Furrby had finally made his appearance and my oh my was it a dramatic one! Our son, Andre Deangelo Furr made his debut April 9th, 2014 at 3:20 in the afternoon. He weighed 6lbs and 1oz. A very long and dramatic labor and delivery ended with Andre being life flighted to IU North hospital (a riley hospital) to be in a NICU that could support his medical needs.
After the transport team took him away Dr. Riggins, the hospital's pediatrician that worked on Andre after he was born, talked to us to make sure we knew what all the transport team said and gave us the scoop on his status.
-When Andre was born he was not breathing on his own.
-Lack of breathing caused his heart beat to be pretty much non existent.
-They preformed CPR on him to get his heart going. Once his heart was going it never was a problem again.
-They intubated him so that they could manually breathe for him.
-The top portion of his right lung was collapsed.
-He had a pneumothorax or "air leak" in his chest cavity causing air to build up around his lungs.
This is all of the information we knew from the time he was transported. Once the Riley doctor, Dr. Hoesli, called me we had more information to go on. This is what she told me on top of everything else that we knew:
-The collapsed portion of his lung was because the tube he was intubated with was pushed a little too far in. They pulled it back slightly and expected a full recovery of the lung.
-New xrays showed that he did not in fact have a pneumothorax and what they saw on the xray should correct itself on its own.
-He was anemic and needed a blood transfusion, None of the doctors know why exactly he was anemic as they cannot find any time or way that he would have lost any significant amounts of blood.
-He was still intubated at first but he was breathing some on his own.
-He quickly became jaundiced and was put under the bili lights to help break down the bilirubin in his system.
-He had gotten some sort of infection, most likely when I got my fever before delivery, but the blood work was inconclusive since my doctors had given me some antibiotics before surgery. The antibiotics were working on him but made the cultures of his blood inconclusive so they didn't know what kind of infection he had.
-They put in a central line which essentially is an iv in his umbilical cord so they could give him medicine without sticking him over and over.
I took notes so I wouldn't forget anything and made sure I had her spell things if I wasn't sure how to. I was able to call Dr. Hoesli at any time throughout the night so that helped me feel a little less useless. Being stuck in a hospital in a different city than your sick baby is just the worst feeling in the whole world. My dad and sisters came up on Wednesday night to be with me and Allie even stayed in the hospital with me over night. She is always good to help keep things light and airy and we had a good time, considering. Thursday morning my mom, Abbie and my dad came back to the hospital and my sisters were nice enough to run to my house back in Lafayette to get my breast pump and some other things I didn't think that I would need with me. My doctor did her best and I was released Thursday early evening...probably around 5:30. I was in pain but so relieved to be able to see my baby. My mom ran to get my prescriptions filled then we were off to IU North.
*I apologize if the information in this post isn't organized very well. I was trying to make sure I got in the right information and didn't focus on organization very well.*
Friday, April 25, 2014
Furrby is Here: Part 1, My birth story.
So it has been a while since I have posted and there is a LOT that we need to catch up on. My preeclampsia was getting bad and at week 36 my doctor made the decision to induce me. My blood pressure was getting bad and I was already starting to dilate. She set the date for April 8th at 4 o'clock in the morning! We planned for my mom to take me to the induction so that Charles wouldn't have to use that morning as one of his two days that he would get off of work.
My mom and I arrived at the hospital and they quickly hooked me up to the medicine via iv and the induction was started by 4:20 am. Charles ended up getting off early and being there within an hour or so after that. I was still dilated to one at this point and I had a very long way to go! Around 7 in the morning my doctor came in to check me (my absolute LEAST favorite part) and she ended up going ahead and breaking my water to try and get things going. This is where the longest, most drawn out process of my life began. I labored for 32 hours with Pitocin and another medicine that had to be inserted into me with pretty much no progress what so ever. By 2 ish the next afternoon and an epidural later, I suddenly spiked a fever and my doctor and I decided it was time for a csection. At this point there was no stress or issues with Furrby at all and things were seemingly going to come to an end and we would be a happy little family. This is what I THOUGHT...this is most definitely NOT what happened.
The nurses prepped me for surgery and I was quickly taken to the operating room. At this point I was beyond exhausted, could barely keep my eyes open, shivering uncontrollably from the epidural and the fever and pretty much just a mess. They moved me to the operating table and the medical team was introducing themselves to me and explaining their particular jobs to me. At some point Charles came in and they put his hand into mine so that I knew he was there. He sat next to me and together we waited anxiously for the arrival of our son.
The anesthesiologist was kind enough to explain the process of the operation so I knew what to expect and when. She was very nice and was reassuring me as to what was going on. I was lucky enough to have not only my doctor in there but the other doctor from her office that had taken care of me several times over the past two months when my doctor was gone or not on call. The surgery went pretty quickly and before I knew it I was feeling the pressure of them getting Furrby out of me. This is when chaos began to ensue.
Furrby (name to be revealed in next post) was born on April 9th, 2014 at 3:20 pm. He weighed 6 lbs and 1 oz. and at this time no one was sure of his length.
We heard no cries from our baby boy and we only could see him for the brief second as they whisked him off to the side to be cleaned up. That is when I heard the pediatrician call out that respiratory needed to be called immediately. My heart sank. I grabbed Charles' hand tightly and craned my neck as much as possible to see what was going on. That is when I saw the team of doctors and nurses trying to revive my son with CPR. Shortly after that they had intubated him with a tube down his throat so that they could breath for him. The next 30 minutes to an hour were such a blur. Xray machines were brought in to take pictures of our son's chest, the anesthesiologist ran over to help, Charles and I stared in disbelief as my doctors worked to finish my surgery.
Dr. Riggins, the pediatrician, came over to us as soon as she could to try and brief us on what was happening. The gist we got at that point was that he was born not breathing, his heart was barely beating and he needed to be life flighted to another hospital with a NICU that could support his needs. We originally chose for them to call St. Vincents because Riley hospitals were not in our medical network. When St. Vincents called back to say they couldn't get to him for another 4 hours we quickly said send him wherever can take him. They had a transport team due to arrive from the IU North hospital (Riley) in ten minutes. Before I knew it they had wheeled him out and Charles was gone and I was alone with the medical team finishing my surgery.
The team was so good to me trying to comfort me and reassure me but at this point I was in shock and pretty much inconsolable. They took me back to another room and the nurses continued to do their normal post op procedures. I attempted to listen to the various doctors and nurses that were telling me all kinds of various information about me and my son. Finally, Dr. Riggins came in and told me that the transport team was here and they were stabilizing Furrby for his helicopter ride to IU North. The assured me that just because he was being transported by helicopter did not mean he was more sick than if it had been an ambulance...this time it was because it was approaching 5 o'clock traffic and a helicopter was the first mode of transportation available. It seemed like decades before they were ready to take him and the transport team wheeled him into my room so that I could see him before he left.
He was so tiny in this huge incubator. They had given him some sedative for the trip and the incubator was pretty much sound proof. They moved our beds as close together as possible and opened one of the tiny portholes so that I could touch my son's hand before he left. This is when the transport team gave us the "low down" on Furrby's current condition and what had been done to him. All of the details of his condition will be in another post.
At this point Charles, my mom, and Charles' parents were at the hospital with me. I sent Charles and his parents to be with Furrby at IU North and my mom stayed with me. We were all in shock and pretty devastated at this point. I was horrified at the thought of my child not just needing a NICU like this, but of him being life flighted away from me and me stuck in the hospital in a different city. The transport team called me about 7 pm to let me know that Furrby had arrived safely and was being set up/stabilized in the NICU. I was told a doctor from IU North would contact me and go over his status as soon as they were done getting him set up. The anxiety was just kicking in....
My mom and I arrived at the hospital and they quickly hooked me up to the medicine via iv and the induction was started by 4:20 am. Charles ended up getting off early and being there within an hour or so after that. I was still dilated to one at this point and I had a very long way to go! Around 7 in the morning my doctor came in to check me (my absolute LEAST favorite part) and she ended up going ahead and breaking my water to try and get things going. This is where the longest, most drawn out process of my life began. I labored for 32 hours with Pitocin and another medicine that had to be inserted into me with pretty much no progress what so ever. By 2 ish the next afternoon and an epidural later, I suddenly spiked a fever and my doctor and I decided it was time for a csection. At this point there was no stress or issues with Furrby at all and things were seemingly going to come to an end and we would be a happy little family. This is what I THOUGHT...this is most definitely NOT what happened.
The nurses prepped me for surgery and I was quickly taken to the operating room. At this point I was beyond exhausted, could barely keep my eyes open, shivering uncontrollably from the epidural and the fever and pretty much just a mess. They moved me to the operating table and the medical team was introducing themselves to me and explaining their particular jobs to me. At some point Charles came in and they put his hand into mine so that I knew he was there. He sat next to me and together we waited anxiously for the arrival of our son.
The anesthesiologist was kind enough to explain the process of the operation so I knew what to expect and when. She was very nice and was reassuring me as to what was going on. I was lucky enough to have not only my doctor in there but the other doctor from her office that had taken care of me several times over the past two months when my doctor was gone or not on call. The surgery went pretty quickly and before I knew it I was feeling the pressure of them getting Furrby out of me. This is when chaos began to ensue.
Furrby (name to be revealed in next post) was born on April 9th, 2014 at 3:20 pm. He weighed 6 lbs and 1 oz. and at this time no one was sure of his length.
We heard no cries from our baby boy and we only could see him for the brief second as they whisked him off to the side to be cleaned up. That is when I heard the pediatrician call out that respiratory needed to be called immediately. My heart sank. I grabbed Charles' hand tightly and craned my neck as much as possible to see what was going on. That is when I saw the team of doctors and nurses trying to revive my son with CPR. Shortly after that they had intubated him with a tube down his throat so that they could breath for him. The next 30 minutes to an hour were such a blur. Xray machines were brought in to take pictures of our son's chest, the anesthesiologist ran over to help, Charles and I stared in disbelief as my doctors worked to finish my surgery.
Dr. Riggins, the pediatrician, came over to us as soon as she could to try and brief us on what was happening. The gist we got at that point was that he was born not breathing, his heart was barely beating and he needed to be life flighted to another hospital with a NICU that could support his needs. We originally chose for them to call St. Vincents because Riley hospitals were not in our medical network. When St. Vincents called back to say they couldn't get to him for another 4 hours we quickly said send him wherever can take him. They had a transport team due to arrive from the IU North hospital (Riley) in ten minutes. Before I knew it they had wheeled him out and Charles was gone and I was alone with the medical team finishing my surgery.
The team was so good to me trying to comfort me and reassure me but at this point I was in shock and pretty much inconsolable. They took me back to another room and the nurses continued to do their normal post op procedures. I attempted to listen to the various doctors and nurses that were telling me all kinds of various information about me and my son. Finally, Dr. Riggins came in and told me that the transport team was here and they were stabilizing Furrby for his helicopter ride to IU North. The assured me that just because he was being transported by helicopter did not mean he was more sick than if it had been an ambulance...this time it was because it was approaching 5 o'clock traffic and a helicopter was the first mode of transportation available. It seemed like decades before they were ready to take him and the transport team wheeled him into my room so that I could see him before he left.
He was so tiny in this huge incubator. They had given him some sedative for the trip and the incubator was pretty much sound proof. They moved our beds as close together as possible and opened one of the tiny portholes so that I could touch my son's hand before he left. This is when the transport team gave us the "low down" on Furrby's current condition and what had been done to him. All of the details of his condition will be in another post.
At this point Charles, my mom, and Charles' parents were at the hospital with me. I sent Charles and his parents to be with Furrby at IU North and my mom stayed with me. We were all in shock and pretty devastated at this point. I was horrified at the thought of my child not just needing a NICU like this, but of him being life flighted away from me and me stuck in the hospital in a different city. The transport team called me about 7 pm to let me know that Furrby had arrived safely and was being set up/stabilized in the NICU. I was told a doctor from IU North would contact me and go over his status as soon as they were done getting him set up. The anxiety was just kicking in....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)