Thursday, Sept 29,

Laurie got a serious headache. It seemed different from a normal headache but we decided to see if it would go away overnight.

Friday, Sept 30,

The headache was still there. Combined with swollen feet she was getting nervous about pre-eclampsia. She called her doctor's office around 9 am. The office called her back just after 4:30 telling her to go to the Birth Center (at Southwest Washington Medical Center) to get looked at. My parents looked after Molly and Patrick while Laurie and I went to the Birth Center. Since it was now after 5 pm Laurie was looked at by the on call Doctor instead of her normal OB. He seemed to be a very reasonable guy that thinks through how to treat things. A good Doc to have. When the test results came back there wasn't a clear answer. She had the headache, swollen feet, and increased protein output that are signs of pre-eclampsia. But each of those could be explained by another cause as well. (Like swollen feet being caused from being nine months pregnant.) Since Laurie could articulate the difference between this headache and her normal ones, the doctor wanted to treat it as serious. He had her stay overnight for observation. I picked up the kids and went home.

Saturday, October 1,

The Excitement Begins I woke the next morning to a phone call from Laurie. Her condition overnight had gotten worse and the tests were showing a need for urgent action. The doctor had told her they would start the c-section in the next 45 to 60 minutes, and they weren't waiting for me. I immediately call my parents and told DaD. By the time I was done grabbing things to take with me my mom was at my house to watch the kids. Doubting the Washington State Patrol would consider this a good reason for traveling at a high rate of speed, I set my cruise control on the freeway and took the time to update Laurie's parents. I arrived at SWMC's Birth Center and told a nurse at the desk that "my wife is going to have a c-section at any minute; and I have the cord blood kit". She got the kit to the operating staff (Laurie's first clue I'd made it) and then got me one of those smurfy outfits to wear. It turned out the anesthesiologist had insisted on 2 liters of fluid be put in her before he would give her an epidural. That had stalled the process long enough for me to get there before the c-section had started. About 5 minutes after Laurie and I decided on his name Seamus William was born at 8:11 am. He would later be measured at 7 lbs. 11 oz. and 20 1/4 inches. There was a few small cries before he came into view. But not the longer cry that you normally hear. I watched at two nurses placed him on his table/bed and worked at getting him breathing normally. The urgency they worked with left little doubt that this wasn't according to plan. After a minute, maybe two, one of the nurses picked little Seamus up and said she was taking him to the nursery. I was allowed to go along, but Laurie didn't get the chance to touch or talk to Seamus before he left. After a detour due to construction Seamus made it to the nursery. Please understand that at SWMC's Birth Center they normally will only take a baby there if the baby has a problem. Typically the baby will stay with the mom the entire time. And the urgency of motion and lack of crying left little doubt as to the problem. O2 and Tubes One of the last parts of an infant to develop is the lungs. Diabetes, including the Gestational Diabetes Laurie had, can cause delay in lung development. So when Seamus was born at 37 weeks his little lungs weren't ready for it. He had a tube with oxygen rich air put into his nostrils. (I'm told the 30% O2 he was on is also fairly standard in ambulances.) He also had an IV and sensors were attached to him for monitoring heart rate, respiration, and oxygen levels. It is a sleeker version of the babies that have 'all those tubes' hooked up to them. The nurse that had been there for his birth and that oversaw his care for the first shift was Judy (McCready?). Her last job was as the manager over the nurses at Dornbecker's Neonatal unit. She did a fantastic job of explaining to me what was going on with Seamus and what was normal in cases like this. Having experienced people is priceless! I started learning all the equipment that was hooked up to Seamus and how to read it. I also learned this was going to take a few days. Seamus continued to improve just a little at a time while Laurie worked hard to heal enough to come see her new little boy. About nine that night Laurie was able to stand long enough to get to a wheelchair and get the doctor's permission to visit Seamus. She was able to spend about an hour with him; touching but not holding.

Sunday, October 2,

The next morning I spent some more time at Seamus' side then went to breakfast. On the way back I was going to check in on Laurie before returning to the nursery. Her nurse stopped me in the hall telling me "The doctor needs to talk to both of you. Their transferring him to Dornbecker." While I had been at breakfast Seamus had gone downhill and pushed the limits of what SWMC could do for him. The concern was that they wouldn't be able to meet his needs if something like that happened again. (They will be equipped to deal with it in about two months. The other Vancouver hospital can handle the condition, but can't do inter-hospital transport. So he needed to go to Dornbecker.) I packed as fast as I could to go with him, forgetting Laurie's toothbrush was in my bag. The Panda team from Dornbecker was there before I was done. And I followed an ambulance with cartoon figures on it as it took our newborn to Portland. Dornbecker I followed the Panda crew as they took Seamus to OHSU where Dornbecker's Neonatal Care Center is housed. He was now on a c-pap. The bigger tubes used to provide air to critical kids. They made a mix to give him by IV to help him keep up his energy so he didn't collapse from the effort. (I call it his Gatorade since the color and purpose are the same as the drink.) The following hours were stressful both at Dornbecker's and with Laurie who was still at SWMC in Vancouver. I slept in a small room the center maintains for families that live out of the area. It wasn't fancy but it had a futon, a shower, and was close to my kid. The best part was Seamus responded well to the c-pap.

Monday, October 3,

By the time Laurie was able to be released from SWMC on Monday he was switching back to the thinner tubes. Laurie was very happy to finally get to Seamus, but now was experiencing the same watch and wait game I had been doing. She had once chance then to put him to breast but he was too upset at the time.

Tuesday, October 4,

Then after 24 hours after he had come off of it, Seamus was put back on the c-pap again. His breathing was becoming strained again and the doctors feared he would run out of energy to improve his lungs. The c-pap could take some of the strain off of him giving his lungs more opportunity to develop. That night Laurie and I both slept on the futon. Once again he responded well to the c-pap.

Wednesday, October 5,

After day on the c-pap he went back to his thinner tubes. He wasn't taking to breast, but Laurie was pumping enough to keep him fed. And we once again shared the futon. Wednesday started with Laurie waking me at 5:30 to take a bottle of food over to Seamus. That done I was back to bed. We found we got more rest that night then we had so far. And when we went to check on him we learned he was taking 60 ml of food. (One of the discharge requirements is to be able to eat 60 ml of food.) That was encouraging. And he was down to room level oxygen, though there was still positive pressure air to help him breath. He was switched to a normal baby bed a little later. Wednesday has been full of improvements, with his lungs still being the biggest challenge. When we returned from lunch we found his bed, and him, missing. They had moved it about 30 seconds before we got there and the note to let us know hadn't made it to the front desk in time to catch us. He was now on the side of the NICU for kids getting close to going home. This side is busier and more crowded but has the same great staff and is pretty upbeat. He is able to handle the food if it's fed to him in a tube or bottle but having issues with breastfeeding. As we move into Thursday we're setting up his eating to help him have the energy he needs to breastfeed. And the nurses are weaning him from the air flow he is on. We were able to stay at the Ronald McDonald house tonight which has more bed (and floor) space. We're hoping that he will be up to coming home on Thursday or Friday. At this point I think I need to get some lemon-lime Gatorade to celebrate when he makes it home.

Thursday, October 6,

Seamus is doing better with feeding. Laurie is able to nurse him every three hours during the day. It is a complicated process because we have to weigh him first, then nurse him, then weigh him again to see how much he ate, then suppliment him with a bottle first of expressed bm and then if necessary formula because he has to take in 2 oz. at every feeding. Laurie had a follow-up appointment with her OB and it was at the same time as a pumping session so she had to pump in the car on the way to the doctor's office.

Friday, October 7,

We are still waiting for word about whether Seamus will be ready to go home soon or not. Some of the other babies from SWMC have been transported back there because they are off the C-PAP support, but we don't know if Seamus is on the list to be moved back. He is doing much better and we expect he will be going home tomorrow or the next day. He is eating well, though still requires suppliments. We are going to stay the night at the NICU so that Laurie can feed him around the clock in hopes of better establishing her milk supply and the breastfeeding relationship.

Saturday, October 8,

We got word at rounds today that Seamus can go home!!!!! We are so excited. There are a lot of hoops to jump through before he can be released, but the nurses have been wonderful about making things easy for us. We got him all dressed in his going home outfit and into his car seat. It is kind of scary yet relieving to see him off of all the tubes and equipment he has been on since he was born. It will be nice to get home and see our other two and let them finally get to know their new little brother.

Sunday, October 9,

Seamus was home for a short time before his appointment with his in town pediatrician. Unfortunately she decided that he needs to be back on oxygen, so we were admitted to St. John for observation. At least Laurie gets to stay in his room with him, they even let her order food from the food service since she is a nursing mom. The doctor also put in her orders that he is breastfed and doesn't need formula supliments!

Monday, October 10,

The doctor on call wanted us to stay longer at the hospital for observation, but we want Seamus home. He is doing much better after the doctor suctioned out his nose so he can breath better.