ava's arrival, part 3

With Ava in the ICU we definitely had a lot to think about... love, salvation, fear of death... God's sovereignty...

Despite the circumstances, there was much to be thankful for. When Andrea was admitted to her room, the nurse on duty was a little surprised that Dr. P had sent Andrea to the hospital. "Usually in these situations, we'll send you home for a week of bedrest and then deliver the baby the next week." In fact, they were just going to monitor Andrea and then decide what to do. At this point, Andrea was still hoping for a VBAC. As time progressed, however, the baby's heart rate started to drop, so it was decided the best course of action was to get Ava out.

*** WARNING - IF YOU'RE SQUEAMISH, YOU MAY WANT TO SKIP AHEAD ***

As the doctors performed the Cesarean, they discovered that the umbilical cord was wrapped around Ava's neck. This meant that if Andrea tried to do a VBAC, it would have ended in a C-section anyway. More importantly, they discovered that Andrea's uterus had ruptured and that the placenta was bulging through the rupture. If discovered even a day later, there could have been disastrous consequences.

*** END WARNING ***

Based on what Dr. P told us, if Andrea was sent home for bedrest, Ava probably would have died, and Andrea probably would have lost her uterus. Those are some pretty sobering facts to consider.

I now know what it means to see doctors being given the wisdom we pray they'd have when they work on someone we know and love. When Dr. P sent Andrea to the hospital, he didn't know anything about the umbilical cord or the internal issues; he simply acted on a hunch and he was right. Even the nurses (who have no doubt seen similar symptoms countless times) weren't quite sure why he was pursuing that course. In the end, however, God's direction over the entire process was abundantly clear. The world calls it "luck" and gives the credit to Chance, but we know better. Our Creator has not left us in this world to fend for ourselves. Rather, He's been intimately involved in bringing us safe thus far, and He will surely lead us Home. Amen.

After a couple days, we were able to hold Ava. To be honest, I don't even remember what it felt like. The whole week is still a bit of a blur in my mind. Andrea sure looks happy, though:

Ava had velcro affixed to her head to secure the eye shields during the bili light treatment. "She looks like Princess Leia," the nurse said. Hmph I thought. First of all, it's pronounced "Lay-uh" not "Lee-uh." Second of all, it reminds me more of Lobot than Leia.

Geek, guilty as charged. I linked to some Lobot info for all you wannabe geeks who don't know who that is.

On Saturday, a week and a day after Ava's birth, she finally came home! It's already hard to imagine she was that small. All things considered, it was a pretty brief NICU stay. The baby in the crib next to Ava had already been in there for over a month. And what better place for her to be just in case something went wrong? Better safe than sorry.

We learned a lot from our hospital stay. There's this helpless feeling you get when you watch your child in the ICU. There's nothing you can do to make them get better any faster, learn to breathe on their own better, begin to eat adequately, etc. All you can do is stand by and watch. And pray. And remind yourself that God is in control and you're not. And really, would we want it any other way?

ava's arrival, part 2

Ava needed about a week in the Neonatal ICU, so most of these pictures are from that time. Since she was a month premature, she took a little longer getting accustomed to life outside the womb. Having her in the ICU was a very interesting experience, to say the least.

Not having her in the hospital room with us made the experience very different than Trevor's birth. It was actually quite a process getting ready to go see her. Andrea was recovering from her surgery, so even getting out of bed was no small task. The NICU was one floor down. For security purposes, the Neonatal wards are protected by locked doors and intercom systems. I don't know if I've said my last name as many times as I did that week...

Nurse: Can I help you?
Me: [saying last name]
Nurse: OK, I'll let you in

I figure we visited three or four times a day together, and on top of that I went down every three hours to deliver milk that Andrea had pumped... for about four days. Math majors can help me out with that one, but it sure seemed like a lot.

We had to do a three-minute hand washing every time we entered the NICU. A three-minute hand wash may or may not seem like a long time when you read about it, but it's a pretty long time when you're actually doing it.

Many parents find it difficult to see their child hooked up to IVs and monitoring machines. I experienced a little bit of that, but honestly, Ava seemed pretty comfortable. Cozy, even.

You may notice Ava's orange skin color in that last picture. It's not a bad Hollywood tan. It's part of Neonatal Jaundice [read all about it here]. One form of treatment is spending time under bili lights. Straight up sci-fi stuff. It was really fun to capture on camera (and the NICU nurses weren't bothered by pictures... they encouraged them.)

You can't really see Ava in these next two, but I found the wires and plastic very interesting... good album covers, maybe.

ava's arrival, part 1

I was sitting in our bedroom in front of the dining table we use as a desk. Half-Handed Cloud songs were making their way from iTunes to my iPod. Andrea walked in, shaken. She was surprised by the blood she discovered while in the bathroom.

Her OB/GYN was not working that night, so Andrea spoke to the doctor on call. The last thing we expected to do that Wednesday night was go to the hospital, but that's exactly what we found ourselves doing. We left in a rush; Andrea got dressed while I hurried in to Trevor's room and woke him from a deep sleep. Thankfully, he didn't recognize any panic. Instead, he was probably thinking, "Cool. I get to get up now... and we're going for a ride, even! Fun!" I sped down the freeway, fighting thoughts that it was too late... something must have happened to the baby and we won't get to the hospital in time to save her. But I tried to reassure myself that if it were a REAL emergency, the doctor would have made other arrangements. As it stood, we were instructed to go to the emergency room of our hospital and go through the admitting process.

As usual, there was a line for the Admission window. Every second seemed twice as slow as normal. After a very long 3 minutes, we made it to the window and Andrea was admitted. Once she was situated in her room, Trevor and I were kicked out, partly because the nurse didn't want Trevor to get frightened at seeing Andrea hooked up to all the monitors, and partly because they don't allow children his age into the labor & delivery rooms. I waited outside the ward for my parents, who were able to take Trevor off our hands. After a little while, we were told that Andrea and the baby would be monitored to make sure everything was okay, but that there were no problems at the moment.

In the middle of the night, Andrea woke up feeling sick. She tried to make it to the bathroom, but because of all the hospital monitors and the IV, she was stuck. Her voice drifted over the sounds of The Smashing Pumpkins that were filling my ears... jeff... Jeff... JEFF! I wish I came to the rescue. Instead, I was like a deer in the headlights, not knowing what to do. Andrea told me to call the nurse. Instead of pushing the call-button, I headed towards the door. "No, on the remote," Andrea said. I'm glad I wasn't the nurse, who had to walk in and see Andrea's broken fifteen-year streak all over the floor. Not only did she see it... she had to clean it up. I tried to help, but she said it was okay... she would do it. "Okay, if you say so," I thought.

It turned out that Andrea was dehydrated, due in part to the stomach flu. This was the cause of the pre-term labor symptoms. We knew it came from Trevor because he had thrown up a few days earlier. Thank you to whoever put their sick child in the nursery at Church. In addition to Trevor, we know of two other kids from the same nursery who came down with the same thing at the same time.

Now, I wasn't only worried about the baby; I was worried about coming down with the flu myself. For the next few days, I ate as if I was sick, avoiding lots of dairy and fats and trying to eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Even so, I couldn't avoid eating the food at Ben and Frosty's wedding that weekend. It's not everyday that I get to partake in some Hawaiian BBQ. Afterward, I felt pretty crummy, but I think it was mostly in my head.

Once we settled in at home, we were determined to put together a hospital bag so we wouldn't repeat such an unprepared situation. We figured we had a month left until the baby's due date, so within the next week or two, we should have it ready to go. We'd have plenty of time.

The next week's Friday came around and things seemed like they were back to normal. Thankfully, I avoided getting the stomach flu. I was actually early to work that day. That morning, Andrea called to schedule an appointment with her doctor. She started to bleed again, this time more heavily. She was slightly concerned that maybe she had lost her mucous plug. The office basically told her that if she wanted to be seen by the doctor, she had to come in immediately since he had to be in surgery that afternoon. I planned to meet her at the doctor's office so I could watch Trevor. I arrived first and was really enjoying listening to Blenderhead's final album Figureheads on the Forefront of Pop Culture. Soon enough, I spotted Andrea's Jeep in the rearview mirror. The results of the exam were a little surprising: go back to the hospital. The logistical details fell into place. I left Truck in front of the doctor's office and drove the Jeep to the hospital. I dropped Andrea off and then headed home. I planned to (finally) put together a hospital bag and get things ready. I had not eaten lunch yet, so I decided to bachelor it... Taco Bell. I don't really like Taco Bell, but once in a while, it hits the spot. While ordering, I noticed a little sign that said If we don't offer you a drink with your order, it's on us or something to that effect. Sure enough, summer-job-holder #1 obviously didn't want to be working that day. I pulled up to the window and paid. AFTER I got my food, I said, "There's a sign out front that says if you don't ask me for a drink, I get one for free." "What kind do you want?" "Coke... er... Pepsi." Score!

Trevor fell asleep on the way home and he woke up in the drive thru. This meant that when I got home and tried to put him down for a nap, he wasn't interested. Even so, I put him down. I ate my crunch wrap supreme and grande soft taco and drank my Pepsi, all while watching some of the director's commentary of United 93. I wasn't in too much of a hurry. Andrea's mom and sister had been visiting Andrea's Grandmother in Eagle Rock, so they were able to come and watch Trevor. They arrived a few minutes later and I got my things together. After installing Trevor's car seat and getting his other things together, Andrea's mom and sister headed home with Trevor in tow. In the midst of packing Trevor's things, I got a call from Andrea saying that the doctor was going to do a c-section on Andrea at 4:15PM. This meant that I had to hurry. For the second time in as many weeks, I sped to the hospital, arriving in Andrea's room about 4:12PM.

The baby's heart rate had been dropping during Andrea's contractions, mild as they were. To be on the safe side, the doctor wanted to just get the baby out. We had gone through a similar situation when Trevor was born, except that his was a more urgent C-Section... so we thought. This one just seemed like a precaution, so I was a lot more relaxed. As Andrea was prepped for surgery, I waited outside the OR in scrubs. I was not as nervous as I thought I was, but still had moments when the butterflies betrayed my anxiety. After about twenty minutes, I decided that the Future of Forestry EP would calm my nerves. By this time, it was already released officially, though a certain someone was kind enough to burn me a pre-release some 4 weeks before drop day. I pulled out my iPod, put in the right ear bud, and...

The OR door burst open.

"We need you to come in right now. We forgot about you and we've already started."

I hesitated a minute, then stuffed the iPod in my pocket. I left my bag in the hallway and walked quickly inside. I stood in the doorway and put my mask on, just in time to see the doctor take Ava out of Andrea. I greeted Andrea and then followed another doctor to the corner where they began the post-delivery tests on the Ava.

When Trevor was born, I had only eaten breakfast... and he was born in the evening. That, plus little sleep the night before, plus the rush of the emergency C-Section meant that I was only brave enough to view Andrea's insides with my peripheral vision. Those things don't usually bother me, but given the circumstances, I didn't want to risk it. This time, however, I was satisfied with my Taco Bell (and free Pepsi!), so I took a good, long look. I lifted my camera and one of the Surgical Techs snitched (loudly) on me. "Is he supposed to take pictures of the mom?" No one seemed to pay attention to her, so I was going to proceed. "Dad?" I was pulled aside to cut the umbilical cord. After that, I turned around, determined to get some pictures of Andrea's innards. "Dad?" said a nurse. "Just take pictures of baby, not of mom." Grrr!!! Fine.

This is one such picture:

Later, I kicked myself (figuratively) because I had pre-set our camera for video mode. Instead of waiting for a clear shot, I should have just started filming before I was ratted out. Since then Andrea has commented that she wished I was able to take some pictures or video of her insides. Oh well. It was still pretty cool to watch. After a while, I was given the baby to take to Andrea. As I sat near her head, I continued to steal glances over the surgical sheet into her abdominal cavity. I'm sure that if I spill too many details, it would eventually make its way back to the hospital and some angry hospital administrators would pay us a visit. "You're gonna need a hospital after we're finished with you." Ha. Suffice it to say it's no wonder a C-Section hurts. At one point I looked and some of Andrea's body parts were OUTSIDE her body.

I returned Ava to the doctors and they performed more tests. She was breathing fairly quickly, so the doctor placed an oxygen mask over her. After a few minutes, we took her to the nursery for more tests and observation...