Elenor's Birth Part 2

Monday November 8th:
Monday morning they took me in for my ultrasound, ironically I had an ultrasound scheduled for that afternoon, so I told them they shouldn't plan on me coming in later on. They just went through and measured Ele and thought she would be around 3 pounds which was spot on for a 31.5 weeker. though they are only accurate within about a pound or so. They discussed with me that they felt she would be alright and they have many kids that early do incredibly well. They also said since I was now closer to 32 weeks than 31 was a huge benefit. Most babies born at 32 don't have developmental issues, and they tend to do incredibly well. It was really comforting to hear that. They sent in a NICU consult to tell me what I should expect. Basically they said lungs were the main concern and it's great it looks like I'd be able to get both steroid shots before she would be born. There were a few other concerns but nothing they felt they couldn't fix. That was Dr. Stoddard, and he is the sweetest man ever. They then started talking to me about what would be happening tomorrow, first they would try to soften my cervix tonight so I could try for a vaginal birth. Then they would start pitocin tomorrow and see how it went. They told me I needed to be aware that a c-section was a real possibility, again I felt a huge peace about everything I knew I was in good hands. I had a few friends and families come and visit throughout the day and it was going well. Apparantly I wasn't incredibly coherent or didn't realize I wasn't explaining well because Nate didn't realize that Tuesday was baby day. So I settled in for another long night, sent Nate home but told him to come in as soon as he woke up.

Tuesday November 9th:
They gave me the last dose of medicine before the pitocin, and then waited until noon to start the pitocin. I was starting to progress slowly but after every contraction Ele's heart rate was dipping. This is a sign of distress and so they had to turn off the pitocin. I was only dilated to a 1, so in last efforts to have a natural birth they broke my water. And we were able to get a heart rate monitor on Ele's head. I went into natural labor and didn't need any pitocin. After about four hours I was only dilated to a 3. Ele's heart was still dipping after each cotraction and my blood pressure wasn't looking good. We discussed it with our doctor and decided that a c-section would be the safest option for both Ele and I. So I received my epidural a little before 7PM. I was taken into the operating table and I still had a very calm comforted feeling. I remember feeling relaxed and not even nervous about the surgery I was about to go through. As they told me there would be a lot of pressure as they delivered her, I started repeating, 'everything is going to be okay, everything is going to be okay.' Nate said, 'Don't worry honey it will be alright.' And out came our baby screaming away. ( 2lbs 2oz , 7:39PM) It was the most amazing thing to hear her lungs working so well. Nate got to stand up and take pictures or her, and because she was doing so well they even held her over the curtain for me to see. The NICU respiratory team took Ele into the next room and Nate went with them. Doctors Dayton, and Gamette were closing me up and told me how vigorous she was, I found out later that vigorous is a medical term that means her heart rate was above 100 and she was breathing on her own. He continued to close me up and was so impressed that he could hear her crying for the next room, he commented again saying, 'Seriusly listen to her go, she's so strong.' It made me so happy. As they got me back into the bed to go to recovery they raised my dose of Mag (Magnesium Sulfate) and I started to drift off pretty quickly. They admitted Ele to the NICU and put a precautionary CPAP machine on here to help keep pressure in her lungs so they wouldn't colapse. They didn't need to use it but felt it was better to be safe.

I don't know how long I was in the recovery room before Nate came back, because I was pretty out of it. they then switched me down to the 4th floor. I remember that they got the bed and IV stuck going into the elevator. As they shook the bed around I started to get sick and threw up everywhere. I thought it was weird because they just kept shaking the bed around while I puked my guts out. I also don't know why but they didn't take me through the NICU like they normally do. I don't remember much after getting into the elevator. I know that Nate and my Mom went up to the NICU to got everything taken care of.

New Baby Gross News!

Some people may have missed parts, so I'll start with the important stuff:

First, Carrie was pregnant and due on or around 01/06/2011; our baby (her name is Elenor Marie) was delivered 11/09/2010 at 7:39 PM and is doing great. For those who are not mathematically inclined, that makes Elenor about 2 months early.

On to the story:

This past Sunday Carrie was not feeling well, went to visit her mother. Carrie had a headache and her blood pressure was well beyond the threshold for inducing seizures we found out later. This condition is known as pre-eclampsia and as Wikipedia simply states, "Apart from Caesarean section or induction of labor (and therefore delivery of the placenta), there is no known cure."

I was travelling from California most of Sunday so once I arrived at my mother-in-law's I took Carrie to Orem Community Hospital to see how severe her condition was. Once we arrived she was immediately put on Magnesium Sulfate (and others) to prevent seizures and to try and bring her blood pressure under control and preparations were made to transfer her to UVRMC in Provo. Before the transfer, Carrie was given a shot of steroids to help with the development of Elenor's lungs.

Carrie was transported in an ambulance and I followed in my car; admittedly, I got a little lost because I thought Carrie had been admitted through the Emergency Entrance. However, after a minute or two of running around I found the correct room. The hospital staff told us the baby would have to be delivered soon, one way or another. They wanted another day for the steroids to take effect before inducing labor or preparing for a c-section. On the plus side, our room had a nice view of Mount Timpanogos.

On Monday I went to work so I don't know all the details but the nurses/doctors gave Carrie shots, more meds and possible scenarios of delivery - there were also many visitors and encouragement via text message and Facebook... thank you for your support and prayers.

I was in the hospital on Tuesday and I thought it was going to be more of the same: shots, waiting, monitoring etc. However, around noon-ish, they started Carrie on Pitocin to try and induce labor. We had high hopes and after a few hours it looked like avoiding a c-section might happen, but she was not progressing fast enough. Around 7 PM we were told to expect a Cesarean Section delivery within the next half hour. Carrie wanted to go natural but not at the risk of losing the baby and with the combination of medicine Carrie was on and the effect it was having on Elenor, the doctors did not want to risk a longer labor.

Carrie got an epidural and was taken into the operating room. Elenor was delivered in a matter of minutes and started crying immediately.

Carrie only saw her for a moment as Elenor was lifted over the surgical curtain.

I followed Elenor into post-op while Carrie was being stitched back together.

Elenor was as ready as a 2 month preemie could be under the circumstances. Her APGAR scores were 7 and 8 which basically means she was (and still is ) doing awesome! After some initial measurements and tests were completed (2 lbs 2 oz and 15.5 inches), she was taken to the NICU.

The NICU doctor explained some procedures and what to expect in regards to a release date. Basically a preemie is expected to be in the NICU until the initial expected delivery date. I expect/hope Elenor will be coming home well before January 6th. :-)

I was woken up by Carrie's maternal desire/iron will to see her baby at 3AM Wednesday morning. Me and a couple of nurses took Carrie in a wheelchair to the NICU. I barely remember the event but Carrie wanted to see her baby.

Wednesday was thankfully uneventful, Carrie was recovering from surgery and mostly incoherent due to the lingering effects of the medication she had been on. Around 2 PM The NICU doctor called us to give us an update, Elenor was breathing without any assistance! Which is frankly amazing because she had been born only 18 hours earlier and 2 month preemies do not typically have well developed lungs.

In short Carrie and Elenor are doing great.

Thank you for your love, prayers and support,

Nathan and the Gross Girls ;-)