Yep, she arrived last night, very suddenly and unexpectedly. We made it to 29 weeks exactly, and hoped to get a few more weeks, but fate had another plan for us. Angie had been having stronger and more frequent contractions for the last day, and they couldn't stop them for very long with drugs to halt labor. She wasn't very dialated, but after running a blood sample through the lab they discovered that Angie's white blood cell count was extremely high, indicating she was fighting an infection despite the lack of a fever. The doctor took one look at the white blood cell count and ordered an immediate c-section.
That's when the scary part happened. We knew her lungs would be small and it might be touch and go. To make a long story short, it was VERY touch and go, but the neonatologist and his team were absolutely incredible. By the end of the evening, the baby was stable in neonatal ICU. She has a long, long way to go before she is out of the woods, and if she does make it she won't get out of NICU for weeks, if not months. She is on a ventilator that gives her 420 breaths per minute. It is crazy what technology can do these days. We are cautiously optimistic that she will work her way through all the hurdles she will encounter. Her name is Laney Renae, she weighs 2lb. 9oz., and she has both of us wrapped around her tiny little fingers. Angie is recovering very well from her surgery, at which time we can both turn our entire focus on Laney.
So, the 8 weeks of bedrest are now over, and the hardest part has begun. Thank you all so much for your encouragement, prayers, meals, visits, and well-wishes. We need them now more than ever. Our new goal is to get Laney through her first couple weeks, and hopefully get her off the ventilator. When that happens, we will be the happiest of parents.
The Meyers
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Veterans
Funny how only 4 weeks ago we were newbies on the floor, trying to get a feel for what we had in store for us while we lived here in our little "studio apartment". Now we are the veteran family on the floor. We have met and worked with 10 doctors, 10 RNs, and at least 10 CNAs. All have been so good to us, but a few stand out above the crowd and for them and all the rest we are so grateful. We definitely have our routine down, but that can get a little boring when the routine consists of me going to work or doing laundry and Angie hanging out at the apartment. We don't have much to complain about though, we couldn't ask for things to be going better since we got here.
A couple more days and we'll have reached 29 weeks. We never thought we'd get that far, but now our eye is already on 30 weeks. The doctors are all very encouraging but they admit they we won't really know what we're going to get until our little girl gets here. Sounds like Forest Gump's box of chocolates. Thanks so much for the phone calls, meals, desserts, prayers, and positive thoughts. They keep us going, and hoping for the best.
The Meyers
A couple more days and we'll have reached 29 weeks. We never thought we'd get that far, but now our eye is already on 30 weeks. The doctors are all very encouraging but they admit they we won't really know what we're going to get until our little girl gets here. Sounds like Forest Gump's box of chocolates. Thanks so much for the phone calls, meals, desserts, prayers, and positive thoughts. They keep us going, and hoping for the best.
The Meyers
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Another Milestone!
Our apologies to everyone...it has been a while. The days have a way of kind of floating by I guess. Things are going as well as we could hope for. The baby has been doing really well on the monitor and luckily we have not had to go back to labor and delivery. I have been having more contractions but she seems to tolerate them well for the most part. We won't measure her again till next week but we have a good feeling that she is still growing. Mostly because I seem to get more uncomfortable and I am now wearing Kevins shirts cause mine don't fit. Toward the end of last week she had actually turned sideways and was headed to turning head down (this was not a fun process for me). She must have changed her mind because over the last few days she has decided to pop back up and now she is breech again. I have to give her credit for trying. We had an ultrasound today and she still looks good. She had fluid in her stomach, which means she is getting something to drink but there was still no fluid to speak of when they measured it. Not suprising.
We spent Valentines day watching a movie and eating Guido's pizzza. Fairly anti-climactic but it was great to just hang out together. On Sunday evening we finally went on a tour of the NICU. (neo-natal intensive care unit) It was interesting to see where she will be when we have her and look at all the resources they have to take care of babies with problems like hers. It is of course sad to see tiny babies hooked to to all the tubes and wires but it is good to see it before you see it attached to your own child. They gave us a little hat and bootie set and a micro-preemie diaper. To give you an idea her diapers will be about the size of your credit card. Very cute and scary at the same time.
All things considered we are doing great. We have 7 weeks of bedrest behind us and at most another 6 to go. Right now we are just so greatful to have made it this far. We know what a miracle it is to have made it this far at all. We want to thank everyone who has sent us the cards, thoughts, and prayers (food too!) We believe that every bit of it has helped. Thank you all!
The Meyer's
We spent Valentines day watching a movie and eating Guido's pizzza. Fairly anti-climactic but it was great to just hang out together. On Sunday evening we finally went on a tour of the NICU. (neo-natal intensive care unit) It was interesting to see where she will be when we have her and look at all the resources they have to take care of babies with problems like hers. It is of course sad to see tiny babies hooked to to all the tubes and wires but it is good to see it before you see it attached to your own child. They gave us a little hat and bootie set and a micro-preemie diaper. To give you an idea her diapers will be about the size of your credit card. Very cute and scary at the same time.
All things considered we are doing great. We have 7 weeks of bedrest behind us and at most another 6 to go. Right now we are just so greatful to have made it this far. We know what a miracle it is to have made it this far at all. We want to thank everyone who has sent us the cards, thoughts, and prayers (food too!) We believe that every bit of it has helped. Thank you all!
The Meyer's
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Our Little Valentine
As Valentine's Day approaches our thoughts are almost constantly on our little valentine. Things seem to have stabilized a little after our two trips to Labor and Delivery. They are keeping a close watch on her heart rate but it seems to be doing pretty well, with good fluctuations and good accelerations. We're watching her as closely as the doctors, and probably spend too much time looking up information on the internet. Sometimes we just don't want to know - we just want to be expectant and nervous parents, hoping for the best.
Our neighbors are keeping an eye on our house, and the cats are doing fine at the house with my occasional visits to feed them and hang out with them. They've never liked me more than they do now, if I sit down on the couch for two minutes when I get home, Bailey is up on my lap. When we get home, I think the cats' allegiance will have switched from Angie to me. Not that I really want it, but it would be funny. Without any wheelchair rides (we've been staying low-key since the trips to L&D), Angie is more confined than ever, but if we get a solid week of the baby looking good, I think we'll get back outside on the next nice day.
Our celebration for 27 weeks consisted of pizza, and a beer for me and sparkling cider for Angie. 28 weeks is only 5 days away, and that has always been one of our biggest milestones. Might take a little extra to celebrate that one. Thank you all for everything and for all your thoughts and prayers, we really appreciate it.
The Meyers
Our neighbors are keeping an eye on our house, and the cats are doing fine at the house with my occasional visits to feed them and hang out with them. They've never liked me more than they do now, if I sit down on the couch for two minutes when I get home, Bailey is up on my lap. When we get home, I think the cats' allegiance will have switched from Angie to me. Not that I really want it, but it would be funny. Without any wheelchair rides (we've been staying low-key since the trips to L&D), Angie is more confined than ever, but if we get a solid week of the baby looking good, I think we'll get back outside on the next nice day.
Our celebration for 27 weeks consisted of pizza, and a beer for me and sparkling cider for Angie. 28 weeks is only 5 days away, and that has always been one of our biggest milestones. Might take a little extra to celebrate that one. Thank you all for everything and for all your thoughts and prayers, we really appreciate it.
The Meyers
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Bumps in the road...
I hope everyone had a good weekend. Our weather looked pretty good. That probably doesn't mean much coming from the confines of the hospital. Either way I hope you all did something fun. We had somewhat of an interesting weekend. Going into the weekend we were starting to see some variability in the baby's heart rate and I was having a few contractions. By Sunday afternoon things seemed to be escalating a little so our Sunday afternoon monitoring bought us a trip to labor and delivery for 24 hour monitoring. So we packed a few things and headed over. We put the baby on the monitor and just hoped for the best.
Sidenote: Labor and delivery beds are horribly uncomfortable!! I don't know if they do this to encourage you to get the baby out so you can get off the bed or if they are saving on cost and hoping that a laboring mom won't notice since she is in horrific pain anyway.
Anyway, by Monday the baby looked pretty good and things seemed to have calmed down. She behaved pretty well all day and they finally told us we could come back to antipartum last night. We were very excited. Not only so I could get back to a more comfortable bed but just to be that extra step away from delivery.
Tomorrow will be 27 weeks! Gosh that sounds alot better than 24 weeks. We will be having some sort of celebration for passing another week. It will probably consist of whatever mom is craving for dinner! (at least that is what I am hoping)
We had an ultrasound done on her today. Things look pretty good. She is of course measuring a little small for her age but I am sure it is not easy to grow when you don't have any room. She put on about 8 oz. over the last 2 1/2 weeks. They estimate her at about 1 lb. 12 oz. Like I said, a little small for her age but she is definatly growing and moving so we consider that all positive.
We are excited to be passing 27 weeks tomorrow and we now have our sights set on 28!!
The Meyer's
Sidenote: Labor and delivery beds are horribly uncomfortable!! I don't know if they do this to encourage you to get the baby out so you can get off the bed or if they are saving on cost and hoping that a laboring mom won't notice since she is in horrific pain anyway.
Anyway, by Monday the baby looked pretty good and things seemed to have calmed down. She behaved pretty well all day and they finally told us we could come back to antipartum last night. We were very excited. Not only so I could get back to a more comfortable bed but just to be that extra step away from delivery.
Tomorrow will be 27 weeks! Gosh that sounds alot better than 24 weeks. We will be having some sort of celebration for passing another week. It will probably consist of whatever mom is craving for dinner! (at least that is what I am hoping)
We had an ultrasound done on her today. Things look pretty good. She is of course measuring a little small for her age but I am sure it is not easy to grow when you don't have any room. She put on about 8 oz. over the last 2 1/2 weeks. They estimate her at about 1 lb. 12 oz. Like I said, a little small for her age but she is definatly growing and moving so we consider that all positive.
We are excited to be passing 27 weeks tomorrow and we now have our sights set on 28!!
The Meyer's
Sunday, February 8, 2009
One week further...
We passed 26 weeks without a hitch! We had an ultrasound again on Wednesday and it showed much of the same, a cute little baby with no fluid. Just to show us a little of her personality she did stick her tounge out at us twice. I love that she is spunky and strong now but I am beginning to wonder if that will translate into her being a force to contend with later. I guess we will worry about it then.
Friday I had a really good friend fly in from Portland to spend the day. It was a great day. Thanks again Brenda! We also received some delicious dinners and snacks this week. You guys are awsome! We really appreciate the great food and the thought.
Other than that Kevin and I have spent most of the weekend here in "our apartment downtown" aka hospital room. The baby has given us a few worries over the last two days but she seems to bounce back each time. The doctors are just going to keep a closer eye on her for a while. My contractions have picked up a bit. Not to the point of requiring medication, but enough to stress us out a bit. Fortunately, for me, they aren't painful I can just tell they are there. So we are glad to monitor her more and so far she is doing well, so nothing to worry about.
For now we will continue to play the waiting game and we are looking at 27 weeks just a few days away. I think we will have a celebration Wednesday if we make it.
I hope you all are doing well. Thank you for the postive thoughts and prayers.
The Meyer's
Friday I had a really good friend fly in from Portland to spend the day. It was a great day. Thanks again Brenda! We also received some delicious dinners and snacks this week. You guys are awsome! We really appreciate the great food and the thought.
Other than that Kevin and I have spent most of the weekend here in "our apartment downtown" aka hospital room. The baby has given us a few worries over the last two days but she seems to bounce back each time. The doctors are just going to keep a closer eye on her for a while. My contractions have picked up a bit. Not to the point of requiring medication, but enough to stress us out a bit. Fortunately, for me, they aren't painful I can just tell they are there. So we are glad to monitor her more and so far she is doing well, so nothing to worry about.
For now we will continue to play the waiting game and we are looking at 27 weeks just a few days away. I think we will have a celebration Wednesday if we make it.
I hope you all are doing well. Thank you for the postive thoughts and prayers.
The Meyer's
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
The Bird's Eye View
It is even fun for ME to read Angie's postings because it is interesting to see things from her perspective, as warped as it is sometimes. Just kidding! We are both very excited to have reached 26 weeks. I'm not sure either one of us thought we could get here when we started, but now that we are we want so much more. 28 weeks. Maybe even 30 or more weeks. At the rate we're going we might make it, but we both know that things could turn pretty fast if Angie starts running a fever or something else happens. Instead of dwelling on any bads thoughts though, we just cherish every day that our little girl is able to put on more pounds and develop a little bit more. So we couldn't be happier to have made it this far and we rejoice with every passing week.
The weeks have actually gone by pretty fast, looking back from where we're at now. Of course, that's from my perspective, and I'm not the one that has to sit in bed all day trying to find things to keep me busy. Instead, I wander down to work or run errands in the evening. I'm pretty fortunate to have flexibility at work, so instead of going to my regular office I've just been working from our HQ office, which is conveniently located just minutes from the hospital. I can run over in the morning, come back to the hospital every day to share lunch with Angie, then head back for a few hours of work in the afternoon. We have so appreciated all the food everyone has made for us, it has really made my life easier not having to worry about that every night. And the visits Angie gets continues to brighten her dayk, so thank you all for that. We really couldn't have asked for better treatment here at the hospital either - both the doctors and the nurses have been outstanding and put up with Angie and me with ease. In actuality, we're probably some of the easiest patients they get, and they seem to appreciate that. The longer we remain ideal patients, the farther along we know we'll be, so we are happy to oblige. Of course, Angie does all the work, and from my perspective, I can't imagine how agonizing it would be to lay in bed all day, every day. You joke that you would love to spend the whole day in bed, but when you have to actually do it, day after day, it ain't very easy at all. Amazingly, she hardly ever complains, but instead takes it all in stride and just does as much as she can to keep our little unborn girl growing, right where she is. Thank you all for all your thoughts and prayers, and for all the help you have given us. We appreciate it more than you know.
The Meyers
The weeks have actually gone by pretty fast, looking back from where we're at now. Of course, that's from my perspective, and I'm not the one that has to sit in bed all day trying to find things to keep me busy. Instead, I wander down to work or run errands in the evening. I'm pretty fortunate to have flexibility at work, so instead of going to my regular office I've just been working from our HQ office, which is conveniently located just minutes from the hospital. I can run over in the morning, come back to the hospital every day to share lunch with Angie, then head back for a few hours of work in the afternoon. We have so appreciated all the food everyone has made for us, it has really made my life easier not having to worry about that every night. And the visits Angie gets continues to brighten her dayk, so thank you all for that. We really couldn't have asked for better treatment here at the hospital either - both the doctors and the nurses have been outstanding and put up with Angie and me with ease. In actuality, we're probably some of the easiest patients they get, and they seem to appreciate that. The longer we remain ideal patients, the farther along we know we'll be, so we are happy to oblige. Of course, Angie does all the work, and from my perspective, I can't imagine how agonizing it would be to lay in bed all day, every day. You joke that you would love to spend the whole day in bed, but when you have to actually do it, day after day, it ain't very easy at all. Amazingly, she hardly ever complains, but instead takes it all in stride and just does as much as she can to keep our little unborn girl growing, right where she is. Thank you all for all your thoughts and prayers, and for all the help you have given us. We appreciate it more than you know.
The Meyers
Baby's first Superbowl!
You know how the government has declared every day of the year as the day of something. Well today it is carrot day! So happy CARROT day to everyone!!! Personally, having carrots as part of a cake would be my preference but however you choose have a carrot. Your eyes will thank you!
Well, Sunday was the Superbowl. We often go somewhere to watch the game and eat delicious food. Since our mobility was limited this year we decided to have our own celebration! We got some pizza, chicken wings (these were in no way a morbid reference to our little chicken), chips and salsa, and of course ice cream! Once Kevin showed up with the food I promptly asked the nurse for a Zantac and we began our party. We had some friends stop by...a party is not a party without some friends. Kevin even snuck in a beer. I am pretty sure the reception on your TV will cease to exist without someone drinking a beer during the Superbowl. Either way we had a great time rooting for the underdog Arizona Cardinals. Of course it didn't work out in the end but it was by far one of the better Superbowl games I have seen in years. On top of it we won $10 on a bet we made with Kevin's dad!! We will put it on your tab Art.
Other than that our life has been pretty uneventful. The baby has been doing great on her monitor cycles (knock on wood). She is moving and kicking a good portion of the day. I don't know if this is normal or if I just feel every twitch she makes but I think she is getting plenty of exercise. Kevin has taken me on two wheelchair rides over the last few days. It has been great to get beyond these 4 walls and get some fresh air. However, his idea to optimize the distance we could cover on our excursions by tying the wheelchair to the back of the truck is still not my favorite!
Tomorrow will make 26 weeks! Thanks to eveyone. Your love and support has been key in getting us this far!
The Meyer's
Well, Sunday was the Superbowl. We often go somewhere to watch the game and eat delicious food. Since our mobility was limited this year we decided to have our own celebration! We got some pizza, chicken wings (these were in no way a morbid reference to our little chicken), chips and salsa, and of course ice cream! Once Kevin showed up with the food I promptly asked the nurse for a Zantac and we began our party. We had some friends stop by...a party is not a party without some friends. Kevin even snuck in a beer. I am pretty sure the reception on your TV will cease to exist without someone drinking a beer during the Superbowl. Either way we had a great time rooting for the underdog Arizona Cardinals. Of course it didn't work out in the end but it was by far one of the better Superbowl games I have seen in years. On top of it we won $10 on a bet we made with Kevin's dad!! We will put it on your tab Art.
Other than that our life has been pretty uneventful. The baby has been doing great on her monitor cycles (knock on wood). She is moving and kicking a good portion of the day. I don't know if this is normal or if I just feel every twitch she makes but I think she is getting plenty of exercise. Kevin has taken me on two wheelchair rides over the last few days. It has been great to get beyond these 4 walls and get some fresh air. However, his idea to optimize the distance we could cover on our excursions by tying the wheelchair to the back of the truck is still not my favorite!
Tomorrow will make 26 weeks! Thanks to eveyone. Your love and support has been key in getting us this far!
The Meyer's
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