Hi all,
It's early Friday morning, and we're still in the hospital waiting for Vivian's lungs to develop enough for us to take her home. She's been in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) since birth Tues, so we're anxious to hold her. They’re still giving her O2, but she tolerated her first tiny bit of food today and we’re optimistic we’ll get to bring her home soon.
Thanks for your terrific posts this past week. They've been thoughtful and at times provocative. A few things come to mind that might be helpful as I blog from the hospital:
1. Cut and paste from Word. I’ve lost so many responses getting kicked offline here in the hospital I could pull my hair out. Fortunately, it’s a nice distraction from the NICU.
2. The offer still stands if someone figures out how to create links in the comments section. I think Whitney in M/W figured it out, but I’ll give a week without the responsibility of posting to the first person willing to post the directions on their blog. (Whitney, you still get the free week.)
3. A couple of things you can do to get ahead—read Conley’s ch. 5 and post and sign up for a Twitter account using “411” somewhere in your username (you don’t have to use real names if you’d like to get creative). We’ll be doing both things this upcoming week.
John
Congratulations, Vivian is beautiful! Your family will be in my prayers through this wonderful life transition.
ReplyDeleteThx Amanda
ReplyDeleteHi Dr. Bishop,
ReplyDeleteYour baby is beautiful! I went through the same thing that your family is going through now four years ago. I had my son early. I was 7 months pregnant. He weighed 5 lbs. 14 ounces. I was at work at the hospital when I went into labor. Actually, I did not know that I was in labor. I did not hurt. I just felt lazy like I wanted to go home. So, I went to pediatrics to be monitored. As soon as they put me on the monitor, they discovered that I was fully dilated and in labor! I was asleep when they ran in the room and said that they were going to have to stop my labor pains because it was too early to have my son. He was trying to come feet first, so they were really worried that he would not wait until he turned the right way. I laid in the hospital for 8 days until they decided to let me go home. Before they let me go home, they wanted to monitor me again. Well, I was in labor again, and they could not stop him from coming this time! This time, I was on the phone when they came rushing in. He was still trying to come feet first, so they had to do a c-section on me. They were still really worried because they felt it was too early for his lungs to be developed. So, when they took him, they immediately rushed him to NICU and put him on the ventilator. He was crying, so I felt like everything was ok until they did that. He stayed on the ventilator for two days, and I did not sleep for those two days. As soon as they took him off, I immediately got sleepy and could not hold my baby for ten minutes. I had to go to sleep! He stayed 8 more days in the NICU and well baby center before I got to take my baby home. Except for asthma, he is a healthy, smart little boy who is the joy of my life. So, I believe that everything will go just that well for Vivian. She will be a fine, healthy little girl. She is beautiful!
Aydra,
ReplyDeleteThanks for that email. It's uplifting to hear that others have experienced similar setbacks and everything turned out just fine. I feel a little selfish now that I think about it, there are several in the NICU that have been there for a lot longer than us and have more complicated issues. We get a bit self-absorbed when it comes down to it--the experience of having a child is overwhelming, and humbling. Thanks for your words of encouragement, they mean a lot to me. John