New Site!

Ok, we moved over to Blogger and if you're reading this you made the change, no problem. Blogger is just a bit easier to use and the coolest thing is BIGGER pictures!

They're actually a bit smaller on the front page but if you click on any picture you should get the full-size version.

Like this:

What's up?

We'll miss you Auntie Nicole. Have a good time!

Okay, okay!

I know it's been a couple days. Nathan took his first trip to church Sunday and was, of course, mobbed by hordes of admiring fans. Also, since our last update we've been inundated with requests for more pictures on the website--even without words, if you can imagine--so here's a start.

Click to make it bigger.

First doctor visit

We went to Nathan's first doctor visit--well, besides his first week in two hospitals. Everything looked great, the doc said (who calls everyone 'Chief'--he seems like he'll be a great doctor). He's down to 7 pounds and 3 ounces but he should start gaining weight soon and be back up to his birth weight in a week or two. He's up to 20 1/2 inches. He probably didn't grow an inch that fast so the doc said maybe they didn't measure very well at the hospital.

Nate also had a little bath today.

Updates

We need to fill in some details that are missing from the posts below so I'll make a note of any updates I make here. Don't forget to check back! Start from the bottom and read up if you want the whole story.

• added a bit of detail to Blood problems on the 18th. [8-23, 7:10am]


• added How it all started on the 14th. [8-23, 7:37am]


• added a bit of explanatory detail to Blood problems on the 18th. [8-23, 3:51am]


• added Nathan's first trip on the 24th. [8-23, 2:57pm]


• added some info and pics to Saturday on the 19th. [8-23, 3:40pm]


• added Labor, or lack thereof; a detailed account (read: tedioulsy long) of Tuesday morning on the 15th. [8-23, 8:21]

Nathan's first trip

In celebration of the kick-off of Nicole's trip today--and to console ourselves over her departure--we took Nathan on his first trip last night to Leatherby's. We all had a grand time!

Nicole left this morning and Grandma and Grandpa DeWoody left shortly after so we'll see how this goes as a tiny little family!

He's home!!!

Exactly 7 days and 1 minute after he was born, Nathan walked out of Mercy San Juan Medical Center (well, he was carried). He slept all the way home and Grandma and Grandpa DeWoody and Aunt Nicole (more pics) were very excited to welcome him there.

(btw, they did an extra count of his platelets this morning and he's up to 167K. Around 150K is normal. He's a regular platelet making machine!)

More good news

Well, Nathan's platelets are up to 108K and if he starts feeding well they say he'll be able to come home tomorrow! That's obviously very good news since that's what we've been looking forward to.They increased his feedings to 40ml yesterday and we were even able to feed him once!

Once he was consistantly eating 40ml regularly (every 3 hrs) he was allowed to start eating as much as he wanted. His first "ad lib" feeding he took 70ml but they said it was normal for the first one to be higher than average.

Anyway, we very much appreciate everyone's prayers and support. We're going to try to go back and fill in some details for the last few days so keep checking back to see what's new.

Sunday

His platelet count this morning was down to 90K but they say some fluctuation is normal. They'll do another test tomorrow to see what it looks like but they think that will be the last one they need to do.

Saturday

Good news today; Nathan's platelet are up to 101K, up from 86K after the transfusion and 36K before that!

Also, Stacy got to hold him for the first time today! It was a little tricky with all the wires and tubes still connected but that was definately the highlight of our day. Rodney got to hold him too!

Of course we think he's the cutest baby in the world!

Blood problems

Today (Friday) Nathan's platelet count had dropped to 36,000 and they decided to do a blood transfusion of just platelets to see if that would be enough to overcome whatever was eroding his platelets and get him to the point where he could make more than he lost.

Normal is about 150K and Nathan started out about 100K and progressively declined over the last couple days.

They think the problem with the umbilical cord and placenta caused some of mom's antibodies to get into baby's blood and that is deteriorating the platelets. If that's the case, one transfusion should do the trick. If not, they'll have to figure out what else might be causing it.

Mommy finally gets to see him

Stacy was released ahead of schedule and was able to leave the hospital about noon Thursday so we finally got to visit Nathanael together. That morning they were able to completely wean him off oxygen and remove the ventilator. He still had an IV and was being constantly monitored but it was great to see him finally breathing on his own.

Two hospitals

Wednesday, Stacy was still recovering at Mercy General but Nathan was at Mercy San Juan. Rodney and a few family were able to go visit Nathan and take some pictures so Stacy could still get a glimpse of him. It was scary seeing him with everything hooked up to him but it's all we had at the time.

Bad news

The small amount of extra oxygen they were exposing him to wasn't enough so they gave him a little tube for more oxygen.

This got his oxygen levels up to where they should be but his lungs weren't transferring enough oxygen to his blood on their own. It was too early to tell at this point whether this was because of a delayed transition[1] from the stress of whatever happened in the womb before this morning or if some of the meconium got into his lungs and was clogging the blood vessels. They continued to increase his oxygen flow during the day.

Later that day, the doctor said an x-ray of his lungs looked more like fluid than meconium but it is hard to determine from x-rays. The doctor said that normally babies in this condition improve but sometimes they can get worse and the first 24 hours is key. In case Nathan's condition worsened, he wanted to transfer Nathan to Mercy San Juan Medical Center where they have a Level 3 Nursery and, if Nathan's condition worsened, they would be able to handle it.

[1] In the womb a baby has fluid in his lungs and the blood vessels in the lungs are constricted since they're not needed for breathing. The birth process helps transition the baby from the womb environment to breathing air by expelling the fluid and with the first few breaths the blood vessels relax and open up to allow blood flow and the transfer of oxygen. With a c-section some, if not most, of this process happens after delivery and it can take a while for the blood vessels to open up.

Trouble

Rodney was able to take him from the surgery room to the nursery where they do some basic tests and routine procedures. On the way there one of the nurses noticed that his lips were a little blue even though his skin had good color.

They checked his oxygen levels and he wasn't getting enough oxygen from breathing so they gave him some extra oxygen and started keeping an eye on him.

Rodney was able to go between the nursery and the recovery room Stacy was moved to after surgery to let her know what was happening.

He's here

Nathanael Rodney Mitchell was born August 15th at 12:57pm.

He weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long.

Labor, or lack thereof

The story of how it went from "let's get things started, this could take a day or two" to "we're scheduling you for c-section at 12:30 and you'll have your baby by 1 o'clock".

Getting Started: We got to the hospital at 6am with a bunch of things packed to entertain us for the long process and help Stacy through the process of labor and Stacy's sister Nicole who was able to join us. Before they could give Stacy the drug (Pitocin) that kick-started the contractions, everything had to be softened up and ready. For that they gave her another drug (Cytotec) that helps soften things up and sometimes starts contractions on its own. Normally this would take a few hours then they would give her the Pitocin that would start the labor process that could take anywhere from 8 to 24+ hours.

Maybe Not: Stacy was being monitored continuously both for contractions and the baby's heartbeat. Not long after she got the Cytotec she began registering some small contractions that Stacy couldn't even feel. Normally, a baby's heart beat drops slightly, sometimes not so slightly, after each contraction and then recovers in time for the next one. A healthy baby can go on like that for a couple days. Nathan wasn't recovering so well from even the small contractions. After a few late recoveries in a row they decided Nathan wouldn't be able to handle the labor process at all (the technical term is "intolerance to labor") so they decided to stop the contractions completely (with another drug) and schedule Stacy for a c-section at 12:30.Wow, that was fast. That all happened by 10:30am.

Unsolved Mystery: At noon they took Stacy into the operating room to be prepped and Rodney had to stay outside, put on a sterile jumpsuit, boots and hat, and wait. The operating room was pretty scary and eveyone was all business. They finally let Rodney come in and he was able to hold Stacy's hand and see part of the delivery.

Everything went very well except for the presence of meconium (warning, link not pleasant) and what we later found out was something strange about the umbilical cord. Apparently, the entire cord was blue and at first the operating doctors thought one of the umbilical arteries (there are two plus an umbilical vein[1]) was completely clogged with a clot[2]. They sent the placenta and umbilical cord to be studied[3].

After delivery Nathan was doing great with an APGAR score of 8 or 9. We were able to watch while they cleaned him up and put Stacy back together. Once he was cleaned and wrapped up Rodney got to hold him and lay his head on Stacy's shoulder for a couple minutes.

Notes:

[1] Some babies are born with only one artery and one vein with no problems.

[2] Later, they decided it was probably an aneurysm that bled into the space between the arteries and the umbilical cord membrane.

[3] We still don't have the results. We may never know the root cause of all this excitement.

How it all started

Our official due date was August 8 which would be a normal 40-week term. It’s common for first-time babies to go 41 weeks and we had a sneaking suspision that our official due date was earlier than it should be anyway so it was no suprise when the 8th came and went.

Friday, August 11 we went to the doctor’s office for a Non-Stress Test (NST) where they hook Stacy up to a monitor that track’s her contractions and Nathan’s heartbeat. That test seemed normal and as long as Nathan was doing fine there was no reason to rush him so the doctor decided to schedule an induction for Saturday the 19th. He said there was less than a 1% chance of making it that long without going into labor naturally. He also wanted us to come back Monday for another NST, again, just to make sure everything was fine.

Today (Monday, August 14) we went back for another NST and it didn’t show as much activity as they like to see. They call it “non-responsive”. Nathan’s heart rate was steady but every once in a while it should bump up and it wasn’t doing that. The doctor thought we should go to the hospital to get another NST there and an ultrasound to check the baby’s movements and reflexes and that there was still plenty of amniotic fluid.

The NST at the hospital was also non-responsive but the ultrasound looked fine. They look for certain indicators and score them and Nathan got 8 out of 8.

The doctor wanted us to come back to his office to go over options. We got there about 6:30, well after his regular hours, and he told us he thought it would be better not to wait til Saturday so we decided sooner was better than later. He called the hospital,and set it up for 6am tomorrow.