Change Of Plans

Yesterday was quite an adventure, and it turns out Douglas seems to have his mothers patients when it comes to waiting around.

At about 6:00am Monday December 13^th; just ten minutes after Brad kissed me goodbye and went off to work, I rolled over to try and get more comfy and SPLAT!  My first thought was that I had peed my pants a little… gross! So I climbed out of bed, and quickly headed for the restroom. As I was making my way passed the dogs and trying not to trip in the dark, it was getting worse and worse and by the time I got to the restroom it was apparent that my water had broke. I just sat there thinking OH MY GOODNESS!!! Once I was able to get to my phone I called Brad at work, and once I heard his voice the tears came as I said “my water just broke, we need to go to the hospital.” His response was something along the lines of "Are you sure…?" to which I then over looked the puddle of water on our bed and puddles that followed me to the bathroom, and the water that was still leaking from my body, I said, “um, yes, I'm quite sure”. He told me it would be OK and he was on his way home. Once we got off the phone all I kept saying and all I could think was "It's too soon". I knew that especially for CDH children, time for the lung to grow in utero is critical, and the last meeting we had with Doug’s surgeon he made it clear we need to wait until term (37-40 weeks) to deliver. So, needless to say I was freaking out that I was still a little over six weeks away from my due date.

But, as anyone with a child knows, YOU are not in charge. I dialed my doctor’s office, and of course got voicemail. I waded through the maze of voicemail prompts and eventually found a live person to talk to, who told me to just show up and let them know the situation, she was not at all helpful. I then called my mom, who I knew would be on the train on her way to work so I was crossing my fingers that she would be able to get off at the next stop and meet us at the hospital. Much to my frustration she didn’t answer, after trying for what felt like an eternity I called her house hoping she was running late…. SHE WAS! Once she picked up the phone, the tears started again, I let her know what was going on and she said she was going to meet us at the hospital!

Luckily Brad was home in a flash, calling our families and packing our bag. Still trying to wrap my head around everything that was happening I managed to find some sweats to wear, and before I knew it we were headed out the door… after changing my pants 4 times due to continuous leakage. Once we were in the car I started to get a hold of myself all thanks to Brad, who made me laugh and distracted me from the coming contractions.

Once we arrived at the hospital, my mom was already there and met us at the main entrance, I was put in a wheel chair and we headed up to the 2^nd floor. Once we got into Labor and Delivery check in, we had to wait for one women to be checked in, then another couple and then it was our turn just as Gampy Glenn, Grammy Steph, Auntie Jess, and Papa Tony got there. Brad and I filled out our paperwork and were sent to room 1234 for evaluation.

After a couple hours of waiting and visiting with Dougie’s MANY fans who came to support him…. We were told the doctor was on his way and we’d get our new game plan in order as soon as he got there. Seeing Dr. Anzaldo was quite a relief, as he assured us we would be in the best care and we weren’t going to take Douglas out until we absolutely had to. Mom had a million questions for him, which made me feel better because in the moment I can’t do anything but take in the information given to me.

So, where are we now? The plan is to keep baby in Mommy’s tummy as long as possible, at the very least until Wednesday. That will give time for the steroids I was given yesterday and will be given today, to increase Dougie’s lung growth. After that we will again evaluate the baby to see how he is doing with less fluid (since even at this very moment they are still leaking from my body… yuck). I am hooked up to IV’s with antibiotics that will prevent infection, and am being given medication every 4 hours to stop my contractions.  As of now, we are playing the waiting game which is fine by me! I had a discussion with Douglas earlier and said “I understand you are getting restless and excited to meet your Mommy and Daddy, but you need to stay put until we give you the green light” hopefully he will be a good little boy and listen to his mother.

Brad and I are in room 1239 at St. Joseph’s hospital in Orange and expect to be here quite a while. I will update again as soon as we hear more news.

Thank you all for your prayers and support, we need them more than ever so please keep our little man in your best of thoughts and daily prayers!

God Bless Our Little Man