Lillian Grace Rowe
Tuesday July 7th 2009
6:55pm
5 pounds 3 ounces
18 inches
6:55pm
5 pounds 3 ounces
18 inches
Lilly made a surprise appearance this week.
I went in for my regular appointment on Tues. and requested an ultrasound to check her position. Eli had been breech, and I was worried Lilly was transverse, this turned out to be the least of our concerns. She was head down, but the amniotic fluid was very low. I was sent directly to the hospital and was told not to stop anywhere on the way. Ben was rushing back from Scout Camp, and Adrianna actually made it to the hospital a few minutes before him.
They couldn't enduce me because I had a c-section with Eli, so they did another c-section within the hour. We were expecting her to go the NICU because she was only 34 weeks 5 days. They had prepared us for the normal premie issues and we expected a few days in the NICU.
When they delivered her they discovered she had a birth defect called gastroschisis. She had a very small hole in her abdominal wall, and part of her intestines were outside of her stomach. She was rushed away and immediately, sedated and put on a ventalator. She had come out screaming and was able to breathe on her own, but the doctors didn't want her to get air into her stomach, and inflate her intestines. They were able to put her intestines back into her stomach right away, but the blood supply had been pinched off to a portion of bowel and a small section had to be removed.
They have left the hole open and we were expecting to have another surgery sometime next week. Over the last few days she has been pooping, which was very unexpected. They are now "hopefully optimistic" that there isn't a disconnect and will do some studies on Monday or Tuesday to confirm this. She was weaned off of the morphine and came off of the ventalator yesterday, and we were able to hold her for the first time. Every day she improves a little bit, and it seems like there is one less tube coming out of her.
We'll see what the next week brings, but things are looking up. Even if there isn't a disconnect in her bowels, it will still be a long road to recovery. Babies with gastroschisis often have a hard time eating, and she won't be able to come home until she can eat enough to grow. They initially said she may be there up to 6 weeks, but this is just an estimate and a lot will depend on her and how quickly she recovers.
We are very thankful for all of your prayers and service during this difficult time for our family. We'll try to keep the blog updated with her progress.
I went in for my regular appointment on Tues. and requested an ultrasound to check her position. Eli had been breech, and I was worried Lilly was transverse, this turned out to be the least of our concerns. She was head down, but the amniotic fluid was very low. I was sent directly to the hospital and was told not to stop anywhere on the way. Ben was rushing back from Scout Camp, and Adrianna actually made it to the hospital a few minutes before him.
They couldn't enduce me because I had a c-section with Eli, so they did another c-section within the hour. We were expecting her to go the NICU because she was only 34 weeks 5 days. They had prepared us for the normal premie issues and we expected a few days in the NICU.
When they delivered her they discovered she had a birth defect called gastroschisis. She had a very small hole in her abdominal wall, and part of her intestines were outside of her stomach. She was rushed away and immediately, sedated and put on a ventalator. She had come out screaming and was able to breathe on her own, but the doctors didn't want her to get air into her stomach, and inflate her intestines. They were able to put her intestines back into her stomach right away, but the blood supply had been pinched off to a portion of bowel and a small section had to be removed.
They have left the hole open and we were expecting to have another surgery sometime next week. Over the last few days she has been pooping, which was very unexpected. They are now "hopefully optimistic" that there isn't a disconnect and will do some studies on Monday or Tuesday to confirm this. She was weaned off of the morphine and came off of the ventalator yesterday, and we were able to hold her for the first time. Every day she improves a little bit, and it seems like there is one less tube coming out of her.
We'll see what the next week brings, but things are looking up. Even if there isn't a disconnect in her bowels, it will still be a long road to recovery. Babies with gastroschisis often have a hard time eating, and she won't be able to come home until she can eat enough to grow. They initially said she may be there up to 6 weeks, but this is just an estimate and a lot will depend on her and how quickly she recovers.
We are very thankful for all of your prayers and service during this difficult time for our family. We'll try to keep the blog updated with her progress.
10 comments:
Michelle, I'm so sorry to hear about Lillian, but it sounds like things are going to be ok. We will keep her and your family in our prayers. I'm really excited that you guys are back in the ward. If you ever want to drop Eli off we'd be more than happy to watch him. Saree and Eli would have a lot of fun together.
What news! Your family will be in my thoughts and prayers!
Michelle, you are so strong and amazing! I've known it all along of course, but I've been so very impressed with you the last few days.
And I can't believe you already found time to blog this!
Congrats again! She is beautiful!! I am so glad she is making improvements. I'm happy to help in any way!
Congratulations on your sweet new baby Lilly. I had no idea you had already given birth. I'm so sorry to hear of the difficulties she is going through. We will remember you all in our prayers. Rumor has it you guys are back in our ward. I am THRILLED! YEA!!!!!!!!!
What a beautiful little girl!You're all in our prayers!
Astounding! Congratulations on your new little daughter. We are pulling for a quick recovery for both of you. Please let us know how we can help with your move. You've got a lot going on!
Welcome back to the ward.
Lillian is just beautiful and so precious. Congratulations and you are definitely in our thoughts and prayers.
You guys will definitely be in our prayers. She is very beautiful. Congrats on your new baby girl.
You are in our thoughts and prayers. Thankfully medical technology today is amazing and we wish Lilly the same kind of strength she's exhibited thus far towards recovery. We want to help any way we can. We will be out of town Fri. thru Mon. but we will check on your progress when we get back. If it isn't on the blog I will find out from Jamie.
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