Update on Anna 11 days old

If you follow me on Facebook then you know that I asked for prayers for Anna on Saturday because she wasn't doing well. I didn't elaborate on Facebook because I updated my status from my phone since my internet was down all weekend.

My friend, Emily and I headed to the hospital to see Anna on Saturday. I don't call and check on Anna on the days that I go to see her, I figure I will wait and let them tell me what is going on when I get there. On the way there I got a phone call from her doctor in the NICU. He explained that Anna was on a special ventilator and that we would talk more in depth when I got there. Emily and I walked in and I was immediately scared. Typically, when I go for a visit, her nurse is sitting in a chair in front of the computer in between Anna and another baby's incubator. A nurse was sitting in that chair, but there were also 3 other nurses present surrounding Anna's incubator and then there was Anna's neonatologist for the day. The first thing I asked was if Anna was o.k., they all spoke and said "yes, she's fine". And I immediately started crying, if she was o.k. then why were all these people surrounding my baby? The doctor took us over to another computer and brought up her chest x-rays from that morning. Her right lung had air bubbles in the tissue around the lung. He explained that our lungs are filled with air, but not the tissue around it. Her left lung had collapsed. They had her on a high frequency ventilator so that she is getting 345 breaths a minute and basically doesn't have to work at breathing at all. He also said that her heart murmur was back. That he hadn't heard it for a day or 2, but when he checked that morning it was definitely back. He couldn't say if it would go away again or not.  I tried to process the information as I was getting it, but I couldn't. I was definitely glad Emily was with me because shortly after that they asked us to wait in the waiting room because they were going to try to insert an arterial i.v. so they could pull blood from it and get all the information from her blood that they need. It took about 30 minutes and they weren't able to get a vein. She's just so small and her veins are too little. We left, however, I went back later that night to spend some time with her. I left that night with her resting and doing well.

Sunday morning, I was on my way to church when I got another phone call. I thought I had prepared myself for anything and everything that was going to happen to Anna. I was wrong. Her doctor called and told me that Anna had coded and was down for about 20 minutes before they were able to bring her heart rate up and re-intubate her. He said it looked like she had aspirated some formula and when he pulled the breathing tube out, he then tried to suction as much of the formula out of her lungs as he could. He said it took about 4 times before he was able to get her to take the tube again, but that her x-ray that morning showed that her right lung was collapsing as well and through all of the intubations, her lungs re-inflated. When I got to the hospital, her doctor said that her blood work looked good and that she was resting comfortably. And she was. I could tell that she was exhausted, but she looked peaceful and her chest was rising a lot better than the day before. She is a very sick little girl and we are hopeful that we won't have anymore episodes like that again. But there are no guarantees. Her doctors and nurses are doing everything they can to make sure that one day we can bring her home and I'm very grateful to them.

We are looking at a long, bumpy, hard road ahead. More so than we thought. We are also looking at a longer stay in the NICU than anticipated, but I don't mind as long as one day I'm able to hold her, put her in a carrier, and bring her home to meet Nate and Abbie. I know God is going to care of her and give her the strength she needs to fight. He is giving us all the strength we need to fight. I just ask that you all continue to pray. Pray for her. Pray for her family. Pray for the doctors and the nurses.

Update on Anna at 6 Days Old

I always call her nurses in the morning hoping that Anna has one in particular. She has had this one for the past 3 days and she is AWESOME. I feel that some people find themselves in careers because they feel that they are good at "it". And some people find themselves in careers because they feel called to do "it". I feel that she was definitely called to be a nurse. I will call her Nurse Awesome and she gave me awesome news. Anna was taken off the ventilator today! PRAISE GOD!!!! I thought for sure she would be on the ventilator for a couple of weeks. At least. She has a nasal cannula helping her breathe, but to be off the ventilator at 27 weeks gestational is nothing less than a miracle from God. She did say that Anna may get tired in which case they would reinsert the vent, but she wanted to see how Anna did without it and she was doing well. Nurse Awesome said that she was fed 2cc's (a very small amount) of milk I had expressed before leaving the hospital and did well with it. They were going to increase her intake today to 3cc's. She weighs 1lb 10oz which is 4oz less than her birth weight, but I know she is going gain weight in know time if she continues to eat like she is and they have to increase the amount they feed her.

We are going to visit her tomorrow morning. We haven't seen her since I was discharged on Monday so I'm extremely excited, I can't wait to see her and take pics. Unfortunately, I don't have my memory card reader so I can't download the pictures of her yet. Our home was broken into this past Saturday and my camera with the memory card reader were one of the items stolen. I can take pictures with my phone, I just can't download them. But I will as soon as we get it replaced. Continue to pray for Anna and her progress. Pray that God continues to bless her doctors and nurses with their skills required to take care of her. Thank you all for the comments on my previous post. They are extremely uplifting and touching and I appreciate all the love that is shown.

Update on Anna at 5 Days Old

Her nurse said she is doing good and that they are going to start feeding her the milk that I've nursed for her tonight. Praise God! 27 weeks old and already starting to eat *actual* food. She is still on the ventilator which is to be expected. I think she'll probably be on the vent for at least a couple of weeks. They gave her a head ultrasound today to check for any brain bleeds. She did have a small bleed in the right side of her brain and they are going to follow up with more ultrasounds to see if it corrects itself. I couldn't bring myself to ask what happens if it doesn't fix itself. I ask that all of you pray that it does. I know prayers for my Anna are being heard by our Great Physician and he is giving her doctors and nurses the skills they need to take care of her as well as Anna strength to fight. It's hard to watch your baby fight so hard for her life, but she does it and with full force. I thank all of you for loving her as much as I do and for praying for her.

Update on Anna

I was able to go home today on strict doctor's orders to make an appointment and come back and see Dr. Love on next Wednesday. A few things I learned the past couple of days. Anna is considered a micro preemie. Her left lung isn't expanding and she has a heart murmur. They are laying her on her left side and then rotate to her right. There is medicine they can give her if her lungs don't start expanding on their own. Her heart murmur is caused by a channel in between her valves is open. Typically this closes up by itself before the baby is born, but Anna being premature she may have to get a round of a different medicine that will help. She is stable and thriving. She is still on a ventilator, but with very little oxygen. She isn't eating, she is getting nutrients through an IV in her umbilical cord. That's all the update I have so far. Keep praying for Anna.

Anna Jane McKee

was born on November 18th, 2010 at 11:11am. She weighed 1lb 14oz and is 13in long. My fear became my reality on November 2nd. I, again, became sick and dehydrated and I had to go the hospital for IV fluids. I thought that was the only thing wrong. And then my blood pressure became an issue which was being controlled by medication. After one week, I was released to go home and I prayed nonstop that I didn't need to go back until it was time to have Anna. Less than 12 hours later, I was back in the hospital because my blood sugar dropped so low that I became unconscious and the only thing to do was call the paramedics. When I arrived at the hospital they noticed my blood pressure was dangerously high and so they called Dr. Love and he had me transfered back to Baptist Hospital. They were able to get my blood pressure under control once again with IV medication, but then my sugars would drop to dangerously low numbers in the middle of the night while I was sleeping. And if it weren't for constant monitoring, they might could have killed me (like if I were home, sleeping).   Little did I know this was going to be the least of my problems. On Monday, November 15th I was taken off of IV insulin and began a shot regimen, which went well. My sugars stayed fairly normal on Monday, but then on Tuesday I came across more scary lows that couldn't be explained. On Wednesday, My Dr. Blunt (a partner of Dr. Love) came in and explained that my kidneys were not working properly and wasn't excreting insulin as it should be. So my body is holding onto the insulin and it continues to be used which explains the unexplainable lows. She told me she felt comfortable keeping me in the hospital until Anna was born, but that I was already showing signs of Preeclampsia and thought 2 weeks was as long as Anna was going to be able to be baked. I tried to process the news, but I was too excited because Emily came to see me with my babies. I was so glad to see them and I miss them more than words can say. We walked around and took them to the waiting room to play with a few toys. We had a good time. My mom came up to get Nate and Abbie and take them back to her house where Tim would pick them up. I gave them the news of what Dr.Blunt had said. Of course they became scared and immediately started to pray for me, Anna, and my family. Emily actually stayed the night with me that night and kept me company. We had a good time for the most part, but I was in a lot of pain because it was becoming increasingly hard to breathe and all the swelling I had endured made it hard to move comfortably. My favorite nurse took care of me that night and called in to have a test ran to find out how much oxygen was in my blood as well as a chest x-ray to find out what my lungs looked like. When I woke up, Emily had already left to take care of her kids and Dr. Love came in to talk to me. He said he wanted to run some more blood work to find out where kidney function was running as well as other things. Well, it was 30 minutes later that he was back in my room telling me that I have swelled so much that the fluid has no where else to go exept to my lungs and that's what was happening. He also said that preeclampsia has set in and that even though he didn't want to deliver me at 26 weeks, he thought it was best thing for me and the baby. So I cried and called Tim and some other family members. Tim rushed up here. My mother was about 10 seconds behind him. And then Emily came back. It was about 9am when Dr.Love told me we were delivering today. And I was being taken back to the or at around 10-10:15ish am. It happened very fast. I was prepped and given a spinal block and surgery started at about 10:55am and she was out and being taken care of at 11:11am.

I haven't been able to meet her yet. My blood pressure has been so high that my doctor doesn't want me to move. AT ALL. I can't move from this bed for anything. After I realized on friday that I wasn't going to meet Anna that day, I went ahead and ordered real food and pain medication. I went to sleep around 9pm. I woke up this morning about 7 feeling well rested, optimistic, and positive. My blood pressures look a lot better and they are hoping to get me mobile today and take me to see Anna. I can't wait to meet her. I love her soooo much already and I want her to know.

Emily has definitely put the word out about Anna and my family and I know there are a lot of prayers for Anna being said and a lot of love being sent to her. I feel it. And I feel very blessed. I'm going to try and post updates on Anna as I get them and I want to post pictures for sure. And I will once I meet her. I can't wait for everyone to meet this precious 1lb 14oz baby, she is going to light up the world.