Waiting for baby Quinn..... (Updated as new info and time permit)
Yesterday it hit me that I had been gone from home for a whole week. I arrived in Medicine Hat at dinner time on Wednesday (November 7, 2012). The things that needed to be done were a little daunting. Kati's small living room was piled high with gift bags, boxes and baby things. Kati had not yet had the energy to sort and put away the things from the recent baby shower. Kati and Steven were running out of clothes as the wash piled up. Small piles of tools and leftover supplies lay on the floor from the yet unfinished remodeling project. Well, first things first. After dinner we hauled my suitcases down to the newly painted and floored basement room. I mopped the floor, we moved a few things around, set up the blowup bed and crashed for the night.
My first day in Alberta was completely taken up with errands. I went with Kati to her weekly ultrasound in the morning. After lunch, I attended her women's group with her and met the ladies she has come to love so dearly. Then there was dinner to cook. Not much progress was made on the house. My allergies, which had begun on the plane trip, continued to escalate, so that by afternoon I was pretty much a wreck--red nosed and sneezing constantly. I worried that I was allergic to the cold Alberta winter weather. It was starting to snow.
Day two was given to dealing with the baby stuff from the shower. We sorted and moved stuff to the baby's room. Kati made some great progress on her thank you notes. The living room began to be inhabitable.
On the morning of the third day, I woke up to a winter wonderland. About six inches of snow fell in twenty-four hours. I worried we wouldn't be able to run errands, but that didn't stop Kati, or anyone else there, for that matter. The allergies were really zapping me, so that I felt exhausted and spent the afternoon in bed. Later that evening, with snow falling and the temperature at 10 degrees F, Kati and I went to Walmart and picked up a few necessary items, not the least of which was several boxes of kleenex.
Sunday morning we bundled up and went to church. When we left the house the temperature outside was -3 degrees F. After church we went out to lunch and ran a few errands in a balmy +3 degrees F. We continued to work on sorting baby things.
Now, on the eighth day, I can't believe this is this same house. The house is orderly and clean. All the wash is done. Baby things are clean and organized and baby's room is set up. We have done errands and shopping. Nancy and Leo built shelves in the linen closet and those shelves have been filled. Tools and trash have been disposed of. A few meals have been cooked. And my allergies while still present are much improved. We are ready for baby Quinn Elisa to arrive.
Since this process of inducing early labor is a step by step process, I will attempt to update this post daily to keep everyone informed. So here goes
Day 1 (Wednesday Nov. 14): Kati and I left for the hospital at 7:15 a.m. to start the induction. We waited in a room until 10:30 a.m. (with the woman on the other side of the curtain giggling hysterically for 3 hours) to see a doctor who informed us that they were over the top with inductions and since the others were higher priority, we were being sent home until the next day. We went to lunch at the Zucchini Blossom to drown our sorrows. At least we can go home and relax in a clean house!
Day 2 (Thursday, Nov. 15): Back to the hospital by 7:30 a.m. This time we shared a room with another woman who was being induced. We could hear everything that happened on the other side of the curtain. She was in a lot of pain. When the doctor had to examine here she was really in pain. Kati's anxiety grew with every moan from across the curtain. When they sent us home after an hour and a half, she was wanting to back out. Give us a hysterical giggler any day!
Day 3 (Friday, Nov. 16):
Back to the hospital by 7:45 a.m. This time the across-the-curtain roommate was quiet. Both the nurse assigned to Kati and the doctor were wonderfully encouraging. Once again they are bursting at the seams with inductions. But they decided to give her the gel (which probably won't do anything) and send her home after monitoring her for a couple of hours. Kati will check in at the hospital for monitoring of the baby each morning. They are hoping by Sunday or Monday to move things along. So back to the car, trying not to slip and fall on the ice. Kati is feeling much more positive about everything today. (She's decided not to back out.)
Day 4 (Saturday, Nov. 17)
This morning, Kati insisted on going to the hospital by herself. She was sure that all they would do would be to put a monitor on the baby for twenty minutes and send her home. She was wrong. They decided to insert the gel again which meant she had to be monitored for twenty minutes, walk for a half hour, be monitored, walk another half hour and be monitored one last time before going home. So Steven and I made our way to the hospital to give her some company on her walks. On the bright side, the outdoor temperatures today are in the high 40s (F). The snow is rapidly melting. And Kati was the only pregnant woman in the labor and delivery ward!
Day #5 (Sunday, November 18, 2012)
This morning we didn't get to the hospital until 10:00 a.m. The verdict was that her cervix hadn't dropped or softened and that they would not try to force it, but take it slowly. They gave her a double dose of the gel (used the last two days) and after the usual two hours of monitoring and walking, they sent us home. Kati has been feeling pretty rotten. Last evening she had several hours of cramping. Her nausea continues to be quite bad at times. Today she had both nausea and cramping. She was taking a nap and when she got up around 5:00 p.m., she felt like her water might have broken. So she and Steven headed to the hospital. I am waiting at home to see if they keep her or not.
She certainly has gotten wonderful care thus far. The hospital is beautiful and modern. The nurses are competent, kind and friendly. She hasn't been ignored or made to wait. They are conservative in wanting to let things take their course as naturally as possible. Kati asked what their rate of c-sections was and the nurse thought somewhere between 15 and 28 percent. It certainly is nice for her to be able to go to the hospital whenever she needs to without having to worry about whether or not the insurance will pay.
Update #6: Same day, 10:00 p.m.
Evidently the double dose of the gel had its desired effect. About 5:00 p.m. Kati woke from a nap with cramping, and then her water broke. So Kati and Steven are at the hospital, where Kati will be staying for the duration. She is in the early stages of labor. The nurse says that when the doctor comes in tomorrow morning, he will probably start the drip that will bring on the main part of labor (if that doesn't happen naturally tonight). She will also have another drip (insulin)in the other arm. And an epidural. So she will be pretty much immobilized tomorrow. Steven is spending the night at the hospital and I am going to try to get a good night's sleep at the house with the phone by my bed and their two cats scratching at my door.
Update #7 (Monday, November 19, 2012):
At 2:00 a.m. the phone beside my bed rang. It was Steven. "You can come to the hospital now. She is at 4 cm and they have given her the epideral." I managed to make it to the hospital grounds by 2:40. It took another 15 minutes of brisk walking in the crisp night air to find the night entrance. When I got to the room, the epideral had just started to take effect. It is now 5:30 a.m. Steven is sleeping in the chair in the corner. Kati has been dozing periodically. She is now at 7 cm. It is looking like she may not need the oxytocin drip. It is highly probable that Quinn will be born today.
Update #8 (same day--Monday--1:00 p.m.)
They are taking her for a c-section. Prayers needed.
Kati went the whole nine yards of trying to delivery vaginally. She pushed for three
hours, they tried forceps, baby still couldn't be born. Baby is too
big. So they are taking her to surgery.
Update #9 (still Monday, Nov. 19, 2012:
2:45 p.m.: After a very tense 2 hours in the waiting room, the doors to the surgery unit opened and they wheeled Kati out on the way to recovery. Quinn has been born. Kati is doing OK as far as we know. Nancy, Leo and I spoke to her as they wheeled her past. Steven is in NICU with Quinn. She will be there for at least 24 hours as they need to monitor her for blood sugar problems. Kati will be here until at least Thursday. We are grateful that at least as far as we know they are both OK. The doctor said she was a very big baby--just under ten pounds. Not quite what Kati was (just under 11 pounds), but still a good size.
Update #10 (Tuesday, November 20, noon)
What a day yesterday was! But first, the important information. Kati and Quinn are doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances. Quinn weighed in at 10 lb. 5 oz., missing her mother's record by only 8 oz. (and she was two weeks early, unlike her mother who was 1 day early). She is 21 inches long. Those who have seen Quinn say she looks just like her mother.
Back to yesterday: It was about two hours from the time they decided to do a c-section until she came out of surgery. They took Quinn directly to the neonatal intensive care unit (standard procedure for babies born to diabetic mothers). Kati spent the first hour in recovery and then was put in a room. Steven came and told Nancy and I that we shouldn't go to the room for a while because they were working to control Kati's hemorrhaging which continued off and on for the rest of the day. They tried various medications for the hemorrhaging, each of which had negative side effects. Kati did not get out of bed and did not see Baby Quinn for the rest of the day. She was one miserable girl. They called the doctor back in around 7:00 p.m. and he was able to get the bleeding under control. Kati called Pastor Dave from church and he arrived in a record fifteen minutes to comfort her and pray for her and Quinn.
Around 7:30 p.m., I went with Steven to see baby Quinn for the first time. She was still laying in the warmer. She had tubes up her nose for oxygen and an IV giving her nutrition. She was also hooked up to a monitor. So tubes and wires galore. She has a good strong cry. They let Steven hold her for about a half hour. She cried at first, but calmed very quickly with her dad holding her. What a sweetie she is!!!! Looks just like Kati did as a baby--hair color, size, everything. By around 8:30 p.m., Kati started to improve a little. By 10:00 p.m., she was doing well enough that I left for home to get a good night's sleep. (Dads are the only ones who are allowed to stay the night.)
This morning I was back at the hospital by 10:00 a.m. Kati had already gotten up for the first time, showered and seen baby Quinn briefly. She was extremely sleepy from the morphine they were giving her.
Steven and I went down to see baby Quinn. She is now off oxygen and breathing on her own. Her blood sugars are starting to come up. She had just had some procedures so we were not allowed to hold her. She is still on IV feeding and won't be able to breast feed for a while, so Kati is now pumping.
Lots of challenges ahead, but much improved over yesterday. Thank you to everyone who prayed. The updates should slow down now, but will still try to update once a day for a while.
Wednesday, November 20, 2012
Happy Thanksgiving a day early to everyone. I am roasting a chicken tonight. So if I am home for dinner tomorrow, that will be my Thanksgiving dinner (:
Steven and I have been taking turns for the past couple of days. He stays evenings and nights and I stay during the day. Last evening, Steven arrived around 8:00 p.m. I grabbed my stuff to head out the door, dreading the 2 1/2 block walk to the car in the cold night air. At that point Steven told me to watch out as it had rained and the temperatures had dropped and the car might be covered with a layer of ice. I made it to the car in record time. However, chiseling the ice off the windows took a while.
This morning the ice was all gone and I had a smooth ride to the hospital. Kati was struggling big time with anxiety. Lack of sleep and physical stress had done a job on her. The nurse brought a couple of meds that reduced her pain levels and anxiety and she was able to sleep for a couple of hours for the first time. She now gets wheeled to the NICU nursery to feed Quinn. Quinn hasn't gotten the hang of it yet, so Kati is pumping too. Quinn is starting to get jaundiced, so they have her under lights and are talking about supplementing. Today was mostly devoted to nursing and pumping. I was able to hold Quinn for a half hour or so. Nancy came in the late afternoon and she got to hold Quinn for a good while. Steven arrived around 6:00 p.m. and this time he informed us that snow had fallen and that my usual route home which involves a steep hill wouldn't be safe. So Nancy drove me to my car and led me home by a different route. Oh, Canada, can't you give me a break!!!
Thursday, Nov. 22
In the U.S. it's Thanksgiving today. Here in Canada, it's just another day. I woke to a winter wonderland again. Looks like about three inches of snow fell. At breakfast, I watched a fellow emerge from his second story apartment across the street in shirt sleeves and bare feet holding a box of salt. He marched down the snow covered steps in his bare feet, salting as he went. For my part, I bundled up in coat,scarf, boots and gloves before I went out to brush the snow off Kati's car and head to the hospital. Quinn continues to breathe rapidly and be jaundiced. We are unable to hold her because she must be under the lights every minute that she is not feeding.
Friday, November 23
Just got back from spending the evening at the hospital. Life is a bit of a roller coaster right now for all concerned. This morning the nurse became more concerned about Quinn's breathing and called the pediatrician. Dr. Debbie put her back on oxygen and on the IV. The jaundice has still not improved. Quinn isn't nursing at all now, although she will take some from a bottle. Kati continues to pump, but is quite emotional because she can't hold her baby. The doctor says Quinn is not in danger, but this will take some time. They continue to do bloodwork and x-rays to rule out other things (other than 2 weeks premature, c-section and diabetic mother). They discharged Kati and she is settled into a very nice sleeping room on the far end of the maternity ward complete with refrigerator, microwave, toaster, coffeemaker, etc. They are well stocked with food by the two grandmothers. Steven is spending the nights and a lot of the days there. They are thinking they will be there at least another week. Lots of prayer is still needed.
Saturday, November 24
Kati and Steven were encouraged this a.m. that Quinn seemed to be doing better. Her color was better and she was more alert. One feeding today, she nursed for ten minutes. But other feedings were a struggle. I stayed home today trying to get the windows in the bedroom weatherproofed. I had placed a thermometer in the crib and it showed a chilly 60 degrees F. However, after working on the windows, it much better--68 degrees. One storm window was open at the top 6 inches and the other window had the lower sash cracked open. I washed the miniblinds and windows, closed everything up tight and installed window film to make them even cozier.
Sunday, November 25
Quinn is now a week old--except she's really minus one week old because she shouldn't have been born for another week. The pediatrician told Kati and Steven not to expect steady upward improvement. It would be two steps forward and one step backward for a while. So they didn't take it too hard when she had to be put back on oxygen. But the good news is that she is no longer under the lights. Her color is finally normal, her bruising is almost gone and her head has returned to normal shape. She had her first normal feeding totally by breast with no need for bottle. Progress!
I attended Kati's church, Glenview Nazarene (organic Nazarene, that is). I almost didn't make it to the service because Kati's "Glenview Grammas" waylaid me in the foyer and wanted all the details and photos. (None of them are on facebook.) I was beginning to think half the church spent their Sunday mornings in the foyer, but when I finally made it into the main sanctuary a half hour late, I got in on quite a bit of music and the sermon, and it was great.
Monday, November 26
Quinn is one week old today. She is still on oxygen, still struggling with jaundice, still not nursing well and definitely still in the NICU. Because she is not under the lights or on an IV (at least for the moment), Kati and Steven were allowed to have her with them in their room this evening.
Because of multiple daily trips to the hospital, I am getting used to the lay of the city and getting lost less. The snow and ice do not scare me anymore (although maybe they should.) I guess I really do have Minnesota blood in my veins because the cold really doesn't bother me or seem that unusual. The winter weather is bringing back lots of memories from the first twenty years of my life--especially memories of St. Paul, Minnesota, Kent, Oregon, and Tensed, Idaho, where snow and cold weather in winter were a big part of life.
Tuesday, November 27
Quinn is back under the lights today and still on oxygen. She still hasn't gotten the hang of breast feeding. Today I was told by a local that I "had the cutest accent." Interesting. I thought they had the accents.
Wednesday November 28
A busy day. I finished painting the hallway this morning. Then at noon, I picked Kati up for her first away-from-the-hospital outing. We went to Walmart for a few crucial items and then out to lunch. I dropped her back off at the hospital at 3:30 p.m. and headed home to fix dinner. Steven had come home for a few hours, so he took the dinner with him when he left. We are supposed to get snow tonight and tomorrow. A clerk at the health food store commented that when she had gone outside, there was a huge moon with a ring around it. "And you know what that means," she said. I didn't, so she explained to me that it meant we would be getting a chinook. I remember that term from my northern Idaho days. We would have a lot of snow or subzero temperatures and then a chinook (warm wind) would come in the night and raise the temperatures at least 50 degrees and melt all the snow. Looking forward experiencing this once again. And speaking of experiences from the past, I would dearly love to see the northern lights again.
Sunday, December 2
Quinn has made slow but steady progress over the past four days. She is still in NICU. She still has some jaundice, but is not under the lights. She is still on oxygen, but they are gradually reducing the amount. There is no target time when she will be sent home, but one nurse hinted that they could send her home on oxygen, a scary prospect for all of us non-medically oriented people.
Kati has been able to get out for a couple of hours each day. Thursday we went to Superstore for groceries. Yesterday I brought her home for a bath and lunch. After I drove her back to the hospital, I spent several hours catching up on bookkeeping on the computer. About 11:00 p.m. I closed down the computer and went to hunt for a Kati's wedding ring. (She is hoping it might fit her now.) As I pulled the huge box of her stuff from the cabinet over the stairs, the bottom fell out with a mighty crash and spewed all her treasures including jewelry boxes down the entire stairway. Steven came running, not sure what he would find. Amazingly, nothing was broken, including me. By the time we got the mess cleaned up and I got to bed it was almost 1:00 a.m.
This morning I rushed to get ready for church. I followed cousin Janice's advice and started the car and turned on defrost full blast to get rid of the layer of ice that covered the car. It worked! Thanks, Janice! I headed for the hospital to pick up Kati for church. About half way there (at my usual slow pace) I had to stop for a red light and the car went into a sideways slide. No harm was done, but I realized that the same layer of ice that had covered the car also
covered the streets. Walking was no less treacherous. The only other walker I encountered fell a few feet ahead of me. When I finally made it to the nursery, I told Kati that we were not going to church--or anywhere. So it is a now 2:30 p.m. and I am contemplating whether or not it is safe to head home. Since I can't use my US cell phone, I have no way to call for help if I run into trouble. Oh, the joys of winter in the north.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
I realize it has been a few days since I have posted. The changes in Quinn have been so gradual and so two-steps-forward-one-step-back that it is hard to know if there has been progress unless you can look back over several days. So here is where we were when I left the hospital at 9:00 p.m. last night.
Quinn has been totally off oxygen and lights for forty-eight hours now. The breast feeding is still up and down as Quinn is so sleepy she doesn’t want to nurse at about 2/3 of the feedings. But then she will have a great feeding. She still hasn’t gained up to her birth weight of 10 lb 5 oz and is still under ten pounds. But she looks so much better. They are having her “room in” with Kati now. That means Kati is caring for her in the room with the nurses checking in every few hours. If all goes well, they plan to send her home tomorrow (Sunday, December 9).
The idea of bringing a baby with breathing problems home is scary for all of us, so please pray that this transition will go smoothly and that they will be wise in timing.
In other news, we had a major melt a couple of days ago and finally got rid of all that horrible ice that was making life so dangerous. After 36 hours above freezing, the temperatures dropped like a rock and today I woke to a winter wonderland. We have about an inch of snow on the ground and big fluffy flakes are still falling. And driving on snow is a piece of cake compared to driving on ice!!!!
I have had a couple of minor mishaps as I try to hold things together at the home front. I managed to flush the mop cloth down the toilet when emptying the mop water. Then in a one-two-punch, I decided to vacuum the residue off the newly cleaned carpet. The ancient vacuum came apart and spewed dust all over everything. But all is repaired and back to normal now. Also, the wifi at the hospital has been down for four days. So anyone who is trying to contact me on Viber can now only reach me when I am at home. I tried to buy a sim card and minutes for my cell phone so I could have a way to call for help if I had a mishap or got lost out driving. Unfortunately, Canadian cell phone companies are totally uncooperative with people from the states and I would risk having my phone locked to the Canadian company, not to mention extremely high per minute rates. So I will be phoneless (except for Viber) until I am back on U.S. soil.
Day 20 - Sunday, December 9:
Well, the process took all day, but we are finally home with baby Quinn. You accumulate a lot of stuff in your room when you live at the hospital for twenty days. (Just imagine a three week vacation in an efficiency apartment where you are providing your own meals.) It took two trips that involved filling bags with food, dishes, clothes, baby stuff and then hauling them down the hospital stairs and out through the snow a block to the car and then unloading at the house and hauling the stuff in and putting it away. We made the final trip with baby Quinn at around 5:00 p.m. Kati and Steven are VERY tired. Quinn had a good feeding when she got home and is at the moment sleeping. We are all very thankful to be home.
Day 24 - Thursday, December 13:
Wednesday was Quinn's first pediatrician appointment. She was starting to look yellow again, we were sent to the hospital for a bilirubin test. Her levels were just under the line for admitting. So we took her back home--all of us quite uneasy. The next morning at 8:00 a.m. Dr. Folstrom called Kati. She had been thinking about Quinn and she was uneasy too. We met her at the hospital at 9:45 a.m. for more tests. Evidently it is unusual for bilirubin to persist this long and she wanted to look for underlying causes, such as heart problems. So far all of the tests came back normal--except the bilirubin. Her levels were up even more, so she was admitted to the pediatric ward of the hospital and put under lights. She and Kati are sharing a room so Kati can continue breastfeeding. Quinn is in a flexiglass enclosed box with lights above and below her. She has on lightblocking glasses and a diaper. It's so hard to watch after we finally had her home and saw how she interacts and loves to be swaddled and cuddled.
The house seems very empty after having Quinn and Kati at home for three days. She had her days and nights mixed up, so we were three very exhausted adults. She came alive at midnight and didn't settle down until 7:00 a.m. Then she slept most of the day. Kati stayed up until around 4:30 a.m. and then she would call me or Steven. I am learning that if I am going to get up at 4:30 a.m., I need to be in bed by 10:00 p.m. (or earlier). But exhausted or not, we want our baby Quinn back home. Adding to my exhaustion is the fact that my blow-up bed sprang a leak and I developed a bad back from trying to make do by getting up every couple of hours to blow it up again. So yesterday, I went to Walmart and bought a new one. However, new vinyl beds outgas terribly and the smell almost asphyxiated me last night. So now I have the window open although the temperatures are in the twenties. Each day certainly brings new challenges and we all covet your prayers.
My first day in Alberta was completely taken up with errands. I went with Kati to her weekly ultrasound in the morning. After lunch, I attended her women's group with her and met the ladies she has come to love so dearly. Then there was dinner to cook. Not much progress was made on the house. My allergies, which had begun on the plane trip, continued to escalate, so that by afternoon I was pretty much a wreck--red nosed and sneezing constantly. I worried that I was allergic to the cold Alberta winter weather. It was starting to snow.
Day two was given to dealing with the baby stuff from the shower. We sorted and moved stuff to the baby's room. Kati made some great progress on her thank you notes. The living room began to be inhabitable.
On the morning of the third day, I woke up to a winter wonderland. About six inches of snow fell in twenty-four hours. I worried we wouldn't be able to run errands, but that didn't stop Kati, or anyone else there, for that matter. The allergies were really zapping me, so that I felt exhausted and spent the afternoon in bed. Later that evening, with snow falling and the temperature at 10 degrees F, Kati and I went to Walmart and picked up a few necessary items, not the least of which was several boxes of kleenex.
Sunday morning we bundled up and went to church. When we left the house the temperature outside was -3 degrees F. After church we went out to lunch and ran a few errands in a balmy +3 degrees F. We continued to work on sorting baby things.
Now, on the eighth day, I can't believe this is this same house. The house is orderly and clean. All the wash is done. Baby things are clean and organized and baby's room is set up. We have done errands and shopping. Nancy and Leo built shelves in the linen closet and those shelves have been filled. Tools and trash have been disposed of. A few meals have been cooked. And my allergies while still present are much improved. We are ready for baby Quinn Elisa to arrive.
Since this process of inducing early labor is a step by step process, I will attempt to update this post daily to keep everyone informed. So here goes
Day 1 (Wednesday Nov. 14): Kati and I left for the hospital at 7:15 a.m. to start the induction. We waited in a room until 10:30 a.m. (with the woman on the other side of the curtain giggling hysterically for 3 hours) to see a doctor who informed us that they were over the top with inductions and since the others were higher priority, we were being sent home until the next day. We went to lunch at the Zucchini Blossom to drown our sorrows. At least we can go home and relax in a clean house!
Day 2 (Thursday, Nov. 15): Back to the hospital by 7:30 a.m. This time we shared a room with another woman who was being induced. We could hear everything that happened on the other side of the curtain. She was in a lot of pain. When the doctor had to examine here she was really in pain. Kati's anxiety grew with every moan from across the curtain. When they sent us home after an hour and a half, she was wanting to back out. Give us a hysterical giggler any day!
Day 3 (Friday, Nov. 16):
Back to the hospital by 7:45 a.m. This time the across-the-curtain roommate was quiet. Both the nurse assigned to Kati and the doctor were wonderfully encouraging. Once again they are bursting at the seams with inductions. But they decided to give her the gel (which probably won't do anything) and send her home after monitoring her for a couple of hours. Kati will check in at the hospital for monitoring of the baby each morning. They are hoping by Sunday or Monday to move things along. So back to the car, trying not to slip and fall on the ice. Kati is feeling much more positive about everything today. (She's decided not to back out.)
Day 4 (Saturday, Nov. 17)
This morning, Kati insisted on going to the hospital by herself. She was sure that all they would do would be to put a monitor on the baby for twenty minutes and send her home. She was wrong. They decided to insert the gel again which meant she had to be monitored for twenty minutes, walk for a half hour, be monitored, walk another half hour and be monitored one last time before going home. So Steven and I made our way to the hospital to give her some company on her walks. On the bright side, the outdoor temperatures today are in the high 40s (F). The snow is rapidly melting. And Kati was the only pregnant woman in the labor and delivery ward!
Day #5 (Sunday, November 18, 2012)
This morning we didn't get to the hospital until 10:00 a.m. The verdict was that her cervix hadn't dropped or softened and that they would not try to force it, but take it slowly. They gave her a double dose of the gel (used the last two days) and after the usual two hours of monitoring and walking, they sent us home. Kati has been feeling pretty rotten. Last evening she had several hours of cramping. Her nausea continues to be quite bad at times. Today she had both nausea and cramping. She was taking a nap and when she got up around 5:00 p.m., she felt like her water might have broken. So she and Steven headed to the hospital. I am waiting at home to see if they keep her or not.
She certainly has gotten wonderful care thus far. The hospital is beautiful and modern. The nurses are competent, kind and friendly. She hasn't been ignored or made to wait. They are conservative in wanting to let things take their course as naturally as possible. Kati asked what their rate of c-sections was and the nurse thought somewhere between 15 and 28 percent. It certainly is nice for her to be able to go to the hospital whenever she needs to without having to worry about whether or not the insurance will pay.
Update #6: Same day, 10:00 p.m.
Evidently the double dose of the gel had its desired effect. About 5:00 p.m. Kati woke from a nap with cramping, and then her water broke. So Kati and Steven are at the hospital, where Kati will be staying for the duration. She is in the early stages of labor. The nurse says that when the doctor comes in tomorrow morning, he will probably start the drip that will bring on the main part of labor (if that doesn't happen naturally tonight). She will also have another drip (insulin)in the other arm. And an epidural. So she will be pretty much immobilized tomorrow. Steven is spending the night at the hospital and I am going to try to get a good night's sleep at the house with the phone by my bed and their two cats scratching at my door.
Update #7 (Monday, November 19, 2012):
At 2:00 a.m. the phone beside my bed rang. It was Steven. "You can come to the hospital now. She is at 4 cm and they have given her the epideral." I managed to make it to the hospital grounds by 2:40. It took another 15 minutes of brisk walking in the crisp night air to find the night entrance. When I got to the room, the epideral had just started to take effect. It is now 5:30 a.m. Steven is sleeping in the chair in the corner. Kati has been dozing periodically. She is now at 7 cm. It is looking like she may not need the oxytocin drip. It is highly probable that Quinn will be born today.
Update #8 (same day--Monday--1:00 p.m.)
They are taking her for a c-section. Prayers needed.
Kati went the whole nine yards of trying to delivery vaginally. She pushed for three
hours, they tried forceps, baby still couldn't be born. Baby is too
big. So they are taking her to surgery.
Update #9 (still Monday, Nov. 19, 2012:
2:45 p.m.: After a very tense 2 hours in the waiting room, the doors to the surgery unit opened and they wheeled Kati out on the way to recovery. Quinn has been born. Kati is doing OK as far as we know. Nancy, Leo and I spoke to her as they wheeled her past. Steven is in NICU with Quinn. She will be there for at least 24 hours as they need to monitor her for blood sugar problems. Kati will be here until at least Thursday. We are grateful that at least as far as we know they are both OK. The doctor said she was a very big baby--just under ten pounds. Not quite what Kati was (just under 11 pounds), but still a good size.
Update #10 (Tuesday, November 20, noon)
What a day yesterday was! But first, the important information. Kati and Quinn are doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances. Quinn weighed in at 10 lb. 5 oz., missing her mother's record by only 8 oz. (and she was two weeks early, unlike her mother who was 1 day early). She is 21 inches long. Those who have seen Quinn say she looks just like her mother.
Back to yesterday: It was about two hours from the time they decided to do a c-section until she came out of surgery. They took Quinn directly to the neonatal intensive care unit (standard procedure for babies born to diabetic mothers). Kati spent the first hour in recovery and then was put in a room. Steven came and told Nancy and I that we shouldn't go to the room for a while because they were working to control Kati's hemorrhaging which continued off and on for the rest of the day. They tried various medications for the hemorrhaging, each of which had negative side effects. Kati did not get out of bed and did not see Baby Quinn for the rest of the day. She was one miserable girl. They called the doctor back in around 7:00 p.m. and he was able to get the bleeding under control. Kati called Pastor Dave from church and he arrived in a record fifteen minutes to comfort her and pray for her and Quinn.
Around 7:30 p.m., I went with Steven to see baby Quinn for the first time. She was still laying in the warmer. She had tubes up her nose for oxygen and an IV giving her nutrition. She was also hooked up to a monitor. So tubes and wires galore. She has a good strong cry. They let Steven hold her for about a half hour. She cried at first, but calmed very quickly with her dad holding her. What a sweetie she is!!!! Looks just like Kati did as a baby--hair color, size, everything. By around 8:30 p.m., Kati started to improve a little. By 10:00 p.m., she was doing well enough that I left for home to get a good night's sleep. (Dads are the only ones who are allowed to stay the night.)
This morning I was back at the hospital by 10:00 a.m. Kati had already gotten up for the first time, showered and seen baby Quinn briefly. She was extremely sleepy from the morphine they were giving her.
Steven and I went down to see baby Quinn. She is now off oxygen and breathing on her own. Her blood sugars are starting to come up. She had just had some procedures so we were not allowed to hold her. She is still on IV feeding and won't be able to breast feed for a while, so Kati is now pumping.
Lots of challenges ahead, but much improved over yesterday. Thank you to everyone who prayed. The updates should slow down now, but will still try to update once a day for a while.
Wednesday, November 20, 2012
Happy Thanksgiving a day early to everyone. I am roasting a chicken tonight. So if I am home for dinner tomorrow, that will be my Thanksgiving dinner (:
Steven and I have been taking turns for the past couple of days. He stays evenings and nights and I stay during the day. Last evening, Steven arrived around 8:00 p.m. I grabbed my stuff to head out the door, dreading the 2 1/2 block walk to the car in the cold night air. At that point Steven told me to watch out as it had rained and the temperatures had dropped and the car might be covered with a layer of ice. I made it to the car in record time. However, chiseling the ice off the windows took a while.
This morning the ice was all gone and I had a smooth ride to the hospital. Kati was struggling big time with anxiety. Lack of sleep and physical stress had done a job on her. The nurse brought a couple of meds that reduced her pain levels and anxiety and she was able to sleep for a couple of hours for the first time. She now gets wheeled to the NICU nursery to feed Quinn. Quinn hasn't gotten the hang of it yet, so Kati is pumping too. Quinn is starting to get jaundiced, so they have her under lights and are talking about supplementing. Today was mostly devoted to nursing and pumping. I was able to hold Quinn for a half hour or so. Nancy came in the late afternoon and she got to hold Quinn for a good while. Steven arrived around 6:00 p.m. and this time he informed us that snow had fallen and that my usual route home which involves a steep hill wouldn't be safe. So Nancy drove me to my car and led me home by a different route. Oh, Canada, can't you give me a break!!!
Thursday, Nov. 22
In the U.S. it's Thanksgiving today. Here in Canada, it's just another day. I woke to a winter wonderland again. Looks like about three inches of snow fell. At breakfast, I watched a fellow emerge from his second story apartment across the street in shirt sleeves and bare feet holding a box of salt. He marched down the snow covered steps in his bare feet, salting as he went. For my part, I bundled up in coat,scarf, boots and gloves before I went out to brush the snow off Kati's car and head to the hospital. Quinn continues to breathe rapidly and be jaundiced. We are unable to hold her because she must be under the lights every minute that she is not feeding.
Friday, November 23
Just got back from spending the evening at the hospital. Life is a bit of a roller coaster right now for all concerned. This morning the nurse became more concerned about Quinn's breathing and called the pediatrician. Dr. Debbie put her back on oxygen and on the IV. The jaundice has still not improved. Quinn isn't nursing at all now, although she will take some from a bottle. Kati continues to pump, but is quite emotional because she can't hold her baby. The doctor says Quinn is not in danger, but this will take some time. They continue to do bloodwork and x-rays to rule out other things (other than 2 weeks premature, c-section and diabetic mother). They discharged Kati and she is settled into a very nice sleeping room on the far end of the maternity ward complete with refrigerator, microwave, toaster, coffeemaker, etc. They are well stocked with food by the two grandmothers. Steven is spending the nights and a lot of the days there. They are thinking they will be there at least another week. Lots of prayer is still needed.
Saturday, November 24
Kati and Steven were encouraged this a.m. that Quinn seemed to be doing better. Her color was better and she was more alert. One feeding today, she nursed for ten minutes. But other feedings were a struggle. I stayed home today trying to get the windows in the bedroom weatherproofed. I had placed a thermometer in the crib and it showed a chilly 60 degrees F. However, after working on the windows, it much better--68 degrees. One storm window was open at the top 6 inches and the other window had the lower sash cracked open. I washed the miniblinds and windows, closed everything up tight and installed window film to make them even cozier.
Sunday, November 25
Quinn is now a week old--except she's really minus one week old because she shouldn't have been born for another week. The pediatrician told Kati and Steven not to expect steady upward improvement. It would be two steps forward and one step backward for a while. So they didn't take it too hard when she had to be put back on oxygen. But the good news is that she is no longer under the lights. Her color is finally normal, her bruising is almost gone and her head has returned to normal shape. She had her first normal feeding totally by breast with no need for bottle. Progress!
I attended Kati's church, Glenview Nazarene (organic Nazarene, that is). I almost didn't make it to the service because Kati's "Glenview Grammas" waylaid me in the foyer and wanted all the details and photos. (None of them are on facebook.) I was beginning to think half the church spent their Sunday mornings in the foyer, but when I finally made it into the main sanctuary a half hour late, I got in on quite a bit of music and the sermon, and it was great.
Monday, November 26
Quinn is one week old today. She is still on oxygen, still struggling with jaundice, still not nursing well and definitely still in the NICU. Because she is not under the lights or on an IV (at least for the moment), Kati and Steven were allowed to have her with them in their room this evening.
Because of multiple daily trips to the hospital, I am getting used to the lay of the city and getting lost less. The snow and ice do not scare me anymore (although maybe they should.) I guess I really do have Minnesota blood in my veins because the cold really doesn't bother me or seem that unusual. The winter weather is bringing back lots of memories from the first twenty years of my life--especially memories of St. Paul, Minnesota, Kent, Oregon, and Tensed, Idaho, where snow and cold weather in winter were a big part of life.
Tuesday, November 27
Quinn is back under the lights today and still on oxygen. She still hasn't gotten the hang of breast feeding. Today I was told by a local that I "had the cutest accent." Interesting. I thought they had the accents.
Wednesday November 28
A busy day. I finished painting the hallway this morning. Then at noon, I picked Kati up for her first away-from-the-hospital outing. We went to Walmart for a few crucial items and then out to lunch. I dropped her back off at the hospital at 3:30 p.m. and headed home to fix dinner. Steven had come home for a few hours, so he took the dinner with him when he left. We are supposed to get snow tonight and tomorrow. A clerk at the health food store commented that when she had gone outside, there was a huge moon with a ring around it. "And you know what that means," she said. I didn't, so she explained to me that it meant we would be getting a chinook. I remember that term from my northern Idaho days. We would have a lot of snow or subzero temperatures and then a chinook (warm wind) would come in the night and raise the temperatures at least 50 degrees and melt all the snow. Looking forward experiencing this once again. And speaking of experiences from the past, I would dearly love to see the northern lights again.
Sunday, December 2
Quinn has made slow but steady progress over the past four days. She is still in NICU. She still has some jaundice, but is not under the lights. She is still on oxygen, but they are gradually reducing the amount. There is no target time when she will be sent home, but one nurse hinted that they could send her home on oxygen, a scary prospect for all of us non-medically oriented people.
Kati has been able to get out for a couple of hours each day. Thursday we went to Superstore for groceries. Yesterday I brought her home for a bath and lunch. After I drove her back to the hospital, I spent several hours catching up on bookkeeping on the computer. About 11:00 p.m. I closed down the computer and went to hunt for a Kati's wedding ring. (She is hoping it might fit her now.) As I pulled the huge box of her stuff from the cabinet over the stairs, the bottom fell out with a mighty crash and spewed all her treasures including jewelry boxes down the entire stairway. Steven came running, not sure what he would find. Amazingly, nothing was broken, including me. By the time we got the mess cleaned up and I got to bed it was almost 1:00 a.m.
This morning I rushed to get ready for church. I followed cousin Janice's advice and started the car and turned on defrost full blast to get rid of the layer of ice that covered the car. It worked! Thanks, Janice! I headed for the hospital to pick up Kati for church. About half way there (at my usual slow pace) I had to stop for a red light and the car went into a sideways slide. No harm was done, but I realized that the same layer of ice that had covered the car also
covered the streets. Walking was no less treacherous. The only other walker I encountered fell a few feet ahead of me. When I finally made it to the nursery, I told Kati that we were not going to church--or anywhere. So it is a now 2:30 p.m. and I am contemplating whether or not it is safe to head home. Since I can't use my US cell phone, I have no way to call for help if I run into trouble. Oh, the joys of winter in the north.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
I realize it has been a few days since I have posted. The changes in Quinn have been so gradual and so two-steps-forward-one-step-back that it is hard to know if there has been progress unless you can look back over several days. So here is where we were when I left the hospital at 9:00 p.m. last night.
Quinn has been totally off oxygen and lights for forty-eight hours now. The breast feeding is still up and down as Quinn is so sleepy she doesn’t want to nurse at about 2/3 of the feedings. But then she will have a great feeding. She still hasn’t gained up to her birth weight of 10 lb 5 oz and is still under ten pounds. But she looks so much better. They are having her “room in” with Kati now. That means Kati is caring for her in the room with the nurses checking in every few hours. If all goes well, they plan to send her home tomorrow (Sunday, December 9).
The idea of bringing a baby with breathing problems home is scary for all of us, so please pray that this transition will go smoothly and that they will be wise in timing.
In other news, we had a major melt a couple of days ago and finally got rid of all that horrible ice that was making life so dangerous. After 36 hours above freezing, the temperatures dropped like a rock and today I woke to a winter wonderland. We have about an inch of snow on the ground and big fluffy flakes are still falling. And driving on snow is a piece of cake compared to driving on ice!!!!
I have had a couple of minor mishaps as I try to hold things together at the home front. I managed to flush the mop cloth down the toilet when emptying the mop water. Then in a one-two-punch, I decided to vacuum the residue off the newly cleaned carpet. The ancient vacuum came apart and spewed dust all over everything. But all is repaired and back to normal now. Also, the wifi at the hospital has been down for four days. So anyone who is trying to contact me on Viber can now only reach me when I am at home. I tried to buy a sim card and minutes for my cell phone so I could have a way to call for help if I had a mishap or got lost out driving. Unfortunately, Canadian cell phone companies are totally uncooperative with people from the states and I would risk having my phone locked to the Canadian company, not to mention extremely high per minute rates. So I will be phoneless (except for Viber) until I am back on U.S. soil.
Day 20 - Sunday, December 9:
Well, the process took all day, but we are finally home with baby Quinn. You accumulate a lot of stuff in your room when you live at the hospital for twenty days. (Just imagine a three week vacation in an efficiency apartment where you are providing your own meals.) It took two trips that involved filling bags with food, dishes, clothes, baby stuff and then hauling them down the hospital stairs and out through the snow a block to the car and then unloading at the house and hauling the stuff in and putting it away. We made the final trip with baby Quinn at around 5:00 p.m. Kati and Steven are VERY tired. Quinn had a good feeding when she got home and is at the moment sleeping. We are all very thankful to be home.
Day 24 - Thursday, December 13:
Wednesday was Quinn's first pediatrician appointment. She was starting to look yellow again, we were sent to the hospital for a bilirubin test. Her levels were just under the line for admitting. So we took her back home--all of us quite uneasy. The next morning at 8:00 a.m. Dr. Folstrom called Kati. She had been thinking about Quinn and she was uneasy too. We met her at the hospital at 9:45 a.m. for more tests. Evidently it is unusual for bilirubin to persist this long and she wanted to look for underlying causes, such as heart problems. So far all of the tests came back normal--except the bilirubin. Her levels were up even more, so she was admitted to the pediatric ward of the hospital and put under lights. She and Kati are sharing a room so Kati can continue breastfeeding. Quinn is in a flexiglass enclosed box with lights above and below her. She has on lightblocking glasses and a diaper. It's so hard to watch after we finally had her home and saw how she interacts and loves to be swaddled and cuddled.
The house seems very empty after having Quinn and Kati at home for three days. She had her days and nights mixed up, so we were three very exhausted adults. She came alive at midnight and didn't settle down until 7:00 a.m. Then she slept most of the day. Kati stayed up until around 4:30 a.m. and then she would call me or Steven. I am learning that if I am going to get up at 4:30 a.m., I need to be in bed by 10:00 p.m. (or earlier). But exhausted or not, we want our baby Quinn back home. Adding to my exhaustion is the fact that my blow-up bed sprang a leak and I developed a bad back from trying to make do by getting up every couple of hours to blow it up again. So yesterday, I went to Walmart and bought a new one. However, new vinyl beds outgas terribly and the smell almost asphyxiated me last night. So now I have the window open although the temperatures are in the twenties. Each day certainly brings new challenges and we all covet your prayers.