So here's the run down:
Friday morning: I noticed the baby wasn't moving quite as much as usual, by Friday afternoon I went to the midwife to check he baby's heart tones and reassure myself that he was doing fine. He had a significant drop in heart rate during a contraction but we weren't too concerned. Decided to listen again Monday. Everything was fine over the weekend, but still felt like the baby was being a bit lazy.
Monday: We went to the midwife again, she checked heart tones again, and again he had a significant dip in heart tones during a contraction. As a precaution she suggested we have an ultrasound done just to see what was going on in there. We were able to get the ultrasound the same day and the ultrasound showed that he was doing great. I had a contraction during the ultrasound and his heart rate dropped again. In addition to that they thought they saw an abnormality in the heart chambers and thought we should go to Spokane and look at his heart on a 4D ultrasound in the next day or two to see if there was anything wrong. By Monday evening the midwife suggested we consider checking into our local hospital for a non-stress test. Sean and I decided it couldn't hurt so we packed up and went to our local hospital.
During the non stress test the baby didn't have a lot of the drops in heart tones he was having before-in fact, he didn't have much variation at all. Usually when a baby moves you see the heart rate spike up...he was moving, but his heart rate was staying the same 125-135 beats per minute. The Dr. didn't like this, but it wasn't alarming enough to do an emergency c-section so she wanted to keep us on the monitor overnight and have us go to Spokane in the morning to look at the baby's heart and monitor us some more.
Tuesday:
Tuesday:
A few hours later the nurse woke us up and said the Dr. came back in, the baby's heart rate was making her uncomfortable enough to think we should go to Spokane now. She called a helicopter but because of the fog not one helicopter service was flying...she sent us in an ambulance. Sean was allowed to ride in the ambulance with us and we arrived at the hospital in Spokane around 3:00am. Hooked up to monitors again, we tried to get some rest before the 4D ultrasound-at about 5:30am we were woken and again the Dr. didn't like what was happening with the baby's heart rate. It appeared he was under too much stress during the contractions and we were prepping for c-section. Sean was allowed in the room along with about a dozen doctors and nurses for the baby and myself. By 6:30am we had a beautiful baby boy filling the operating room with the sweet sound of a new baby cry!
He was beautiful and strong and perfect! He scored a 9 on his APGAR and after a few minutes Sean followed him to the NICU where they looked him over. He had an ultrasound on his heart and miraculously it came back flawless. Within a few hours he started showing signs of petechiae (pronounced puh-TEE-kee-ee, pinpoint, round spots that appear on the skin as a result of bleeding under the skin.) This coupled with a slightly distended belly caused the pediatric doctors to run lots of tests...this is when we discovered his platelets were extremely low. A healthy newborn has platelet levels in the 150,000-250,000 range. An average baby in the NICU is usually around 150,000. Our baby was under 10,000. A platelet transfusion was ordered and a blood culture was sent off to see if any bacteria would grow that could identify what kind of infection he might have. They started him on broad spectrum antibiotics to cover a bacterial and fungal infection just to be safe.
Wednesday: The NICU nurse who cared for the baby through the night said he did ok, he is still quite sick. His last platelet test came back at 16,000-an improvement, but still very low. He will continue to receive platelet transfusions until we get the levels under control. We are waiting to hear back about the blood culture, but because of the size of the blood sample sent from a newborn there is a chance nothing will grow. The doctor started him on another antibiotic today to cover viral infections. Odds are good one of the medications he is on will clear up whatever he's battling.
On a brighter note I got to hold the baby for the first time today...only for about a minute and only because he pee'd all over his bedding and the nurse asked me to lift him up while she changed the blankets. Sean was there and the two of us were like a giant hug wrapped around our tiny little miracle. :)
I will continue to update this site, and post pictures here. I hope you all know how much we love and appreciate you!!! I am recovering well from the c-section but keeping everyone up to date is taking several hours a day and I really need to spend some time resting!
Thank you for your love and support!
Wednesday: The NICU nurse who cared for the baby through the night said he did ok, he is still quite sick. His last platelet test came back at 16,000-an improvement, but still very low. He will continue to receive platelet transfusions until we get the levels under control. We are waiting to hear back about the blood culture, but because of the size of the blood sample sent from a newborn there is a chance nothing will grow. The doctor started him on another antibiotic today to cover viral infections. Odds are good one of the medications he is on will clear up whatever he's battling.
On a brighter note I got to hold the baby for the first time today...only for about a minute and only because he pee'd all over his bedding and the nurse asked me to lift him up while she changed the blankets. Sean was there and the two of us were like a giant hug wrapped around our tiny little miracle. :)
I will continue to update this site, and post pictures here. I hope you all know how much we love and appreciate you!!! I am recovering well from the c-section but keeping everyone up to date is taking several hours a day and I really need to spend some time resting!
Thank you for your love and support!
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