Ashlyn in NICU

After several hours breathing enriched air in a box, the doctors decided Ashlyn needed additional help.  Last night they changed her to a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) device to inflate her lungs so they can dry out.  She now has air tubes attached to her nose and a food tube in her mouth.  Hopefully this will help dry out her lungs so she can leave the NICU tomorrow.  If she has peed enough by tomorrow they will remove the CPAP and test her oxygen saturation levels while she breathes unaided.

All of Angie's tubes were removed today so she was allowed out of bed.  We took the long journey down one floor to visit Ashlyn in the NICU.  This was the first that Angie was able to see Ashlyn since leaving the operating room.  Angie appears to be recovering well.

This is My Sad Face

Maddie was all smiles when she heard it was a sister. Ben wanted to look at the baby and see if he could figure it out but through the frosted glass window he couldn’t really tell. Now that he knows it is a girl he is happy the boy-girl pattern was maintained in the family. Jacob was the best. He said, “Mom, this is my sad face because I don’t WANT the baby to be a girl.” He cracks me up. Maddie was helping show the sad face when i asked to see it again so i could take a picture of it in case you were wondering what got her so down.

Ashlyn Anne Zufelt

Brian just went down to attempt to register the baby birth with the government office so I guess we are committed.  We’ve named the baby Ashlyn Anne Zufelt.

 

We think she’s pretty cute for a kid wearing a box on her head.

 

Baby Girl

Brian's email to the family right after delivery announcing the birth with her stats. Obviously I've updated her status below but wanted to include her official weight length and time.

We have a new baby girl! She was born Mar 6 at 8:28 a.m. (Mar 5 at 5:28 p.m. Utah time). She is our smallest baby at 2710 grams and 48 centimeters (5 lbs 15.8 oz and 18.9 inches). After an hour of observation she still needed help keeping her oxygen levels up so she has been transferred to the NICU to receive oxygen and additional monitoring. She is doing well and should be out in a few hours after she gets all the fluid out of her lungs.

Angie is doing well.

Pee Baby Pee!

The doctor (pediatrician) just came with an update on our little lady. She is still grunting hard for each breath. The chest X-ray shows either very, very wet lungs or immature lungs. Time will tell but no infection or pneumonia so that is the positive news. She is on antibiotics as a precaution and starts the CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) now for at least 24 maybe 48 hours. This will help her feel better by helping hold the lungs open so she doesn't have to work so hard to breath. If it is wet lung she will hopefully be able to process it out in the next 24 hours by peeing.

She's grounded to the NICU for probably at least 48 hours more before she can go to the regular nursery delaying her discharge for sure. I guess that's okay because mine is delayed too. The doctor keeps referring to my internals as "quite a jungle" and it took him a long time to repair and put me back together. I had planned to go home Friday but he says Saturday is likely the soonest he is willing to let me outta this joint.

Guess me and baby girl get to hang out together...sort of. Me on the 4th floor, her on the 3rd. Hopefully tomorrow I will be well enough to go see the baby. Then maybe it will seem more real. Sort of hard to name a baby you aren't connected to yet if that makes sense.

First Hospital Visit

Brian just arrived at the hospital with the kids to visit me. They all stared at the IV in my hand looking a little scared so we explained it simply. Maddie's next question was "Are we allowed to play games on your phone while we are here?" I think she obviously really missed me.

We asked if they want to go see the baby and they smiled. Since baby will be in NICU for one to two days until she is breathing better they can't really see much and can't go in. Brian offered to tell them the sex but Ben covered his ears. He wanted to see the baby first. Maddie was sworn to secrecy and her smile went from ear to eat when she heard she finally had a sister!!

Baby Coming Soon - Boy or Girl??

We report to the hospital at 5:30 am to prep for 8:00 am surgery. Details coming soon. We're all anxious to know if it's a boy or girl. The bets are in from our clan.

Brian - girl, because he cheated and watched the ultrasound when the doctor said to look away if we really didn't want to find out. He looked the entire time and from his own expert conclusion figured he couldn't make out any details to point otherwise. Of course, we also both concur that we wouldn't have been able to tell with Ben or Jacob either on those fuzzy ultrasound screens.

Angie - girl, because it just feels like it's gotta be a girl

Ben - girl, because keeps a pattern - boy dad, girl mom, boy ben, girl maddie, boy jacob, must be a girl this time. I'm thinking he has a touch of the Robinson obsession for fairness down to the penny and my OCD on patterns and numbers. It's in the blood.

Maddie - girl, because she needs a sister more than anything in the world. It's taken many months but we have her finally resigned to love the baby even if God does see fit to send us a boy.

Jacob - boy, it will no longer be a yittle boy fluffy doggie. That's progress. Down side is that it won't have feet or legs. We're working one step at a time here to get the right picture in his mind. Hopefully it will all be clear when they meet tomorrow night.

Kathi Neilson - ??  She's the only one on the planet that knows the surprise. Don't be mad. She begged for months for me to find out. She needed to buy something inparticular that she can only get in Singapore before ExxonMobil moved them home to Houston, Texas in December. I had the doctor write it down and seal it in an envelope and gave it to her.

Are you mad? Yeah, I thought you would be knowing that someone knew and YOU didn't. That's why we didn't tell anyone she knew until this week. Don't worry. We don't know either and today I'm thinking it's really all kinda funny. As far as I know she hasn't told a soul.

Funny story on the special baby gift though. I hid the wrapped gift, sort of. I tossed it in the office in a box of paperwork that I wasn't ever going to get around to unpacking so that I would NEVER see it and not be tempted. Well, then we hired Gina. And I've gotten lots of boxes unpacked I hadn't figured I'd ever get around to working on.

For some reason Maddie decided to rummage through the box with the gift. She came running up to me, package in hand, fingers already underneath the edge of the paper ready to rip iit open. "LOOK MOM!!! We forgot to open this one!" "NOOOOO!!!!" I yelled almost in slow motion begging her to stop pulling at the edge that was beginning to rip. "Don't you DARE open that present!" I bellowed at her.

Poor girl was so startled by my response she looked scared. I have no idea how I got out of the situation without revealing the real reason she couldn't open said present. Heaven sakes I probably lied that it was for someone else. I don't know but it worked and she didn't open it. Crisis averted. Though the devil on my left shoulder was pouting at the angel on my right shoulder and calling her a party pooper and kill joy. Half of me wished she'd ruined it so I could just KNOW.

Tomorrow we shall know.  Care to register a guess before we find out?