We have had a busy couple of days. I was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday and am feeling much better. On Tuesday night we had a couple of setbacks that made for a terrible night's sleep. One of Bennett's lungs collapsed. He had to have a rod placed in his lung, a chest tube put in, and started back on the respirator. They had tried a different breathing machine, but he did not take to it.
They were able to remove the rod, chest tube, and respirator yesterday. He did much better this time around and is now breathing with the help of an oxygen cannula. He also got to start eating on Thanksgiving which is very appropriate. He cannot coordinate his sucking and swallowing yet (should happen around 35-36 weeks), so he has a tube that goes into his stomach. The are feeding him 6 ounces of breast milk every three hours. This is more than they started with, so that is good news. He threw up a little today which is normal as his stomach adjusts to having something in it. I spend a lot of time pumping and pumping and pumping. But it feels good to be able to contribute something meaningful to his care.
We get to touch him and help with his care (change his diaper and take his temp) every three hours. So far, we have decided to commute back and forth on a daily basis to see him. It takes about 50 minutes each way, which isn't too bad. There are babies there who don't see their parents for weeks because they live and work out of state.
There are new pictures on Flickr. I posted a link on the left side of the page.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Bennett Owen Meier
Born 11:34am this morning. He weighted 3lbs 3.7oz and is 16 1/4 inches long.
We've got pictures of him here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32136286@N04/
We've got pictures of him here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32136286@N04/
Baby today
They induced Amanda last night and things went quicker than expected. They broke her water at 6:30am. So we expect the baby will come today.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Here he comes!!!!
Here is how we got here...
Amanda has started having on and off pains in the upper part of her stomach area. Starting Friday evening the pain become consist. Then on Saturday the pain continually worsened and she went to the hospital 10pm last night. I was able to meet up with her shortly after she checked in cause of work. Doctors couldn't figure out what was going on. She felt a little better last night and this morning after pumping her with drugs, but she was still in lots of pain once the pain killers started to wear off. At noon today, they still didn't what was happening so they increased the medications and gave her stronger pain killers, plus a steroid shot in case she had to deliver. She felt a million times better after that. Just after she took a shower the doctor came in and gave and said that they have to move her to place where they can help her.
Her blood work was showing that she had H.E.L.L.P. Syndrome, which affects the liver. The only way for this to get better is to give birth. By waiting days, would increase the risk to mom and the baby. So Amanda got a helicopter ride from Longmont to St. Lukes Hospital in Denver. The hospital here specializes in premature births. We are waiting for her latest lab result and if it continues to show Amanda worsening they will induce labor this evening yet.
Baby has about a 96% chance of being normal and will have to stay in the hospital here 6-8 weeks.
I'll post more when we know more.
Amanda has started having on and off pains in the upper part of her stomach area. Starting Friday evening the pain become consist. Then on Saturday the pain continually worsened and she went to the hospital 10pm last night. I was able to meet up with her shortly after she checked in cause of work. Doctors couldn't figure out what was going on. She felt a little better last night and this morning after pumping her with drugs, but she was still in lots of pain once the pain killers started to wear off. At noon today, they still didn't what was happening so they increased the medications and gave her stronger pain killers, plus a steroid shot in case she had to deliver. She felt a million times better after that. Just after she took a shower the doctor came in and gave and said that they have to move her to place where they can help her.
Her blood work was showing that she had H.E.L.L.P. Syndrome, which affects the liver. The only way for this to get better is to give birth. By waiting days, would increase the risk to mom and the baby. So Amanda got a helicopter ride from Longmont to St. Lukes Hospital in Denver. The hospital here specializes in premature births. We are waiting for her latest lab result and if it continues to show Amanda worsening they will induce labor this evening yet.
Baby has about a 96% chance of being normal and will have to stay in the hospital here 6-8 weeks.
I'll post more when we know more.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
I'm slow...
about getting around to updating this. October was a busy month for us.
Bernie went hunting in North Dakota for a few days and managed to keep the dog in one piece for once. Now I have plenty of frozen pheasant if any of you are interested in taking any off of my hands. He drove to Minneapolis after hunting and I met him there for a friend's wedding. It was a good time, but I am a bit burned out on weddings for the moment. Especially when I just get to watch everyone get drunk. We didn't do too much in our two days there, but I did see the Mall of America. It was frightening but good exercise! I also went into an IKEA for the first time and managed to buy two cutting boards for $4. WOO! I did feel a bit like I was in a herd of cattle when we walked around there.
Speaking of weddings, my cousin Amy is engaged. The date is October 10th and I am in the wedding. Next year is already shaping up to be wedding filled again. I have two other Fagg cousins getting married other than Amy. It was always a goal of mine to get to all the Fagg weddings, but I don't know how practical that will be with Bennett and hopefully a job next year. We'll see...as Bernie likes to say.
My birthday was nice, thanks to everyone for their kind wishes. I got the new Oasis box set from Bernie which was a nice addition to the collection. He also brought me a cute baby themed t-shirt. He and his parents went in together and ordered me an ipod touch, which I am still learning to use. My mother sent me some silver jewelery and homemade caramels (YUM). Bernie took me out to our favorite italian restaurant for dinner. It was a good 26th birthday.
The day before my birthday the new car came it. It ended up being dark gray/silver which is much better than the blue I was expecting. I like it so far except for the lack of electric seats. Maybe I'm a snob, but I thought most new cars came equipped with them. Oh well, we're getting between 50-54 MPG so far. That was the main point anyway. MPG and four doors.
The same day we picked up the car I got a speeding ticket on my way home from Greeley (in the old car). Unfortunately it was in a school zone so the fine and points against my driving record were doubled ($204 and 8 points). If you get 12 points in a year they take away your license. I paid it right away, so the points should reduce to 4. I bawled the whole time (like an idiot) and I could tell the police officer felt bad giving the crying pregnant lady a ticket.
Bennett's impending arrival is becoming more real. I've even been cleaning out closets to get some extra space. We hope to get the room painted and some of the furniture set up before graduation on December 12th.
My mom, grandma, and Bernie's parents are coming down for graduation. I'm looking forward to having visitors and being done with school at the same time. I won't have to do any homework. How strange.
We are also getting ready to go to Phoenix to see Bernie's family for Thanksgiving. I've never been, so it should be fun. Especially since the temperature will be bearable (hopefully).
Oh, I don't want to forget my dad update. His driver's license expired in early October. He went in and failed the vision test miserably. Then he went to the eye doctor (had been refusing for years) and they told him there was nothing they could do because the decline is part of his disease process. I asked him what he's going to do and he replied that he already limits his driving to necessary times. He plans to continue driving until he "doesn't feel safe" or he gets a ticket. This from the man who once told me that he can't really tell if the light is red or green until he very very close to it. Beware those of you who have to drive around Great Falls.
Bernie went hunting in North Dakota for a few days and managed to keep the dog in one piece for once. Now I have plenty of frozen pheasant if any of you are interested in taking any off of my hands. He drove to Minneapolis after hunting and I met him there for a friend's wedding. It was a good time, but I am a bit burned out on weddings for the moment. Especially when I just get to watch everyone get drunk. We didn't do too much in our two days there, but I did see the Mall of America. It was frightening but good exercise! I also went into an IKEA for the first time and managed to buy two cutting boards for $4. WOO! I did feel a bit like I was in a herd of cattle when we walked around there.
Speaking of weddings, my cousin Amy is engaged. The date is October 10th and I am in the wedding. Next year is already shaping up to be wedding filled again. I have two other Fagg cousins getting married other than Amy. It was always a goal of mine to get to all the Fagg weddings, but I don't know how practical that will be with Bennett and hopefully a job next year. We'll see...as Bernie likes to say.
My birthday was nice, thanks to everyone for their kind wishes. I got the new Oasis box set from Bernie which was a nice addition to the collection. He also brought me a cute baby themed t-shirt. He and his parents went in together and ordered me an ipod touch, which I am still learning to use. My mother sent me some silver jewelery and homemade caramels (YUM). Bernie took me out to our favorite italian restaurant for dinner. It was a good 26th birthday.
The day before my birthday the new car came it. It ended up being dark gray/silver which is much better than the blue I was expecting. I like it so far except for the lack of electric seats. Maybe I'm a snob, but I thought most new cars came equipped with them. Oh well, we're getting between 50-54 MPG so far. That was the main point anyway. MPG and four doors.
The same day we picked up the car I got a speeding ticket on my way home from Greeley (in the old car). Unfortunately it was in a school zone so the fine and points against my driving record were doubled ($204 and 8 points). If you get 12 points in a year they take away your license. I paid it right away, so the points should reduce to 4. I bawled the whole time (like an idiot) and I could tell the police officer felt bad giving the crying pregnant lady a ticket.
Bennett's impending arrival is becoming more real. I've even been cleaning out closets to get some extra space. We hope to get the room painted and some of the furniture set up before graduation on December 12th.
My mom, grandma, and Bernie's parents are coming down for graduation. I'm looking forward to having visitors and being done with school at the same time. I won't have to do any homework. How strange.
We are also getting ready to go to Phoenix to see Bernie's family for Thanksgiving. I've never been, so it should be fun. Especially since the temperature will be bearable (hopefully).
Oh, I don't want to forget my dad update. His driver's license expired in early October. He went in and failed the vision test miserably. Then he went to the eye doctor (had been refusing for years) and they told him there was nothing they could do because the decline is part of his disease process. I asked him what he's going to do and he replied that he already limits his driving to necessary times. He plans to continue driving until he "doesn't feel safe" or he gets a ticket. This from the man who once told me that he can't really tell if the light is red or green until he very very close to it. Beware those of you who have to drive around Great Falls.
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