September 13, 2012

Final Check-Ups at Mott's

Our last trip to Michigan, Sept 13th, and our nerves are high!  Will they decide to keep me and monitor Isabelle or deliver her? If we deliver now, will her lungs be mature enough? Will we be sent back home? Is her heart rate and rhythm ok? Did I pack the right clothes for us all in case we have to stay? Did I pack what I needed and wanted for Izzy too? What's going to happen?
These are just a FEW of the tons of questions running through my mind along with the ton running through my husbands mind I am sure! 

Kisses for Isabelle

My mother-in-law, Margaret, took the trip with us this time.  She got to see this massive hospital for herself.  She was very impressed how each department we went to all treated us with great respect and patience.  We NEVER felt rushed...  WE were their only concern the whole time we were there.  She KNEW we had chosen the right place for our Isabelle!
Chloe was glad to have a companion in the back seat with her too, it can be a very long 4 1/2 hour car ride for a one year old! 

Our day started out with meeting the high risk OB doctors with my routine health check up.  Then off to have our fetal diagnostic/ultrasound done.  Izzy is growing quite well... this time she measured at about 5 lbs and some ounces (I can't remember exactly).  I was shocked to hear that she was actually 5 pounds! At 35 weeks she's nearly as big as Chloe was when I had her (and she was a day late!)  Isabelle must have known she was needing to "bulk up" for her big debut... she knew something we didn't evidently! This ultrasound caught me off guard, the tears began to flow like a water fountain.  I think all the various emotions were just weighing on me and I couldn't hold it in any longer.  Once again, the ultrasound tech was very kind, consoling and compassionate with me. Everything was looking good on the ultrasound and so it was off to the last appointment of the day to have the echocardiogram done of Izzy's heart. THIS is where we would more than likely be told if they are or are not keeping me.  (GULP)

Mark, I believe was the name of the echocardiogram technician ~ he had been with us for each appointment and he was a kind & familiar face to see.  These echo's take about an hour, so after a while Margaret took Chloe out for a walk and entertain her, poor girl was tired and probably sick of watching Bubble Guppies at this point! The other person who helped us out a lot was also there, Alicia Valentini, RN, MS, CPNP.  She was always calming and would answer any questions we had or would find the answer to any question if she didn't know herself.  She knew of our anxiety about wondering if we were going to have to stay or not.  Once Mike was done with his scan he would leave to inform the doctor and given them his results.  Alicia came back in before the doctor and wanted to ease our minds.  She said she believed upon what she heard that things looked good!! Dr. Van der Velde came in to perform her own scan and then told us that same thing.  "Things look good" ~ well good for Izzy's heart that is.  It appeared like her heart rate was decent and that the rhythm was looking a little better on this day than it had even during our last echo in Evansville.  But there's still signs of the rhythm being irregular, but there were no indications that I would need to stay to be monitored there or to have Izzy delivered early.  We, "...should be good to go home..." was a welcome but also scary relief. Welcome in the sense that I knew my baby could grow a little more and get stronger inside me before she had to face everything coming her way; but scary because we were afraid we would make the trip back home, continue on with our routine weekly echos and BPP studies just to be told her heart rhythm was worse and we needed to go back before our actual due date of Oct. 11th, which is only 4 weeks away.  We also did not want to have to deliver in Evansville.  This is just one of the reasons we picked Mott's ~ knowing Isabelle and I would only be separated by a couple of floors ~ not by blocks or miles. If anything happened, I would only be an elevator ride away.

We also got to meet with Barb Shaltis, the social worker we'd been talking with on the phone for the last few months.  She also played a huge roll in our lives during our trips to Michigan, helping us coordinate our overnight stays and helping us prepare for our long stay after Isabelle was born.  We got to talk with her about concerns we had or other questions we had regarding our stay and any family that was planning to stay to help us out.  We made plans to be put on the list to stay at the Ronald McDonald house. I asked her to help me have it set up so that when I had Isabelle, that we could have her baptized as soon as possible.  I explained I wanted it done before any surgery were to be preformed on her and later that day, I received a voicemail from one of the pastoral care coordinators! 

Getting the news we would be good to go home and that they would see me in 4 weeks settled the nerves just a little.  I called my mom as soon as I could get a signal on my cell phone to tell her the news.  She sighed in huge relief and then I heard her cry.  The tears were from so much anticipation and waiting for me to call ... to hear and learn what was going to happen.  I told her to call everyone else in the family to spread the news.

 This is one tuckered out tot! 

Adam & I

It is funny now, not so much at the time, but a funny thing happened to us on the way home.  We stopped at a McDonalds in Fort Wayne, IN to take a potty break, change a diaper,  and get something to drink for the rest of the ride home.  We all loaded back into the car and the key wouldn't turn in the ignition barrel.  Now, we had troubles with this in the past and eventually just left the spare key in the ignition without turning it all the way back to where the key would come out.  It seemed to work just fine.  Once in a while out of habit, we'd turn the key all the way back and take it out... then have to jiggle the key to get it to turn in the ignition.  It was one of those, we'll get around to fixing it ... soon.  Well that "soon" came sooner than we thought.  Out of habit, the key was taken out and we were stranded.  NOW.. of all times! You've got to be kidding me... WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO NOW? After a LOT of debate, phone calls, people trying to help... we found we had no choice but for us to all get a hotel room for the night.  We would get the car towed to the nearest car dealership that night and hope they could get the car in ASAP the next morning so that we could be on our way home again.  Adam had to get back to work on Saturday, we HAD to get the car fixed!  That's what happened ... the dealership got our car in as fast at they could and replaced the ignition barrel.  Adam and I had to laugh when we got in the car, we were all excited about a shiny new ignition barrel... and then when we stopped to get out of the car we were afraid to take the key out!  We even took turns turning the key, feeling how smooth it turned... no more jiggling the key! HA HA HA HA!!! 

What an adventure... chalk it up to all the other ones! 
Back on the road again....