Happy Leap Day! How are you celebrating?
Not sure I have ever paid so close attention to leap year or the actual day. Obviously camping out in a maternity wing of a hospital will make you realize what day it is. We will post a count of leap year babies born at SMMC, but hopefully ours will hold off until March. I know there have been some already today...
Emily is doing well although her blood work labs came back with an inflated liver enzyme. Definitely not the direction we want her to go. No sonogram today as we were expecting, but we did find out that Emiy's stay is basically indefinite. The doctor said she was not leaving what I call Hotel Shawnee Mission without having the baby. General game plan seems to be to keep her on bed rest as long as possible. Although she understands, Emily is not pleased about this. ;-) More to come...
Friday, February 29, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Update on Baby Howell (Thursday)
I thought that I would update all of you on the status of Baby Howell today. I have not had any more blood work run today so it has been pretty uneventful. I talked to my doctor today, and we will have more blood work results tomorrow afternoon. And I am scheduled to have another ultrasound and consultation with the perinatologist at some point tomorrow.
As for other exciting happenings:
- I have learned that walls in the labor and delivery section of the hospital are not sound proof (and I have learned why epidurals are the best thing ever invented).
- The window washers at the hospital nearly scared me to death today but at least I have sqeaky clean windows.
- I have been doing all right with the hospital food since Monday but I have eaten so much chicken that I am starting to dream about Jayhawks! :)
- I have learned more medical lingo than I ever knew existed - in fact, the 10 minutes that I get to walk around the labor and delivery unit each afternoon is termed my "ambulatory session".
Again, we are so thankful for everyone's offers to help and your generosity. God has blessed us in so many ways, and we will update you all as the situation continues to develop!
As for other exciting happenings:
- I have learned that walls in the labor and delivery section of the hospital are not sound proof (and I have learned why epidurals are the best thing ever invented).
- The window washers at the hospital nearly scared me to death today but at least I have sqeaky clean windows.
- I have been doing all right with the hospital food since Monday but I have eaten so much chicken that I am starting to dream about Jayhawks! :)
- I have learned more medical lingo than I ever knew existed - in fact, the 10 minutes that I get to walk around the labor and delivery unit each afternoon is termed my "ambulatory session".
Again, we are so thankful for everyone's offers to help and your generosity. God has blessed us in so many ways, and we will update you all as the situation continues to develop!
Update on Baby Howell (Monday - Wednesday)
For those of you that don't know, I was admitted to Shawnee Mission Medical Center on Monday (2/25/2008) afternoon after having some blood work that came back abnormal. My only symptoms prior to being admitted was a dull, persistent headache that I had throughout last weekend. When I called my doctor, she asked that I go to the hospital (based on my previous history with post-partum eclampsia). They put me on the monitor to monitor the baby's heartbeat and any contractions that I have was having. The wonderful news is that the baby looks great, and I wasn't having any regular contractions. They also started to run the blood work. By 3:00 p.m. on Monday afternoon, my blood work was back and one of my liver enzymes was elevated. I was admitted on Monday night for observation. When my doctor came by on Monday night, she wanted to run some additional tests. One of the tests is a 24-hour urine analysis. I started that on Monday afternoon.
On Tuesday morning, the blood work was re-run. My liver enzyme level had improved but was still above the normal range. On Tuesday morning, we also had an ultrasound and had a consultation with a perinatologist. He was much more reassuring about the entire situation and told us that he was not prepared to deliver the baby early simply because of a high level enzyme level. He told us that we needed to wait on the results of the 24-hour urine analysis. But the great news is that the ultrasound showed that the baby was approximately 4 pounds, 10 ounces (which is wonderful for a 31-week baby). That was definitely an answer to prayer! By Tuesday afternoon, the urine analysis results came back and my protein level was above the normal range. These results earned me an extended stay at Shawnee Mission at least until Sunday for continous observation (and bedrest). At this point, it is our understanding that more tests will be run on Sunday and the results should help determine next steps.
On Wednesday morning, the blood work was run again. The good news is that my liver enzyme level was actually back within the normal range, but as my doctor said, I am not the typical preeclamptic patient so they are not willing to take any chances.
Also, for those of you that are familiar with preeclampsia, my blood pressure has never been high. In fact, it is relatively low for being pregnant but still within the healthy range. Well - enough for the medical recap.
I get to spend most of my days reading books, watching TV, getting put on the monitors to check on the baby, surfing the Internet. I am sure that to some of you this sounds like a welcome relief! :) At this point, my attitude is fairly positive! But who knows, I may be a complete nut case by this weekend. Also, I wanted to post a couple of specific prayer requests that we would really appreciate prayers for at this point:
- That the baby continues to develop and grow strong and healthy
- That the symptoms of my preeclampsia begin to subside and that I can go home and be monitored on bed rest there
We also want to share our praises:
- Thank the Lord for wonderful friends and family who have offered to help watch Lydia over the next few weeks
- Praise God that the hospital staff has been so accomodating to all of us and that I am getting the best care possible
We will share more later!
On Tuesday morning, the blood work was re-run. My liver enzyme level had improved but was still above the normal range. On Tuesday morning, we also had an ultrasound and had a consultation with a perinatologist. He was much more reassuring about the entire situation and told us that he was not prepared to deliver the baby early simply because of a high level enzyme level. He told us that we needed to wait on the results of the 24-hour urine analysis. But the great news is that the ultrasound showed that the baby was approximately 4 pounds, 10 ounces (which is wonderful for a 31-week baby). That was definitely an answer to prayer! By Tuesday afternoon, the urine analysis results came back and my protein level was above the normal range. These results earned me an extended stay at Shawnee Mission at least until Sunday for continous observation (and bedrest). At this point, it is our understanding that more tests will be run on Sunday and the results should help determine next steps.
On Wednesday morning, the blood work was run again. The good news is that my liver enzyme level was actually back within the normal range, but as my doctor said, I am not the typical preeclamptic patient so they are not willing to take any chances.
Also, for those of you that are familiar with preeclampsia, my blood pressure has never been high. In fact, it is relatively low for being pregnant but still within the healthy range. Well - enough for the medical recap.
I get to spend most of my days reading books, watching TV, getting put on the monitors to check on the baby, surfing the Internet. I am sure that to some of you this sounds like a welcome relief! :) At this point, my attitude is fairly positive! But who knows, I may be a complete nut case by this weekend. Also, I wanted to post a couple of specific prayer requests that we would really appreciate prayers for at this point:
- That the baby continues to develop and grow strong and healthy
- That the symptoms of my preeclampsia begin to subside and that I can go home and be monitored on bed rest there
We also want to share our praises:
- Thank the Lord for wonderful friends and family who have offered to help watch Lydia over the next few weeks
- Praise God that the hospital staff has been so accomodating to all of us and that I am getting the best care possible
We will share more later!
Welcome to the Howell Family Blog!
Welcome to the Howell Family blog that I am in the process of creating. As this is my first foray into the world of blogging, please be patient with me. Brian and I will most likely both be posting entries to the site over the next few weeks to keep everyone updated. Our main purpose in setting up this blog was to keep everyone informed of the latest news surrounding our family and to pass along prayer requests and other information so that each of you could check and stay updated as often as you would like.
We first want to tell all of you how much we appreciate your friendship, offers of help, prayers, and kind words over the past few days. Situations like this definitely have helped us to realize how truly blessed we are to have such wonderful family and friends! My next blog entry will provide you with some of the details and updates surrounding Baby Howell #2!
We love all of you!
We first want to tell all of you how much we appreciate your friendship, offers of help, prayers, and kind words over the past few days. Situations like this definitely have helped us to realize how truly blessed we are to have such wonderful family and friends! My next blog entry will provide you with some of the details and updates surrounding Baby Howell #2!
We love all of you!
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