A pretty good day and a good laugh

Little Mav has had a pretty good day today.  They are still working on weaning his epi.  He got his 2 right arterial lines out today as well as his pacer wires.  They are giving him a trial of pressure support on his vent and hopefully he'll be able to come off the vent tomorrow.  His blood cultures are negative so far, so hopefully this infection is limited to his incision.  These computers have been busy, so I haven't been able to post when I would like.  Hopefully tomorrow won't be quite as busy - I'll post more then.  jc

PS  Ok, Dorraine, I hope you don't kill me, but I got a good laugh from your story.  Hope you don't mind that I posted it...

Two more weeks... :(

Little Mav has been doing well since his closure, but we got some disappointing news this evening. When they closed his chest they sent a culture and it came back positive for some type of fungus. They haven't isolated the type yet, but he'll have to be on ampho-b (a strong anti-fungal given IV) for 14 days... So, we'll still be here for awhile. Hopefully he'll stay stable and won't get septic with this - keep that in your prayers. His abdominal drain was removed today and they're removing his two right atrial lines tomorrow morning. If he tolerates the removal of the atrial lines without much bleeding they'll remove the mediastinal tube tomorrow evening. They've been able to turn his ventilator rate down to 12 breaths per minute, and they're weaning his epi. If he tolerates it, his epi should be off tomorrow morning. More tomorrow. jc

He's closed!

Dr. M came in this morning and said he was going to close Mav today. He finished up at about 10:45am, and he tolerated it well. He's been out of it today due to the meds they gave him this morning, but he's starting to wake up this evening. He's looking more and more like himself everyday. Now we should be able to get him off the vent in a few days and start getting some of his tubes and wires removed. We are ready to hold this baby!
Another bright spot in my day - my friends Cindy, Mary and Michelle came down from OKC today and saw little Mav and we went to lunch and browsed around Central Market for awhile. It's nice to get out and laugh a little. Thanks for coming (we missed you, Donna!).
Really, there's not much else new here. He's still on his epi drip - they had to go up just a little after they closed his chest, but they didn't have to add any other heart meds! He's on a lasix drip, antibiotics, TPN and lipids. He still has 2 chest tubes, one mediastinal tube and one abdominal drain. His pacer wires are still in place - I think they will be for a few days, and he still has his RA line and his art line. I'll let you all know as we start losing things. We're hoping this process moves along quickly. We miss the kiddos and are ready to get home. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers - we're beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel! jc

Still open

Little Mav isn't quite ready to have his chest closed. Dr. M is coming in the morning to see if tomorrow is the day - if not, it will probably be Monday. We are close. Once he gets his chest closed things should start moving along a little more quickly. He started on feedings yesterday and was tolerating them well. Today the went up to 6mls/hr (a little over one teaspoon an hour - it's on a pump going continuously) and his abdominal drainage started getting cloudy - then his chest tube drainage started getting cloudy. It's called chyle and comes from his lymphatic system and basically it means he's not tolerating the fat in the breast milk... So, they had to put him on a special formula called portagen that has a different type of fat in it. He'll have to be on this for awhile, but they tell me to keep pumping - he'll eventually be able to go back to breast milk. Other than that it was a pretty uneventful day - YEA! Dr. M said we are at a point where Greg and I can get out of the hospital together, so we went to Target to pick up a few things and went to lunch. It was nice. The weather was beautiful. Have a good rest of the weekend. We appreciate all of you - jc

Blue eyes

Mav has had a good day, despite not getting his chest closed.  I told Dr. M that we are not pushing to get it closed.  I want it done at the right time and don't want them to have to re-open it if it's done too soon.  He's actually two weeks old today - it's hard to believe.  All the days kind of run together.  Last night and tonight he woke up around 8:00pm and stayed awake for about 45 minutes.  He's very content during this time and just looks around with his big blue eyes and listens to whomever is talking.  He's looking much smaller to me - his head is even starting to shrink.  Hopefully in the next few days he'll be back close to his birthweight.  Love you all - jc

No closure, yet

Well, they want to wait a little longer to close his chest. Hopefully by Monday. They are going to start some feedings today via a tube that goes through his nose to his tummy. He is still having good output, just needs to have more. Thanks for all your comments - I enjoy reading them. More later today - jc

Steady progress

Mav has had a good day. He had some issues with his heart rate this morning, but they replaced some electrolytes and he hasn't had a problem since. He's continuing to have a lot of urine output. They are just waiting to see how he looks tomorrow morning to see if he's ready to have his chest closed or not. I asked Dr. M if the 24-48 hours after chest closure are another critical time (like after surgery and when he came off ecmo) and he said, "yes, but not as bad." Hopefully, if they close him tomorrow, things will go smoothly this time. Keep him in your prayers.

PS Thanks for your funny story, it made me laugh, Sherry - yes, I remember you.
PSS I still haven't seen the nurses that I gave the leftovers to. I think one of them is back tomorrow...

More tomorrow - jc

Sleeping well

I just went in to check on Maverick. He's sleeping well and sucking on his pacifier (his breathing tube goes in through his nose, so he can still use his paci). He's had two stools since yesterday, so they may start some small feedings through a tube that they will place that will go directly into his stomach. Dr. M came in last night to see him and he was pleased with his progress. He's still having good urine output and has weaned some more on his lasix coctail. We'll just have to wait and see how he's doing on Friday to see if he's ready to have his chest closed. It seems as if he gets a little better everyday. Thanks for all your prayers - jc

HOW EMBARASSING

Ok - here's a funny, but true story that happened today. I told you all that I went to lunch with Dana at the Cheesecake Factory. Well, I got two pieces of cheesecake to go for the nurses that are with Maverick today. As we were leaving the restaurant, I had to go to the bathroom. I gave Dana the bag with the cheesecake. She had a bag already with her leftovers in it. Guess which bag she gave back to me when I came out of the restroom? Guess which bag I gave to the nurses? I got a text message from Dana this evening that said - "Sorry, I have your cheesecake". HOW EMBARASSING IS THAT? The nurses didn't say anything about it - just thanks and that cheesecake was good. . . I needed a good laugh. Now I'll have to redeem myself with the nurses. Can you imagine what they were saying when they opened a box of chicken and a half-eaten piece of snickers cheesecake? If you have another good laugh, please post it. I could use some more.

Little Mav is still doing well. It's shift change right now. I'm getting ready to go back in to see him. More later - jc

Doing well

Maverick had a good night and today has been good as well.  He's down 1 liter of fluid to date!  He's starting to look more like himself, although his little face is still edematous.  They have weaned his lasix coctail in half and he's still having good urine output. His nor-epi was turned off at 1000 today, so the only heart related med he's on is his epi drip.  Right now they are planning on keeping him on it until after his chest closure.  Hopefully we'll still be able to do that by the end of the week.  He still has his chest tubes and one abdominal drain and his mediastinal chest tube, but maybe they'll be able to take them out within the next week.  I actually got out of the hospital today.  It's the first time I've been on an outing since we've been here (I've been too scared to leave) - it's pretty bright outside!  My friend, Dana, from Durant came down and we went to the Cheesecake factory - yum.  Then we went to Barnes and Noble to get little Mav some books.  I run out of things to talk to him about, and the only book I've found up here so far that I like is Green Eggs and Ham.  I'm sure it gets old hearing the same one over and over.  He's starting to move a little more and has started sucking on his tongue again.  It's so nice to see him more alert.  jc

Little squirt with lots of pee!

The lasix coctail is working and during the 12 hour dayshift little Mav lost 500mls! His blood pressure is holding steady and his labs are still good. He's down to about 10 med pumps now! Dr. M is placing the picc line right now and is going to take out the left subclavian central line. His left abdominal drain is out, too. They're leaving him on minimal drips of epi and nor-epi because they said after the chest closure he'll be back on them for awhile. Dr. M says he may be able to close his chest by the end of the week. He has started opening his eyes and moving a little. It's amazing to see his little arms and legs shrinking - he was so puffy he couldn't have moved if he wanted to. Things are looking up. Keep the prayers going. They are definitely working. Love you all - jc

Fluid issues

He had a good night.  Vital signs are stable.  They were able to wean some more on his drips.  Now they're just trying to get some fluid off.  His weight went up again last night.  They have stopped replacing his output and are starting a "lasix coctail" this morning (several drugs mixed together) to try to get some of this fluid off.  More later.  jc

A good day

Maverick has had a good day today.  They are still weaning his epi and nor-epi, they are now only replacing half the fluid volume he's putting out every hour (it was being replaced 1:1 until this afternoon), and he's tolerating a lasix drip (a med to help get rid of the fluid) they started.  His heart rate and blood pressure have been good, his lactate levels are the lowest they've been since coming off ecmo (1.7), and his venous oxygen saturations are now in the upper 40's.  They have stopped the vecuronium (the medication that paralyzes him), so maybe sometime tomorrow he'll start moving and opening his eyes again.  The doctors are happy with his progress, but wish he was getting rid of the extra fluid more quickly.  He's going to have a PCL placed tomorrow (another type of IV access) and they're going to remove his subclavian central line and his UVC.  It's just better to have those out due to risk of infection.  The past 24 hours have been trending in the right direction.  We're so thankful.  More tomorrow - jc

Turning the corner

The rest of the night went well, and this morning has been good, too. They've weaned his nor-epi as far as they want and have started weaning his epi (they're both heart meds). His milirione (sp?) is still off (another heart med). His blood pressure and heart rate are still good. He's still having adequate urine output, and his chest tubes and abdominal drains are still draining. His weight today was 6.1 kg (over 13 pounds). His birth weight was 3.5kg (7lb 8oz), so you can imagine how puffy he is. He has a lot of fluid to get rid of, but all the doctors this morning seem optimistic. More later - jc

Cautiously optimistic

It seems that for now he is turning the corner. They have started weaning his nor-epi (one of his heart medicines) and he has stopped retaining all the fluid they give him. Yeah! Baby steps in the right direction. God is good. jc

One step forward - two steps back

A good night, then a difficult morning. Maverick had two chest tubes placed - one on each side for pleural effusions (fluid around his lungs). His coags (the parts of his blood that helps it clot) are a bit off, so they're keeping up with those. His heart function is still good as is his blood pressure. He is still very edematous and needs to stop third spacing (his blood vessels leak fluid into the tissues instead of keeping it in and processing it through his kidneys). Good news is his kidneys are still functioning well and he had 30mls of urine out this last hour. They have added more strong antibiotics. All of his cultures are negative, but they say he's a set-up for infection, so they're just trying to stay ahead of things. It's just hour by hour. Wish we could fast forward a few days from now. Dr. M. says he thinks he just needs time and he's encouraged that his heart and kidneys are functioning well, although he is still very critical. Keep praying. This whole experience has brought new meaning to "pray without ceasing" for me. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. Please forgive me if you've called and I haven't called you back. I just haven't felt like talking. I'll keep you all posted.

P.S. Mom and Brown left yesterday. The kids will be back at home later today and back in school tomorrow. I'm not sure they'll want to talk about all this too much, though. Thanks jc

a little bit better

Maverick's 6pm blood gas was the best of the day! He actually doesn't look better to me because he continues to be very edematous, but the doctor said he felt much better about where Maverick was tonight than where he was last night. He did have one episode where his heart rate dropped into the low 100's and they started the pacemaker on him (he still has temporary pacer wires in place since his chest is still open), but he went back into his own rhythm and he hasn't needed any further pacing. They were able to turn off the bicarb drip and the calcium drip this afternoon. Only one more fluid bolus has been needed today. We're just praying for a good night - one day closer to being out of the critical time period, hopefully. He's still paralyzed and sedated, so no more moving or opening his eyes for now. He just needs the rest. jc

raking leaves

Well, the rest of the night was uneventful.  This morning we were in the room when Dr. M and the PICU intensivist were making rounds.  Dr. M says that he is still very sick and they would like him to be improving more quickly, but if we can just maintain for the next 24-48 hours he would be happy.  Dr. M made the analogy (is that the right word?) that right now his care is like trying to rake leaves into a pile, but the breeze keeps blowing.  They've added more medications today - a hydrocortisone drip (another blood pressure med - he's currently on an epi drip, a nor-epi drip, and a milrinone drip).  He says his heart is "stiff"  the contractility is good, it just needs to relax so it can fill - then they can stop giving him the volume/fluid boluses.  They've changed his antibiotic to a stronger one - his white blood count is slowly creeping up.  They say they're just trying to stay ahead of things.  They're also adding some type of thyroid stimulant.  I've quit trying to understand everything.  I really think I'd be better off not knowing anything medical.  It just makes me more anxious.  I'm just trying today to look at the positives.  His urine output is still good.  His abdominal drains are draining quite a bit of fluid.  His blood pressure has remained stable and they've only had to give him two boluses of albumin today. I don't think he's had to get any blood today.  Thanks for the thoughts and prayers.  If you've tried to call in the past few days and I haven't answered, I'm sorry - I just can't talk about this stuff now.  It's just easier to type it out.  Love you all - jc

A bump in the road

Well, we had scare yesterday evening.... Maverick quit producing urine, then his blood pressure started dropping. He had gained I don't know how much weight - and was very edematous. Dr. Rhees (the PICU dr) did an ultrasound of his abdomen and found pockets of fluid that had collected. He placed drainage tubes in both sides of his lower abdomen to drain the fluid. That relieved a lot of pressure from his abdominal cavity and he had around 30mls of urine output after that. His blood pressure rose, his pulmonary function improved (his lungs started working better), and he is somewhat stable now. He's continued to make urine since this incident. Lots of answered prayers! He still has some heart issues and they're tweaking some of his meds (he has 17-20 med pumps going at any given time), but hopefully we're heading toward a more stable place. His nurse cleaned him up after he stabilized - his brown hair sticks up like a mohawk when it's clean. He's so cute - even when he's edematous. We appreciate all your thoughts and prayers. We know they're being answered. More later today, I gotta get some rest. jc

Off the pump!

YEA! He came off the pump without any problems this morning! Coming off ecmo means going back on a lot of drips, so they have been fine tuning everything this morning. Dr. M says the next 24-48 hours are the critical time period - just like after surgery, since his little heart is now doing all the work on its own. He looks good, and it's nice not to have the big machine in his room. Now I can see him on either side of his warmer. He woke up today as his nurse was giving him mouth care and stayed awake quite awhile. He was able to look at Greg and I and it seemed like he was really intent on all we were saying. It's the longest he's been able to focus - earlier in the week his eyes would roll around a bit. He was awake a little too long, though and had a little tear, so the nurse gave him some ativan to help him get comfortable and go back to sleep. He's so precious. His chest is still open, and they say he'll probably get a little more edematous before his swelling starts to go down, so they'll just have to wait a while to close his chest. He still has his chest tube, but the drainage from it is slowing down. We are very excited about how today is going so far. I'll update later this evening if I can. jc

How am I?

I've had several people ask how I'm doing. I'm doing much better since Maverick is doing well. The last several days have been like a rollercoaster ride - and add on postpartum hormones - you get the picture... We have been able to get some rest and my mom and Brown are still here. The kiddos are back with Greg's family. Our sweet friend Meredith is getting the mail and the dog is with the kids. Thanks for everyone's offers to help. Right now we have everything covered - I'm saving all of you for later! Hopefully the road will be short rather than long.

Now about Maverick - they have set the time to take him off ecmo for tomorrow morning at 0700. They have been weaning him all day and he's tolerating it very well. They will be adding more medications as they wean him off and will have to titrate those according to how he does. He's still adorable, but very swollen. He's still sucking on his tongue and moves his little hands and feet and opens his eyes. His chest is still open and he has lots of tubes and drains, so I'm not going to put his picture on here yet. Just remember how he looks above and when he's all better I'll post one from now.

Greg was talking the other day and asked if I thought he had any of his own blood left in his body. I said probably not. I told the nurse about Greg's question and she said, "just to give you an idea - on my last shift with him on Tuesday we replaced his blood volume twice." It's just amazing what they are doing here. I really feel like we are in the best place we can be and he's getting excellent care from everyone. More tomorrow - jc

good news

Yesterday we had a little setback. Maverick's blood pressure and heart rate dropped. They did a heart echo and it showed an accumulation of blood behind the heart that his chest tube wasn't able to drain. They had to open the chest back up (his chest was still open - so they just had to remove the membrane covering) and drain the collection of blood. Dr. Mendeloff saw a couple areas of bleeding and put a few sutures in. He tolerated the entire procedure well, then he had a good night. This morning they did another echo on his heart while they turned the settings down low on the ecmo pump. His heart function was very good, so they are going to start weaning him from the ecmo pump today. He could be off as early as tomorrow! We are so encouraged. The doctors and nurses are very happy with his progress. On a lighter note - if you haven't seen the family in awhile, we had my talented friend Dejah Quinn take some pictures of us the week before Mav was born. Her blog is www.dejahquinnphotography.blogspot.com scroll down a little and you'll see the whole family - and the belly. Thank you all for your prayers - God is good! jc

hanging in there

Little Maverick had a good night. Nothing has changed - which for now is good. He's still on ecmo, still has good urine output, and his chest tube drainage is decreasing (when they removed the clot last night it picked up a little, but nothing to be concerned about). He still opens his little eyes some and moves his arms and legs some. He's getting a lot more edematous, but it will get better when he comes off ecmo. They are planning on doing a heart echo tomorrow and turning down the flow on the pump while they do it to see how his heart is functioning. If it's doing well they will start weaning him off ecmo tomorrow! More later - jc

good night

Well, it's 10:00pm. Maverick is hanging in there. They have changed his blood gases from every 4 hours to every 6 hours since they are getting more stable. He is still having good urine output and his chest tube drainage has decreased alot. Dr. Mendeloff didn't have to open the membrane to check for bleeders. He's still getting a lot of blood and blood products, but everyone assures me this is fine. He's getting alot more swollen, but this is also to be expected after heart surgery. It's been a pretty encouraging day. The surgeon says he is doing well and they'll get a heart echo on Thursday to check his cardiac function and see if he's ready to wean off the pump. Thank you all so much for your comments, thoughts and prayers. Sorry I'm not answering each one, but know I 'm reading them and I appreciate each one of you. God has blessed us through all of this with the amazing support of our wonderful family and friends and the excellent care Maverick and I have received here. Thanks to all. Hopefully we'll have a good night. We're going to try to get some rest. Love you all - jc

rollercoaster ride

Well, Maverick got out of surgery about 10:15 last night. He ended up having to go on ecmo - it's like a smaller version of the heart-lung bypass machine (check google for more info) around 1:30. It was a controlled situation. His blood pressure was getting low and his base deficit was high. They wanted him to go on before he had any organ damage. They placed the cannulas through the membrane on his chest. He will probably be on for the next several days. All that said, he looks good. He's nice and pink and not horribly swollen. They have taken him off the medicine that paralyzes him, but he's still on pain medication. He has opened his eyes and moves his little hands and feet occasionally and sucks on his tongue. His urine output is good and his vital signs are pretty stable. He's having a lot of blood out from his chest tube (the tube that is around his heart incision draining the blood that collects), so Dr. Mendeloff may open the membrane on his chest and see if there are any little bleeders that need to be repaired. They'll just do that in the room he's in. We just spoke with the cardiologist and she is very encouraged by how he looks and by his vital signs and urine output. She thinks he'll pull through this. That is very encouraging to me. Keep praying - love you guys. jc

finally finished

They have reconnected the coronary artery - no leaks! He's off the pump, the membrane has been placed on his chest (his chest will remain open for a few days) and now he's in the PICU getting settled in - he was finally out of the OR at 10:15pm. Dr. Mendeloff came and spoke with us in the room. It turns out little Maverick has a very difficult form of transposition called Taussig-Bing Transposition. The doctor explained it to us, but I haven't looked it up yet. Anyway - it's been repaired. He says to expect the next 2 days to be difficult, and says they often get more sick before they get better. We're just glad for now that he's as stable as can be expected. We're getting ready to go in and see him for the first time after the surgery. More tomorrow. Love you guys - jc

not quite finished

Well, I thought they were finished. They had a persistent bleed from one of the coronary artery attachment spots so they put Maverick back on the pump to fix it. Dr. Mendeloff thinks it's fixed and they're taking Mav back off the pump. We'll see how it goes. It's been a long day for all of us. Say a prayer that this area is fixed and that he'll do fine coming off the pump - and I'm sure the OR staff need our prayers as well. Thanks - jc

almost finished - good news

They're finishing up right now - just stopping all the little bleeders. The scare with the pulmonary hypertension ended up being a blockage of the pulmonary blood flow when the vsd was repaired. They went back in and repaired the VSD and were able to take him off the pump without any problems. No pulmonary hypertension! They are leaving his chest open and just covering it with a membranous dressing for a few days until the swelling has gone down. He has been off the pump now for over an hour and is doing fine. They should be coming out of the OR within an hour or so and going to the PICU - congenital heart unit. Gotta go and wait for the Dr. to come out and talk. More later.

new update

Just heard they have finished the switch. They tried to take him off the pump and he became unstable. They did an echo and he still has a small vsd. They are going to cool him down again, put him back on the pump and fix it. When they took him off the pump he went into pulmonary hypertension. They said they would place him on nitric after they fix the vsd and take him back off the pump. It will probably still be another hour and one-half before they're finished. Please keep praying. I'm worried. jc

update

We've had a few updates since the last. They have moved the old pulmonary artery to the aorta spot. They have reattached the coronary arteries. There were actually two instead of one, but the anatomy of them was very different than normal. Dr. Mendeloff said he hadn't seen anything like this in the 18 years he's been doing these surgeries. From my understanding the right coronary gives rise to the left anterior descending. The left main gives rise to the circumflex. I'm not sure where they were situated, but he had a tough time getting them reattached. Keep saying prayers that they will work once they start re-perfusing the heart. He's currently reattaching the new pulmonary artery to its spot. The next step after he gets it reattached is to fix the ASD. They'll then start suturing, do a tracheo-esophageal echo and make sure everything is working, then they'll start rewarming him. They expect to be finished sometime around 4pm. I'll keep you updated. jc

In surgery

Well, this morning we got to go into the NICU and hold Maverick at 0600. The anesthesiologist and OR staff came to get him about 730. He went into the OR at 0817 and we got a call at 1008 that they had finished with anesthesia and lines (they started a radial art line, a subclavian central line, intubated and gave a caudal block along with the inhaled gases and IV anesthesia), had him on the pump and had just made the incision. The last call was just a few minutes ago and Dr. Mendeloff had dissected out the pulmonary artery and aorta and was making the switch. After he finishes with that he will start working on the coronary artery. He had told us before the procedure that he would fix the VSD prior to doing the switch, so I'm assuming he's finished with that part. We should get another update in about an hour. I'll keep you all posted.

Quick Update

We are just resting today and getting ready for the big day tomorrow. I was just in the NICU and they are doing another echo just to get a few more pictures of his coronary artery before surgery tomorrow. He is resting well and his sats have been in the low 90's today. Greg is doing well today and I am just a basket case. Don't be offended if I don't answer the phone today. We've been discharged from the hospital and we'll be in a courtesy room on the 7th floor. It's so great that we can stay here and keep a close eye on him. Thanks for all your comments and prayers. We love you all!

He's here!

Little Maverick was born yesterday evening at about 6:55pm. He was 7lb 8oz and 20 inches long. He looks quite a bit like his big brother, Carter. He ended up not needing the balloon septostomy and is on minimal prostins and room air. He has a UAC and UVC in place for the meds and is basically just hanging out. His oxygen saturations have been 80's to about 91%. He had a heart echo last night which showed he has a single coronary artery instead of two, but it branches off to supply all the heart. This means the surgeon only has one coronary to reattach, but it's a little trickier to reattach. We spoke to him today and he still seems pretty confident about everything and has said his single coronary won't change the mortality rate. The surgery is set for Monday at 0715. He says everything start to finish should take about 6 hours. The kids have seen him - he was able to stay in the delivery room for about 15 minutes after delivery, and they got to go into the NICU today. I'm going to attach some pictures so everyone can see. I'm pretty tired now, so maybe I'll type more later today or tomorrow.

We're here - induction tomorrow

We made it safely to Medical City today.  Thanks to our friends Kent and Dana for letting us crash at their home in Durant last night.  It broke up the drive for us.  Today we saw Dr. Kao - the fetal cardiologist.  It seems Maverick's atrial septal defect may only be a patent foramen ovale.  For our non-medical friends and family this means the top hole in his heart isn't really a defect, which for most babies would be a good thing...  but for Maverick that means he may have to have a balloon septostomy sometime shortly after birth (before his surgery) to allow for mixing of blood between the top two chambers of his heart.  A balloon septostomy is like a heart cath.  They go in through the groin and put a catheter into the top chamber of the heart, blow up a little balloon and pull it through the divider between the top two chambers to create a hole for more mixing of blood.  Sooooo, since they may have to do this, they have postponed my induction from 0700 to 1000 since the interventional cardiologist is scheduled all day tomorrow at a satellite clinic and won't be back until around 6pm.  

I saw Dr. Vines, the OBGYN today and I'm still only dilated to a 2, so tomorrow may be a long day.  My labors usually take awhile, even with inductions.  Don't worry if you don't hear from us until late.   

We toured the NICU/PICU and L&D today.  The people have all been so nice here.  They have very strict visitation policies in the NICU;  however, they said they had zero nosocomial infections in the NICU this year.  So I guess something is working.  Mom and dad and grandparents can go in pretty much anytime except shift change, but we can only take in one adult visitor per day with us to see him.  Carter and Chloe can only go in once per week.  Maddie can go in with us whenever since she is older.  

Well, I think that about covers our day.  We're going to try to get some rest tonight.  Thanks for all your prayers - I have been able to keep it together pretty well today, so know that they are working.   jc

Getting Closer!

Well, the time is almost here. My last shift at Mediflight was on Friday - just want to say thanks to all my friends at work and my non-work friends for keeping me sane throughout this pregnancy. I don't know what I would've done without you all. You keep me laughing.

My mom and Brown are coming to Shawnee today. I'll be glad to see them. I'm still trying to get all the little things finished before we leave tomorrow. I've been making calls to confirm things, paying bills, etc. I still have to pack!!

I still don't have a time for the induction. I placed a call to the Dr's office yesterday, so hopefully I'll hear something today.

That's all for now. I'll keep you updated!