One year ago at 3:22 pm, Audra Jane was born. Seeing as we were a bit busy with our events, I thought we would share some to the details of the day.
When we arrived at the hospital, we were put in a small triage room and it was quickly determined that I was going to be admitted. So they moved me over to my room and I got settled in. Most of the morning we slept and sat around. I had only really moved into active labor in the afternoon and when I was ready to push, they wheeled us over to the OR. That is where c-sections are preformed and it is done when you are having a high risk baby as a precaution. It is also where there is close access to "the nest", which is an intensive care area for newborns that is separate from the OR. It allows for less people to be in the room with you. But there were still quite a few people in the OR with us. One of those persons was a nursing student whom I believe may never want to have children after what she had to witness lol!
Anyway, right after Audra was born and I got to see her, she was taken to the nest. My husband was able to go with her. Once they checked her out, they brought her back to me and I got to hold her. It was obviously very emotional for all of us at that point. We were able to take some pictures and Audra flipped off the camera in her true punk style :)
They then took her back to the nest and I had to go back to my room. I was able to go back to the nest but my husband was a lento stay with Audra the entire time. After I saw her again, Audra and my husband found their way to Audra's room on the 11th floor of the intensive care for cardio patients.
I was able to go up and see her after I used the restroom. It didn't take too long and I hung out up stairs as much as possible. In fact, I think our insurance should not have had to pay full price for my room as I do not think they made one check on me all night. Scratch that. I remember that one of my night nurses, May, came by and did a check of my blood pressure. It was high and she asked me if she should be concerned. My sister and I joked around about it but definitely thought she should be the one telling us if we needed to be concerned. They just watched it, although I am not sure it ever got measured again seeing as I was never in my room.
Anyway, this year we have a much calmer birthday planned for Audra. We are looking forward to celebrating her surg-iversary on Saturday and then having a big celebration in April for the renewal of her baptism :)
Life is good! We are blessed!
Until the next one year ago today post!
All the best!
P.S. Please leave a Happy Birthday comment for Audra so when she goes back to read this when she is older, she will have your comment! Thank you :)
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
One Year Ago
And so they start - the posts reflecting back on what was happening one year ago at this time. It is hard to believe that a year has almost passed since Audra was born but we have been given many blessings and feel very fortunate to be where we are.
One year ago today my oldest (and only at the time) daughter had a fever because of a virus. We were nervous that everyone else was going to get sick but luckily we all avoided it. I had had a non-stress test and passed despite failing previous tests. My parents were in town helping out and waiting to take care of our older daughter while my husband and I were at the hospital.
We all went to bed and then at 2:30 am when I got up to use the rest room, my water broke. I walked into the bedroom and woke up my husband. I told him that my water broke and we had to go to the hospital. He responded "now?" It was classic but I did just wake him up from a nice deep sleep. Anyway, it wasn't the first time I had seen Ann Arbor at 3:30 am :)
When we got to the hospital, we thought that I may need some medicine to help things progress along. But fortunately, they were not in any rush and I spent most of the morning relaxing. In fact, the resident on call in the morning let me eat a big breakfast. She must have known that I had until the afternoon and ice chips wouldn't cut it. I also blame her for introducing me to the yogurt parfait at the hospital, which was my breakfast for the entire time we were there and I still eat nearly every morning :)
Anyway, tonight was filled with present wrapping, cake making and decorating so we cannot complain one bit! It has been a very long year that has gone by so quickly. We treasure each moment!
Thank you for your love and support over this past year! It has really meant a lot to us!
One year ago today my oldest (and only at the time) daughter had a fever because of a virus. We were nervous that everyone else was going to get sick but luckily we all avoided it. I had had a non-stress test and passed despite failing previous tests. My parents were in town helping out and waiting to take care of our older daughter while my husband and I were at the hospital.
We all went to bed and then at 2:30 am when I got up to use the rest room, my water broke. I walked into the bedroom and woke up my husband. I told him that my water broke and we had to go to the hospital. He responded "now?" It was classic but I did just wake him up from a nice deep sleep. Anyway, it wasn't the first time I had seen Ann Arbor at 3:30 am :)
When we got to the hospital, we thought that I may need some medicine to help things progress along. But fortunately, they were not in any rush and I spent most of the morning relaxing. In fact, the resident on call in the morning let me eat a big breakfast. She must have known that I had until the afternoon and ice chips wouldn't cut it. I also blame her for introducing me to the yogurt parfait at the hospital, which was my breakfast for the entire time we were there and I still eat nearly every morning :)
Anyway, tonight was filled with present wrapping, cake making and decorating so we cannot complain one bit! It has been a very long year that has gone by so quickly. We treasure each moment!
Thank you for your love and support over this past year! It has really meant a lot to us!
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Update
Sorry for the delay in an update. Audra had her appointment with her cardiologist last Friday. We didn't get to update after that because the stomach flu hit our house that same day and we have been recovering and getting back into things since then.
The cardiology appointment went well. Audra's heart function looks good and she cooperated for most of the appointment. We are on track to have her third surgery about a year from now - around her second birthday. Of course, Audra is in control of this and may tell us if she needs to have this surgery sooner. But for now, we are planning on March of 2014 for her surgery. Some centers do the third surgery later, but UofM has not found compelling reasoning to do so.
The stomach flu struck my husband, older daughter and nanny first. Audra only had a mild case and didn't vomit. She did loose weight but we kept her from getting dehydrated She is now back to gaining weight and eating like she is making up for lost time (or perhaps just lost weight). When everyone else was on the mend, I got it. But it was short lived.
Audra is cutting another tooth and may be getting two more on the bottom jaw. She has been handling all these new teeth pretty well, considering she has gotten 4 teeth in 2 weeks with potentially 2 more coming in. She is really a tough little cookie :)
We are also happy to report that Audra had her last shot against RSV for the season. It isn't a fun trip into the doctor's for that (although our older daughter always wants to go and get a shot of her own). Audra will have to get the monthly shots again next winter but we are glad that the season is almost over and we have fared well.
We cannot believe it is already March. Soon enough we will be starting the "one year ago today" type posts. Things have changed so much for us in the last year that it will be great to reflect on the differences from a year ago.
The cardiology appointment went well. Audra's heart function looks good and she cooperated for most of the appointment. We are on track to have her third surgery about a year from now - around her second birthday. Of course, Audra is in control of this and may tell us if she needs to have this surgery sooner. But for now, we are planning on March of 2014 for her surgery. Some centers do the third surgery later, but UofM has not found compelling reasoning to do so.
The stomach flu struck my husband, older daughter and nanny first. Audra only had a mild case and didn't vomit. She did loose weight but we kept her from getting dehydrated She is now back to gaining weight and eating like she is making up for lost time (or perhaps just lost weight). When everyone else was on the mend, I got it. But it was short lived.
Audra is cutting another tooth and may be getting two more on the bottom jaw. She has been handling all these new teeth pretty well, considering she has gotten 4 teeth in 2 weeks with potentially 2 more coming in. She is really a tough little cookie :)
We are also happy to report that Audra had her last shot against RSV for the season. It isn't a fun trip into the doctor's for that (although our older daughter always wants to go and get a shot of her own). Audra will have to get the monthly shots again next winter but we are glad that the season is almost over and we have fared well.
We cannot believe it is already March. Soon enough we will be starting the "one year ago today" type posts. Things have changed so much for us in the last year that it will be great to reflect on the differences from a year ago.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
11 Months Old Today!
Audra is 11 months old today!! It is hard to believe. We have had a bumpy road but things are going well. Audra has a cardio appointment on Friday, and hopefully there will be no news from that. We will update more after that.
In the past month, Audra has been busy. She has cut three teeth with another on the way shortly, she started crawling, she officially says mama :) and she is looking less like a baby and more like a toddler. We are so proud that she is doing so well and feel so blessed. We count our blessings every day!
All the best!
In the past month, Audra has been busy. She has cut three teeth with another on the way shortly, she started crawling, she officially says mama :) and she is looking less like a baby and more like a toddler. We are so proud that she is doing so well and feel so blessed. We count our blessings every day!
All the best!
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Congenital Heart Defect Awareness - Day 8
Happy Heart Day! We hope you make this a special day and remember those whose hearts are not as healthy. On the final day of Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) Awareness Week, we are bringing you some facts about CHDs - some you may know and some you may not.
Shaun White as born with a Tetralogy of Fallot, a CHD for which he endured two open-heart operations before the age of one. This is the same CHD that our nanny's son has. Our nanny told us a story of a man who was in his 70's with Tetralogy of Fallot (ToF) and never had any surgical intervention. He only found out that he had ToF when he got his oxygen saturation measured and had lived his entire life with a much lower oxygen saturation level.
You never know who you will meet that has been affected by a CHD. I personally know 3 friends, 2 friends from high school, and 1 sorority sister who all have a child with a CHD - that I did not know about before our daughter was born with a CHD. This is in addition to those we have met because of our involvement in the CHD community.
John Ritter died of an undiagnosed CHD.
Max Page, the boy who played Darth Vader in the VW Super Bowl Commercial in 2011, has ToF and had surgery on the same day that Audra had her catheterization in June of 2012.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick supports CHDs because his parents lost two babies to CHDs before they adopted him. Here is the story: Kaepernicking for Kids.
There is no known reason for most CHDs, including HLHS. Greg Olsen, Carolina Panthers tight end, had a son in October of 2012 with HLHS. Here is the story: TJ Olsen Comes Home.
Shaun White as born with a Tetralogy of Fallot, a CHD for which he endured two open-heart operations before the age of one. This is the same CHD that our nanny's son has. Our nanny told us a story of a man who was in his 70's with Tetralogy of Fallot (ToF) and never had any surgical intervention. He only found out that he had ToF when he got his oxygen saturation measured and had lived his entire life with a much lower oxygen saturation level.
You never know who you will meet that has been affected by a CHD. I personally know 3 friends, 2 friends from high school, and 1 sorority sister who all have a child with a CHD - that I did not know about before our daughter was born with a CHD. This is in addition to those we have met because of our involvement in the CHD community.
John Ritter died of an undiagnosed CHD.
Max Page, the boy who played Darth Vader in the VW Super Bowl Commercial in 2011, has ToF and had surgery on the same day that Audra had her catheterization in June of 2012.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick supports CHDs because his parents lost two babies to CHDs before they adopted him. Here is the story: Kaepernicking for Kids.
There is no known reason for most CHDs, including HLHS. Greg Olsen, Carolina Panthers tight end, had a son in October of 2012 with HLHS. Here is the story: TJ Olsen Comes Home.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Congenital Heart Defect Awareness - Day 7
Today is day 7 of Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week and we are checking back in with Meghan Roswick. Meg has provided a ton of inspiration over the past year for us through her public Facebook page. We follow along with her and her normal life. She is training now to run the Cincinnati Heart Mini Marathon, which is the same race my sister was training for until she broke her ankle.
Last year, Meg posted a video about a typical day in her life. She has a very normal life for a college kid, which is awesome to hear. In the video below, she shares her top 10 worst and best things about having HLHS. It is great to see that she has such a positive outlook on life even after giving out the 10 bad things. It also made my heart melt to hear that she got the okay from her cardiologist to have kids.
Last year, Meg posted a video about a typical day in her life. She has a very normal life for a college kid, which is awesome to hear. In the video below, she shares her top 10 worst and best things about having HLHS. It is great to see that she has such a positive outlook on life even after giving out the 10 bad things. It also made my heart melt to hear that she got the okay from her cardiologist to have kids.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Congenital Heart Defect Awareness - Day 6
This is a special message from the CHD kids of C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. If you watch closely, you will see Audra and her friends Wyatt and Aly.
We hope you enjoy this “Mended Hearts” Valentine Greeting a few days early!
GO BLUE!
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