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Saturday, January 7, 2012

Family is getting bigger

I thought this is a good time to start this blog as the family is getting bigger. Eddie and Chrissy spent New Year's in the hospital because there is a new family member on the way. Eddie emailed me about what is going on so I thought I would put the emails up on my blog.

Looking forward to meeting Allison but she does NOT get to share my catnip!

oh yah...the emails he had sent me (ok so they were not just to me but I did get to see them)...


Hello all,

Happy New Year!  We wanted to send out an email to everyone for an update - we are sure to be missing emails, so please feel free to forward this on. Most if not all of you know Chrissy is pregnant, due at the end of March. Some may have heard some news recently about this and might not have had all the details so we thought this was the easiest way to fill you in.

Our doctor has been monitoring the pregnancy on a regular schedule, however they were recently worried the baby was not growing as much as she should so they wanted us to come in every 2 weeks for ultrasounds. We went in for one of these last Wednesday Dec 28th in the morning. Since I had recently had surgery on my Achilles Tendon, I am not mobile and Chrissy has been helping get me set up each day to work from home. This day she drove me to the Dr appt and I had a friend picking me up so she could go to work.

Well after the tech finished with the ultrasound the Dr came in to talk with us. She said after 2 weeks (since the last ultrasound) she wanted to see more growth than what she saw so she might want to see us every week for an ultrasound to really monitor her growth. Then the Dr got on the ultrasound herself and things took a turn for the worse. During the first set, Allison (that's our baby girl's name) was not awake and moving so what they saw was not a concern. However when the Dr was doing it, she was up and moving and the ultrasound showed decreased activity in blood and fluids from the placenta to the baby. Our Dr changed her mind on seeing us every week and wanted to admit Chrissy directly to the hospital.

This is where the whirlwind began. She said there is a possibility we would have to deliver the baby in the next 24-48 hours. We were both thinking at this point, "Chrissy is only at 27 weeks. This is not good!" They got us checked in and started some checks and treatments. First they got a heart monitor on both Chrissy and Allison. Then they got Chrissy on an IV Drip as well as a Magnesium drip. The Magnesium helped to lower Chrissy's blood pressure and has benefits for a preemie in development of certain body parts and helps decrease chances for problems at birth. They also started her on her first shot of steroids, also to help with preemie lung development in case she would be delivered earlier than full term.

With the Magnesium, they needed to monitor Chrissy hourly, so they were checking blood pressure, urine output, drawing blood every so often, etc. She was showing signs of high blood pressure (Go figure huh?) but this was all due to a diagnosed case of preclampsia. At this point they told us Chrissy would be hospitalized until the birth of the baby no matter when it happened. I called in to work and said I would not be there the next couple days, so I have through the holiday weekend to stay with her. We went through most of the day not learning much more and not really knowing what was going on or what would happen next. 

Finally toward the end of the night I was able to talk with the Dr on a phone call, because she was in surgery all day. This is what we found out. Allison is not growing because she is not getting what she needs from the placenta. They do not know if this is because of the placenta, the umbilical cord or something else. Whatever it is, this is why she was undersized this whole time. Right now she is below the 10th percentile for a 27 week gestation. The problem is, we cannot duplicate the sustenance outside the womb that she gets inside. However when she is not getting the full resources, like she is missing now, we are walking a fine line to decide if she will be better off staying in or coming out. That is why we were a bit in the dark the first day. They wanted to monitor and see how distressed she might be.

We got through the first two days with the magnesium drip and a second steroid shot, while they were monitoring Chrissy hourly (it made for a difficult night sleeping for both of us). The Dr at first thought it was possible we would have to deliver Allison within the next couple days, or the next week at best. However after the first three days of being in the hospital here at Evergreen under their care, they now believe we will be able to extend her time in the womb to 30+ weeks, maybe even full term. This is all good news.

So here is where we are now. Chrissy is checked into Evergreen Hospital for an extended stay. She is allowed to work, even encouraged to do so from the hospital bed, so that is what she will be doing. They are monitoring the pregnancy from here and things can change but the latest prognosis is we can extend this for a few more weeks, maybe more, and really reduce the risk of problems. I am staying with Chrissy here through the weekend and then will be going back home on Monday  where I am working while recuperating from my surgery. Unfortunately I have been relying on Chrissy as I am trying to get around in a knee scooter and crutches. Now I will be relying on close family and friends.

Allison has been showing her childish side by playing hide and seek with the nurses while they are trying to find her for her heart monitor but things are looking good - she is very active and has a strong heartbeat, which the Drs like to see.  Chrissy is doing fine and is being made very comfortable here at the hospital. Staff and doctors are great. I hope this fills in everyone with whats going on. We will take any prayers and well wishes you have for us. And if you wanted to come visit, please contact us first -eddieolord@gmail.com and/or chrissy@sayrelawoffices.com.  With all the tests and monitoring they are doing and Chrissy working from her hospital bed, there is limited times for people to come.

We will keep all of you updated as things progress.

Thanks again.

With love,

Eddie, Chrissy, and (coming soon) Allison

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