Almost there...

Isabelle is improving! The doctors say they're very impressed... We started giving her 10 mL of breastmilk every 6 hours... And have moved slowly but surely up to 20 mL every 4 hours! She weighs 4 lbs 4.4 oz now. The doctors have been discussing taking out her PICC line! She's having spontaneous stools (stools without having an enema) and we couldn't be happier. We've been here for 2 weeks now, and it's starting to really take its toll on me. I've even been accidently referring to this place as "home"... Don't get me wrong, the nurses are wonderful and the atmosphere is great. They do a lot to ensure your comfort. But the fact is, this isn't where I want to be. I'm not happy here and I can't wait until I get to take Isabelle home.
It is what it is though, and we've been absolutely blessed. My two favorite quotes have been keeping my head up lately...
"This too shall pass" & "you are equal to today's challenge"

Step by step...

Today, Isabelle got to have breast milk for the first time! It was only 10 mL, but she was extremely happy! She loved it and didn't spit it up like she did with the pedialyte. The doctors told us today that on top of her gastroschisis, we have to deal with her being "growth retarded" (she was small for her gestational age due to the gastroschisis) and the issues that can come from that... It's one thing after another, but I have faith in my little girl and I know she'll do just fine. Everyday she amazes me, and everyday I fall more in love with her (if thats even possible?? <3). She weighs 3 lbs 15 ounces now, 2 ounces up from her birth weight. I keep daydreaming about the day we get to take her home... It'll be soon, I can feel it. This whole experience has been so eye opening. I honestly feel like it has not only made me a better person, but a better mother, too. I appreciate the little things and the tiny achievements, and I've grown to be paitent... I've learned to take life one day at a time, to embrace the struggles, and to focus on the love and light in our lives to get us through the rough times. Everything happens for a reason, and if she never had gastroschisis, I would never have been exposed to all the wonderful people and experiences that we've come across. Step by step, we're overcoming more than this defect. The world has a plan for us.

FINALLY!

The waiting game is OVER. Izzy has pooped quite a few times, and they took out the suction tube and are now feeding her tiny amounts of pedialite out of a bottle every 6 hours. They put in a feeding tube this morning, but since she ate out of the bottle just fine, they took it out! So the only things Isabelle has on her now is her PICC line and her heart rate and respiratory monitors. No annoying tubes in her nose/mouth! Oh, and did I mention we upgraded to a crib this morning?

Check it out:


Everything is finally starting to look up again!

I almost forgot. I gave her a sponge bath for the first time last night. It was pretty hilarious. She cried at first, but with the help of her binkie and a made-up lullaby, she finally relaxed. 

I can pick her up without the help of a nurse now so I get to hold her at my own discretion (which ROCKS). 

I just want to thank everyone for all the support, prayers, kind words, and hopeful thoughts directed towards my daughter and I. Honestly everything has been going so much better than we had been told to expect and I can't think of any other reason for it than all the good prayers and thoughts being sent to us. Hopefully we'll be out of here sooner than later, but we're taking it one day at a time. 

The waiting game...

We're waiting for Isabelle to poop! We can't feed her until she starts pooping and the amount liquid being pumped out of her tummy lessens and turns clear. The doctors keeping telling us she's looking great and she's improving every day, but this little peanut is starving and everyone knows it. :( Now here's a question to all you moms out there... can you imagine trying to calm down a newborn that you can't hold or feed? It's torture. Enough of the negativity, though! Besides her being hungry, she is STILL doing awesome and improving! She's always very alert, and she draws you in with her huge, bright eyes. She lies there and stares around the room, with her hands up by her face and her legs all stretched out... if you can walk past her without acknowledging her, you're heartless. Today, Izzy is a week old! I can finally see what my parents mean when they say how fast time flies... I could swear it was just yesterday! It's so heartbreaking to think about the fact that you can never go back to that perfect moment in time, but it's reassuring to think about the years and endless memories to come. Tomorrow's Christmas Eve and we've got Isabelle's stocking hung up in her room. Kodie and I are gonna stay the night here with her, and play Santa for the first time. :') I'm planning on getting some Christmas movies and grabbing some hot cocoa from the parent lounge for our first little Christmas together. I know it sounds cheesy and I'm sort of a hopeless romantic so I guess we'll see how it goes. Haha. :) Sorry it took me so long to update, by the way. I've been pretty busy, and when I'm not busy, I lack the motivation to do anything (I take procrastination to the next level). A couple is leaving with their baby today, and I have to say I'm pretty jealous... Oh well though, at the rate time is flying by for me, we'll be out of here in no time!

"One less thing..."

"One less thing" is our new motto. Yesterday, Isabelle got taken off the ventilator! Which meant I got to hold her for the first time... If I got to pick one memory to hold on to forever, it would be that one. That one moment in time where everything stops, and you know you've just witnessed something so beautiful and so powerful that not even time can take away the impact. No one can describe the magic of having this tiny piece of you cuddled up against your chest, with one tiny hand resting right on your heart, and the warmth shared between you melting away every last bit of worry... It was beautiful. In that moment I found love. A love that goes beyond what any passage in a book, scene from a movie, or lyric in a song could ever describe...

This morning, Isabelle got one of her IV's taken out... One less thing. Now, it's a waiting game. She has to poop! Which could take several days... It breaks my heart, because she cries and cries because she's hungry, and we can't feed her. :( She's been so much more alert though, now that the sedatives from her procedure have completely worn off. She has huge, beautiful eyes that stop you dead in your tracks and make it next to impossible not to just cut off all the tubes and wires and run home with her. (At least that's how I feel, anyway) Santa is supposed to come today, but the blizzard is making his time of arrival unpredictable. I'll keep you guys updated later!

SUCCESS!

Isabelle's procedure went GREAT! They started at 9 am and it only lasted about 45 minutes and they didn't even have to take her to the operating room - it was all bed side. The scar is a little less than an inch long and she's doing awesome! Here is a picture of her right after surgery:

No more silo!!!!! We spent a few hours alone together earlier this evening, and it was absolutely magical. She was awake and alert and I held her hand and told her how proud I am of her for being so strong. <3 I finally stopped holding back my tears and cried out of pure happiness for everything we've overcome. Thanks to all of my readers for the wonderful support we've received from all of you. I'll write more tomorrow guys!

It's 7:30 am and I'm having a few firsts...

Today, I woke up at 5:30 on my own. If you know me well enough, you know that I'm usually in a coma-like state from the hours of midnight to 7. And waking up this early on a day I don't have to be at school?! Flabbergasting. And it gets better! I took my meds, took a bath, cleaned and organized the hospital room, pumped (A whole syringe full this time!! The other mommy's out there probably understand the excitement behind this one), tried waking up sleeping beauty, gave up on any hope of seeing him until at least 10, gathered my stuff, and marched down to the NICU to say good morning to my tiny bundle of love. <3 I brought some of her flowers down to her room, despite the voice in the back of head telling me that they probably don't allow them, and ended up having to hold back a few embarrassed tears when I had to leave them out on the welcome counter because they are indeed, not allowed. :( I think the most embarrassing part though, is having to walk them all the way back to the room in front of all the people who watched me bring them in. I'm trying to avoid thinking about that even though its in the very near future.... Anyways, Isabelle's nurse told me that she had to be sedated some more because she's so feisty! This made me giggle... I wonder where she gets her stubbornness from! ;) I have to sign a few consent forms once the surgeon gets here to authorize her procedure, which the nurse said is scheduled for around 3 this afternoon. However, she told me they were looking to do it a bit earlier, but she wasn't sure yet. When the nurses switched off they exchanged information on Izzy's current conditions and everything sounded pretty great. :) By the way, it's quite intimidating to have all the nurses constantly being in here and sitting right outside her glass windows... And it doesn't help that every person to walk by feels the need to stare into this room as if I'm in some sort of exhibit. I wish I didn't feel like I'm being constantly criticized and frowned upon... Besides all that nonsense, I'm so overwhelmingly proud of my daughter, I can't even explain it. She's been doing so great and she's such a fighter. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers today, she's gonna need it!

Surprises in Izzy's room...

Kodie and I were surprised to find a blanket and a hat and matching socks (both made by hand and small enough to fit her!!) from Project Preemie in her room. We also found a note from the hospital's Chaplain sending us prayers for Isabelle's procedure tomorrow. The wonderful support from all the wonderful people in this world have given us so much hope and strength for our baby girl!!

More good news!

Our little miracle baby has surprised us YET AGAIN! Not only is her bowel completely inside already (which normally takes up to a week, and only took a couple hours for her) but the surgeon told us today that she won't even have to be taken to the operating room tomorrow! Everything looks so good that he's going to stitch her up right at her bedside! :) She has been such a little fighter and I'm so proud of all the things she's already had to overcome. We hung up her banner of her name today and I'm gonna take her little Christmas stalking over there too (Santa visits NICU babies too you know! ;) ). I'm so thankful that everything has been going so well. She's truly such a blessing to this world and she's definitely got the world on her side! Keep checking back for more updates tomorrow after her procedure!

Welcome to the world, Isabelle <3

So, I can't sleep so I'm gonna blog! Today has absolutely been the most amazing day of my life. I laid eyes on my baby girl at 10:23 am after being here since 5:00 Friday night! Early Friday morning, we had an appointment with the perinatologist. We had our routine ultrasound, and when we went in for our consult, the doctor told us that she her growth hadn't progressed in almost 2 weeks and it was time to schedule an induction! She sent us to my regular OB office and we scheduled for Sunday night at 7:30. HOWEVER... Around 3 I started having stomach cramps, and around 4 I was vomiting, having diarrhea, the whole 9 yards... My OB sent me to the hospital, where they didn't do much for me and were going to discharge me... My mom, however, could tell my contractions were getting pretty regular and when I started to vomit WATER, called the OB from the hospital and explained the situation, and I was re-admitted, and they started fluids and a naseua medicine. Finally after a few hours, the contractions slowed and I was more than happy to go home. But my OB had other plans... She ordered me to be induced! So around midnight they started the induction process... I'm gonna skip past all the gruesome details, sooo... After a LOOOONG 30 some hours, my beautiful baby girl was finally born at 10:23 am, weighing in at just 3 lbs 13 oz at a length of 16 1/2 inches. They took her right away, and even though I had been expecting that, it broke my heart nonetheless. After just a few hours her surgeon came to talk to us... We got MIRACULOUS news! The process that usually takes around a week to replace the bowels had already been DONE! Her bowels are already completely on the inside, and now we're just waiting for her surgery scheduled on Tuesday!! She is doing AWESOME and has been alert and very feisty! (Takes after her momma already!) By the time I was well enough to walk to the NICU ward to see her, she was sedated because she was fighting all the doctors & procedures and they needed her to not be overstimulated. I cried (again) upon seeing her... I got to touch her little feet, and her daddy held her hand, and I even got to plant a kiss or two on that tiny little forehead. Later when I made a second trip down there, I was talking to her and she would open her eyes every time she heard my voice. <3 She's so itty-bitty but she's stable and looking SO good. The doctors seemed very impressed with her so far. She's my little fighter and all the prayers from everyone have definitely made an impact!! I'll keep you updated later, guys. I need to get to sleep so I can wake up and go back to her room in the morning <3 <3

Hi there!

Hey friends and family! I've decided to do a blog for Isabelle after someone who's baby girl also had gastroschisis suggested it to me! Hopefully I can keep this updated on everything so that all of you can follow along on this crazy journey ahead of us. For those of you who still aren't sure about Isabelle's condition, I'll give you a little run-down on the situation. Isabelle has gastroschisis. Gastroschisis is an abdominal wall deformity. This is one of a few abdominal wall deformities, and as the doctors explained, the luckiest one to have. Her bowels are on the outside of her body. No one knows what causes it, but it happens very early in pregnancy, before most people even find out they're pregnant.We found out Isabelle had this at my 20 week ultrasound, when most people are finding out whether they're having a boy or a girl. Ever since that day, things have been really complicated. I go to 2 different doctors now, which means double the appointments. The doctors were very calm about things, and assured me that this can be fixed, and that she has very high chances of making it through safe and sound. When she is born (which will be vaginally - the doctors suggested this is the best choice) she will be set in a bed next to mine. Her surgeon will attach a silo, (see pictures) which holds her intestines above her. She'll then be taken to the NICU, which we will be staying with her in. Every day, a few times a day, the surgeons will come in and squeeze the bowel down, gradually pushing the bowels back inside. After about a week or so, when the bowels is almost entirely inside, she will be taken to surgery to close it up. After that, we wait to see if her bowels are working (waiting for her to make a #2!). Everything goes from there... I know this is a lot to understand, but you have to know that is the SHORTENED version of things. Hopefully as all this is actually happening you can get a better idea of the process and how everything works. The most important thing is that the doctors have assured us that she has a HUGE chance of being okay. I ask however, that you keep her in your prayers. ♥ She is so precious and undeserving of the challenges awaiting her. I know she is strong, though, and I have faith in her. You can visit the following website for more information on gastroschisis! The site doesn't explain the surgery part accurately because the procedure she will be having is fairly new, and causes less problems for the baby than the older methods. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001987/



This is an example of the silo I explained earlier.