Below are my email updates from the last few weeks for anyone that missed them:
From November 5th:
Hi friends,
From November 5th:
Hi friends,
Jack will be three weeks old tomorrow- we can't believe it! He is doing well- he got off of his ventilator last Sunday (he actually pulled it out himself! He's a feisty one- he was ready to come off, so the doctor decided he'd leave it out) and he is now on NIPPV CPAP, which provides him with a little more assistance than a CPAP by itself.
He's grown an inch and a half since he was born (up to 15 inches now) and is at 2 lbs, 9 ounces. They started feeding him my breast milk through a feeding tube last Monday- they started him at 1 ml, 8 times a day and he's already up to 18 ml's, 8 times a day in just over a week. Our goal is to get him to 22 ml's, 8 times a day- so not too far from where he should be! He's done great with the breast milk, so we are all hoping that helps him grow big and strong. I was also able to hold him for the first time the Friday before he was taken off his ventilator. Matt was able to hold him the next day. Holding him is simply amazing- he can be fussy in the beginning, but then he just melts into our chest and falls asleep. It is just heavenly. Attached is a picture of me holding him for the first time. I try to hold him everyday if they let me- they say that is great for his development as well. He's also having ALOT of books read to him- when he's not being held, we are reading books to him or telling him what's been going on in the outside world. He's also getting lots of visits from my parents, who have been in town helping us since I went in the hospital, and Matt's parents, who live in Houston. Matt has him trained up on America and baseball- Matt just wishes he was old enough to vote! :)
I've been going to a NICU support group meeting every week, which has been wonderful. Last week we made Halloween onesies for the little ones (even though he can't wear clothing yet)- pictured attached. The March of Dimes has some amazing resources for NICU parents, so that has been great support for us. We've also made a few friends with parents who also have babies in the NICU.
I've decided to start a blog with (hopefully) more frequent updates- http://www.weiglefamily.
Please excuse my amateur blogging skills- it appears that I'm 10 years behind on that technology :) I'll be updating this in the next few days with more pictures and entries.
One of the things that we've seen so much through this journey is how amazing our friends and family are... I know that sounds cliche, but it is so very true.
We love you all!
Christine and Matt
On Fri, Oct 19, 2012 at 11:40 AM, Christine Schwarte <cmschwarte@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear friends,Thank you for all your prayers, calls and texts. I know we've talked to a few of you, but wanted to make sure we updated everyone.We had a rough Sunday night with my blood pressure spikes and baby decelerations in heart rate, and unfortunately it got worse on Monday. The doctors began to worry about my health and a possibility of a stroke, heart attack or seizure, as my diagnosis had turned into severe preeclampsia. They tried to change my blood pressure medicine, but nothing seemed to be working, so they decided it was best to deliver our sweet baby boy early Tuesday morning.Jack Matthew Weigle was born at 3:57am on October 16th. He came out breathing on his own (although he's on a ventilator now to help develop his lungs) and they keep using the word "feisty" for him, which is a wonderful thing for a NICU baby. He is so adorable! He'll be in the NICU at least until his due date (January 3rd) receiving the best of care to make him strong and healthy. The doctors and nurses have been amazing, so we are very blessed by that.Thank you for all the love and support the last few weeks- we're prepared for a lot of ups and downs the next few months, but we are so hopeful and prayerful that all will be okay.Much love,Christine
Hi everyone,Great news- it's not a tumor!! AND baby boy grew 7 ounces in 6 days (he is 1 lb, 13 oz)- so whatever we are doing here is working! We are so very thankful we get to stay here at Woman's and that baby boy can hopefully stay in my belly much longer to get stronger and healthier.They have diagnosed me with preeclampsia- it's atypical because I don't have alot of the common symptoms, but I am having pretty significant blood pressure spikes. They've been giving me blood pressure meds to try to control everything and think we just need to do some adjusting to better control the spikes. Baby's heart beat is also fluctuating, so praying that stabilizes soon as well. Either way, preeclampsia is so much more common and they see it here all the time, so much more manageable.We'll be at the hospital until he is born, so praying for endurance on that front :)Matt and I am so very blessed by such amazing friends- thanks so much everyone for your prayers and notes!Much love,ChristineDear friends,Apologies for the delay in me sending this- have been meaning to send for the last week, it's just been a pretty exhausting one... it's amazing how tiring bedrest is! :) I know I've talked or texted with a few of you, but wanted to provide a more substantial update just in case.So- a little background if I haven't been able to talk to you- I had some bleeding at work last Thursday (10.4) and my doctor told me to go to the hopsital to get it checked out to make sure everything was okay. Matt was fortunately on his way to school, close to downtown, so he picked me up and we came in for testing. Baby boy looked fine, but they did notice they my blood pressure was incredibly high- which is not normal for me, as it's usually pretty low and has been through all of my pregnancy. They did a few tests and decided to keep us overnight for monitoring. Over the night, baby's heart beat had some signigicant swings and my blood pressue was pretty volatile again, so they decided the next day to keep us to Saturday to test for Preeclampsia. I didn't have any of the other typical symptoms of this (swelling, etc), so these were a bit perplexed, but they wanted to see what was causing my blood pressue issues. We got those results back Saturday AM and everything else was normal- so no preeclampsia. Baby's heart beat and my blood pressure were still irregualar, so they said I needed to stay for a few days until those were under control.On Monday morning, we met with a high-risk pregancy doctor, who did an additional, more accurate ultrasound. He said baby looks really small for where he should be (12th percentile) and only about 1 pound 6 ounces. They began to worry that my blood pressure spikes had caused a placental abruption, which had potentially caused the bleeding, and potentially affected baby's growth. They haven't been able to see this on any of the ultrasounds, but they haven't ruled it out yet. So- it was decided Monday that I would be on hospitalized bedrest until baby gets here. I've been on constant monitoring since last Thursday, which means I have straps around my bellly that monitor baby's heartrate and any contractions, so I feel better knowing they are contstantly watching if something were to happen. I DEFINITELY miss home- miss being at home with Matt and Tucker, but I just keep focusing on the fact that the longer we are here with him in my belly, the less time he's in NICU without us here.They are still trying to figure out the blood pressue issue, so they've had a slew of doctors come meet with me and they decided on Monday to start testing for some rare things just in case. The one that they are most concerned with now is called Pheochromocytoma (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001380/). I had an MRI on Tuesday and the results were "indeterminate." The radiologist noted a small spot on my adrenal gland, which the doctors say could potentailly be the Pheo tumour. Unfortunately, they can't tell conclusively, so they had to do blood and urine tests, which will hopefully help confirm. The tumor is extremely rare and there are only a few places in the country that do the blood and urine tests, so it's taken longer than we hoped to get those back. We were supposed to hear yesterday, but no word- so we're praying for Monday. They have never seen a Pheo here at the Woman's Hopsital, so we'll have to move hospitals if that is what it is. Memorial Hermann down the street saw two cases last year, so that is where we will go. It will definitely be a different atmposphere if we go there- will have tons of doctor's around and professors from UT Medcial will be involved because so few people have seen these in practice. We are trying to enjoy the soft and coziness of Woman's just in case we do have to move. They can't remove the tumour without removing baby (and removal is the only option), so they will decide if it's best to take him out immediately or to wait and monitor. The chances of the tumor as still so low (.007%), think they just want us to be prepared just in case. If it's not the Pheo, they will try to monitor my blood pressue with meds and we'll stay in the hospital, hopefully to full term. My due date is Jan 3rd (40 wks)- 37 weeks would technically be full term and be December 13th. Sorry for the long-winded email, just wanted to get everyone all the information we have. (Also somewhat therapeutic to write it all out <330.png> ) Right now, Matt and I feel so very blessed that he has stayed in my belly another week and that he's hopefully getting stronger and healthier everyday that we are here. He was 28 weeks on Thursday- so he still has an almost 100% chance of survival if he is born anytime soon. We are also so blessed by my benefits with insurance and work- one less thing to have to worry about here. Everyone has been so amazing and helpful and patient with us as we deal with all this. It's amazing how quickly life can change, but it just reminds us that God is good and that His plan is so much greater than ours.I'll send another email back when we get more information- hopefully Monday.Much love,Christine
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