Thursday, Esther's birthday 10/29

This morning they are down to 60% oxygen they are giving Maria, and her scores are still holding fine...they were doing some stuff to her, so monitor wasn't displaying or I'd tell you exact scores. Periodically, the pulmonary team comes in and asks them to back off the sedation because they want to know that she will move her legs and arms. The nurse told me that she told them that Maria doesn't like it, but they insisted on knowing, so she said "I did it to please them". Movement resulted, so she put her back up and when I went in she was pretty quiet tho breathing "hard". I thought her face looked much better this morning...better coloring, more rested, eyes not as puffy.
At 12:41 p.m. (just now) they were giving her 55% oxygen and her score was 95%.
It gets scary now and then as they are working with her, but we know this is going to take time. I am "resting" in the Lord, because my faith is stronger now than in the beginning and it was pretty strong then.

Last night just before we left for the night I was in the room and Maria started what looked like gagging. Nurse said that she was coughing. They succioned out the stuff and she calmed right down. I was glad Noylen wasn't in the room at the time, cause the inhalation therapist was having trouble getting the suction to work and Dr. Wolfe took over and the equipment worked...One of them said that "you just have to do it left handed" and then the specialist had to take some ribbing. With a twinkle in her eye, Dr. Wolfe said "it's because I have so much more experience" but it was all in good nature.

Baby is doing fine and is breathing totally on her own not even pressure, thus no nose "clips". They increase her feeding daily and still has the iv going into the belly button, but may be off that today or tomorrow, then she'll be in a regular "bed" instead of an enclosed one. I still haven't seen her eyes yet, so she's still pretty sleepy, but all looks good for her. They hope to bring her up to Maria's room today, but I can't imagine that they would take her out of the isolet at this point.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Maria is struggling with oxygen levels this morning. She was down to receiving 80% last night, but this morning they had to go back up to 100% and her levels are still fluctuating between 85 and 89 mostly. I saw it go up to 90 once, but the nurses are working with her to do what they can.

Noylen brought a devotional book that a friend gave her, and yesterday, Oct 27, we read that day's thought. How poignant...
"As you become increasingly aware of My Presence, you find it easier to discern the way you should go. This is one of the practical benefits of living close to Me. Instead of wondering about what is on the road ahead or worrying about what you should do if...or when...you can concentrate on staying in communication with Me. When you actually arrive at a choice-point, I will show you which direction to go.
Many people are so preoccupied with future plans and decisions that they fail to see choices they need to make today. Without any conscious awareness, they make their habitual responses. People who live this way find a dullness creeping into their lives. They sleepwak through their days, following well-worn paths of routine.
I, the Creator of the universe, am the most creative Being imaginable. I will not leave you circling in deeply rutted paths. Instead, I will lead you along fresh trails of adventure, revealing to you things you did not know. Stay in commnication with Me. Follow My guiding Presence. Psalm 32:8; Genesis 1:1"
The first paragraph described me well. Now I am leaving it all with Jesus, and when I try to pick it up again, I keep coming back to this place
Last night I woke up at midnight and couldn't sleep, so I prayed prayers that Maria might be praying if she could, and claiming several promises that I have been claiming. There is another "Maria" in the Bible that Jesus loved, and I know He loves this Maria just as well.

Maria's Update

I regret that I did not post Maria's progress from here rather than status updates on Facebook. So I am going to start doing that since some of the posts are longer than the status update will allow.

If you are reading this and haven't been a FB friend of the family, in short, our daughter got sick and ended up in the hospital with strep pneumonia at 7 months pregnant. Things went downhill from there and she was air lifted to Indiana University Medical Center in their MICU (medical). After stabilizing her, they delivered the baby who is doing well. Maria started to improve as well, but it has been a rollercoaster ride to get her stable enough to do everything that needs to be done. Here is the latest update for those who have been following her progress. I will continue to post to this blog...which notifies you on FB when I do.

It's been a week since Maria was admitted into the hospital in Marion...wow what a week of emotional rollercoaster! We're still reeling, but not so dizzy! This morning Maria is back down to 70% oxygen that she's getting and keeping her levels in the mid + 90's, occasionally going down to low 90's, but they had her tipped on her side, because they were doing a cardiac echogram to find out if her heart is delivering enough oxygen to the body...this is mainly to R/O (rule out) that it's not (they think it is ok but want to rule out that possibility. Even though he can't be convinced to like the Patriots, I like him the best...although there is nothing to dislike about any of them. They have been trying to get her to the point that she does ok without receiving oxygen so they can get a CT scan of the head. She can still be on the vent while they do that (I had previously thought she couldn't be, but the vent is not the issue, it's the being off the oxygen...which still confuses me come to think of it since she's been off the oxygen before. I guess it's more about reducing the sedation and still not need the oxygen. Blood pressure is fine. The ony ther problem now is that her incision is oozing quite a bit of fluid that they are pretty sure is NOT infection, but they are trying to determine what it IS. They are keeping the area dry coninually. Now for Za'Mya, she is doing great. They are going to increase her feeding today. She just has the little "noseplug" and is not receiving any oxygen, just gentle pressure to ensure that the lungs don't deflate completely at the end of each breath. I forgot to ask if she was still under the light today. Her bilirubin was a bit off yesterday, so when they transferred her from NICU at Riley children's Hospital to I.U.M.C. Special Care unit, they put her under the light. She is doing great, tho, and is kicking her tiny legs. I haven't seen arm movement yet nor have I seen her eyes, tho the nurses have very briefly. I stopped in this morning to get a report but didn't go in to see Za'Mya and I forgot to ask if she was still under the light. I'll go down to see her this afternoon.

Computer up and running.

We have a working computer now. The camera is a different story, tho. Don was told that it wasn't worth fixing. One of these days I'll get the pictures off the chip and share them, tho. Won't be needing a camera for a while, tho. Gotta recover from having to put so much into fixing the huge deck we have on the back of the house.

Nothing much to tell. Maria is sick, tho. I wonder about the health care in Marion, Indiana, tho. She's back in the hospital for the second....maybe third time in the past few days. They checked her for the flu, but that was negative...thankfully, I suppose. Her C-section is scheduled for December 11. They have (or did this a.m.) in labor and delivery. Don't think that's in the plan, but I'm sure they want to monitor what's going on.

Don says people keep asking him how come I haven't posted anything for a long time. So here's some tidbits...

Our home computer should be back "up" tomorrow night, I hope. Don sold our laptop to our daughter, Noylen, but she is generous with letting us use it while ours is not working. Problem is I can't do anything with pictures, and since I've been on facebook, no pictures is b..o..o..rr..r..ing!

Let's see, what's happened since our July vacation??? Hmm. Well, school started, and I started working in Don's office part time. I haven't noticed any extra money...what's up with that??

In September, Don had Risk Management meetings in New York and I went with him and attended the guest program they host. I especially enjoyed Ellis Island. Since Don's grandma Esther came through there, it took on a different meaning as I was looking at all the pictures. I took a lot of pictures, but later when we were in Michigan I dropped my camera and jammed the lens. I'm expecting that I will be able to take the chip out and upload the pictures I did get.

After the meetings, we went to Michigan via Wheeling, WV (to see Don's aunt and uncle for a few hours) and Indiana (to see niece, Jami Carlson; attend Bill & Bonnie Hicks' 40th anniversary celebration; and Maria and Adrian). Then on to Berrien Springs, MI to see sister, Carolyn and niece, Dena Umek. We drove up to Battle Creek to see more family briefly, before driving to Hampton, VA to see daughter, Tandita and her husband, Todd. Todd is stationed in Norfolk on the George H W Bush and we got to see some of the base. It's quite amazing. He tells us it is the largest Navy base in the world.

Reality has returned, however, as we scramble to catch up on all the work we missed during the 16 days we were gone. I think Don is caught up, but I have to do a bit more to be up to date...stuff that can wait.

Last Wednesday Noylen picked me up at work, and on the way home we got rear-ended. After getting all the insurance info, we drove to the hospital to have Noylen checked out since she is 19 weeks pregnant. It turned out that there was blood around the placenta...placental abruption...as a result of the impact. She's been on bed rest and goes back to the doctor tomorrow for followup. So far, so good. I've had a little extra pain in the neck/shoulder area as you would expect, but nothing serious. I'm used to that kind of pain since I started getting old and all the pains that go with being over 60...well, at least for me it was 60. Just like someone flipped a switch and my body started falling apart. My latest is foot pain, but I'm planning to go to the doc to check on that one. Oh, wait, gotta stop before I become this old lady who can only talk about her maladies!

Coming up is Don's quick trip to New England again...oops, I forgot to mention seeing our wonderful friends, Bill and Melanie Brace on that last trip. Don will be seeing them again, cause the short trip is to attend graveside services for his sister who died in the spring. Bill will be officiating. Since we just finished redoing our deck...$$$$...and we just did a short vacation, only Don would go this time.

We probably won't be going on any long trips for quite a while...maybe not until family reunion next summer. We'll see. Esther and Vanessa are trying to make a train trip out here in the spring, so we're hoping that works out.

So....when I get my computer up and pictures loaded, I'll post them.