Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Colorado Children's Hospital - Day Two

We came in early this morning to have an amniotic infusion - basically putting saline in the uterus to give the baby a little wiggle room and to assist with surgery tomorrow. Prep took much longer than expected - they definitely take their time with everything around here, but in the end it makes me more comfortable to not feel rushed and know that everything is done right. 

I wasn't too nervous about the amniotic infusion because I knew it would be similar, in pain, to the bladder tap they did on baby back at home (which was horrible, but bearable), only an hour long. I was going to be given a mild sedation, which was reassuring too. However, when we got to the operating room I got so intimidated. The room was huge with tons of equipment and tools with 8 doctors and nurses waiting. I have been trying (miserably) so hard to hold it together - just everything going on in that room made me so nervous and I totally broke down. I felt so bad, but my cute little nurse said that it is a very common reaction. Luckily, the anesthesiologist got me hooked up very quickly and after about 15 minutes I was dozing in and out. The needle pricked for a second, but apparently I fell right back asleep after.

Because there was no fluid at all, they had to create a space to put the fluid - which is very hard to do. The main doctor in charge said often times they get a small amount of fluid under baby's skin or within the uterus walls, just because there is no space in between to put the needle. He said they were able to get in near the neck and shoulder and put in about 120 mL of fluid - which was enough to put about 2.5mm around the baby. Of course they would like much more fluid to be inside, but the more they stretch the uterus, the higher the chances of me going into preterm labor are - so they are very careful to only put in as much as necessary. The doctor said that after the fluid was put in, the baby stretched out his little arms. I can't wait to see how he does once he is swimming like he should be again!

After the amniotic infusion we came back to our room and I crashed for about two hours - half-sedated sleep is the best sleep ever! I got a better rest in those two hours then I have in a very, very long time. After I woke up, we had a little lunch and waited to speak with the surgeon, tell him our final decision, and discuss the details of the surgery. We also got to see the MRI pictures - which were so incredible to see. They are going to give me the images on a USB later and I will post some. We had about 5 hours of downtime before meeting with the surgeon, but it was nice to just be lazy and take it easy for a while. The room that we are in is very big and comfortable - and the nurses here are so kind and cute.

We made an appointment to check in tomorrow morning at 5:30, hoping to begin surgery at 7:30. 

After leaving the hospital, we headed straight to our hotel to try to get some rest for the morning. On our way into the lobby to check in, we were called by the hospital's McDonald house letting us know they had room for us. It was such an incredible blessing and came literally seconds before we needed it. $100+ a night on a hotel adds up fast, and the McDonald house offers a long-term stay at a fraction of the cost. Everyone here has a patient at the children's hospital, so there is this special bond among everyone - just knowing we are all facing some type of trial of the health of someone we love so much and doing our best to get though it. We have been so blessed by small miracles through these last few weeks - and I am so excited to witness our big miracle tomorrow!

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