Last night was a really good night for Maddy. She had good levels each time that they checked her, which means she is starting to regulate on her own. I really think it helps when Ashlyn is able to feed her. She has been very happy and seems to enjoy sleep just like her Mom. The NICU nurse watching her was the same nurse that watched her the night before, and she could not believe how much she had improved from the night before! She said it was like she was taking care of a completely different infant.
Now that we are home, it is hard to make the trip to see Maddy for each of her feedings, which is pretty sad for us. Ashlyn is working hard to pump milk so that we can store some up for her at the hospital, and her milk is definitely coming in.
Please continue to pray that Madalyns levels are maintained and that we will be able to bring her home soon. Please also pray that Ashlyn has the energy to pump and make the trip to the hospital, which is challenging given the schedule that she is on. I can't express how thankful we are for everyone's prayers, and we will keep you updated.
Ashlyn is going to the hospital this morning, and we are hoping she will be able talk to the Doctor. We will keep this updated to let everyone know what they say.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
7/30 update 2.0
Today has been such an answer to prayers!! Ashlyn was able to successfully feed Maddy (twice since being discharged) and Maddy's levels have begun to become more regular. Each of the past 3 readings for Maddy have been high enough for the NICU staff to reduce the amount of glucose being pumped into her. Please continue to pray that her glucose levels stay at the levels they are at and that Ashlyn will continue to heal have the strength to make it to the hospital often. We are going to bed feeling good about her status, and feel confident that God is healing our little baby girl!
Thank you all for your prayers. We cannot wait for everyone to meet our sweet baby girl!
Thank you all for your prayers. We cannot wait for everyone to meet our sweet baby girl!
July 30 update
Last night around 4AM when we went to check on her, we were turned away b/c the staff was trying to re-insert an IV that had popped out of her hand. It took them about an hour trying with no success before they decided to place the IV through her umbilacal cord. They were unsure that it would take since it was starting to scab, but thankfully, they were able to place it successfully. They took an x-ray to determine that it was placed properly, and I have no idea what would have happened if they would have been unable to place it there since it was a last ditch effort to ensure that she was getting the glucose that she needed. With the IV in her belly button, we are pretty much unable to pick her up or move her, which is really difficult since we can't comfort her or hold her. The nurse that is currently watching her is great and said that she will help move her so that Ashlyn can hold her and feed if she gets her milk in. We are praying that her milk comes quick and that Ashlyn will be able to do this soon and that we will continue to have the excellent nurses watching her that we have been so fortunate to have.
We woke up today feeling good and have been able to check in on Maddy quite a bit. Its amazing how little sleep you need to survive. In talking to the NICU doctor, our baby girl is still unable to regulate her blood sugar on her own, and they are pumping her full of glucose. The doctor also reiterated that Maddy is showing symptoms of a baby from a diabetic mother. We are hoping his theory is correct since he said this is something that they are confident they can address.
One negative for little Maddy is that she is having a hard time feeding with the formula that they are giving her. She is able to take a bottle, but cannot seem to keep anything down. Ashlyn is working really hard to pump regularly and bring her milk in, and things seem to be working the way that they should for her. We are praying that Maddy will soon be able to feed using only Ashlyn's milk, and that the breast milk will be easier for her to keep down.
As far as Ashlyn's status goes, we are being discharged from the hospital shortly since there is a mass influx of pregnant people. Apparently this is due to the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday with July and August being some of their busiest months. Anyway, Ashlyn is doing much better walking and I think a lot of it is just her determination to be able to be there with her little girl. Please pray that Ashlyn will have the energy and pain tolerance to make the trips to the hospital since we are leaving soon.
Thank all of you that are reading this for your prayers and support. We can feel your support and prayers and God's hand is evident in all of this, which is comforting. Our nerves are stil pretty much shot, but we are maintaining our positive attitude in all of this. I will try to post again tonight.
We woke up today feeling good and have been able to check in on Maddy quite a bit. Its amazing how little sleep you need to survive. In talking to the NICU doctor, our baby girl is still unable to regulate her blood sugar on her own, and they are pumping her full of glucose. The doctor also reiterated that Maddy is showing symptoms of a baby from a diabetic mother. We are hoping his theory is correct since he said this is something that they are confident they can address.
One negative for little Maddy is that she is having a hard time feeding with the formula that they are giving her. She is able to take a bottle, but cannot seem to keep anything down. Ashlyn is working really hard to pump regularly and bring her milk in, and things seem to be working the way that they should for her. We are praying that Maddy will soon be able to feed using only Ashlyn's milk, and that the breast milk will be easier for her to keep down.
As far as Ashlyn's status goes, we are being discharged from the hospital shortly since there is a mass influx of pregnant people. Apparently this is due to the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday with July and August being some of their busiest months. Anyway, Ashlyn is doing much better walking and I think a lot of it is just her determination to be able to be there with her little girl. Please pray that Ashlyn will have the energy and pain tolerance to make the trips to the hospital since we are leaving soon.
Thank all of you that are reading this for your prayers and support. We can feel your support and prayers and God's hand is evident in all of this, which is comforting. Our nerves are stil pretty much shot, but we are maintaining our positive attitude in all of this. I will try to post again tonight.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
update on Maddy
We always said we would never have a blog, but with all that has been going on, we thought it would be the easiest way to keep everyone that cares about our family in the loop. As you have probably seen in the pictures, Madalyn is a pretty chunky little baby girl. When she was born, she weighed in at 9 pounds and 5 ounces. All I can say about that is that my wife is AMAZING, and there is nothing more special than seeing your child be born (sorry if this brings back 9th grade biology class for anyone).
Maddy's first day was really good. She was feeding and had great vital signs, and we enjoyed every moment that we had with her.
Shortly after her first 24 hours, things took a turn for the worst when we were trying to feed her. As Ashlyn was preparing to begin her feeding, Maddy gave both of us an empty stare and then became limp in Ashlyn's arms. Thankfully our excellent nurse, who we both love and who is a good friend of ours, was in the room and took her and began checking her vitals. As Maddy was turning blue on the table, our Nurse paged the other nurses on the floor to come help her out. I have never seen anyone get to our room that fast, and we are very thankful that the team was on top of the situation immediately. It was quickly decided that the best place for Maddy to go was in the NICU and they rushed her out. As you can probably imagine, especially if you have children, this was not a very pleasant, nor calming event for either of us.
Ultimately, it was determined that Maddy had extremely low blood sugar, and she had stopped breathing when our nurse was in the room. We were told that based on her vitals, and the monitors that they hooked her up to, that she had not stopped breathing at any other point before the time that Ashlyn was holding her. We are extremely thankful that our nurse was with us when this happened, and that we had a great team of people that helped our little girl out.
It was pretty much a miracle that things happened the way that they did. The majority of the day, Maddy seemed content sleeping by herself in the bassonet, and we didn't really want to disturb her, mostly because we were exhausted, but also becuase she seemed so peaceful. shortly before her episode, I (Jesse) had this feeling that we just needed to hold her. Our nurse had walked out, and I just thought that we should show Maddy some love. After handing her to Ashlyn and taking a few pictures (one of them is on here somewhere), we decided we should try to feed her. How awesome is God that he would give me that feeling before she crashed, otherwise, it could have happened in the bassonet, and we never would have known.
As of 8pm this evening, Maddy is still in the NICU, and we expect her to be there until at least Sunday or Monday. She is still unable to regulate her blood sugar on her own, and is on a constant glucose drip until she can be weened off of it. We are thankful (although not originally) that Ashlyn is in the amount of pain that she is in, since it means we get to spend another night in the hospital under the nurses care. It is going to be really hard having to go back home tomorrow with our baby girl staying in NICU, especially since Ashlyn cannot really walk.
The NICU nurse practioner is very optomistic and belives that this is something that can be fixed, mostly with time and through our little troopers regulation of her own body. She also thinks that the problem with Maddy is a result of Ashlyn having late onset gestational diabeties after her orginal test was determined to be negatve. Most of the symptoms point to that as the root of the problem Maddy is having with her blood sugar.
We are extremely thankful for the support that we have received from family and friends, and appreciate all the prayers. We cannot even describe how thankful we are for our nurse and friend who literally saved our precious baby. We really cannot find the words to describe how thankful we are for her and just thinking about how blessed we were to have her there makes both of us tear up. We can only be optimistic that Maddy will be able to take over regulating her blood sugar, and that she will be discharged soon. Please continue to pray that Ashlyn will heal quickly, and that Maddy will have improvements in her blood sugar levels. God is great.
If we seem somewhat out of touch lately, it is because there is quite a lot going on. As things progress, I am hoping we will feel up to taking calls and having visitors, but until then, please continue to pray for us.
-JAM
(Jesse Ashlyn Madalyn)-Thanks Christy for coming up with this!
Maddy's first day was really good. She was feeding and had great vital signs, and we enjoyed every moment that we had with her.
Shortly after her first 24 hours, things took a turn for the worst when we were trying to feed her. As Ashlyn was preparing to begin her feeding, Maddy gave both of us an empty stare and then became limp in Ashlyn's arms. Thankfully our excellent nurse, who we both love and who is a good friend of ours, was in the room and took her and began checking her vitals. As Maddy was turning blue on the table, our Nurse paged the other nurses on the floor to come help her out. I have never seen anyone get to our room that fast, and we are very thankful that the team was on top of the situation immediately. It was quickly decided that the best place for Maddy to go was in the NICU and they rushed her out. As you can probably imagine, especially if you have children, this was not a very pleasant, nor calming event for either of us.
Ultimately, it was determined that Maddy had extremely low blood sugar, and she had stopped breathing when our nurse was in the room. We were told that based on her vitals, and the monitors that they hooked her up to, that she had not stopped breathing at any other point before the time that Ashlyn was holding her. We are extremely thankful that our nurse was with us when this happened, and that we had a great team of people that helped our little girl out.
It was pretty much a miracle that things happened the way that they did. The majority of the day, Maddy seemed content sleeping by herself in the bassonet, and we didn't really want to disturb her, mostly because we were exhausted, but also becuase she seemed so peaceful. shortly before her episode, I (Jesse) had this feeling that we just needed to hold her. Our nurse had walked out, and I just thought that we should show Maddy some love. After handing her to Ashlyn and taking a few pictures (one of them is on here somewhere), we decided we should try to feed her. How awesome is God that he would give me that feeling before she crashed, otherwise, it could have happened in the bassonet, and we never would have known.
As of 8pm this evening, Maddy is still in the NICU, and we expect her to be there until at least Sunday or Monday. She is still unable to regulate her blood sugar on her own, and is on a constant glucose drip until she can be weened off of it. We are thankful (although not originally) that Ashlyn is in the amount of pain that she is in, since it means we get to spend another night in the hospital under the nurses care. It is going to be really hard having to go back home tomorrow with our baby girl staying in NICU, especially since Ashlyn cannot really walk.
The NICU nurse practioner is very optomistic and belives that this is something that can be fixed, mostly with time and through our little troopers regulation of her own body. She also thinks that the problem with Maddy is a result of Ashlyn having late onset gestational diabeties after her orginal test was determined to be negatve. Most of the symptoms point to that as the root of the problem Maddy is having with her blood sugar.
We are extremely thankful for the support that we have received from family and friends, and appreciate all the prayers. We cannot even describe how thankful we are for our nurse and friend who literally saved our precious baby. We really cannot find the words to describe how thankful we are for her and just thinking about how blessed we were to have her there makes both of us tear up. We can only be optimistic that Maddy will be able to take over regulating her blood sugar, and that she will be discharged soon. Please continue to pray that Ashlyn will heal quickly, and that Maddy will have improvements in her blood sugar levels. God is great.
If we seem somewhat out of touch lately, it is because there is quite a lot going on. As things progress, I am hoping we will feel up to taking calls and having visitors, but until then, please continue to pray for us.
-JAM
(Jesse Ashlyn Madalyn)-Thanks Christy for coming up with this!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)