Home Again!

Baby Rebecca had to have two blood transfusions which held up the discharge process but now Rebecca is home! She was discharged at 5 pm today. She is in a little pain but otherwise we think she is happy to be home. It's amazing that she was in a 4 hour surgery yesterday and was able to come home today.

New Information

Rebecca has been home for almost a full 2 months and she continues to get better. Rebecca is feeding well and gaining weight, very slowly but, gaining. On 12/19, we learned that Rebecca was going to have two heart issues addressed. 1). The arch area that was repaired has some narrowing (it could be built up scar tissue from her heart surgery) and has restricted blood flow. 2). Baby Rebecca was born with a bicuspid aortic valve, (another area where there is restricted blood flow).
Today, Rebecca went in for a cardiac catheterization. This was a 4 hour procedure. It was not expected to take this long but it did.
All went well. The doctors said that Baby Rebecca will eventually have to have the Aortic Valve replaced but, we will face that when the time comes. In the meantime, we have crossed another emotional bridge. Thank you God! Rebecca was resting well before Dennis and I left to get something to eat. Doctors were getting ready to do a blood transfusion due to Rebecca's low hemoglobin count. The transfusion is something that will only help her. We hope to have her home by the end of the weekend.
Please continue to keep Baby Rebecca in your thoughts and prayers.

New Surroundings

Baby Rebecca is doing well. We have had a scare or two, ready to walk out the door headed to the ER room however, things seemed to take a turn for the better. We have not used the G-tube very often because we are determined to get it out as soon as possible. Tomorrow we will find out how Rebecca is measuring up on the weight scale and where she needs to be. It's a lot of pressure! Now that Rebecca's heart is okay we can deal.

One of my OBGYN doctors saw Baby Rebecca last week and all she could do is cry. She called her, "The Miracle Baby." It's still a continued journey of taking one day at a time. She is precious and I am still in awe of her presence.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Rebecca is home! Baby Rebecca came home on Monday, November 24th at 6pm.
She is doing great and we are so thankful she's here.
Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

still on a roller coaster

We all woke up so excited because the nurse yesterday said she heard they were discharging Rebecca on Sunday!! Joy changed into several different outfits trying to decide which was appropriate to show her baby sister. Carson claimed his territory of being the one to sit next to baby Rebecca on the car ride home. I was trying not to get my hopes up. Dennis was determined that she was coming home today no matter what. Well, baby Rebecca did not get to come home today. Her lab work came back with a CRP count that was much too high to release her. The CRP count indicates that there is either inflammation in the body (which could be from the surgery) or that she is fighting an infection. Also, her hemoglobin count is low and she may need a blood transfusion. Hopefully, new labs in the morning will be better. One of these days she will come home....

Another Challenge

After many attempts to bottle feed Rebecca we finally decided to go with the G-Tube. Rebecca would always start out with the bottle but, she would poop out toward the end because she just did not have the stamina to finish. I have learned that being in the NICU can be a great thing because it's filled with little angels 24 hrs a day to make sure you baby is okay. It's especially great when your baby has cardiac issues. It's not so great being in the NICU when your baby is being examined under a microscope with feeding issues like finishing every cc of milk. Once I started to consider drinking out of her bottle for just 3 more cc's I knew what we had to do. Rebecca could potentially be in the hospital for another 2-3 more months if we were to wait for her to finish 8 bottles of 50 cc's each time! At this point, which is worse, a G-Tube and being able to come home a lot sooner or be in a hospital with no real world stimulation? We decided to go with the G-Tube. Once we were told about all the potential risks of another surgery and possible complications our heads were spinning. Dennis and I were praying that we were making the right decision for our daughter.

Baby Rebecca did it again! She went in surgery today at 4:20 to have the G-Tube inserted and was out by 4:45. The doctor came out with two thumbs up and said she was great! She was still sedated when we left the hospital but comfortable. I would imagine she will have some discomfort for 24 hrs. We expect to have Baby Rebecca home sometime next week! Just in time for Thanksgiving. We definitely have a lot to be thankful for. :)

One Day At A Time

Rebecca is doing well. She is now 7 lbs!! She looks like a giant in the NICU. Feeding is still the issue but progressing like a turtle.
I had a meeting with the doctors to see WHEN can she come home. The answer again, when she takes all feeds by bottle. She starts out all the feeds by bottle but, she does not finish all of them by bottle. I am finally conceding to the idea of a possible G-tube or Peg to be put in her belly so that she can come home. I should find out more this afternoon or tomorrow morning.
Keep praying for our baby! I forgot how newborns purr like a kitten. She's so cute!