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.