I forgot to mention a couple things in some of my older posts. I had wanted to mention that from my spinal, I not only endured the pain of being stuck with a needle numerous times but I also developed a huge bruise, right on my spine, in the spot that I got pricked. The first few showers I took I needed Jim to help dry me off because I couldn't bend over to do my legs or my back. The first time he was drying me off he pushed on my back and I go, "hey, that hurts," when he pushed on my spine. So I go and look in the mirror and see a huge dark bruise on my spine. At first I thought all c-section women got a bruise, but after talking to some friends that have had c-sections, I realized I was a special case. Lovely....
Then I forgot to mention, I don't know how, but Kenley swelled up like a stuffed sausage after she was pulled out. Her lips got all swollen, her eyes were big and puffy and she had bruises all over her body. She had a huge hand mark on her torso where Dr. Pierson had grabbed her and tried to pull her out. I have a pic of her right after she was born where she is all red and swollen...I will post it soon. It's hard for me to look at now.
Jim thankfully took that entire week off of work...not that he had much choice. Well actually he did because if you can believe it, the day after Kenley was born, his boss called him and was asking when he was going to be returning. I remember him saying something to the effect to Jim that he returned to work the next day after his children were born...well that may have been the case but I do not think his children were born 11 weeks early and they did not weigh 2 lbs. So while I was in the hospital trying to recoup, I had the added stress of wondering if Jim was going to lose his job because he had taken off so many days and his boss was not happy about him taking off more. Here I am stressed as it is giving birth to a preemie, having the added trauma to my body that I am trying to heal from, and I'm sitting in bed crying because Jim is being asked when he is going to return to work. The head nurse came in that day to just check on me and I remember boohooing to her about the situation and I felt bad because she just came to see how I was. She didn't intend to sit there and have me vent to her about my husbands work situation. So Jim had that week off and would be returning to work that following monday.
So we got up Friday morning and got ready to head to the hospital. This would be day 4 of her being in the hospital. I remember being told that babies born that early would be expected to stay anywhere between 8 and 10 weeks. At that time, I knew that was a long time to be in the hospital but I was so focused on my day to day routine with visting Kenley it didn't really phase me. I got to do Kangaroo care with her when she was 2 days old. She had been taken off the c-pap and that was my first chance to hold her. Jim got to do Kangaroo with her also but he waited a few days and let me have the time to snuggle with her at first. I think the first time he did it was that Friday. At this point she was stable. She had her nasal canula and of course her IV and she had to do a couple stints under the light for jaundice but other than that she was in great shape. Her nurse practitioner had told us, I think it was that wednesday, that there was a possiblity they would have to do something called a picc line. Which was just a permanent IV. They were having a hard time finding veins, I wonder why, and she would probably be needing IV fluids for awhile so a picc line wasn't a bad idea. She told us that it went in under her armpit and connected to a major vein that was in her chest and she would get her fluids that way. It was a good thing because it was permanent until it needed to come out. Meaning she didn't keep having to get pricked every couple days with a needle and every time she was pricked, there was always a chance of an infection happening. The only bad thing was if they couldn't get the vein, then she would have to go into surgery and get the IV that way. But she told us that if they did the picc line we would get plenty of notice, they would either call us or talk to us because we had to sign something for her to get it done.
That Friday was uneventful, as was that Saturday. We did our usual routine of calling in the morning, going to visit til lunch time. Coming back in the afternoon and spending the rest of the day with her. Going home to take care of the dogs and calling at night to check on her before we went to bed. We got up that Sunday morning, called to see how she was. She was great, nothing new to report so we got showered and dressed and headed to the hospital. As soon as we turned into her room I knew somthing was wrong. All the lights were on... that is very rare because they try to keep the rooms not dark, but with only a little light to give the babies as much rest as possible. I look over and the top of her isolet is raised up and she is sprawled out on her back with her left arm taped down to the bed. All the comfy things that are usually in with her are gone and I see scrubs stuffed into her trashcan at the end of her bed. Right then the nurse practitioner comes walking in and says "Mom and dad, an update" And I'm thinking, what in the world. We just checked on her a couple hours ago and she was fine. She told us that when Kenley's nurse looked at her IV, which was in her foot, her foot was all swollen so she needed to change it. Well in trying to find a new vein that wasn't bruised or had been used already, she couldn't find one. Thats when she called in the practitioner and she acted right then and there. She told us that she saw a vein in her arm to do the picc line and if she didn't do it then and there, she wouldn't have another chance to do it. So they did the picc line and didn't have time to call us. So needless to say we walked in and got the surprise of our lives. So they then ask me to sign the form that needed my signature, of course if they had called I would have said yes to it anyhow. Luckily the np had been able to get the vein and it worked because like I said, if they had tried and couldn't do it she would have had to go into surgery to have it done. That day very fast became a crappy day for us. She had been doing great up until then. She hadn't been having any problems, she was going to start on milk soon, and then bam...this happens. As we were told so many times, never trust a preemie. They can do great one day and the next day do a complete 180 on you and have a horrible day. Her nurse that day had to leave so Maria, one of our most favorite nurses (and we had a lot of favs) took over for her that day. Maria was so gentle and so sweet. She got her isolet all fixed back up and got her nice and comfy. I remember some other nurses coming into her room and needing to rewrap Kenley's picc line and Maria telling them to come back later. Kenley had had enough stress for right now, she needed some time to rest before they started messing with her again. Maria was Kenley's nurse a lot right at that beginning and sadly she didn't get the chance to be her nurse again after that. But we saw her around the NICU and we know she came back to check on her on days that she worked. Maria had told us she felt so bad for us that day and what we had to go through and what had to be done to Kenley, that on the next day she worked, which was that Monday, she wasn't assigned Kenley but she came back in to check on her to make sure she was doing alright. I tell you what, Jim and I met some great people while she was there. Sweet, caring, loving individuals that seemed to love Kenley just as much as we did. I will be forever grateful for those wonderful women, and yes man, that took such great care of her. I don't think she would be here today if it wasn't for them. Yes the doctors and the nps took care of her and diagnosed her and what not but it was the nurses that spent the most time with her and really got to know her. They are truly angels in disguise. I will do a post just on them later on.
The picc line happened on Day 6, it was March 7th. 6 days down, only 52 more days to go!
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