Welcome Home!!!

Actually, Paige has been home since Monday night--we've been slow to update the blog due to some extreme crankiness on Paige's part, and sleep deprivation on ours! But it's definitely been worth it to have her here with us! God has certainly blessed us with a miracle baby.

When we called to check in Monday morning, we were told to stay home until Meg, Paige's nurse, called us back. She knew that the neonatologists were planning to write discharge orders, so she advised us to do anything we needed to get done around the house (or just take a nap), because we would definitely be bringing a baby home later, as long as her labs were okay...and they were great! By some miracle, her platelets that had been on a slow drop over the 3 previous days were now back up to a very good level. The neonate team consulted a pediatric hematologist (blood specialist), Dr. Dickens, who we will see on Friday. Then all three of us will have our blood drawn on Monday, as a follow-up for Paige and also to finish checking for NAIT.

Another blessing this week has been the delivery of some very delicious meals from our church family at Trinity UMC, as well as from friends and family. Paige thanks you for keeping her parents well-fed!

Here are some of Paige's last pics in the hospital, and first pics at home!

Sweet P's Graduation Day

Yesterday was a good day. Matt had to teach Sunday School in the morning and Youth Group in the evening, so he dropped me off at the hospital and came back each time he was done. That left me with Paige for most of the day, which was fantastic. I arrived to find her swaddled in a regular bassinet, looking like a "regular" newborn--although she still had her telemetry monitor hidden underneath. We were able to breastfeed for FOUR of her feedings--and she did great! The NICU has a very precise scale that weighs the baby before and after feedings to find out how much she ate, and whether it's adequate. She did so well that they only need to bottle feed her if I'm not there!

At the end of the day shift, Paige "graduated" to NIM--the intermediate (step-down) unit. Although her platelet level had dropped, they're hoping that it will level off, based on the good results of her other labs. They'll be Fed-Exing her blood that was drawn Friday to Wisconsin on Monday to find out if she has NIATP (Neonatal Idiopathic Autoimmune Thrombocytopenia), and Matt and I may have to have our blood drawn as well, to see if it was an incompatibility between our blood that caused the problem.



Once again, we can't sign off without thanking everyone for your prayers, messages, cards, gifts, and visits. We are so thankful for every little bit, it really helps keep us going!

Go State! Go Paige!

We made sure that Paige was ready for the big MSU-Notre Dame football game by bringing her a great hat and socks...she also has a "Future Tailgater" onesie, but she wasn't able to wear it because she still had a central line (IV) in her belly button. Her nurse, Jane, was not such a fan of MSU, and was looking around desperately for a U-M hat; Dr. Gelfand, an Ohio State alum, was wearing his Buckeye jibbitz in his Crocs (which we'll let slide), but in the end it was Paige and her Spartans winning the day (great game, by the way)!

Paige had more victories on Saturday, as she tried breastfeeding for the first time! Friday night she had been throwing fits and crying all night, so much that Michelle, her nurse, had to get the secretary and other staff to keep her occupied so she could take care of her other baby! They soon found out that it wasn't a problem with Paige's health that made her upset, it was that she was HUNGRY...she was on a feeding plan that very slowly increased every few hours, but she did not agree! So now she gets a much larger amount by bottle, and breastfeeds as much as she wants every three hours when I'm there. Looks like she'll be growing fast--she's already 7 lbs 3 oz!

Another big win for her was that that central line in her belly button was removed by Saturday night! Dr. Gelfand feels that her platelets have stabilized enough, but had Jane draw a large amount of blood to send to Wisconsin for the lab work that will hopefully figure out why the platelet level had been dropping. We also got a hint from the nurses that she might be going home in a few days!!! Time to catch up on our sleep before she's home!

A Good Friday

When we visited Paige Friday, we had even more good news to celebrate--first, she took her first bottle feeding, and Mommy got to feed it to her. It was gone in no time, followed by a very full diaper!

The second bit of good news was the MRI report...Dr. Gelfand, one of Paige's neonatologists and our personal favorite, listened in on the dictation so he could get the results to us as soon as possible. The scan was good, except for one "tiny" area that could possibly cause delayed motor function in her legs. At the most, she might need braces or physical therapy, and might take longer to walk. But as of right now, the tone and movement in her legs is great, and the brain just might grow right over tiny little problem spot.

Paige did have another drop in her platelets, so she got another transfusion on Friday. Dr. Gelfand is considering sending her blood along with both of ours out to a lab in Wisconsin to check for a more rare clotting disorder.

Hopefully Paige will continue to tolerate feedings, and her labs will stay stable, so we can get her home in about a week or so!

Ground Control to Major Tom...

I (Nicki) came home late last night. It was very hard to leave the hospital without our baby in the carseat that's waiting in the back, but we know she's right where she needs to be right now. Another perk that made it easier to go home was that we got to really hold Paige for the first time before we left! She is now completely off oxygen, and the arterial line was removed yesterday, and she tolerated the removal well, so she got to leave her Giraffe (the special bed she's in) to hang out with us before going for an MRI scan of her head.

The contraption she was in for the MRI is really impressive--like a baby rocket ship! It's designed so babies will stay still, can still be monitored and have all the things they need connected to them (IV meds, oxygen, etc.), and not damage their hearing--they strap them in and run the whole enclosed bed through the scanner. Apparently she didn't mind it at all...now we wait for results.



We called before going to the hospital this morning, and learned of a few setbacks...first, her platelet level dropped too low again, so she'll need another transfusion of platelets (the stuff in blood that helps it clot). Second, she was not tolerating her feedings of breastmilk through her new feeding tube in her nose, so they have to stop until her belly absorbs it better. Hopefully these are just temporary bumps in the road, and we'll find the causes soon.

That's all for now...thanks again for the prayers--keep 'em coming!

Paige's Progress!

I know I need to be sleeping, especially since I'm going home tomorrow, but I just can't go without letting everyone know how well Paige has done today. She is now off the C-PAP, and was on nasal cannula (for oxygen) all day! This means we can see much more of her beautiful little face. While most labs still look good, some still need adjusting and monitoring, so the lines are staying in her umbilical cord for at least another day or two. Tonight she started getting TPN and lipids through her IV, which is a slew of nutrients and calories. Tomorrow we may be able to start feeding small amounts of breastmilk (but via another tube, of course). She also needs an MRI of her head, just to rule out any kind of damage from lack of oxygen before/during delivery (she's not showing any signs/symptoms).

One of the hardest things to deal with right now is that we still have not been able to just snuggle in with our daughter, and hold her like she's ours--without someone needing to whisk her away or having to watch out for equipment. But we're getting closer. In the meantime, we get to help the NICU RNs with her routine care: changing diapers, getting her daily weight, checking temperature, and wiping off her face if she needs it. Even though I also work in ICU, it is so very different from this miniature, fragile world. We thank God for the miracles that happen here, and the people he works them through.

Please enjoy these newest pictures...and thank you to everyone for your continued prayers, visits, phone calls, kind words and acts. Good night and God Bless.

Our First Night

Well after all the excitement of an emergency C-Section, and one of the craziest days on record for the Parrotts, you would have thought that was enough. Apparently Paige had a different idea.

Due to the fact that the C-Section was an emergency, our Midwife requested that the Neonatal ICU was in on the operation, and it turned out to be a good idea. Paige came out with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck 3 times, which made her very stressed. Immediately upon delivery, she needed oxygen to be able to breathe at an acceptable rate. The let me hold her for about 10 seconds, showed her to Nicki and then took her away. 

She initially went to the Intermediate ICU (NIM), where she was in an oxygen tent and monitored very closely to see exactly how stressed she was. She had an initial blood sugar reading of 7. A good number would have been 50, so they think with her being so stressed she immediately burned up all of her sugar and nutrients. After about an hour on NIM, things were looking good, but just as things were looking up, it got a lot worse. 

Around midnight on the 15th Paige took a big crash, they had to take her to the NICU immediately and put her on CPAP, a little mask that goes directly into her nostrils to provide oxygen but also force her lungs open. At that point she needed about 55% oxygen assistance. They also placed a central line (IV) and arterial  in her umbilical cord; the central line is able to deliver medicine and fluids, and the arterial line lets them continuously monitor her blood pressure as well  take blood for labs and testing, so they don't have to continually poke her. 

After doing some testing and running labs, the found out that Paige was having a problem with her blood clotting. Her platelet count was extremely low, so she received a transfusion of platelets and fresh frozen plasma. They also suspected she may have a viral or bacterial infection, which meant more tests and cultures drawn.  She's still getting plasma every 8 hours. She has responded well to the platelet transfusions, and her blood sugar is back up and holding steady with the help of a dextrose drip (sugar water) IV, so those two things are very good news. 

She is still on the CPAP, but she is down to needing only 30% oxygen. We still are awaiting some more tests on her blood and possible viral infections. She is still a very sick little girl, but seems to be getting a little better all the time. Here are some pics of her in the NICU, we ask all that you please pray for her and us, so that she will soon be healthy and we will actually be able to hold our little Paige soon.  

Nicki is also doing well, and we should be able to take her home on Thursday evening. Enjoy the pictures, and we will update as soon as we know more. 

09.15.2008

Paige Evelyn Parrott:

09.15.2008

6:35 p.m

6 lbs. 11 oz.

18 Inches

Today we welcomed Paige Evelyn Parrott into this world, not with out some excitement, but she is now here.

At 2pm on Monday we went to our Midwife's for a regularly scheduled appointment, since we were a few days past due she wanted to perform a stress test on the baby. We got the test going and right away our midwife did not like the way things were going, so we stayed for a little while longer to monitor both Nicki and the baby. Around 3pm we were asked to go straight to the hospital for a bio physical profile. At this point we were both freaking out a bit, mostly because we really had no idea what was going on or what to expect.

We went into the bio physical profile at around 3:15pm, turns out it was just a really long ultrasound, in this bio physical profile the baby is graded on a 8 point scale, needing 7 points to pass. Our baby only scored 2 of 8 points, which meant we needed to get her born ASAP. At this point our only option was an emergency C-Section.

We went directly from the radiology to the ER, and then straight in to Pre-Op, all in the span of about 1 hour. So at about 5:00 pm, they prepped Nicki for the C-Section, and we had baby Paige an hour later. As you can tell it was a rather incredibly chaotic, and scary day for us all.

Here are the first pics of Baby Paige.

The Big Day! Or not.

You know, due dates are funny. Just last night I was at work, and some people were freaking out that I was there...I probably would have been freaking out a few months ago too, because that was when I really thought I would at least feel like I was close to delivering around September 10, the Magical Due Date. But now, reality has set in--that due dates don't really mean that much, and that this is our first baby...meaning there's a good chance I'll be late. So I guess I will be going back to work again Thursday night...hopefully I get a really busy assignment, and if anyone codes, I'll be first in line to do chest compressions (and then hopefully I get a nice sleep Friday morning...then go into labor)!

We also have another appointment on Thursday, so we'll hopefully know better then how close we are to meeting our daughter. Stay tuned!

Waiting for Baby

Nope, no baby yet. Doesn't even seem to be in any hurry. It's only week 39, but everyone's been asking...in the the meantime, here's a pic of what "Mimers" has been doing to pass the time:

an hour later...