Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Kaygan's Status

Ok, so this may be repetitive, I'm just going to copy and paste from a few e-mails, so there may be some duplicate information. I'll try to edit... but I'm tired and we're waiting to hear from the NICU about some tests they are running... so, here it goes!

So, Kaygan Elizabeth was born Feb 17, 2010 at 4:45 pm. Weighed 9lbs and 9oz... BIG baby! 21.5 inches long! We had to have her vacuumed out... not the funnest thing, but I was numb from the waist down!
So, that's the good news.


There's also some not great news. Kaygan is in in the NICU. She wasn't breathing well at all when she was born, she really wasn't breathing much at all, just grunting alot. So, they worked on her in our room for about 10 minutes or so. Dr. Christian, a NICU Dr., just happened (not really, God put her in the right place at the right time) to be walking by our room on her way home when she saw a bunch of nurses come running into our room. So, she came in, stayed with Kaygan for a few HOURS after she was done for the day to run some tests down in the NICU.

Kaygan's oxygen levels were very low, even with a nasal tube supplying her oxygen. Her white blood cell count is very high, indicating infection, and her lungs are streaked and watery. She also had a -14 acid level in her blood... 0 is what they want to see.


I got to hold her for about 30 seconds before they took her away, that was really really hard.

Once they got her down to the NICU and started working on her, she got really mad, and started screaming... FINALLY breathing well. Her oxygen levels were still bad, but at least she was crying... she never did in my room. They did all the bloodwork and x-rays at that time as well.


The Dr. came up and talked to us. Told us that she thought she'd pull through all of this, but would have alot of work ahead of her. She mentioned menengitis a few times, and a 2-4 week NICU stay.


She came up a little while later and told me that her white cell count was so high, they were going to do a spinal to make sure that it wasn't menengitis or an infection that was getting into her spinal cord.


5 minutes later, Bobby came back from the NICU where he was visiting Kaygan. The Dr. gave him good news! Kaygan was looking so good color wise and breathing wise etc. that she thought maybe everything was just due to the stress of the delivery and having the cord wrapped around her neck. Kaygan was also happily sucking away on a pacifier and sleeping on her belly. She has 3 open sores on the back of her head from the vacuum, so she was more comfortable on her belly.


I Finally got to go down to see her around 10:30. I wasn't allowed out of bed till my epidural wore off, and it took that long! She has a good little grip and isn't very fussy. Even when they stuck her for some blood, she didn't cry, just squirmed and kicked a bit! They are testing her white blood cell count again at midnight and things will go from there.


Her Acid level is now at -3 after they flushed her blood. So, that's a good thing, and they are going to start weening her off of the oxygen overnight or tomorrow since she's breathing so well on her own, and no more grunting!

I could see them lift her up like this from my bed... this was when I really started to get nervous.

Me getting to see her right before they took her to NICU

Having to give her back... so hard.

Well, my little girl is beautiful! I barely had time to take in her looks after I delivered, I just was too scared at that time! It was very surreal. It's just weird.

So, over in the NICU, I got to put my hand in her little nest and hold her hand. She has a very good grip. She got fussy while we were down there, and as soon as I started talking to her, she stopped immediately. They also had to stick her foot and collect a bunch of blood. They do that by squeezing the puncture mark and 'scooping' it up with a vile. She really didn't like that, but she still never cried, just squirmed a bunch.

She has streaking in her lungs. This could be pnemonia or an infection or just some amniotic fluid that she couldn't get out on her own. They are keeping an eye on it for now.

After they got her down there, they had her on her back and she really started to scream. This obviously perked up her color alot. So much in fact, that they're going to continue oxygen, but ween her throughout the night. They are also holding off on her spinal until they do a blood test at midnight. While her white cell levels were very high when they tested them earlier and they thought it could be an infection, there's also a possibility that the levels are just so high because she had a very stressful birth. We're hoping for that scenario.

She has a tube into her stomach. Right now she's getting sugar water, but I"m going to try to pump soon and they'll feed her whatever I can get, probably starting tomorrow.

She had acid in her blood, but that's gone from -14 to -3, and they want it at 0, so she's almost there... the blood flushing worked!

When they'd first gotten her down there, she was very upset and fiesty. They rolled her onto her belly and she fell right asleep. We had to have a vacuum delivery, and she has 3 open sores on the back of her head from that. They are guessing that they were really hurting her, and that's why she immediately calmed down when they put her on her belly.

The reason all of this is happening: She was over due and that's how she got the fluid in her lungs. The cord was wrapped around her neck, which didn't remove the acid from her blood the way it's supposed to. Because she was over due, my placenta also came out in pieces... which is just really weird... but it had obviously started to die. There were a few other things that they mentioned, but basically, I should have induced sooner and we may not have had some of these issues, though there still might have been a few, they're just not sure.

So, that's where things stand now. They'll do another blood draw on her at midnight to check her white cell count. If that's still too high, a spinal will be done. They may also put an IV into her cord stump and draw blood from there as needed, so they don't have to keep sticking her.

Here's her little 'spaceship'. It's grainy, we didn't want to use flash and disturb her!



We know that Kayla and Becky put out about 500 txts within minutes of her birth and realizing there are problems. Thank you all for the prayers... they are obviously working. Keep praying for our little girl. She may still have a fight ahead of her, but all of the Dr.s and Nurses who've seen her are feeling much more positive about her status... she's apparently the talk of the floor too, as several random nurses have stopped in just to tell us how good they've heard she is doing.

Oh, she's not the only talk of the floor... there was a baby born not long before her with a full tooth!!! They wheeled that baby by our crowd in the hall and they all got to see it! How crazy is that!

12 comments:

Mrs. Cahill's Room 110 said...

((Waves hello to Kaygan)) Hi there! So glad you're here! Keep being strong!

Craig . Kate . Xavier . Cass . Sadie said...

Ok that is so funny about the tooth! That would freak me out!
But wanted to let you know that we are praying for you all. She is so cute - love her chubby cheeks. Xavier was 10 lb, 22 inches - those big babies look so much bigger than the other babies in the nursery. She looks good though - and like a little fighter. I just know she will continue to get better and get in your arms soon. Hang in there Kristi!!

Lisa Anderson said...

Hi! I'm Kate's friend Lisa. I wanted to let you know that we are praying for your Kaygan! She sounds very strong! Beautiful, too! God Bless her and her family!

The Andersons
Ron, Lisa & Char

Anonymous said...

Kristi and Bobbie - She is beautiful!!! Love you guys....'Aunt' Edie

Anonymous said...

Congratulations!! Your baby girl is beautiful!! I am continuing to pray for all of you and the medical teams working with Kaygan. Take care of yourself and your precious little angel.

Annie (Barber) Boland

Anonymous said...

Can't wait to buy her all sorts of girl clothes! Have to get my girl fix somewhere. Praying for all of you!! "Aunt" Janna

Anonymous said...

Oh Kristi, I am so sorry you and your hubby have had to go through all of this! I know she will fight and continue to improve very quickly! I am very happy for the both of you! God Bless your family!!! XXOO Lynn Brumm

Anonymous said...

We are so happy to hear that things are looking upward for Kaygan! I love the pictures! You looked great as well in the pictures....better than me after my delievery! I know the doctors and nurses will do whatever they can for your special delivery sent from Heaven!! Love you guys and will continue to pray for you guys! oh by the way....prayers are coming from Florida (mom and dad's church)as well!....love you guys!..Jennifer and Cliff

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the update. I'm continuing to pray for her. Hearing all of this makes me realize just how much I want to work in the NICU one day as a Speech Therapist. Your family is in my prayers. Kaygan is beautiful, like her momma! ~Brittany Prevallet

Anonymous said...

"Aunt Kristi, I am happy that you have a girl baby that we can play with when she's older!"
-Gerhardt
"Baby Kaygan, I love you and you can pretend to be my baby sister!"
-Hayden
(She came up with this on her own.)
Pointing at the screen"BABY!"
-Heinrich
Congratulations, Kristi and Bobby! She is SO beautiful AND she has hair!!!! I told some of my friends and family about her, and they are still praying hard for her! Love ya!
-Kat

Rachel said...

Kristi, she is absolutely beautiful! I hope you are both doing well and that your sweet baby girl is on the road to recovery.

Brad & Rachel said...

I'm sending tons of prayers your way! But she is jsut beaustiful! COngratulations!

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