shelby101301
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2008
- Messages
- 445
Well friends, our newest addition is finally here! His story is below:
Dear Friends-
It's with great joy we announce the arrival of Noah Zachary Shaw, born early 11/08/08 at 8 lb 2 oz, and 19 1/2 inches long. Both Katelyn and Josh are very proud and as in love with him as we are.
Pictures can be seen at http://s110.photobucket.com/albums/n93/shelby101301/Noah/
The short story is that Noah is currently diong well. we request your prayers that Noah's heart issues resolve themselves and he gets a clean bill of health from the Pediatric Cardiologist at XXXX in Dec, and that Michelle's Blood pressure comes down as it is still very high and giving her bad headaches.
Long Story:
It';s been an incredible roller coaster ride with phrases like "life threatening" and "abdominal surgery" thrown in just to make it more interesting....For those of you following twitter, Rob did not post what was really happening, partly becasue it was so scary, partly becasue we just didn't know what was really happening.
We ended up going early not because of the early contractions, but because of Michelle's blood pressure which was dangerously high. Noah was born via c-section at 4:59 pm on Nov 8th and initially appeared to be fine. However it was determined he had an arythmia to his heart, an abnormla one, and later abdominal issues and was in the special care nursery most of the time. He was assigned XXXX (Children's Hospital of XXXX) peds to treat him, including a pediatric cardiologist. The poor guy was on antibiotics, iv fluids, and had more wires, and boxes and monitors strapped to him than a Nasa space shuttle. We only brought the kids to the hospital once, so as not to scare them, and just so we could manage Noah's care. I was spending most of my time in the special care nursery anyway, so no one other than Rob could even see me or Noah. It was very difficult for me to nurse as you can imagine without tugging and pulling on his wires.
The first day they did x rays on his heart and stomach (stomach - becuase he was throwing up green bile. It was followed by an ekg, upper GI x-ray and a 24 hour holster test which is like a 24hour ekg. They also thought he has an infection hence the antibiotics, then they thought he had a clotting problem....the list seemed to just get longer.
As you can imagine, it was an emotional roller coaster. They'd clear him of one thing, only to find something new. Mon night, they said they would release me, but keep Noah. I was devastated - how was I going to care and nurse for him, and Josh and Katelyn when I was just 3 days out of surgery myself?
the answer was extended maternal stay - I could stay in whatever room they could find for me, I was just responsible for myslef and may be moved often. I was so relieved but felt guilty for neglecting J and K - and I missed them terrible!
So Rob had been limited to how much he could come up since the other kids needed care, and finally, they just went up to my MIL's and went to school with her, and slept there. Tues morning, when I told him on his drive in I was being released, but they were keeping Noah, he lost it. He got there and basically lectured and yelled at the drs for how they had treated us, that they had really delivered news in poor ways, changing their minds about the severity or the problem and he was infuriated that Noah had to stay there based on a dr's schedule (the cardiac dr wasn't going to be at out hospital until Fri hence the longer stay) I was shocked and just started crying, and the drs were taken aback but said, "you're absolutely right"
We didn't know, it, but from that time they worked all that way to analyze the data from the 24 hour test (it can take up to 12 hours to read the data) and to get baby Noah home. So I get discharged, they move me to a room no longer across from the special care nursery, but very close on the same floor and decide it' safe to do his circumcision. This cheers me, becuase they wouldn't do an elective procedure if they were really worried about him, right?
So I nurse Noah one more time, spend some time pacing, get myself cleaned up and Rob and I decide it's best we go home to exchange suitcases and supplies for me. since I was discharged, hospital couldn't give me so much as tylenol for the pain, and I had already been without for quite a few hours. Grab a quick lunch, pack my bag and we go to leave. I tell Rob, we need to tell them where I'm at in case they need us, he said no, and I insisted. So I start to get my coat on, and Rob comes back with the dr grinning.....he says, "hon, guess who's coming home today?" I just started crying... I was so dreading leaving the hospital without my son, and wasn't sure I could do it.
It didn't seem right to go home without all our kids, so while Noah was recovering from his last procedure, Rob ran to get the kids. It was so gratifying and humbling to have the entire family together again, in our own home.
Thanks so much for your continued prayers.
Dear Friends-
It's with great joy we announce the arrival of Noah Zachary Shaw, born early 11/08/08 at 8 lb 2 oz, and 19 1/2 inches long. Both Katelyn and Josh are very proud and as in love with him as we are.
Pictures can be seen at http://s110.photobucket.com/albums/n93/shelby101301/Noah/
The short story is that Noah is currently diong well. we request your prayers that Noah's heart issues resolve themselves and he gets a clean bill of health from the Pediatric Cardiologist at XXXX in Dec, and that Michelle's Blood pressure comes down as it is still very high and giving her bad headaches.
Long Story:
It';s been an incredible roller coaster ride with phrases like "life threatening" and "abdominal surgery" thrown in just to make it more interesting....For those of you following twitter, Rob did not post what was really happening, partly becasue it was so scary, partly becasue we just didn't know what was really happening.
We ended up going early not because of the early contractions, but because of Michelle's blood pressure which was dangerously high. Noah was born via c-section at 4:59 pm on Nov 8th and initially appeared to be fine. However it was determined he had an arythmia to his heart, an abnormla one, and later abdominal issues and was in the special care nursery most of the time. He was assigned XXXX (Children's Hospital of XXXX) peds to treat him, including a pediatric cardiologist. The poor guy was on antibiotics, iv fluids, and had more wires, and boxes and monitors strapped to him than a Nasa space shuttle. We only brought the kids to the hospital once, so as not to scare them, and just so we could manage Noah's care. I was spending most of my time in the special care nursery anyway, so no one other than Rob could even see me or Noah. It was very difficult for me to nurse as you can imagine without tugging and pulling on his wires.
The first day they did x rays on his heart and stomach (stomach - becuase he was throwing up green bile. It was followed by an ekg, upper GI x-ray and a 24 hour holster test which is like a 24hour ekg. They also thought he has an infection hence the antibiotics, then they thought he had a clotting problem....the list seemed to just get longer.
As you can imagine, it was an emotional roller coaster. They'd clear him of one thing, only to find something new. Mon night, they said they would release me, but keep Noah. I was devastated - how was I going to care and nurse for him, and Josh and Katelyn when I was just 3 days out of surgery myself?
the answer was extended maternal stay - I could stay in whatever room they could find for me, I was just responsible for myslef and may be moved often. I was so relieved but felt guilty for neglecting J and K - and I missed them terrible!
So Rob had been limited to how much he could come up since the other kids needed care, and finally, they just went up to my MIL's and went to school with her, and slept there. Tues morning, when I told him on his drive in I was being released, but they were keeping Noah, he lost it. He got there and basically lectured and yelled at the drs for how they had treated us, that they had really delivered news in poor ways, changing their minds about the severity or the problem and he was infuriated that Noah had to stay there based on a dr's schedule (the cardiac dr wasn't going to be at out hospital until Fri hence the longer stay) I was shocked and just started crying, and the drs were taken aback but said, "you're absolutely right"
We didn't know, it, but from that time they worked all that way to analyze the data from the 24 hour test (it can take up to 12 hours to read the data) and to get baby Noah home. So I get discharged, they move me to a room no longer across from the special care nursery, but very close on the same floor and decide it' safe to do his circumcision. This cheers me, becuase they wouldn't do an elective procedure if they were really worried about him, right?
So I nurse Noah one more time, spend some time pacing, get myself cleaned up and Rob and I decide it's best we go home to exchange suitcases and supplies for me. since I was discharged, hospital couldn't give me so much as tylenol for the pain, and I had already been without for quite a few hours. Grab a quick lunch, pack my bag and we go to leave. I tell Rob, we need to tell them where I'm at in case they need us, he said no, and I insisted. So I start to get my coat on, and Rob comes back with the dr grinning.....he says, "hon, guess who's coming home today?" I just started crying... I was so dreading leaving the hospital without my son, and wasn't sure I could do it.
It didn't seem right to go home without all our kids, so while Noah was recovering from his last procedure, Rob ran to get the kids. It was so gratifying and humbling to have the entire family together again, in our own home.
Thanks so much for your continued prayers.
You'll be just fine!
