Sunday, May 31, 2009

things are going pretty well so far, i've got lots of updating to do, so i'll get started.

we arrived at the hospital thursday morning pretty early, but the induction itself didn't actually start until about 11am. i had to have some sort of pill to thin out my cervix (it didn't help much cos i was still only 3 cm dilated at 2pm). they started me on the pitosin around 3, so when they checked me at 5, i was 5 cm. i got the epidural around 5, and it was really nice this time because it wasn't to the point that i was knocked out like i was during my delivery with madi. i'd say around 8 or so, things heated up a bit and the pain sure did come quick. the next hour or two was a complete blur. i just remember the pain, being 8cm, peeing, then being ready to push. they rushed me to the OR to deliver so we could have him delivered in a sterile environment.

Justin Daniel Gay (aka, Judge) was born at 9:45 on Thursday, May 28th. he is 9 lbs, 7 oz, and 19 1/2 inches. i didn't really think he looked that big, til the doctor came out from the resuscitation room and said he was almost 9 1/2 lbs. that night, they took him straight to the nicu at chop. because i delivered so late, we decided that we'd go see him first thing in the morning.

friday morning, right before we went to visit, a nurse came into our room and said that there was a neurosurgeon on the phone that wanted to speak with us about the surgery. we were originally told that he would have surgery within 24-48 hours.. so when we heard the neurosurgeon was on the phone, we grew concerned quite quickly. however, it was good news.. they were going to do his surgery that day between 11 and 12. they told us we could go see him in the meantime, so we wasted no time getting over there to really see him and spend time with him.

we were able to see the opening in his back that has caused all of this drama and torment for the past two months. i have pictures, but we're here at the ronald mcdonald house and we forgot the usb cable to our camera. i will post pics once we get it. it really was interesting to see. my parents were in town so we were going to get breakfast with them and as we were leaving, the doctors called us again and said they were going to to do his surgery right then, so that changed everyone's plans.. AGAIN! but trust me, i am not complaining, the sooner we get this going, the sooner he is able to come home.

because of his surgery, the first two days were pretty mellow. he slept a lot from the after effects of anesthesia. he is a big lil guy. he has these really broad shoulders, he looks like he could play defense for the flyers or the eagles (i'd prefer the flyers). we learned soon after his surgery that he wasn't peeing on his own, so they started to cath him every 4 hours. he is able to poop on his own, it's just the peeing that he is having trouble with. it looks pretty optimistic that there are no clubbed feet, but it's still kind of hard to tell just because he hasn't been able to lay on his back. he's on his stomach all day, every day, so his legs and tootsies look like frog legs. they've had him on his side a bit and things look pretty good for them to not be clubbed, but i don't want to say yes or no and have the opposite, so i will be sure to let it be known what the outcome is.

the urologists decided it might be better if they start to cath him every 3 hours since he is getting pretty large volumes of urine during his 4 hours. it took a day or two, for him to eat, so they've started a feeding/cathing schedule to kind of train his body to eat and pee on its own. he wasn't eating right away because of the anesthesia, which we knew would happen ahead of time, so when he started to feed, he wouldn't take a bottle. since he didn't take a bottle, they inserted a feeding tube. today, the doctors said they could double his intake at each feeding, so he just has one more "step" before he will be able to remove the feeding tube and drink from the bottle. he does fine with sucking and swallowing.. but he gets a little excited and we have to take breaks so he can breathe during the process... poor lil bugger, he loves to eat so much he passes out! it was nice though, because zac and i have gotten to help feed him. zac got to sit him up today while i fed him. it's an amazing feeling, considering we can't hold him yet. we help out any chance we get.

as far as everything else goes, we're still waiting for the bulk of the news. the fluid in his brain did increase by .75mm, according to his last ultrasound, which caused a lot of swelling in his face. the swelling has gone down immensely. not only in his face but in his legs and back too. he was pretty much swollen all over from surgery and the build up of the fluid. they did an ultrasound today on his head, and we should have those results tomorrow.

it seems as though there is a good bit of feeling in his legs and feet. he is able to push himself up with his feet, and i think that says a lot because he's got such a big upper body. this morning, when we went to visit, he had a little bit of pee in his diaper, so that was awesome. i never thought i'd be so happy to see a wet diaper. i know it's a long road ahead, but i am optimistic, and it's the little things like these that prove optimism is worth it.

it's been tough on me to leave him every night. and it really kicked in last night when i was discharged from the hospital and we moved to the ronald mcdonald house. i am so grateful that there is a place nearby that has been offered to us, but it is so hard to know i'm not in the hospital and he is. and we hadn't seen madi since wednesday night, so that was really hard. she came down to visit us yesterday. she was so proud, she wore her "Big Sister" shirt that Brittany bought her, and she looked cute as ever. i was so excited to see her. all i could do was cry.

madi went to meet her brother yesterday. they have him on a heating bed and he was a little toasty yesterday, so when she touched him, he "burned" her. she didn't care much for that, but when she came back today, she was awesome. she gave him kisses and drew him a picture of a frog for him to have hung on his bed. she was so proud to be the big sister, i loved every second of the excitement in her eyes. she makes sure she tells him that she loves him when she leaves him, and that just makes me the happiest mom in the world. she has a fairly good understanding of why he's in there. she just kept saying how he had a "boo boo on his butt." she came down again tonight with my parents and is staying with us in the ronald mcdonald house. it's nice to be able to spend a few good hours with her, even though it's going to be tough when zac takes her back home tomorrow.

while he takes her home, i'll be doing some things around here to get stuff started for justin. i am going to attempt to meet with the SSI group they have here, and i assume somehow, at some point, we'll get a social worker for him. there's so much we have to arrange and work out, so i want to get that started asap, too. tuesday, we are signed up for a cathing class, so we can at least get that under our belts. they recommended we take a CPR course, but luckily, zac and i are both certified through our jobs.

all in all, things are going as great as they can be expected in our opinion. we are so grateful to have a place to stay, a great hospital for his treatment, and more than anything, we are grateful to be a family of four.

1 comment:

  1. You are an amazing woman... a wonderful mother and incredible human being... I am soo proud to have you as part of our family. love to you and all.. and especially baby Justin..

    Wendy

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