Monday, February 16, 2009

It's a girl!

I'm titling this blog with the good news of this week, although most of you have by now probably heard the not-so-good news that we're not in Florida; we're at Marquette General Hospital. Here's what happened: Thursday night, I noticed that my left ankle was sort of swollen. I didn't think much of it; I looked it up in my pregnancy books, and of course swollen feet and ankles are a very common pregnancy symptom. Still, at work on Friday, the ankle was on my mind all day. I showed it to a few people and sort of joked about my "cankle" - it looked like an old lady's ankle. Then I showed my coworker Grace, who is a nurse. She looked at my ankle and said "how far along are you?" I said "six months", and she was like, "why don't you come down to my office and I'll check your blood pressure?" So I did, and she did, and I don't think it was that bad, but she said maybe I should call my doctor, just in case, especially since I was leaving on vacation the next day. That was Friday morning. I debated about it all day and finally called Dr. Hafeman's office at about 2. I ended up going in, and after Dr. Hafeman checked my blood pressure and my pee, she started to act serious. Apparently I had protein in my pee, and my blood pressure was somewhat elevated. She sent me back over to the hospital for some more tests, and next thing you know, I was admitted, then they told me I had to spend the night. Josh went home and took care of cancelling all of our flight/hotel/campground reservations. Saturday, they did some blood tests, and apparently some numbers had taken a turn for the worse, which prompted an ambulance ride to Marquette. So here I sit.

What I have is called preeclampsia. My body is basically rejecting the pregnancy, and the only cure for it is delivery. This condition is much more common in later pregnancy, and I think a lot of times when women get it at 32, 34, 46 weeks, they just go for delivery. But, obviously Baby Jenson is only 26 weeks, so she would really benefit from a little more time to grow and mature. So I guess it's a sort of balancing act between my health, and keeping the baby in there as long as possible. But I feel quite well, and so for now it's just a waiting game. Basically, I'm on bed rest here at the MGHS OB department. Every day, they check my blood for the platelet level, and they check my pee for the amount of protein and just how much I am peeing. I have to pee in this thing so they can save it all-ew. They also check my blood pressure several times a day, as well as the baby's heartrate. So they look at all these numbers, and basically if the numbers go bad then I have to deliver; if they hold steady, then Baby J gets another day to grow. And the doctors say delivery could be tomorrow or it could be in 6 weeks; it just depends...on all these random numbers that I can't control. So, it's just a waiting game now.

We did decide to find out the sex, and we've got a little girl! Totally the opposite of what we thought, from the peeks we had at that second ultrasound. That was very exciting news. We really had no preference, and it's fun now to call the baby "she" rather than "it"! Also, the fact that she's a girl helps her prognosis, because apparently girls who are born premature do better than boys. In addition to that, they gave me some steroid shots (in the ass-ow!) that help develop her lungs. So hopefully these things will help. No matter what, though, it seems that I'm in Marquette for the duration, because they have a NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) here.

Whew, this was a long post- lots of information! And it's taken me forever-I've typed the whole thing with my left hand because my right one is hooked up to an IV. I'll probably be doing updates more often now, since I have nothing else to do! Thanks to everyone who's called, sent flowers, emailed, etc. We really appreciate it. Here's a new photo, of me looking hot in my hospital bed! The notebook in front of me is a list of baby girl names - we have it narrowed down to 12 now. We'll be in touch...

13 comments:

Brooke said...

Hey Lindsay-
My mom just called me and told me your news. I just wanted to let you know that we are thinking about you and you and your baby girl are in our prayers. Congrats on finding out its a girl by the way, girls are fun =) Hang in there, each day is important like you said. I know my mom already told your mom this but if you need anything at all, please don't hesitate to call my mom. Her and my sister said they would love to help in any way they can. Take care and we'll keep checking for updates.

Lois Bell said...

Hi Linds. I was so relieved to hear from you on the blog, also from your mom's e-mail. I don't know if this will reach you but we are thinking about all of you every minute. Hang in there. Every day is a plus. More later. Love y'all. G'ma

Amy said...

Josh & Linds! I'm so sorry again this is happening to you guys - please know we are thinking of you here. Just hang in there with little girl Baby J & think positively... we are too. I'm so excited it's a girl!! Very fun. Love you guys.... Amy & Mark.

Lois Bell said...

Good morning Linds, Josh, and Baby J. Just talked to Judy and everything looks ok for today. Good news. We send lots of love--G'pa too. G'ma

Camhartnell said...

You were so calm and positive on the phone Lindsay - way to go!
From your next-door-cheerleading-squad - cam and Liz

Camhartnell said...

****
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A flower from us (I hope it turns out C&L)

Sethro said...

Wow. A blog. How bloggy. I feel I should talk about Obama. He's cool.
I'm glad to hear that things have stabilized and now a a simple matter of checking pee matter. Hopefully this isn't too annoying. Scouty is extra pouty. She really misses you but seems to forget as soon as I open the door. Outside is always bliss. But on return she checks her smile at the door. I guess I'm not as cool as Obama.
Rack up the days Lindsay!
Seth and Pout...er...Scout.

Katie Matzke said...

Hi, Linds
I can't imagine what you must be going through right now! We are praying for you guys and your baby girl. Hang in there, Linds!!!
Love ya,
Katie

Lisa D. said...

Linds,
Glad to hear everything is stable and that she can stay right where she is and continue to grow and mature. We are thinking about you and sending lots of love and positive thoughts your way.

Love,
Lisa and all

Ruth said...

Hey Linds, Josh and Baby J:
We are definitely coming on Saturday morning, and will be staying the night at Pete and Lela's. I'm not sure what time we'll get to the hospital, but we'll give you guys a ring when we find out. We hope that you are all still doing well. Talk to you soon.
Love, Ruth and Chad

Emily and Andy Houston said...

Hi Linds & Josh,
Just wanted you to know that Andy and I are thinking about you. So sorry to hear about all this, hang in there though! And yay, it's a girl!! Congrats! I just know you will all be fine. Take care and don't get too bored!
Love,
Emily and Andy

Amy said...

Haha - Seth - whoever you are... you totally made me laugh. Go Obama. I love you Lindsay!

katy gray said...

well shit dude!

We are thinking of you and Milo wanted to let baby J know how cool it is in the womb in the later weeks and how she won't want to miss out on all that fun.

Have Josh go stock up on a shitload of DVDs and books so you don't go insane; I thought I was going to go nuts on one day of bedrest and I was at home! I hope they have good room service....