Mike and I went in for our 37 week checkup with our regular OB last Wednesday. Luckily, there were no surprises (at this point I think we were both ready for just about anything). Janet, our sonographer who originally realized there was a problem with Caiden, came in before the doctor to talk to us. She said that everyone in the office had been thinking about us all week and that they were very sorry that we were going through this. They hadn't received an update from the pediatric cardiologist, so she was glad to hear that our news was better than she had originally thought. Mike and I thought it was so nice of her to come in to see how we were. We are going to miss everyone in that office since we are moving to a high-risk OB now.
On Thursday, we went to Medical City for our tour and to meet more new doctors. Our first stop was to meet with the head of the high-risk OB department, Dr. Farley. Dr. Farley said we will try to induce around January 5th and that they would prefer that I have a regular delivery vs. a c-section because there would be a higher risk for Caiden to have respiratory problems if we do a c-section. We have another appointment with his office on Tuesday, so we will know our induction date for sure then. He did say that if I go into labor before the 5th that I have a file on the L&D floor with all of my and Caiden's information. We are supposed to come into the hospital as soon as we realize we are in labor (instead of waiting for the usual 5 minute apart contractions) and the nurses will then pull our file and start calling all of the doctors letting them know that we are there. Mike and I both felt A LOT better after he told us this! They also gave me a document to keep in my purse with all the doctors' info and Caiden's info in case we are somewhere and have an emergency.
After the OB appointment, we met with Karen, our program coordinator. She took us to the CHSU (Congenital Heart Surgery Unit) to see where Caiden will be for surgery and post-op. Each room in the CHSU cost over $1M to build and you can tell. These rooms look like NASA control center! I have never seen so much equipment in my life. All of the rooms are private and have a pull out full size bed and bathroom, so if we want to stay in the room with him after the surgery, we can. Karen warned me before we went in that most moms cry when they go in there, so I just tried to look at the equipment and didn't look at the babies at all.
After the CHSU, we toured the NICU and got a lot of questions answered there. Since we did childbirth classes, they gave us lists of everything you need to bring for the baby in the hospital. Now that everything has changed, we had no idea what to bring. We found out that all we need to bring for him are socks, caps and mittens. They are going to swaddle him for us and he will be fed through an IV up until surgery. They will provide me with a breast pump and use a scanner to tag my stored milk with his name on it. They are going to store all of it for me as well. That was one big question Mike and I had since we knew I would be pumping for at least 3 weeks before any of it would be used. We have an outdoor freezer, but it's not THAT big!
After our NICU tour, we met with the head doctor in the NICU. He explained that we will have a regular delivery, but will have a NICU nurse in the room with us in addition to the regular staff. Once Caiden is born, we will have a few minutes with him, then the NICU nurse and Mike will take him downstairs to the NICU unit. At that time, they will call all of the doctors to come look at Caiden and do their x-rays, echo cardiograms, etc. Instead of doing an IV like they would with an adult, they are going to administer his medication through his umbilical cord. After all of this is completed, they will allow family to come and see him. I will be taken up there 45 minutes- 1 hour after delivery. He will stay in the NICU until he has surgery. There are no beds in those rooms, so we may end up getting an extended stay hotel close by so we can be up there with him. We are planning on getting a portable printer so Mike and I can both work from his room if we need to. We both already have laptops and he has a scanner, so we should be in business.
Mike and I both feel a lot better now that we know more of what to expect. As we are getting questions answered, we are becoming less anxious about what we are about to experience. In church this morning they were talking about looking forward to 2011 and I kept thinking "if you only knew what 2011 is about to bring for us...!!!". We know that Caiden is in God's hands, so we are going to continue to pray for his miraculous healing before birth. If he is not healed by then, we will continue praying for healing through surgery.
We have our first meeting with the heart surgeon tomorrow, then have my 38 week OB appointment on Tuesday. I will post again after that to give you all an update.
On Thursday, we went to Medical City for our tour and to meet more new doctors. Our first stop was to meet with the head of the high-risk OB department, Dr. Farley. Dr. Farley said we will try to induce around January 5th and that they would prefer that I have a regular delivery vs. a c-section because there would be a higher risk for Caiden to have respiratory problems if we do a c-section. We have another appointment with his office on Tuesday, so we will know our induction date for sure then. He did say that if I go into labor before the 5th that I have a file on the L&D floor with all of my and Caiden's information. We are supposed to come into the hospital as soon as we realize we are in labor (instead of waiting for the usual 5 minute apart contractions) and the nurses will then pull our file and start calling all of the doctors letting them know that we are there. Mike and I both felt A LOT better after he told us this! They also gave me a document to keep in my purse with all the doctors' info and Caiden's info in case we are somewhere and have an emergency.
After the OB appointment, we met with Karen, our program coordinator. She took us to the CHSU (Congenital Heart Surgery Unit) to see where Caiden will be for surgery and post-op. Each room in the CHSU cost over $1M to build and you can tell. These rooms look like NASA control center! I have never seen so much equipment in my life. All of the rooms are private and have a pull out full size bed and bathroom, so if we want to stay in the room with him after the surgery, we can. Karen warned me before we went in that most moms cry when they go in there, so I just tried to look at the equipment and didn't look at the babies at all.
After the CHSU, we toured the NICU and got a lot of questions answered there. Since we did childbirth classes, they gave us lists of everything you need to bring for the baby in the hospital. Now that everything has changed, we had no idea what to bring. We found out that all we need to bring for him are socks, caps and mittens. They are going to swaddle him for us and he will be fed through an IV up until surgery. They will provide me with a breast pump and use a scanner to tag my stored milk with his name on it. They are going to store all of it for me as well. That was one big question Mike and I had since we knew I would be pumping for at least 3 weeks before any of it would be used. We have an outdoor freezer, but it's not THAT big!
After our NICU tour, we met with the head doctor in the NICU. He explained that we will have a regular delivery, but will have a NICU nurse in the room with us in addition to the regular staff. Once Caiden is born, we will have a few minutes with him, then the NICU nurse and Mike will take him downstairs to the NICU unit. At that time, they will call all of the doctors to come look at Caiden and do their x-rays, echo cardiograms, etc. Instead of doing an IV like they would with an adult, they are going to administer his medication through his umbilical cord. After all of this is completed, they will allow family to come and see him. I will be taken up there 45 minutes- 1 hour after delivery. He will stay in the NICU until he has surgery. There are no beds in those rooms, so we may end up getting an extended stay hotel close by so we can be up there with him. We are planning on getting a portable printer so Mike and I can both work from his room if we need to. We both already have laptops and he has a scanner, so we should be in business.
Mike and I both feel a lot better now that we know more of what to expect. As we are getting questions answered, we are becoming less anxious about what we are about to experience. In church this morning they were talking about looking forward to 2011 and I kept thinking "if you only knew what 2011 is about to bring for us...!!!". We know that Caiden is in God's hands, so we are going to continue to pray for his miraculous healing before birth. If he is not healed by then, we will continue praying for healing through surgery.
We have our first meeting with the heart surgeon tomorrow, then have my 38 week OB appointment on Tuesday. I will post again after that to give you all an update.
We love you 3 and are praying
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