Charlotte's Birth Story - May 14th to May 18th

I know it has been a while since I last posted, but as you can imagine, I have been busy with a newborn and an almost three year old!

On Wednesday, I was released from the hospital, but the NICU was gracious enough to give me a family room for the remainder of the time that Charlotte was there. This is not something they normally do, but I am so grateful they did it for me because I don’t think I would have been able to sleep on the NICU couch with my post-op recovery, and I wasn’t about to leave her and go home. Charlotte had her MRI this day and I worried myself sick all day long. Up until this point, almost everything I had been told about Charlotte was from Joey and my parents. I wasn’t “around” when she was born, and wasn’t there for a lot of the time they were talking to doctors about her state, the reasons she went on the cooling therapy, what they expected, etc. From the conversations I had with my family, I had only taken the bad things and had pretty much ignored all the good things they were telling me. To be honest, I suspected they were not telling me the truth because they were afraid I would not be able to handle it. After sensing my worry and negativity, Joey suggested that I talk to the neonatologist myself and get him to tell me Charlotte’s story from start to finish so that hopefully I would start being as optimistic as they had always been. This ended up being the best thing I could ever have done, and I only wish I did it earlier because it would have saved a lot of worrying.

On Thursday, the neonatologist sat with me for what seemed like an hour and went over Charlotte’s story from the very beginning. He was able to get me to better comprehend that although there were some negatives in her story (born with an APGAR of 2, cooling therapy, etc.), that all signs were pointing to a good outcome. Charlotte recovered from her APGAR score quickly, was able to breathe on her own quickly, and the cooling therapy was only a precaution. He also explained that an older child and adult can only go so long without oxygen before permanent brain damage (I think 3-5 minutes, but I could be getting it completely wrong), but that newborns were much tougher and could go longer before permanent damage occurred. So the fact that I was fine, and my brain seemed “normal” was a very good sign for Charlotte. Another thing he explained was that during times of distress, a baby’s body would naturally take from less vital organs (kidneys, intestines, etc.) before taking from the brain and the heart. So the fact that Charlotte was eating great, had no issues with wet and dirty diapers, and had no other signs of damage to those “less vital” organs, was also a terrific sign for her brain development. After hearing these things, I immediately knew that God was great and had complete control of the situation. How awesome is it that He makes newborn babies so tough, and that their bodies instinctively know which organs to take from first. She had her EEG done and we waited not so patiently for the results to come on Friday. Also on Thursday, she was able to come off of the Phenobarbital, the medicine that had been keeping her more in a sedative state.

 

 

The great thing about being in Birmingham is that we have access to some of the greatest specialized doctors in the nation. One of those is a pediatric neurologist, Dr. Mathisen. He sees almost every patient in Birmingham with any neurological issues, but also sees many cases from around the US. On Friday he was scheduled to be at Brookwood from about 11-2, so we knew we would see him and Charlotte would also be checked out by an occupational therapist to test her coordination and movement. Of course since we were waiting on pins and needles to hear the results, he wasn’t able to come until around 3 or 4. He reviewed the results of her MRI and EEG, and then came in and did a physical exam on Charlotte before giving us the results. In the end, her MRI and EEG returned normal results with no signs of permanent brain damage and he did not want to see Charlotte any further. We were not expecting this, as both neonatologists had told us that we would probably have follow-ups with Dr. Mathisen. So the fact that he completely released Charlotte from his care was such a great sign and a huge relief and blessing. Our pediatrician reminds us every time we have one of Charlotte’s well visits that most of the time neurologists are extremely hesitant to release babies from their care and almost always want to follow up, so Charlotte is a great exception to the rule! 

After our visit with Dr. Mathisen, Charlotte was able to move off of her NICU bed and into a normal crib. This meant that we were able to dress her and people other than me and Joey were able to hold her for the first time. She was also able to remove all of her monitors and the only thing we had to keep an eye on was her temperature (she had been under a warming lamp in the other bed) and her weight gain for 48 hours.  

 

 

 

 

 

Joey and I still stayed at the hospital Friday and Saturday night, but on Saturday we actually got out to go get Starbucks and we surprised Caleb by coming home for a few minutes. He was so excited to see me at home since he’d only seen me in the hospital and I had been gone a week and a half. He gave me a tour of the house, including his room and our bed “where you sleep Mommy”! We had a couple scares on Friday and Saturday where we thought maybe her temperature was a little low and were afraid she may have to go back to the NICU bed, but it ended up being a faulty user … don’t ask me to take your temperature! In the end, we were released on Sunday to go home.  It was such a surreal moment to watch Joey walk out of the NICU with our daughter, and to get in the car and be able to go home as a family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The past couple of months haven’t always been easy, but I think that is just life with a newborn and a two year old and not only because I was recovering from two major surgeries. The great thing about it all is that it has made me appreciate every moment so much more. I’m definitely not perfect and still get frustrated some of the time and have those “bad mom moments” that come with raising kids. But after I take a moment to step back from the situation, I am overcome with gratitude that I’ve been given the opportunity to continue my journey. To God be the Glory!