Alexis Dayne's Birth Story

I know not everyone is interested in the birth story, so that is why I made it a separate post from the general update. So, I checked in to the hospital at 8pm on Sunday, September 8. The nurses were waiting for me and told me that I was their only patient for the night! I got all settled in my room, met with the anesthesiologist, the OB and my nurses. Throughout the evening I also met some of the NICU staff and some of the CICU staff. The OB checked me and said I was 3-4 cm dilated already, and because of that she didn't want to start any Pitocin or anything until in the morning, since I had explained how quick my labor with Levi was. So, Jason and I went to sleep knowing that the plan was to get up at 4:45am to get things going. I think I slept for 3 hours total, between being hugely pregnant and drinking a half gallon of water so we could avoid needing a bunch of IV fluids. ***** At 4:45am we were woken up and things started happening. My Pitocin was started and we were good to go. The OB came back at 6am and broke my water, at which point she said I was a solid 4cm and 75% effaced (the cervix has to thin out before it can dilate, so it was 75% of the way to completely thinned out). After she broke my water I started feeling the contractions. By 7:30am I was in a huge amount of pain so I decided to get an epidural. I can see why people love them! It instantly made the pain go away and, although it made my whole body a little bit tingly, I was able to rest and relax. ***** At 9am I was 6cm dilated. At 9:15 I was 7-8cm and by 9:35 I was feeling a TON of pressure. I called for the nurse, she checked me and, sure enough, it was time to push! She had me do a practice push and thought it looked adequate, so she called in the rest of the team. There were about 15 medical professionals in the room with me when I started pushing, as well as Jason and both of our moms. The epidural was set to such a level that I could feel the contractions as pressure but not pain, which is good because pushing in and of itself was painful enough! I pushed for about 15 minutes then saw my beautiful baby girl open her eyes as Jason cut the cord. She started crying right away and everyone made comments about how big she was and how great her lungs sounded. Alexis Dayne Schneider was born at 9:58am, weighing 7 lbs 2 oz, 20 in long. ***** While they were working on her, the OB delivered the placenta and then I was able to hold her for just a moment. They then took Alexis to the stabilization room where they attempted to put in some umbilical catheters to get her medicine going. While they did that the OB stitched me up. Apparently Alexis came out with her hand on her face, palm out, and ripped me pretty good when her elbow popped through. The NICU team was not able to place all the lines they needed to in her umbilical stump, so they brought her back to me for just a few minutes then had to take her to get the IV put in somewhere else. She looked completely normal, except her nail beds were a little blue. It was so surreal that she was actually here! ***** They took her down to the Cardiac ICU (CICU) to place the lines, and I sent Jason with her. I was able to get up a little while later and go down to see her, too. She was all bundled up and had a ton of lines on her, both medicines and monitors. It hit me right then and there that she was, indeed, sick. There is nothing we can do to make her better except pray and have her go through surgery. So, that is the plan!

Good news!

Holy cow, am I miserable. My body is screaming that this baby needs to come out, but so far she is staying put (thankfully, since Jason isn’t here yet). My hips hurt, my hands hurt (weird, I know), my belly constantly aches, my feet are swollen to twice their normal size, and I’m no longer sleeping. It is not pleasant to be me right now. I know it is all for the benefit of Alexis, and getting her as big as possible before she gets here, but I’m REALLY ready for her to vacate the premises. Not to mention, Levi has been exceptionally clingy and grumpy recently. I think he is getting his next set of molars, and he is completely outside of his normal since we have been here and his daddy is gone. Hopefully he goes back to his normal self when Jason gets here tomorrow because I’ve basically had it with the whining and complaining and grumpiness. ***** Thankfully, I got a phone call today that informed me my induction will be moved to Sunday night instead of Monday night. Woohoo! Apparently two of the ladies that were supposed to be induced that night (and why I got bumped to Monday) have had their babies already, and the lady who is kind of like my case manager called me to ask if I wanted to move it. Yes please! I can’t believe that by Monday evening I will have a daughter. Crazy. Also, if she comes on Monday like she should, she will share a birthday with Bowen (bowensheart.com) and another heart kid that I don't know yet. Amazing how God does simple things like that for us, and gives us connections to people we haven't even met! ***** I had a fetal echocardiogram done on Wednesday that showed everything still looked about the same. Dr. Y (cardiologist) said he was slightly concerned that her atrial septal defect (the hole that most infants have in their heart to allow the blood to mix until they begin breathing oxygen) was a little on the small side, but she was being such a stinker during the appointment that he wasn’t able to get a second measurement. He thinks she will be OK and won’t need an intermediate surgery, between birth and before her Norwood procedure, to make the hole bigger. The will check her immediately after birth to make sure, but he didn’t see any of the secondary signs of it being too small. Please pray that it is ok and that she won’t need a surgery before her Norwood procedure. ***** I had a second NST today where they just measure the baby’s heartbeat and my contractions and she passed with flying colors. Prayers that she stays put until Sunday would be greatly appreciated since we will know for sure the Levi-care arrangements, Jason will be here, and she will be born at the Children’s Hospital where they can check her out right away, instead of having to transport her from the University Hospital (500 yards away, but still). Thank you all for your prayers! Baby to come in no more than three days!

God's mercies

I know I just posted about our trip so far, but I feel like I left out some important parts, like how we are all feeling through this. Jason went home yesterday so he could work one more week before our family expands, and my mom came out to help me with Levi this week. Levi is napping right now and my mom is doing laundry, so I’ve been sitting in the room doing a lot of thinking. Most of my thoughts revolve around how faithful God is. First of all, He made sure that we found out about Alexis’s heart well in advance. We have been able to process everything and plan for it. He allowed for us to make provisions for her and plan her medical care down to the day she will be born (unless she decides to come early, of course!). He put a peace in our hearts about Children’s Hospital Colorado and about the doctors that will be taking care of Lexi in those first few precious weeks of her life. He just continues to take care of us, and for that I am so grateful! ***** Most people don’t know this, but it took us several month to get pregnant this time around. I was hoping for another May baby so I could have the summer off and possibly go back to work the following school year. Well, obviously that didn’t happen. Once we found out we were due in September, we had to make the decision as to whether I would start the school year and then take off for a few weeks, take the whole first semester off and return in January, or take the whole year off. Since my Premier Designs jewelry business was doing well, we decided I could just take the whole year off. Fast forward to May. On May 3 (Levi’s birthday!) we had our 20 week ultrasound. This is supposed to be the only on we have, but because the baby wasn’t in the right spot to get all of the required pictures, we had to go back in 4 weeks. At the 20 week scan the technician told us we were having a girl! May 20- my best friend has a baby girl of her own! I was so excited and it was such fun time getting to see her become a mommy again. May 22- the last day of school. This is supposed to be an incredible day full of fun, laughter, and good memories. Unfortunately, that day will always be tainted by the loss of a very close friend and colleague. She passed away in her sleep and I think about her every single day. She was so excited that I was going to have a little girl and was always doing sweet things for me and the baby. We (all of our colleagues) were devastated by the news and I can’t imagine being at work this year but not having her across the all from me. (Secret blessing: that I decided to take the year off before knowing of her passing.) May 31- Memorial service held for my friend and our 24 week ultrasound right after that. They were actually running ahead of schedule so Jason wasn’t quite there yet when I was called back. (Read “Alexis’s Heart” for the full story) They told us we needed to come back Monday for another scan, specifically related to the heart. We thought about it all weekend (during a baby shower for two family members) and convinced ourselves it was probably nothing. We found out on Monday that it was, indeed, a VERY big deal. (Secret blessing: we were not weighed down by knowing the seriousness of the problem while celebrating my friend’s life or the new babies that would soon be born.) June 3- We learn the diagnosis is HLHS. The cardiologist we see the same week walks us through what he anticipates our journey to be. We realize now that it is a very good thing that I will not be returning to work at all (remember how frustrated I was with my September due date?) because not only will Alexis need surgery in a few days, but again in 6ish months. All of a sudden God’s plan is becoming very obvious, and it is clear He wants the best for us. *****Yes, what is happening to Alexis is very scary, and we don’t know why this condition has been given to OUR daughter, but we already know that God is helping us through it. He has orchestrated all of these events to be laid out in such a way that we are able to cope with them more easily and at a better time for us than when they “should” have happened. We “should” have never even found out about her HLHS because it wasn’t detected on what is normally the one and only ultrasound. We “should” have found out the day of the second ultrasound but because it was a Friday afternoon, we had to wait until Monday and were able to assume it wasn’t a huge deal during the baby shower. I “should” have gotten pregnant the first month we tried, like we did with Levi, so I could have a May baby and go back to work in the fall. See what I mean? God protected us from so many things, mainly our human emotions and decision-making skills, and proved to us that He CLEARLY knows our needs better than we do. Because of all of these things, we know that He has an enormous plan for Alexis, and will use her to do mighty things. She is already proving to be strong and feisty, and we will see in one week exactly how strong and feisty she is. ***** I had my first round of appointments today, including an OB appointment and a non-stress test (they just check her heartbeat and make sure it goes up and down like it is supposed to). Levi loves having his Nana around! He has not adjusted quite as well as we had hoped he would, but I know that kids are resilient and as long as we keep things as normal as possible for him he will do fine. I will continue the updates when I have more information or if things start happening. I’ve realized that blogging is kind of therapeutic, so forgive me if they get a little introspective at times.

Getting settled in

*****Sorry for the delay in posting, I know many are wondering how our trip has been so far. We left for Denver on Friday afternoon, around 3:30pm knowing there was not a room for us at the Ronald McDonald House. We made reservations at a hotel and just went for it. Levi did fair on the drive. He was ready to get out by the time we got to Santa Fe, though, which is only an hour and a half or so from our house. We stopped for dinner there then hit the road again. We stopped several more times along the way to let Levi get out and for me to go to the bathroom, of course. Jason was brilliant and came up with several games to keep Levi entertained for short bursts, and I sat in the back with Levi for a lot of the trip. When we had about 2 hours left to go, Levi had a meltdown because I wouldn’t let him sit in my lap (while the car was moving) and he did not understand why I wouldn’t get him out. It doesn’t help that he is teething… *****We made it to the hotel at about 12:30am and went right to our room. Levi had slept for about an hour and a half in the car, so we had no idea how getting him to sleep would go. Turns out it was pretty challenging. Jason wasn’t feeling well so I took on the task of getting him to sleep. It took 45 minutes! Needless to say, I was exhausted by 1:15am when I finally made it to bed. *****The next morning, we got up around 7:30, got dressed, and went to eat breakfast. After breakfast, Jason took Levi swimming for a while so I could get showered and ready to go. We learned about an open room at the Ronald McDonald House so after lunch we headed over there. We checked in, got the tour, then tried to get Levi down for a nap. It took him an hour to fall asleep… I’m not liking this trend! He slept for 2.5 hours, though, so it wasn’t all bad. After he woke up and we got unpacked, we headed to Target to stock up on groceries. In the Ronald McDonald House we get a small pantry (that locks) and space in a refrigerator for our food. We just have to label everything that we don’t want to share. There are many meals provided by outside organizations, usually about a meal a day, but the Saturday and Sunday groups came down with illnesses, so we haven’t been able to take advantage of those kinds of meals yet. Tomorrow McDonald’s is providing breakfast, but I will be taking Jason to the airport and picking my mom up at the airport at the same time, so we will miss that, too. Eventually we will be able to eat with the rest of the house! When it was time to go to bed last night, Levi took another hour to fall asleep… not cool. *****This morning we got up around 6:30, after a rough night. You know how it goes in a new place, a new bed, different “hotel” sounds, including people having loud, tearful phone conversations… Anyway, after we ate and got ready, we went to the Denver Zoo. Unfortunately Levi was a grumpy pants, so that was a challenge, but the zoo is really nice and we will definitely be going there often (partly because it is free to people staying at the RMH!). After lunch we came back and Levi napped, but this time only for an hour and 20 min. We played here for quite a while then went to the store to get dinner food. After dinner with another family staying here (5 year old boy going through radiation), we played for a while longer (there are FANTASTIC play areas here for kids Levi’s age) and now it’s bedtime. *****Thank you all for the incredibly generous gifts you have given and the constant prayers. We have had a very generous person pay for our entire stay here already, not to mention the incredible gift cards that have already bought us every meal so far and all of our groceries. The gifts for Levi have been a huge hit and he is enjoying every single one of them. The prayers are sustaining us and giving us the comfort that only comes from the Lord. We know now, for sure, that this journey is not going to be easy, and we can already feel pressures from many sides, but the support, prayers, and love coming from everyone at home has really helped ease some of that tension. We have a mailing address now, for those who are interested, so please comment or get ahold of me if you would like it. Our regular address is still fine, too, since we will constantly have people over there and rotating with people up here. Thanks again, for everything! More to come in the coming days…

Specific prayer requests

As we get ready to head off on this adventure, I'd like to lay out our specific prayer requests. Unfortunately, because of the formatting issues I'm having with the blog, it might be a challenge to read. But, hopefully you will get the idea. Thanks in advance! ***** That we have a safe, smooth trip with Levi and an 8.5 month pregnant lady. ***** That there is a room available for us at the Ronald McDonald House when we get there. ***** That Alexis holds off until my induction date: September 9 at 8pm. ***** That Alexis is much stronger than the scans have shown so far, and that her heart is functioning better than anyone thought. ***** That the doctors know the right timing for when to treat her with the different medicines. ***** That we know how to balance our time between Alexis and Levi, and for peace of mind when not with one child or the other. ***** That everyone would have safe travels to and from Denver while we are there. ***** That the doctors would know when exactly the right time to do Alexis's surgery will be, and that God uses them to heal her little body. ***** Once the surgery is over, we pray she would heal quickly. ***** That everything with our insurance gets figured out before it becomes a big hassle. We thought it was already figured out but we got a phone call today saying we need to talk to our insurance company ASAP. ***** That Jason and my relationship withstands this enormous test and we come out of it even close to each other and closer to God after everything is all said and done. ***** That God uses Alexis to make a huge impact in this world for Him, and that she rises to that calling. She is going to have an amazing story to tell and we pray that she doesn't shy away from it. ***** That Levi and Alexis can bond, even through the difficult circumstances. ***** There are many more, but I will save them for another day. These are the biggies and we so appreciate all of the prayers. We know prayer works, and we are excited to see it work yet again.

One more week

I simply can't believe that in one week I will be uprooting my life to relocate to Denver for an unknown amount of time, but a minimum of 6 weeks. Jason will not be with me the whole time, but Levi will. One week and 3 days into the relocation a new family member will be added. That is the scariest part. I've had a hard time with my emotions because I'm so tired of being pregnant, but at the same time I know that having Alexis and finally meeting her is just the beginning of the pain and struggles we will go through as a family through this journey. I so badly want to meet her and hold her, but I know she is safe inside of me and for that reason I just want her to stay put as long as possible. I know I can't delay time indefinitely, and that September 9th will be here before we know it, but it has felt so far away for so long and now it feels like it is right here. I keep telling myself, "my baby girl is going to need open heart surgery" but that doesn't make sense in my human mind. How can something that is supposed to be so perfect, something that I feel squirming around inside of me at this very moment, be so so sick? So sick that she will die if we don't do the dreaded surgery. Then I tell myself that God has a magnificent plan for her life, and He is going to use her for amazing things in the future. I so badly wish I could go through the surgery for her, or that she didn't need surgery at all, but maybe that is required so she can tell a specific story and impact the most people through it. ***** Jason and I have started to talk about our plan for while we were there. Things like who is going to spend time at the hospital and who is going to stay with Levi? When is Levi going to come visit Alexis? Should I stay at the hospital the first couple of nights, until her surgery, so she can breastfeed as often as she needs to? Or should I go to our place to sleep because I will sleep better? What kinds of things can we do that are close to the hospital, just in case we need to get back there quickly, but still spend time together as a family while she is recovering? We don't know the answers to any of these questions yet, and for those of you who know how much of a planner I am, you know that is causing even more stress. My mom thinks we are fighting an uphill battle trying to plan anything, but I explained to her that trying to plan is keeping me sane. Even if nothing goes the way we think it will, at least we are not sitting idly by while the date just gets closer and closer. ***** One week, that's it. Our prayers at the moment are for an easy travel day when we leave, a quick and uneventful delivery, and that Alexis is even stronger than the doctors are anticipating when she is born. We are also praying that our relationship just gets stronger through this massive trial. Jason and I will do whatever it takes for our family, and we know that the strain is going to be tremendous, so we just pray that we continue to seek the Lord through every decision, every day, and that we can trust Him every moment of every day. We also pray that Levi is as resilient as we think he will be, and that we can continue to be the best parents possible to him through this as well.

Slight Change

I got a phone call today that my induction date has been moved back a day. Apparently there is a scheduling issue that has come up in the hospital so they needed to move my induction to the evening of September 9, rather than September 8. Nothing major, but I just want to keep everyone in the loop that is interested. I have all of my Non-stress Tests scheduled for when I'm in Denver before Alexis is born, as well as an OB appointment and a fetal echocardiogram. I will have a baby girl in 4 weeks! Aah!! ***** I had another baby shower this weekend thrown by some fantastic friends. I feel so spoiled! Many of them went in together on a pretty big gift (a genuine Coach diaper bag... Hot Pink!), and I know how expensive it was so I am scared to use it! But, as another friend pointed out, I better use it or why have it? Ok, ok, I guess I'll just use it and not feel guilty about it. ***** I've been working on getting Lexi's room ready for her to come home to and it is finally starting to come together. I just got the last of Levi's things moved into his room (while he napped). All that is left in Alexis's room is to finish painting (I'm thinking one more day and I'll be done!), move the furniture back to it's original spot, and dust/clean everything. Then we will be ready to bring her home! I even have hot pink letters that spell out her name to go on her wall above her crib. These are the activities that make it seem so real that we are about to have a daughter. I also have two ultrasounds each week where I get to see her cute little baby body and face, and although the ultrasounds seem a little unnecessary, I am not complaining one bit about the drive into Albuquerque, the small expense (thank the Lord for insurance!) and sometimes there is a bit of inconvenience, because every time I see her I get an overwhelming sense of pride that I am going to have a baby girl! God has already blessed us with her and I can't wait to hold her in my arms. ***** As I've been cleaning I keep running across things specifically for children in the NICU that have been given to me (clothes, blankets, a care package from an HLHS support group, etc.) that make it hit me each and every time that our journey is not going to be so easy in the beginning with Alexis. She is going to have a rough time, which means we are going to have to figure out how to be the best parents for her while we are not the only care providers in her life. Not only that, but we have to be the best parents for Levi, too. That has been giving me more anxiety than anything else because the last thing I want is for Levi to suffer because of all of the care and attention Alexis is getting. I know kids are very resilient, and he is only 2 years old, but he is my child, just like Alexis is my child, and I want him to know constant love just like we have been up until now. I guess that is my current prayer request, that we would find the appropriate balance between caring for and giving attention to both of our children while Alexis is in the hospital and things are not "normal." ***** Thanks, as always, for the prayers and support. I will post as things change or more details become available!