The Beginning of Georgia's Story

After a very uneventful pregnancy (seriously, sometimes I wondered if there was a baby in there or if my beer belly finally caught up with me, except that she was very very active...), Georgia Faith joined our family on April 11th at 8:03 a.m.  She arrived hungry, and though she was ready to eat, I wanted to see what she weighed.  Both Will and Rachel were 8 lbs. 12 oz., and I thought Georgia would be smaller...Was I ever wrong! She was 9 lbs. 6 oz.!  Because she was so big, they tested her blood sugar, and it was low (they want a level of 45, and hers was 20).  Sadly, she had to go to the NICU for her first few meals of glucose and formula and stayed there for her first day. It was the strangest feeling, to have a baby only to have her whisked away from you all day...made me feel for the families that have really sick babies or babies they never get to hold.  In fact, they did roll my bed into the NICU to see her, and I saw babies that were really challenged, and I prayed for those families.  While Georgia came back to us that night, some of those babies will spend months in there, and I pray they all go home to their Mommies too.

Georgia spent Monday night with us, and then went to the nursery Tuesday morning to be checked out by our pediatrician.  Tuesday, we spent the day together, and I fell even more in love with her (which I didn't think was even possible!).  Tuesday night, the nurse mentioned that she looked a little jaundiced, and said that they would check her bilirubin level in the nursery on Wednesday morning.  If it were high, she would need to stay in the nursery under the "baby tanning bed".  Wednesday was our second day without Georgia.  She stayed all day under the light in the nursery, and they brought her back to me to feed.  It was terribly sad.  I got up several times to walk down to the nursery and stare at her through the window.

Wednesday was also the day that I realized that my back hurt worse, and not the standard soreness at the epidural site.  It was almost unbearable to lay down, and because I had a c-section, I had to lay on my back.  That night, I asked my nurse to look at it, and I touched a very swollen spot at the epidural site.  Though I barely brushed it, I pulled my hand back covered in (stop reading if you have a weak stomach) puss.  Green-yellow stinky puss.  She looked over my shoulder and left immediately to call anesthesia, who arrived in moments to say that they "had never seen anything like that before...".  If I heard this once, I heard it from every doctor and nurse that came in.  Not settling, but I appreciate their honesty.  After a day of worrying while waiting for the cultures to grow, we learned that I had a staph infection at the epidural site.  Another day of worrying while waiting to learn if it was MRSA (super-staph) or the "regular" staph, while being pumped full of multiple IV antibiotics and pain medications...  this day also happened to be the day the pediatrician came to see us after checking Georgia out.  She mentioned that in Georgia's checkup that morning, they decided to ultrasound her hips and her heart.  Her hips because they heard a "clicking", and her heart because they heard a murmur.  She asked if I knew what that was, and I said yes.  I had heard the term.  She said that a doctor would be by to see us later to talk about what they had found.  When Dr. Sotomora introduced himself as a pediatric cardiologist, I felt sick to my stomach.  I honestly didn't think I could handle anything more, but I listened numbly as he held up a hand-drawn picture of a heart.  I felt sicker.  He explained the systems and workings of a normal heart, and then he explained Georgia's.  Georgia has 3 holes in her heart right now.  One, called an ASD (atrial septal defect is in the upper part of her heart between the two atria), the other two are called VSDs (ventricular septal defects), and they are in the lower part between the two ventricles.  The most important thing he said is that any one or all of these could close on their own, and that is what we pray for.  In the meantime, she will have further testing on April 29th, and see Dr. Sotomora again on May 2nd.  Please pray for good news about her heart.  Her hips, they say, are fine.
As for me, my infection is clearing up.  I see my new favorite doctor, Dr. Deitrich, of the Infectious Disease Group again in a couple of weeks, and by that time, I should be off the insane antibiotics.
While our pregnancy was uncomplicated, our delivery and extended stay in the hospital was anything but; I won't complain.  I can't thank the doctors and nurses of Baptist Hospital enough.  They complimented our attitudes and strength and patience, but I say they are the true testament to all of those. Medicine isn't an exact science, and I believe everyone that we saw tries their very best to get as close as they possibly can.  I am thankful for this experience; it has taught me so much.  I am forever grateful for the lesson, and for our perfect baby girl, Georgia.
More to come...