Leaving the Hosptial
Holding her right before we packed up her things, got her situated in her car seat, and were discharged.
.jpg)
Snug as a bug in the car seat. Safe and sound for the journy home.
Daddy and Joslyn on our room in night at the hospital.
Read more...
HOME!!
Joslyn was unable to e discharged Monday due to no weight gain, and a cough that concerned the doctors a bit, but after being evaluated Monday evening the cough seemed to be less and less concerning. Just seemed to be getting too excited for food when being fed and wouldn't stop to take a few breaths. We worked with it, and we have seemed to correct it OK. It was now just an issue of her weight. In a very short amount of time she was loosing alot of weight. She was being fed on demand 60-70mls of breastmilk via bottle, and still continued to drop until Tuesday...she gained 2gms, and with that we were sent home. She did wonderful in her carseat on the way home, and slept of course the entire way. We stopped in Grandforks to wake her up, feed her, and eat ourselves. We arrived home close to 4pm.
Joslyn was welcomed by her auntie Noelle, and sister Kylyn as we walked in the door, and later by her other auntie Brooke. They all love her of course. Kylyn is especially excited over her. A little jealous and having a hard time not being the center of every ones attention 24/7 anymore, but thats something we will deal with day by day Im sure. Jealous or not, shes happy to finally see her baby sister. She wanted to hold her right away, and did wonderful. Kylyn is my little helper. :) -- right along with her live in auntie Brooke. Later Tuesday night my mom, and sister Noelle brought us over super, and my mom met her for the very first time. Even later that night my mom and dad brought over a few groceries, and my dad got to meet Joslyn for the first time. Then we said our good byes and good nights.
Joslyn is a very good baby at night. Just like her sister Kylyn. I HAVE to wake her up though every 3-4hours to feed her because of her weight issues, ut as soon as we are clear of that - her weight is being checked 2x a wk for 2wks - we're sleeping till she decides. Some parents really are strict on feedings, waking them up even if they would sleep a bit longer before waking up on their own to be fed...I am not that way. So shes a good sleeper and I love it. Shes also an awesome eater, sometimes a stubborn burper, but all around and amazing baby girl, whom I adore.
Today is our first full day home. Shes done wonderful. We cant wait to see how her weight check is tomorrow, and hope to only hear good news on her health checks from here on out!
Thank you to all those who have remembered our family especially our little Joslyn in your prayers. She was -> this <- close to a heart/lung bi pass surgery... but turned the corner just in time. She is now a happy healthy baby girl at home with her auntie, sister, mommy, and daddy. God is so good. Thank you to all his servants!
Excited beyond belief
Her PICC line is out, and she passed her carseat tolerence test. Tomorrow she will retake her hearing test, and her carseat test. Tomorrow the grandparents are coming to visit, and someone will take Kylyn back to Karlstad. Tomorrow night Zack and I will be spending the night at the hosptial in one of the rooms there reserved for 'rooming in' parents, and will have Joslyn for the first time overnight with us. Monday she will have her last dose of with drawl easer meds, and will hopefully be sent home!!
Read more...Oh To God Be The Glory
They are still planning on taking her PICC line out as of today, and they cut her medication in half as well...I cant think of the right name for it, but its purpose is to ease the withdrawal symptoms from the Fentanyl, which she has shown no set backs with. Her last dose is for Monday.
Today she is taking her car seat tolerance test. She has to sit in her car seat for 2hrs straight, while they monitor her oxygen intake. She can’t drop below a 90% the entire time. If she falls below that then we will discuss going home Monday, or Tuesday and how long she can handle being in a sitting position before her level of oxygen is effected. If she does good and passes the tolerance test and has no set backs with her ‘withdrawal easer’ medication she will be coming home maybe Monday or Tuesday!!! The doctor is shooting for Monday. Sunday night we get to sleep at the hospital and ‘room in’ with her… we are very excited.
It is hard to believe she was in serious critical condition, and was heading in the direction health wise of being sent to the cities for a heart lung bypass only a week ago from today. Go has blown away the nurses and Doctors with Joslyn’s progress. The doctor can’t stop saying how good Joslyn is making him look. God has been so good to us! Thank you for everyone who has been supporting and lifting up our family in prayer. May God bless you!
We have lots of good news
It’s been lots of fun having Kylyn with us while we are down here. She is a handful, but we love it. We really wish we could introduce Kylyn to her sister now, but it will have to wait until Joslyn is discharged, and ready to go home for good! Kylyns handling it well and we hope to have her meet with a counselor that can explain at a 2.5yr old level about her baby sister. It’s a sibling’s class where they use dolls, pictures, games etc…to explain what being a big sibling is like, about babies, and will explain in a toddler way why Joslyn is sick, and why Kylyn can’t see her yet.
We are excited for tomorrow, so we get to hold her more, and maybe possibly breastfeed for the first time. It is expected to be hard to start off with since she went from a feeding tube, to bottles, and has yet to be fed by me exclusively, which was what we had hoped to do before she was born. Hopefully, Joslyn and I will get the hang of it quickly, and we can go home maybe sometime mid to end of next week!
Sunday Zack’s folks are coming to visit, and meet Joslyn for the first time, my parents were planning on coming, but we might be heading home Sunday evening ourselves for a day or two depending on when they think Joslyn will be sent home, in which case they may just wait to meet her till we bring her home.
I am just bubbling with joy over getting to hold her this evening. She is so small. Smaller then Kylyn was. I came in just as the station nurse was finishing up a 1oz bottle with her. I got to burp her, and then I just cuddled with her. I hummed and she opened her eyes just a crack to check out where the noise was coming from…smiled a few times from gas. It was a wonderful way to spend 30min. Then Zack went in, and held her while Kylyn and I watched funniest home videos, I gave her a back/neck massage, and ate granola bars together. It was an awesome evening. Now Daddy and Kylyn are pooped out around me sleeping soundly.
Excited for what the Lord has for us tomorrow.
Also please pray for Joslyn as she took her hearing test today and failed in her right ear. Hearing loss is a common side effect to the hypertension. We will find out tomorrow maybe more whether this is perminant, or not. She will take another hearing test as well to double check, not sure when that will be taking place though. Read more...
Back to Fargo Tomorrow
>> Friday, August 13, 2010
Tomorrow morning we head back to Fargo. Zack got his car looked at but we decided not to get it fixed. The issue is the cars security system . . . after the car is shut off; it will not turn over and start for 10minutes. To get it fixed it will cost anywhere from $400 and up.
The issue could just be the key being slightly worn, so we are using the spare key, and so far so good. Lets hope that’s what it is, so we don’t have any trouble once we leave.
We called the NICU tonight and got a update on Joslyn. She is still continuing to do well. The doctor we really like is going to be there all weekend so we are happy. At 7pm he called to let us know she was getting her umbilical line out, and was upped on her feedings to 17ml of breast milk every 3 hours. She is handling them well, so maybe even tomorrow we can try for the first time breastfeeding! I am very excited because this means I will possibly be holding my daughter for the first time in our lives. She was a week old Thursday, so it’s kind of a big deal! She was 23 on oxygen earlier, but then bumped back up to 29 or so…as of tonight at 12am she was back down to 24. She is not on CPAP anymore, but on something else…I can’t think of what its called, nasal something…either way its better then CPAP, so it’s still good news.
The doctor said she will be in a open crib hopefully by the end of next week, and once we get her feedings down and she is gaining adequate weight we can take her home!! We are guessing we will be home with our baby girl sometime between the 20th and the 31st.
We are so excited, but the time she will be there is making things difficult especially in the area of finances. Zack needs to work, and I need to be in Fargo, we have Kylyn, which we would like to have with us as much as possible. We found out today Zack’s employer does not offer paternity leave, so he has to work things out with his manager. We are hoping this wont become an issue and Zack can get the time off we need. We are hoping to be home again maybe even as soon as Sunday so he can work a couple days putting in 12hr shifts. During this time they will have to bottle feed Joslyn using my stored milk. It’s going to be rough, but I think we can make things work. We know the Lord will provide for us, and has a plan in everything. We are trying to just stay open minded, and allow for some flexibility.
We are at such a deep peace with how things are going. Zack and I have come to understand that worry does no good. It wont make us feel better, it wont make Joslyn better, it wont make things go the way we hope they would…Worry is in fact something we as Christians are not supposed to do. Zack and I have given the situation and everything that comes with it to the Lord, knowing and taking peace that before we were even aware Joslyn existed, the Lord knew all about her, about her life, her future. We know He is in control, and in everything that happens we can only give Him praise.
Thank you for all your prayers! It means so much to Zack and I to have such a army of prayer warriors standing with us. We thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for remembering our family in your thoughts and prayers.
Prayer
This morning before Zack went to work he called the NICU for a quick update. She is off the ventilator, and unto CPAP. Last we heard she was already down to 23, 21 being room air, so that’s really good news! As far as I know she is still getting 10ml of breast milk every 3hrs, and from what I understand will have a chance to start with feedings myself very shortly!!
That’s about all I know as far as an update at this point, but will probably know more tonight. She is doing well! Praise the Lord.
We do have some things to be prayed over though!
Please pray as we are trying to plan and decide how to play out this weekend, and coming week. Zack’s paid vacation is up, and we still have possibly a week or more with our daughter, Joslyn, in Fargo. This situation makes things hard, seeing has he needs to work since bills don’t pay themselves, but desires so badly to be in Fargo with Joslyn. Also since I am breast feeding I need to be there, but have no idea how to navigate Fargo/Moorhead. Besides the fact, Zack and I decided ahead of time that we would stick together as much as possible, instead of splitting up. He is going to try taking paternity leave for the remainder of Joslyn’s time in Fargo, and go back home one more time and put in two 12hr shifts. Still even so things will get financially stressful. So please pray for the Lords providence!
Kylyn is another issue. We want her to be with us as much as possible, but she is not allowed in the NICU since she is under the age of 2 meaning only one of us can go in at a time to see Joslyn, while the other hangs back with Kylyn. We are bringing her back to Fargo with us Friday and she will be coming home Sunday either with my parents or, if Zack decides to work Monday and Tuesday, with us unless that is…we change our minds and want her to stay longer. Ha-ha.
Another problem we have run into is Zack’s car is acting up, which has in turn made things quite difficult. He is getting it looked at today, and we are hoping it isn’t a pricey fix as we only have one working vehicle at the moment, and money is already a issue with Zack taking work off to be down in Fargo this coming week.
We have a peace about it all and know our Lord will provide, so we aren’t worrying ourselves sick over it, but please pray for us as we need to decide when it works best for Zack to work, how it will work with Kylyn, and of course the car.
Thank you!
CaringBridge
>> Thursday, August 12, 2010
Created a website specifically designed for updating family and friends on Joslyns health, and our family.
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/zackandchelsiehanson/journal
Update On Joslyn 12/10
We made it home safe and sound, but not without car issues! Zack’s car has possibly something wrong with a sensor. When we turn it off we can’t turn it on until it decides. Lovely. Anyway, we made it home, and are hoping to get it fixed before we head back Friday.
It’s so nice to be home finally. I only wish Joslyn could have come back with us. This has been the longest time away from Kylyn since she was born, so wow, has this been hard for me. I’m VERY glad to be home with her, and it’s going to be hard sending her home Sunday. I am happy though to have a full day with her here at home and a few days with her down in Fargo.
Zack and I can’t bring her into the NICU so we will be taking turns going to see Joslyn, and entertaining Kylyn. The hospital also offers a free sibling class where a counselor type person will spend some time with her playing and uses dolls, pictures, examples etc to explain to Kylyn what’s going on with her sister at 2yr old level. It should help her understand why she can’t see Joslyn right away. Hopefully it will go well, and that the trip will be helpful to her, and Zack and I. We are really excited!
Joslyn is doing well. She is off the Dopamine completely now. She is now getting some caffeine to stimulate her a bit, earlier today she was still on the vent, but was breathing over it a little. They hoped to wake her up more with the caffeine and lack of sedatives to see if she could breathe without a ventilator and with the use of CPAP.
As of now she is off the vent, the breathing tube is OUT and she is officially on CPAP. They attempted to excavate her at 7pm and she didn’t take well to it, so they left the tube in, but had it out by 10:30pm. They have upped her feedings through the feeding tube to 10ml every 3 hours, and she is taking them well. She is looking more and more comfortable in the isolate.
We are calling the station for updates regularly, as they are calling us. We cant wait to go back, and see her again.
Update on Joslyn 10/10
What to start with. Joslyn is doing REALLY good. She has been completely weaned off of 1 of her 2 blood pressure meds, and down to 3 on the other. Yesterday she was at 18 and 11 on the two meds, and today she’s on 3 and off! Yeah!
She was on 10 Nitric oxide, and tonight she is on 2.4 which is literally almost off. They are hoping to have her off maybe by tonight. If her blood gases come back good, she’ll be off by 12am tonight.
They are weaning her off of her Fentanyl (which is 100x stronger then morphine) as well, and hopefully by Thursday she will be off it completely! It’s an addictive drug, so they can not just turn it off, they have to wean her down.
She is off the BIG ventilator and on to a conventional one. The one she was on before was providing her with 600 breaths per minute; this one is providing her with 40. Because she is still on the Fentanyl and Morphine to keep her from moving around too much and on the lines, and tubes around her, she is allowing the machine to breathe for her. Once she is off the Fentanyl she should begin to breathe over the vent, which will strengthen her lungs.
The doctor today gave us the first slight time line given so far. He said after she’s weaned off of her meds and the nitric oxide, he thinks about a week for respiratory recovery, and then anywhere from a few days to another week to get feedings down etc. That being said, we could have out baby girl home in 2.5wks or less!
She is so beautiful, and such a fighter. She has, so the nurses and doctors say, turned the corner. The only issue, and concern now is her right upper lobe in her right lung. She has some haziness still, which means the air sacs in that area are collapsed. They think its just some mucus that’s still sitting there, so they have her on her left side with her right side up higher hoping that it will help inflate it, and loosen the mucus up. They also have a small machine that place on her right side that vibrates ever so lightly hoping again to loosen up the mucus so it can be suctioned out.
She is being given 5ml of breast milk every 6 hours, and so far so good.
Now I can’t remember when they said, but very soon she should be in a open isolate, and we can touch her, and if all is still well, maybe even hold her. *crossing fingers* maybe.
I think that’s all I can think of to update you all on. She is doing really well, and we are so proud of her.
Tomorrow, (wed) Zack and I are making our way home without our precious baby Joslyn, but we know she is in really good hands at this time, and we know she is doing better, so that makes us feel better about leaving her. We will be going home Wednesday evening, and coming back here Friday with our 2yr old. Zack is going to put in a 12hr shift at work Thursday, I have a doctor’s appointment Friday morning, and we are on our way with one beautiful princess (Kylyn) to go see our other (Joslyn)!!
We are hoping that when we return on Friday that Joslyn will be in her open isolate, and her station will look much more inviting.
Kylyn will be staying with us till Sunday, which is when we have arranged for, if Joslyn is still doing well, our families to come see their new grand daughter for the first time. Kylyn will then get a ride home to sleep back in her own bed.
We are planning on coming home 2 to 3 more times until we can finally put a precious little something in her new car seat (complements of Wayne and Dena, her grand parents) and come home!! It will be so nice for Kylyn to meet her baby sister for the first time. She will not be able to meet her while she is with us in Fargo because of her age. They do not allow siblings under age 3 into the NICU.
Well that’s all I can think of as far as goals, updates, plans, etc. Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers! Keep us lifted up in prayer, as it is pushing us through it all. God has been so good to us today. We had an issue with Zack’s car but I decided to pray for the car as crazy as it might sound, and next time the key was turned the car was started and we were back on the road to go see Joslyn. God is here with us, and helping us, and I am over joyed at all the wonderful comments of encouragement left in the guestbook. We love hearing from you, and love seeing all the support we have back home. May God bless you all as you have blessed us.
Zack and Chelsie
Possibly Some Improvement!
Yesterday Joslyn was considered in serious critical condition, but today is in serious but stable condition. She has had some more chest x-rays and her lungs were still hazy which means there was fluid of some sort in her lungs still. We are still unsure if she has an infection; we are waiting on results of tests for it, but won’t have results for a little while yet. There is no proof of infection, but there are signs she could have one, such as as an elevated heart beat. Because of this and a few other signs they are treating her as if she has one, until they get the results back.
At 6pm we were with her while she had her 3rd out of 4 x-rays for the day. Her chest x-ray came back MUCH clearer then the other 2 earlier today. (So good to see and hear) We are hoping and praying she stays stable, and makes a turn around tonight!
Right now Joslyn is doing well. She is still on a level of 63 Oxygen support, and needs to get to a level of 21 to be considered on room air. She is off her paralysis medication today, which is good, but to control pain, and her lack of willingness to let the machines work for her she is still sedated. It is hard to see her in this state but we know it’s for the best. She is a fighter and is fighting the machines that are trying to help her, which is only wearing her out, making it hard for her lungs to heal, and develop how they need to.
Joslyn is on Antibiotics to fight off any infections that might be present in her tiny body, Morphine and Fentanyl for pain control, Steroids for her lungs, Dopamine for her blood pressure, Lorazepam and Vecuronium are being used as a sedative to help her relax her muscles and rest up letting the machines work more effectively, Nitric Oxide to help open the sacks in her lungs so she can better absorb oxygen into the blood, which in turn decreases high blood pressure in the lungs, Sufactant to coat the air sacs in her lungs with a fatty substance to keep them from collapsing, She still has a Umbilical Catheter which is being used to draw blood for labs, this method is painless and easy compared to sticking her several times a day for tests, a PICC (Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter) which runs into her hand, up her arm and sits next to her heart, and maybe a few other medications to help her out. Her heart beat is good, her blood pressure is right where they want it to be right now. She is of course at this point unable to retain these results on her own and still needs the support. They dropped her dose of Blood pressure meds today a tiny bit and she kept stable. We are very excited, and praying that this is her turn around point.
The nurse today who was with us, and walking us through things was very helpful in explaining things, and was very reassuring. Gave us some hope that we might get to take this precious baby girl home with us! They need to wean her off of some meds, and take the Umbilical line out before we can hold her, and work on feedings. That could take (depending on her cooperation) anywhere from a few days to a week or more. The Nitric Oxide they need to wean off very slowly since it is addictive, and is not ok to cut cold turkey.
She is doing better today yes, but we still are asking for all the prayers you can bring yourself to give! God has a plan in the situation and we have peace in knowing the Lord has our little Joslyn in his hands, and has had a plan for her life since before we knew she was made. We hold our heads up high, and we know God is in control. Yes Zack and I are human and we hurt for our baby girl, but we have Peace in the Lord which is something felt like no one can describe with words.
Please pray for our family financially as well, this defiantly wasn’t planned! We are looking at our daughter being here for much longer then originally thought, but are willing to work things out between ourselves for Zack and I to stay here with her in Fargo as much and as long as she needs to be till she is well enough to come home with us!
Zack has work to go back to; we have our other beautiful baby girl at home being cared for by her two aunties and occasionally her grandparents. We have a life we want to bring our new baby girl back to! She has a big sister that wants to meet her, a mommy and daddy and family that want to hold her! We are thankful to have an op to meet with a social worker tomorrow in regards to the Ronald McDonald house across the street, and to have gotten an offer from a relative of Zack’s, and a high school friend of mine for her and her husband to open up their home to us if we need. God is so good to us, and is showing us that all we need to do is rely on him to bring us through.
Thank you for all your support and your prayers,
Zack and Chelsie Hanson Read more...
Earlier Then Expected
8/02/10 I had my last doctors appointment before my c-section date of 8/09/10. Everything looked well.
That evening I began haveing some contractions, which were painless, and inconsistent. I took them as Braxton Hicks contractions, and thought nothing more of them. Tuesday, I continued to have contractions, again painless and inconsistent in time, but were constant throughout the day and night. Wednesday, I began to become a bit worried by some noticeable changes in her movement. I continued with constant, but inconsistently timed contractions ranging anywhere from 20minutes apart to as little as 2. They were completely painless, but every so often where uncomfortable.
Thursday morning I woke up a little after 6, and was instantly concerned about the lack of movement from my baby girl. After eating some food drinking water and walking around, all in hopes of getting her to move, I decided to call Zack. I called him and informed him of my concerns, and asked him to come get me. . . I called L&D and started packing and getting ready. We checked in and got set up on monitors in no time. My doctor left Wednesday and wasnt due back until Sunday, so I was working with the on call doctor Dr. Bass, who was wonderful.
I was 3cm and regularly contracting. I was officially in labor. Soon enough I got my spinal and we were doing the C-section.
Josyln was born at 6:43pm weighing 6lbs 13oz and was 18 1/3 inches long. She scored a 5 on her first APGAR and then 7 and 7 later. She struggled with her breathing. She was looking more like 36wks rather then 38wks and some days. She was slightly premature, and her lungs were slightly under developed.
I went to the recovery room, not knowing all the issues with Joslyn. When I was out and back in my room I learned she was still struggling with her breathing, and soon enough they had called GF. They came in because they had a NICU, where as Their River dose not.
Joslyn left us in Thief River to go get the necessary help she needed from the Neonatal care unit in Grand Forks, while Zack stayed with me in Thief River until I was discharged. We were kept up to date on our baby girls situation by phone calls from the NICU team working with Joslyn in Grand Forks. Friday, Zack went to GF to visit, but due to her being so touch and go they did not allow him to touch her, or speak.
Sometime after 11pm GF called us at the hospital in TR to let us know she went from CPAP to the ventilator. She was still digressing. an oxygen level of 21 is considered room air. She was bumped up to 40.
Saturday I got discharged, and we ran home to unpack, give our daughter Kylyn who is 2 1/2 yrs some attention and love, update our families on the issues at hand, re-pack and get on our way. While at home Dr. Lund called and let us know he thought it would be in Joslyns best interest to move her to Fargo. She needed a ventilator capable of providing her tiny body with 600 breaths per minute. He called back within a half hour and let us know she would be going to Fargo, and for us to just meet her there.
When we got there I had only seen her about less then 10min before hand, and Zack maybe a total of 25-30min. I was slightly taken back by her condition.
She is on nitric oxide/oxygen and is on a ventilator breathing about 500 time a minute for her. She is on a sedative, and morphine to make sure she is comfortable. They gave her a blood transfusion and PIC line tonight. Since she was still trying to fight and work so they also had to give her some medication that has paralyzed her temporarily. This is for the purpose of letting her rest, and let her body recover and let the machines do the work for her.
Please pray for our baby girl. At first it seemed to be a problem easily handled, but has turned into a long journey of issues. We were told she could be home within a few days, but from the sounds of things now it could be a few weeks. This causes some issues with Zack and work, our daughter being away from us...etc. Please be praying for Joslyns quick, easy and beautiful full recovery. We are only allowed to hold her hand, we cannot talk much, hold her, and I cannot breastfeed her. I am pumping but she isnt to the point of being able to even work on feedings.
Joslyn is at the moment on a ventilator getting oxygen and nitric oxide, she has a catheter, a PIC line, a line in her belly button used to take blood samples, etc...She is very sick, and is in so much need of prayer and a healing touch from the Lord.
Please be praying for our little girl.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
