For Mother's Day, Owen's Miracle got to deliver special bracelets to two NICUs. We were so excited to do this for the moms again this year. We decided to make the trip into a special visit day. I text one of owen's NICU primary nurses, who is basically a part of our family now, and asked if she would like to spend the day with us. She said yes! And even invited the other primaries to join us! Some couldn't make it but we were so excited to get to spend some time catching up with Vera and Janie! I can't begin to explain how blessed we are to know these wonderful nurses. But, they are more than nurses to us. They are family. Aunts, second mothers. . . Whatever you want to call them, they are special. Janie was the nurse to take care of Owen the morning after his emergent NEC removal surgery. These nurses have stuck by us, through everything and will always be family.
Showing posts with label NICU. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NICU. Show all posts
Monday, May 13, 2013
Monday, December 17, 2012
Memory Monday - 6 month photo shoot
In February 2010, Owen was 6 months old. His nurse helped me put some together a mini photo shoot in his crib with a old car seat. We covered it with blankets to make a little backdrop type thing. These pictures represent sooo much. Owen had just survived the unimaginable. He had his bowel re-connection surgery in the beginning of January, got RSV 3 days later, was horribly sick. He required the oscillator and having seizures. When he finially kicked the illness and was looking better, he got parainfluenza which put him back into deep water. We were so worried for our little guy. He just kept getting sick and his immune system was not stong enough to fight it all off.
However, this little trooper sustained it all and kept fighting for life. Look at that beautiful face! Just two weeks after recovering from the flu and he looks so happy!
However, this little trooper sustained it all and kept fighting for life. Look at that beautiful face! Just two weeks after recovering from the flu and he looks so happy!
We decided to put a hat on him to cover up his ugly picc line in his head :)
In the middle of the photo shoot Owen decided to rip out his NG tube (which wasn't feeding him anything at the time, but instead, draining his stomach because he was still sick). So, we got a couple shots of his clean face!
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Prematurity Awareness Day
Preemie Mother's Oath
There are women that become mothers without effort,
without thought,
without patience or loss and though they are good mothers and love their children,
I know that I will be better.
I will be better not because of genetics, or money or that I have read more books
but because I have struggled and toiled for this child.
I have sat in the NICU and waited.
I have cried and prayed.
I have endured.
Like most things in life,
the people who truly have appreciation are those who have struggled to attain their dreams.
I will notice everything about my child.
I will take time to watch my child sleep, explore and discover.
I will marvel at my surviving miracle every day for the rest of my life.
I will be happy when I wake in the middle of the night to the sound of my child,
knowing that I can comfort, hold and feed him and that I am not waking to a nurse taking another temperature, an alarm going off, another round of meds or because I am crying tears for fear of the unknown. I will be happy because my baby is alive and crying out for me.
I count myself lucky in this sense; that God has given me this insight,
this special vision with which I will look upon my child that my friends will not see.
Whether I parent a preemie with physical challleges or medical issues,
I will not be careless with my love.
I will be a better mother for all that I have endured.
I am a better wife, a better aunt, a better daughter, neighbor, friend and sister because I have known pain.
I know disillusionment as I have been betrayed by my own body.
I have been tried by fire and hell many never face, yet given time, I stood tall.
I have prevailed.
I have succeeded. I have won.
So now, when others hurt around me, I do not run from their pain in order to save myself discomfort.
I see it, mourn it, and join them in theirs.
I listen.
And even though I cannot make it better, I can make it less lonely.
I have learned the immense power of another hand holding tight to mine,
of other eyes that moisten as they learn to accept the harsh truth and when life is beyond hard.
I have learned a compassion that only comes with walking in those shoes.
I have learned to appreciate life.
Yes I will be a wonderful mother
Author Unknown
Our Preemie Miracle
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Happy NICU Nurses Day!
I had every intention of writing this post early this morning, however, the boys had other plans :)
Happy NICU Nurses Day!
NICU nurses are very near and dear to my heart, of course. I thank God that NICU Nurses exist and spend their lives caring for the most delicate and needy babies in the world. Thanks to all the NICU Nurses in the world :)
I want to take this moment to especially thank the NICU Nurses that chose to be Owen's primary nurses while he was in the NICU. A huge thank you to Janie, Tess, Shi, Vera, Christina, and Janis. You 6 women are so special to me. I have no idea how I would have survived Owen's NICU journey without each and every one of you.
This pictures is extremely special to me. If you don't know, Heath and I were married at the Oakland Children's Hospital Chapel. We were originally waiting for Owen's due date so that we could be married with him in the wedding. Well, when he came early we decided to wait to plan a wedding. After 4 months in the NICU with no discharge date in site, we decided to ask if we could get married with him at the hospital. They agreed! The social worker set it all up and we were married on Owen's due date. We were so happy that Janie, one of Owen's primary nurses, came to witness the occation
This pictures is extremely special to me. If you don't know, Heath and I were married at the Oakland Children's Hospital Chapel. We were originally waiting for Owen's due date so that we could be married with him in the wedding. Well, when he came early we decided to wait to plan a wedding. After 4 months in the NICU with no discharge date in site, we decided to ask if we could get married with him at the hospital. They agreed! The social worker set it all up and we were married on Owen's due date. We were so happy that Janie, one of Owen's primary nurses, came to witness the occation
I want to take this time to write a couple of stories just to show how special these women are to our family.
1. It was early January 2010. Owen had recently gone through his 3rd surgery to re-connect his intestines. Owen wasn't himself. He was lethargic and his oxygen saturations were dropping. I was holding him. It was shift change but Janie was his nurse that morning. All the sudden, a nurse comes running in saying, "He has RSV!" The nurse was clearly freaking out and the nurses started scrambling saying they needed to get him into isolation ASAP. I immediately started crying. I was holding Owen and I just got so scared. It was Janie's time to go home. But, did she go home? NOPE! She got on her knee and started comforting me. She started explaining what RSV was and what I should expect. She kept reassuring me that Owen would be ok and that we would figure out how to help him. She stayed with us until Owen was moved into the isolation room. She calmly explained everything that was going on and she didn't leave for home until I was comfortable. Janie is completely family. She will always be a part of our lives and I hold the deepest respect for her as a nurse and as a person. I love you Janie!
2. It was late January 2010. My Grandma had just died. Owen was in isolation due to RSV. He was on the oscillator for breathing (the oscillator is the strongest ventilator used in the NICU). His health was leveling out and I needed to be home for my mom during my Grandma's funeral. My primary nurses all made sure I knew they would let me know everything that was going on with Owen and call me with anything I would be worried about. Well, just after my Grandma's funeral was over, Owen began having seizures. Shi was his nurse when the first one happened. She called me as soon as Owen was stable and Heath and I drove straight to the hospital. When we got there both Vera and Shi were there to meet us. They were both supposed to get off at 11p.m. but stayed until we got there so they could let us know what was going on. They both hugged us and tried to calm us down. Vera started telling us that Owen had a total of 3 seizures and had heart arrhythmia's. They had no idea where these symptoms were coming from or why they were happening. These nurses were there to help us through it all. I have no idea what I would have done if I didn't have nurses who cared so much about Owen and our family.
We were truly blessed with the best NICU nurses anyone could ask for!
Happy NICU Nurses Day!
We were truly blessed with the best NICU nurses anyone could ask for!
Happy NICU Nurses Day!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Facebook Remembers
Does anyone find it creepy how much information we put on facebook? I know I put way too much about myself on the internet but it really is my way of communicating with family, friends, and sharing my family with them. Well, I never realized this before but, sometimes when you go onto facebook and are looking at a specific status, picture, ect. it will give you links to random status updates, pictures, or comments on the right hand side.
Today I realized that one of these links is titled, "On this Day in 2009". Well, 2009 was the year Owen was born. Facebook brought to my attention a status that I wrote on Sept 14th 2009. Here is what I wrote,
"our little baby Owen is back to his birth weight yay! However, its probably just because he can't poop. poor guy . . . he's all backed up. Tomorrow they will find out why. Other than that he seems to be doing well. He just needs to keep on growing :)"
On this day 2 years ago, I was excited. Excited for weight gain. I didn't see the signs. I was clueless. The words that stick out in my mind in this status are he can't poop. The words that really started it all. Brought us to the world Owen lives in today. It amazes me - this simple statement I wrote so innocently 2 years ago flashes RED at me today. He couldn't poop. He couldn't poop because he had a disease called Necrotizing Enterocolitis. A disease that the doctor said would go away on its own and that we shouldn't worry. Little did we know that 5 days from me writing this statement on facebook, Owen would be in an OR fighting for his life. We would be sitting in a waiting room listening to doctors tell us they will do what they can but that we should prepare for Owen to never come out. This all started with just three little words I was so naive about back then.
Thank you facebook for reminding me of the important things in life. I cannot change the past - even though I want to so badly sometimes (just to educate myself a little more - maybe I would have faught harder for the docs to transfer him). Today I am thankful and reminded that it could have been worse for Owen. He is with us, he is growing, he is learning - getting smarter every day, he is happy. I am so thankful that my little boy can poop! And I hope his pooping improves as he grows to someday be able to live without all the tubes.
I guess this was just a little trip down memory lane for me.
On this Day 2009
Sunday, August 8, 2010
NICU Reunion!!!!!
So, there wasn't actually a NICU reunion but it kinda was for us yesterday. Heath finally had a day off yesterday so we decided to take a trip to Modesto to go to the mall. We really needed to get out of the house and just spend some random time together . . . nothing planned, just doing whatever we felt like at the time. Well, we were just walking around the mall completing some odds and ends before Isaiah is born and we ran into Owen's first friend from the NICU! Her name is Anna. She was born in Modesto 1 day before Owen. They were placed next to each other the day after he was born. She was born at 1lb 4oz and was extremely tiny. Having her right next to Owen was somehow comforting. They were in the same boat and we were going to go through this journey together.
After 2 weeks we came into the room and Anna was gone. We had no idea what had happened and nobody could tell us. Well, a week after that Owen was transferred to Oakland Children's Hosptial. When we got there he went straight into surgery. The next day we came in to see Anna and her parents next to us! Well, Anna was sent home in december and now Owen and Anna are both home doing sooo well! We are blessed :)
Thursday, May 13, 2010
A few pictures from our NICU journey
Owen just after he was born. He is holding daddy's hand. 2lbs 2oz - so tiny. He was bruised from the doctors taking him out during hte c-section.
Owen lost weight after he was born. In this picture he was only 1lb 7oz.
This is a picture of Daddy holding Owen for the first time. He was such a happy man.
This picture of Daddy and Owen was taken after his second surgery. He did much better during this surgery. We were so proud of him.
This is Owen's first crib. He graduated from the incubator on November 9th. We were so excited to see him in a real babies crib!
Shortly after Owen's 3rd surgery he was found to have RSV. He went from a pretty healthy baby that was on his road to recovery to a baby that could die at any moment. I think this was the scariest part of our NICU experience. It was totally unexpected and there was nothing anyone could do for him. His body would have to fight it off. He developed seizures and heart arithmias during this time which made it ten times worse. It was devistating and extremely scary.
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Owen's first Christmas was spent in the NICU. We dressed him up in his First Christmas onsie and he was sooo cute. I was sad to leave him there and spend time with the family but thats life in the NICU, always having to leave your baby behind.
Owen recovered from RSV and then got the flu. In between the 2 viruses he turned 5 months old and finally was able to have his first bath! It was so much fun. He loved the water and didn't cry at all.
This was a picture taken during the last of 3 E.E.G.s he had in response to the seizures. The E.E.G.s never showed any signs of a seizure disorder and the doctors decided the seizures were simply a product of the RSV.
Owen was 6months old when this picture was taken. What a cutie :)
This picture is dear to my heart. These were 2 of his primary nurses. They were there for us every step of the way. We could not have gone through any of it without them. They were our rocks. . . we call them our nurse moms. They were all very special people.
Owen came home on April 23, 2010 - just 5 days before he turned 8months old. We were all so happy, and so was he :)
Our baby's NICU journey
My name is Kathleen and my husband’s name is Heath. When we found out we were pregnant we were surprised. We were not married yet and still attending college. However, we were excited. I graduated college and we moved to my hometown. The pregnancy was going great. I was working 40 hrs a week and felt very good. My last doctor appointment was great. There were no problems. Then I began having back pain. I didn’t think much about it. After a week of the pain, it got worse. Because it was Friday, my doctor’s office was closed so we decided to go to the hospital just to check it out. We got there at 2p.m. and they told us that those back pains I was feeling were actually contractions. I was 6cm dilated, my bag of water was bulging, and the baby’s foot was right behind the bag. They immediately transferred me by helicopter to a hospital an hour a way that had a NICU because I was only 25 weeks along. Heath could not go with me and had to drive. When I got there the doctor told us there was nothing they could do to stop my labor and he would have to do an emergency c-section.
Owen was born August 28, 2009 at 9:03 p.m. He weighed 2lbs 2oz and was 13.7in long. His first week of life went pretty well. He was intubated because his lungs were underdeveloped and he was unable to breathe on his own. He was very strong and didn't seem to have any major problems.
When Owen was 3 weeks old he was sent to a children's hospital for an emergency surgery in the middle of the night. He developed a disease called Necrotizing Enterocolitis or NEC. We were told that he was not going to survive surgery and we should prepare for his death. He made it out of the surgery alive but was extremely sick. During surgery they removed 60% of his small intestine. The next month he slowly recovered from his surgery. He was on a ventilator because he couldn't breathe on his own along with many IV's and many tests. Owen seemed to be doing the impossible. He just kept getting better and better. Then, one day, he started to get sick. They found that he had an ecoli infection in his blood which meant he had a hole in his intestine. He needed another surgery to remove more of his intestine. At this point the surgeon said that surgery would be a waste of time because he didn’t have enough intestines to live after the surgery. Heath and I knew there was no other choice – he was going through surgery. The surgeon was hesitant but did the surgery. He did much better in this surgery and they didn't have to remove too much more intestine. He had an ostomy bag which is a bag that holds all of his bowel movements. His intestines were sticking out of his stomach and emptying out into this bag. It was hard to get used to but soon became second nature to us.
For the next few months we were just there to watch him grow and waited until the day they would re-connect his intestines. He spent his first halloween, his first thanksgiving, and his first Christmas in the Children's Hospital NICU. On Dec 6th Heath and I were married in the chapel of the hospital so Owen could attend and be the best man in the first wedding he attended. Finally, the day arrived. The day Owen would be re-connected, January 6th. The surgeon was not hopeful that it would work. He believed Owen would need to be put on a transplant list for a new liver and a new intestine. However, when he came to talk to us about the surgery he said he was very impressed and was surprised to see how good Owen's intestines looked. After surgery it looked like Owen would not be in the hospital for much longer.
Well, things quickly changed. Four days after Owen's 3rd surgery he was found to have RSV which is a type of cold virus. Now, to us it would be just a stuffy nose and a slight cough. For Owen it was much different. He was very sick. He began to have seizures and heart arrhythmias. He was put back on a high frequency ventilator (the strongest breathing machine the hospital has). They were afraid he would not make it through this virus and there was nothing they could do. He had to fight the virus himself. We were so worried. The longest couple weeks of our lives. He looked like he did when he came out of his first surgery. He slowly started to recover and was taken from the high frequency ventilator to the conventional ventilator. Soon, he had 3 negative tests for RSV; we were in the clear. Things started to get better. However, a week after RSV was tested negative, Owen tested positive for para-influenza. Again, he was so sick. They tried to continue his feedings so his intestines would keep working but he got to a point where he was throwing up his own poop. They decided to stop the feedings until he was healthy again. Finally, at the end of February Owen tested negative for para-influenza.
When Owen got out of isolation for the second time we were concerned about his feedings. It went very slow but we were confident it would work. They only upped his feedings by 1ml every couple days. Slowly he went up on his feedings and down on his IV nutrition. In a little over a month he was completely off IV nutrition and fully on his formula feeds. He came home on April 23rd at about 8 months old with a feeding tube in his nose that continually feeds him so that he can absorb enough nutrition. We are so thankful to have him home and only hope, with time, we will be able to feed him orally.
Thank you all for your continued prayers and thoughts for Owen and our new family
Owen was born August 28, 2009 at 9:03 p.m. He weighed 2lbs 2oz and was 13.7in long. His first week of life went pretty well. He was intubated because his lungs were underdeveloped and he was unable to breathe on his own. He was very strong and didn't seem to have any major problems.
When Owen was 3 weeks old he was sent to a children's hospital for an emergency surgery in the middle of the night. He developed a disease called Necrotizing Enterocolitis or NEC. We were told that he was not going to survive surgery and we should prepare for his death. He made it out of the surgery alive but was extremely sick. During surgery they removed 60% of his small intestine. The next month he slowly recovered from his surgery. He was on a ventilator because he couldn't breathe on his own along with many IV's and many tests. Owen seemed to be doing the impossible. He just kept getting better and better. Then, one day, he started to get sick. They found that he had an ecoli infection in his blood which meant he had a hole in his intestine. He needed another surgery to remove more of his intestine. At this point the surgeon said that surgery would be a waste of time because he didn’t have enough intestines to live after the surgery. Heath and I knew there was no other choice – he was going through surgery. The surgeon was hesitant but did the surgery. He did much better in this surgery and they didn't have to remove too much more intestine. He had an ostomy bag which is a bag that holds all of his bowel movements. His intestines were sticking out of his stomach and emptying out into this bag. It was hard to get used to but soon became second nature to us.
For the next few months we were just there to watch him grow and waited until the day they would re-connect his intestines. He spent his first halloween, his first thanksgiving, and his first Christmas in the Children's Hospital NICU. On Dec 6th Heath and I were married in the chapel of the hospital so Owen could attend and be the best man in the first wedding he attended. Finally, the day arrived. The day Owen would be re-connected, January 6th. The surgeon was not hopeful that it would work. He believed Owen would need to be put on a transplant list for a new liver and a new intestine. However, when he came to talk to us about the surgery he said he was very impressed and was surprised to see how good Owen's intestines looked. After surgery it looked like Owen would not be in the hospital for much longer.
Well, things quickly changed. Four days after Owen's 3rd surgery he was found to have RSV which is a type of cold virus. Now, to us it would be just a stuffy nose and a slight cough. For Owen it was much different. He was very sick. He began to have seizures and heart arrhythmias. He was put back on a high frequency ventilator (the strongest breathing machine the hospital has). They were afraid he would not make it through this virus and there was nothing they could do. He had to fight the virus himself. We were so worried. The longest couple weeks of our lives. He looked like he did when he came out of his first surgery. He slowly started to recover and was taken from the high frequency ventilator to the conventional ventilator. Soon, he had 3 negative tests for RSV; we were in the clear. Things started to get better. However, a week after RSV was tested negative, Owen tested positive for para-influenza. Again, he was so sick. They tried to continue his feedings so his intestines would keep working but he got to a point where he was throwing up his own poop. They decided to stop the feedings until he was healthy again. Finally, at the end of February Owen tested negative for para-influenza.
When Owen got out of isolation for the second time we were concerned about his feedings. It went very slow but we were confident it would work. They only upped his feedings by 1ml every couple days. Slowly he went up on his feedings and down on his IV nutrition. In a little over a month he was completely off IV nutrition and fully on his formula feeds. He came home on April 23rd at about 8 months old with a feeding tube in his nose that continually feeds him so that he can absorb enough nutrition. We are so thankful to have him home and only hope, with time, we will be able to feed him orally.
Thank you all for your continued prayers and thoughts for Owen and our new family
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