Wade feel more confident about our little girl's health, the visit also triggered some painful emotions about James. We saw a little baby boy weighing just 1 lb. 13 ozs. , and he was alive and doing well. James was almost 8 ozs. heavier than this little guy. So riding back in the wheelchair to my room I couldn't control my tears and my longing to know my little man. Wade admitted that the same thoughts had crossed his mind. We know that we will love this little girl more than anything in the world; however, we just wish we could have spent a little time loving James too. I cannot believe it has only been 9 months since we lost him. The pain eases but doesn't go away.

Back to this pregnancy---the results from the 24 hour urine test are in!!! The protein level was up a little, but the doctors are not worried about it and are not going to induce me yet. They are happy with the results from the blood-work also; the uric acid level had actually decreased. The plan is to probably keep me here for the duration of the pregnancy. How long that will be is the question. Hopefully our little girl will stay in another week or two---let's keep her growing as long as possible!!!

Baptist Round 2, Day 2

Dr. B. and Dr. C. have decided to keep me in the hospital throughout the weekend, and then we will reevaluate on Monday, after another 24 hour urine test and ultrasound. My blood pressure looks pretty stable for now, and I had about the same amount of protein in my urine test. However, both doctors feel that I might be in the early stages of preeclampsia, since both the bp and protein levels are inching up a little bit. Plus, I am experiencing some swelling in my hands and legs. The docs would love for me to get to 32 weeks or even further along, but they both agree that we don't want to get too greedy and allow severe preeclampsia to attack.

So we will just take it easy this weekend and see what next week brings. I feel very comfortable here, and Wade and I both know that our little girl is being closely monitored (which makes us feel very safe and secure).

Have a good weekend!!! By the way, we made it to 31 weeks!

Home Sweet Baptist

Happy 2009!!! Wade, Baby, and I made it to 2009, and we are thrilled! However, we decided to ring in the new year in the hospital. Yesterday was a pretty low-key, typical day--watching football, eating great meals, playing math computer games with my adorable and bright nephew, and watching more football. During Dick Clark's New Year's Special, I started to notice that I was having a few uncomfortable contractions---they were a little too close together and little too uncomfortable. So I decided to go ahead and take my medicine and test my blood pressure. Unfortunately, my bp was a little higher compared to my weekly trend. Therefore, I decided to wait a few minutes and try checking a second time. Once again, both numbers were higher. I felt awful about calling Dr. B. at 10 PM on New Year's Eve, but I knew he would want me to considering those painful contractions and my bp.

Minutes later, Dr. B. was recommending that I come on in to Baptist to monitor the baby, the contractions, my urine, blood, and blood pressure. Trip number 3 to the triage was frightening, because I hadn't felt contractions like this since losing James. Plus, I didn't know if that meant my placenta was about to abrupt like last time or if I was just experiencing a preterm labor. The monitoring of the baby proved that she was doing well and that I was having real contractions. My bp was high but pretty typical for a triage visit, and my urine was clear of protein. The blood-work came back normal, except for the Uric Acid level; it was a little elevated. (Don't ask me what that means, because I don't know.) Dr. B. said it was something to watch but nothing too concerning. The nurse also administered a Fetal Fibronectin Test (fFN). This test apparently can predict whether I will go into labor in the next two weeks. It came back negative, which is a good thing; however, it has more to do with contractions and nothing to do with bp or preeclampsia.

Needless-to-say it was a long evening. Dr. B. came by our triage room around 12:30 AM and evaluated the tests. Then he told us that we would be admitted to the hospital and stay for at least a few days to monitor my bp, contractions, urine, and blood-work. He also wanted to double my dose of procardia. Happy New Year!!!

I didn't sleep much last night, because I had an IV administered, started a 24 hour urine test, and had the contractions and baby's heartbeat monitored all night long. The procardia luckily does double duty; it helps with bp and slows contractions. It definitely did it's job, because in the morning my bp was lower and the contractions were gone. Therefore, Dr. B. said I could stop the IV fluids. He also wanted to give me another steroid shot to just make sure the baby's lungs were ready for delivery. He said my future in the hospital and the delivery of our little girl would depend a great deal on this 24 hour urine test. Friday morning we will know what will happen next. Dr. K. entered the room shortly after Dr. B. and once again confirmed the facts. She also told me that I would have an ultrasound later that morning.

After the dreaded steroid shot, I went in for the ultrasound. The baby is still breech, practicing her breathing, has a great heartbeat, and measures well. She is about 3 pounds, 6 ounces. Did I mention that she is also adorable?

So many things could happen tomorrow. The doctors will either decide to send us home, keep us here for the remainder of the pregnancy, or set a date to deliver this baby. Wade and I both just want the best for our little angel, even if it means she has to come weeks early and visit the NICU. We know she is in God's hands and has the best team of doctors and nurses here at Baptist to care for her. Continue to pray for our 2009 sweetheart. Hopefully by Valentine's Day we will have a new little love at home!