NICU Day 7, It's a girl! Jillian Grace

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. On Monday, April 18th I woke up feeling sick. The doctors and nurses watched me very closely. It was Mark's and my 13th wedding anniversary so he was planning on visiting and bringing our favorite Thai food. I called and let him know I wasn't feeling up to eating and that he should eat on his way up. In the early evening I developed a fever 99.2 then an hour later 99.6, then and hour later 100.5. The doctor had some blood drawn to check for infection and he did an ultrasound. He told me that babies that get an infection usually develop a faster heart rate and don't move very much. So during the ultrasound she was moving all happy, she was practicing breathing and looked great so doc was happy. Her respiratory rate only increased a small amount and was still in the normal range. I also started to have contractions at first they were 10 minutes apart then 3-4 minutes apart so they started me on magnesium sulfate because it has neurological benefits for the baby. That helped slow my contractions way down but they only wanted me on it for 12 hours so it didn't mask if I was developing an infection. I slept pretty well that night and then at noon on the 19th they took me off. My white cells had increased a small amount with the first lab but they ran 3 more over the next 24 hours and they actually decreased a small amount. Plus 3 hours after coming off the mag my contractions were still very mellow, so we were looking good and doctor let me eat. I only had 1/2 a sandwich and some almonds. It was good I only ate a little because at about 8:00 pm I started to hemorrhage very badly. The doc was called in, the oncologist, radiologist, OB, 2 anesthesiologist for me plus the NICU doctor and nurses and a pediatric surgeon for Jillian. I was loosing so much blood so quickly they were taking the sheets out full of my blood and weighing it to keep up with the amount of blood I was loosing.  In my room they started 3 more IV's and I was started on 2 units of blood.  When the doctor came in he spoke so nice to me and we were on our way to the OR.  Mark was with me the whole time and was amazingly strong and brave.  I am sure that must have been one of the worst things he has ever experienced and how out of control he must have felt.  God was in that room with us and kept us close and calm.  They had to do the surgery in the main OR because of my acretta we packed that room. They had planned to give me a spinal and complete the c-section with me awake, well because I was loosing so much blood so quickly the peri decided it was necessary to put me completely under and quickly.  They started another 4 IV's in the OR, two in my neck and two in my right arm.  The last thing I remember was the peri calling for a mass transfusion.  Jillian Grace was born 15 minutes later at 9:14pm weighing 1 pound 7 ounces and measuring 12 inches long.  The NICU doctors and team took Jillian up to the NICU, she was doing very well but needed to be on oxygen and a ventilator quickly.  Mark was the first to meet our daughter and followed them to the NICU.  I am so thankful he was able to be with her.

I stayed in surgery for the next 2 hours while they worked on me.  During the surgery I received a total of 12 units of blood, 6 units of platelets and 6 units of coagulant, that's 24 units total.  Your body hold 6 units of blood normally so I was loosing blood as fast as they were giving it to me.  They had to give me a hysterectomy but I was able to keep my fallopian tubes and ovaries.  When my surgery was complete and my peri went to tell Mark I was okay, Mark said he was drenched with blood from his knees down where the gown didn't cover.  I was taken to the ICU and spent the night there.  They woke me up from the anaesthesia that night around 12am (I don't remember any of this) Mark and my family were in the ICU, I guess I tried to pull out my tube and didn't want Mark to leave me.  They knocked me back out for the night and woke me up around 9am.  This time I remember them waking me up and I remember wanting to pull out my tube but didn't, I just asked them to remove it.  They were waiting on the respiratory therapist to remove it.  Well it was making me dry heave and that hurts even worse after surgery.  It took about 30 minutes for that lady to show up and remove it.  I stayed in the ICU until about 6pm and was doing well so I was able to go back to my room.  I spent less than 24 hours in ICU.  Thank you God for watching over us through that whole surgery! I was up and walking that night.  I walked to the NICU to meet my daughter. She is perfect!  She might be small but my love for her is beyond words.

She is doing amazing! She is on a ventilator but on a low setting and needs help maintaining her body temp and she had a level 1 brain bleed which will heal on it's own. She is so beautiful! She looks like a Petersen, she has resembled Alexis and Nathan but has her own look to her. Please keep praying God is answering our prayers and we have been safe. She had a hard day on Sunday the 24th, she is so small that the tube has to be in a very small spot in her chest and it moved from that area and she had to be bagged to breath while they got her tube back in.  So for the last two days she has needed oxygen, she was on room air just needing the vent, now she is on 30% oxygen (room air is 21%) so still low.  She also has an elevated white count right now but the rest of her blood work does not reflect and infection any more so her elevated white count is either from the stress of Sunday and them trying to wean her down since then or there is an infection and one of the antibiotics is taking care of it.  Praise the Lord!

As far as her omphalocele God has been correcting that (thank you for the prayers) when she was born some of her intestines and her liver were out in the O, which we knew.  Over the last week her liver and a lot of her intestine have gone back in her abdomen.  God is amazing!  This is even better news because the surgeons no longer want to wait on surgery for her because she is a micro-preemie her skin is very delicate and they are worried that the sack the O is in will deteriorate before it has a chance to scar up and the result of that would be her organs being exposed to the outside elements and infection.  They had scheduled her surgery for today but really want her off the jet vent and just on a traditional vent for the surgery and she is just not ready for that, especially because of Sunday.  The surgeons that come and wrap her O everyday are able to get all of the contents of her O inside her without it upsetting her or causing her to have problems breathing.  They expect her surgery to go well and for her not to need another one.  They will actually not close her skin but make everything go in and then place a mesh like skin over the opening that will grow like skin with her.  The surgeon said they will do their best to create a normal looking belly button for her.  To be honest this is the least of my concerns. 


God's perfect will and timing:
You have all read this blog and know everything that Jillian and I have been through physically.  Well now on the other side God has shown me some of why we have gone through what we have and how perfect His timing is.  The SCH weakened my membranes, which caused my water to break after my amnio.  God kept Jillian and I save for 6 weeks and because of the rupture Jillian received, steroids for her lungs and magnesium sulfate for her neurological benefit.  I started to show signs of infection but God held it off from getting into my system and then into Jillian's system.  Then He had her come out on April 19th.  The surgeon took pictures of my placenta and of my removed uterus and I had an infection in my placenta it was just still on the inside and he could see my placenta on the outside of my uterus.  If I would have stayed pregnant for another week my placenta would have been in my bowel and in my bladder.  This would have been even more life threaten to me and Jillian and we would not have made it another 15 weeks.  I would have hemorrhaged at home and we would have had to be air lifted to Sacramento.  I most likely would have bled to death before we made the trip.  I believe with my whole heart that only God could have planned this whole pregnancy and known when Jillian was strong enough to be out.  All the praise and glory to God!

My step mom has been here for the last month, taking care of all the mom jobs and did above and beyond that and did the grandma thing and the house cleaning/organizing fairy on top of an already very busy schedule.  She was a blessing beyond words and Mark and I were completely blessed by her help and love.  I know my kids who love her so much have now bonded even closer to her and none of them will ever be the same.  Thank you Nora, we love you to the moon and back!

My mom is with the kids as of Friday and now they have another opportunity to bond and be cared for by another amazing women/grandma they have been blessed with.  Mark's parents really want to come and help too.  We have been so blessed with the love of our family, church family and friends.  You are all a gift and we love you so very much!

Jillian Grace right after birth

Jillian, 2 days after birth

Jillian with Daddy's hand

Jillian with Mommy

**Warning** Omphalocele pictures below:

Omphalocele after birth

Omphalocele on Sunday