Tuesday, April 9, 2013

NICU

Look at my cute nose and lip!  My cheeks look like they'll be good for squeezing, too.
Today, I'm 30 weeks 6 days. 

We were back at the University of Minnesota today for an ultrasound and a meeting with the director of NICU as well as a tour of the NICU.

At our ultrasound, the nurse told us that we had a new doctor and it was his first day at the clinic.  I'm not sure what our faces looked like, but they must have had a "Seriously?!" expression because she quickly added that it wasn't his first day as a maternal-fetal medicine doctor, but that he had just joined the practice.  Baby Zins was in a weird position today where the left side of her body was facing my spine so they couldn't get a very good view that wasn't shadowed.  He didn't share any measurements with us, but everything regarding the baby not being distressed was fine.  They did growth measurements again today and she's now 3 pounds 6 ounces.  She's gaining almost a pound every three weeks.  The doctor also said we could probably move our appointments further apart, but we decided to keep our appointment in Maple Grove next week with the doctors we're familiar with and see if they think the same thing.  (We know he is more than qualified, but we're hesitant as we're not familiar with him.)

We also met with the director of the NICU ( a neonatologist) and discussed possible things that could happen after birth.  All that we know for sure is that she'll be evaluated and monitored in the NICU shortly after birth.  They'll keep close tabs on her breathing, oxygen levels, etc.  Dr. George gave us the spectrum of possibilities we could be facing at birth.

The best case scenario would be that she's able to breath on her own when born and her oxygen levels are good.  They would still monitor in the NICU for at least 24 hours, but if she was still doing fine she would move back to the nursery for healthy babies.  She would come home with us when they discharged me.

A more likely scenario is that she'll be able to breath on her own, but might need some assistance to reach adequate levels of oxygen or to help slow her breathing down to a normal rate.  Then, they would work to get her breathing on her own.  He estimated that with a scenario like this she'd be in the hospital for 1 - 3 weeks.  While they don't have rooms to board in with the babies, they do have places to stay in the hospital so we can stay nearby.

The worst scenario would be that she has major problems breathing on her own and needs ECMO to support her. ECMO is similar to a heart and lung machine, but for infants.  Basically, it takes over the function of the lungs. If she was having major problems she would need surgery, too.  This would extend the hospital stay.

The main goals when we're in the NICU will be to get her to breath on her own and to feed well.  Once we can do both of those things, we'll get to go home.

There is no way for the doctors to predict how her lungs will react when she's born so we just have to be ready for any scenario and hope and pray for the best.  I think we're all feeling good that the worst case scenario has a low possibility of happening if we carry to term.  

People often comment that we have such positive attitudes about all of this.  I think we owe a lot of that to all of you.  You're positive thoughts and comments have helped us keep our heads above water.  Thank you for helping us through this difficult time.

Until next week,

Scott & Sarah

2 comments:

  1. Fabulous news I think! You are heading toward the home stretch and the news is getting more possitive. I am so sorry you both had to go through all of this, but if you get a healthy, beautiful baby girl in the end, it will be well worth it and you will be stronger people for it. At least that is what they all tell me anyway; it sounds good doesn't it?!

    We arrive home a week from Friday, too early in my opinion, but home we will be. See you then. Love,
    Denna and Terry

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  2. ♥ she looks beautiful! Can't wait to meet her:) (and spoil her)

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