Day 19 - October 31, 2013

Happy Halloween Everyone!!  

My day was not spent quite the way I had hoped (passing out candy for the first time in my new neighborhood and seeing all of the adorable kiddos) but hopefully it was the first (or third) step in the right direction.  After talking to the doctors first thing this morning and letting them know that I wasn't interested in just sitting around hoping that the cramps and blood clot would go away, we all decided that we would do the third D&C this afternoon to get rid of whatever is in my uterus.  Surgery was set for 1 this afternoon so around 9 I headed over to the NICU to spend some time with Logan.  He was doing great!!  The doctor came over while I was there and filled me in on some updates.  He is now up to 30ccs on his feedings (I found out that 38ccs is his goal however as he gets bigger that will go up) and they said he was tolerating them really well with very little residuals.  They also said that he had been making great progress on his CPAP, they said there was even a chance that we might be able to start weening him off of it and get him onto the nasal cannula by late this weekend early next week!!  Once he is on there we can try to start feeding him with bottles and get the suck, swallow, breath reflex going.  

Just thought this was so cute with both of his hands on my finger!

There was a little concern about his liver so the doctor had ordered an ultrasound for tomorrow to take a look at that so we should know more soon.  His eye still looks good and the opthamologist should be back next week to update us on that.  He was weighed again last night and he is back up to 4lbs 5oz after dropping down to 4lbs 1.5oz 4 days ago so he is making some progress there!!  Our little man is getting so big, he seems huge to me but I think my idea of a big baby is a bit skewed when the only babies I see started out life in the 1-3 lb range.  As I was leaving I could tell that Logan was getting a bit tired, he was throwing a bit of a tantrum, moving his arms and legs all around and giving out a little cry, or at least the best he can do at this point from still being sore from the intibation (it is super cute though, just a little whine that if you don't listen close enough you would miss it).  

After seeing Logan I went back to my room and laid down for a while as I was waiting for surgery.  They took me down to the OR around 12 to get prepped, inserted my 4th IV of this latest hospital stay (have I mentioned how much I despise IVs??) and went over the surgery which at this point I had down pretty well.  A couple things they were going to do differently was to have an ultrasound going the entire time, they were going to use some medicine while in there to help my uterus contract and shrink and have 2 of the doctors on hand doing the surgery to make sure they had as multiple hands and eyes and minds on it so that this could hopefully be the last D&C I would have to do.  

The surgery took a little longer than the last one but it sounds like they were pretty happy with the results.  We found out that the "blood clot" was actually more retained placenta, where it came from we aren't really sure but it is out now.  They said that when they first got in my uterus looked like a total mess but by the time they had finished it was "beautiful" as they put it.  After getting the excess placenta out of there they said that they could just see my uterus starting to compress and shrink before their eyes.  They still used the medicine as an extra precaution but by the time they were all done they said my uterus seemed to be back to almost normal size (my stomach has also shrunk since this morning so I believe it).  They have me staying over night to get antibiotics and some blood.  Since giving birth I have been very anemic so I am getting a blood transfusion tonight to get my blood count up which will hopefully make me not so tired or have other anemic symptoms and help fight off any potential infections.  I am feeling pretty good so far but definitely have some cramping I am hoping will go away shortly.  Let's just all keep our fingers crossed that this will finally fix the issues, the doctor was hoping so but as she put it I am pretty "special" so we don't want to make any assumptions.  

Once out of surgery and back in the room Chris and I decided to go back down to see Logan.  They let me hold him again and Chris was sweet enough to let me have 2 in a row even though it was his "turn" (I may have played the I just had surgery card but at least he was sweet and went with it, such a good hubby!!).  

Our first family picture (right after surgery)!

Even though Chris didn't get to hold Logan he did have a big day himself, he changed his first wet diaper!!  (first of many many more to come but he did it with a smile and is already a natural.)  They had to take his CPAP off for a sec while they were getting him back and settled in the bed and we were able to see his full face for the first time...I have to say, he is quite a handsome little man and looking so much better every day.  It's amazing how many nurses stop us just to tell us how great they think he is doing and looking!!

Daddy's First Diaper, thought he did a great job!

After the NICU we came back to my room, had some dinner and some pain meds and are just resting up.  I am still waiting on my new blood (seems so appropriate for Halloween) and hoping to get some sleep tonight as I am exhausted.  They said I should be able to go home tomorrow and I can't wait, as long as I really am feeling better from here on out, I would really like for this to be my last night in the hospital for a LONG, LONG time!!  

One more day down and one more day closer to him coming home!!