Author: Lauren

Day 2

Posted on by Lauren

Thank you all so much for your prayers and following along with Esther’s progress.

I thought I could prepare myself for the ups and downs but only on day 2 and I’m a wreck. This morning she had blood pressure issues and once they gave her some medication it seemed to make her much happier. She had an issue with her chest tube not draining but the doctors quickly fixed that.

This afternoon the kids were able to say hi to their sister. The kids love her so much.

I stopped by after dinner to a lot of people in the room. The neonatologist informed me that they needed to start her on ECMO. Her lungs we were working to hard and it was making thigs much worse for her. Once the were set up I had to leave. It took them a couple hours to hook up the machine. Once they were done we were able to talk more with her surgeon about what this means for Esther.

Everything that they were trying before was making things worse for Esther. The oscillator that was breathing and supplying air to her lungs is what was causing tiny tears that were leaking oxygen. Because they needed to have the oscillator on so high it was making things worse. With her being in ECMO, it completely rest the lungs so they will heal and she will get better. The pressure from the oscillator was pushing on her heart also, and starting to cause damage. The ECMO machine will let her heart rest too so it can heal.

They will run test after a few days to see how she is handling being on ECMO. They will test her lungs with a puff of air to see if it’s healing. She can stay on ECMO up to 21 days. But ideally it will be less than 14. Their are lots of risks for her on ECMO. And I hope we won’t have to deal with any of them. So I won’t go over them. Just pray for no complications. Pray she heals miraculously fast. Once she can come off ECMO and can prove herself to be strong with out it they can do her repair surgery.

All the machines keeping Esther alive. The stuff on the right is the ECMO.

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The two red tubes are acting as her heart and lungs. Delivering blood to her so she can rest.image

 

Her surgeon is very optimistic about Esther. This will help and she will do great. But it’s still scary and a last resort for her. I know she is covered in prayers and I appreciate it so much. She is doing alright right now. Dave and I stayed with her most the night and she is looking good.

For family stuff, we are still waiting to get into the hospitality house that is connected to the hospital. They have no rooms available and we would really like to be able to stay their as soon as possible. It makes things so much easier to be close to Esther and the other kids.

 

 

Esther Mae is here

Posted on by Lauren

Well I guess I just needed to post about still being pregnant to not be pregnant anymore.

Monday morning I had a Dr. appointment to monitor how she was doing. She had enough fluid, but her heart rate wasn’t doing what it was supposed to do. After talking to my doctor we decided that I was far enough along that breaking my water would get things going. Based on her heart rate she should be delivered sooner than later.

I went back to get Dave and get my things together. Then we headed into the hospital to deliver Esther. Around 7PM they broke my water. Because of her constant monotoring, IV and the anxiety of her birth I opted in getting an epidural. My other births (except Ezra’s c-section) I delivered with out anything. I am glad I got the epidural for this delivery. I was comfortable and pain free. When I was ready to push we paged the NICU team to take care of Esther. With pushing during 3 contractions she was out. Whisked away by the NICU team to get intubated. Dave was able to head up to the NICU with them while I finished up with delivery. He said there were over 17 people taking care of her waiting to do what they need to do.

They are taking good care of her and for how critical she is, she is doing pretty good. They have her intubated and started an oscillator on her. The oscillator pulses oxygen into her lungs to simulate breathing. It seems to be going well so far, but it can change at any moment.

They are taking X-rays through out the day to see what her insides are doing. Her diaphragm opening is quiet large and a lot of her insides  are up in her chest. They are hoping that with the lungs taking in oxygen that it will naturally move some things around. The surgeon is hoping to do her diaphragm patch surgery Thursday or Friday. She is wanting to line up he best team for Esther.

From the X-ray they found some air outside of her right lung. Which means her right lung was leaking a little. It is something that will repair itself but the had to put a chest tube in to clear the air. Things look good once they put that in there.

When they pick on her she doesn’t like it. Her silent cries are hard to watch. Even though I can’t hold her yet I can cuddle with her. Not the same but I’ll take it. They started giving her some sedation drugs to keep her calm. Her movements make her work to hard than she can handle.

I set up a Facebook prayer page to do quick updates for her. Feel free to like it. www.facebook.com/esthermaehannon

Also we do have a PO box set up here where we will pick up our mail. The address is PO BOX 2703, Grand Rspids, MI, 49501

 

imageHanging out with Esther.

 

Esther Mae Hannon, born June 24, 5:57 AM, approximately 7#14oz. No height yet.

She is the perfect addition to our family and I can’t wait to take her home.

 

 

Update about nothing

Posted on by Lauren

I guess it’s time for an update.

And yes, I’m still pregnant. 40 weeks and 6 days pregnant incase you were counting. I have no idea when I’m going to go into labor. I’ve been having on and off contractions since about 36 weeks. I was sure I would deliver around 38 weeks. Now I feel like I’m 3 weeks overdue, not just a few days.

We are monitoring her by checking the amniotic fluid every few days. My doctor is fine with me going to 42 weeks before trying anything. I’m hoping to deliver on my own before that. The real issue comes if she decides to poop before I deliver her. We won’t know if that happens until she is here. If she does it would get in her lungs. Praying nothing like that happens.

Anyway, still impatiently waiting to get this craziness started. Thanks for the prayers and messages from everyone. I plan on updating things when things get more interesting.

And here is a very pregnant time at the park.

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Hanging out

Posted on by Lauren

Yup I’m still pregnant. I really thought we would have her sooner but I guess she is comfy and not ready yet.

We have been spending some time in Grand Rapids waiting for the baby to come.  Even though Dave is still working it feels like a mini vacation. Though I much prefer to not be 9 months pregnant on vacation.

We have enjoyed our time here and are starting to settle in. Nothing too exciting to share. But here are some pictures of some of the fun.

Lots of time spent at the park
GR Collage 

We found the boys like this one night.
I asked Atreyu why he wanted to sleep with Ezra and he said
“Well, because I love him sometimes”

sleepy boys

 

And of course I have gotten a little bit of sewing in.
Noelle in her new dress.

noelle dress

 

 

Today I am 39 weeks. I do feel like I could go into labor any moment. This end of pregnancy has by far been my most uncomfortable. The others were so easy compared to her. It’s nice having Dave “work from home” this last week since he has been a huge help to me.

Thank you to those we have talked with and the encouraging things and prayer you have for us. We are thankful that our church has a church plant here that we have been able to visit. It feels like home and are blessed by the people there.

Getting ready

Posted on by Lauren

This should have been posted earlier, but I broke the blog. Thankfully, Dave knows how to fix those things, so here we are.

 

We have been busy these last few weeks. Trying to get everything ready, having some fun family time, talking with he kids about the baby and the move.

A couple weeks ago we took the kids to the indoor water park. They had a blast. Noelle took to the water right away. She just loved it, a little too much sometimes. She scared me a few times with her bravery but we were right there with her. Ezra loved splashing and playing in the shallow water. I hope this summer he builds more confidence in the water. Once he is comfortable he loved it. Atreyu loved playing too , and could have spent all day there. He hates getting his head wet, but once he realized it’s just bound to happen he got over that really fast. Ezra and Noelle went down the huge slide with Dave.

It was so much fun to spend that time together.

Avalanchbay

Last weekend we started packing. Well Dave started packing, he doesn’t let me do much. Which I need because I do not want this baby to come early and there have been some days that scare me with how many Braxton hicks/contractions I am having. It’s hard because I want to help but I know it’s best for the baby to just relax and grow a baby.

Memorial weekend was spent packing up the rest of the house and enjoy the beautiful weather we were having. The movers came this week to move everything into storage, and we headed down to Grand Rapids Friday. We are so blessed to have a place to stay while we wait for the baby to come.

 

memorialday2

 

Overall we have a peace from God about everything that is going on. We know He has it handled, whatever may happen. But it is still emotional for us. Thankfully, we are reminded of great promises from God’s word. Here are a few we keep turning too during this time.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. (Isaiah 43:2 ESV)

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you.
Let not your hearts be troubled neither let them be afraid. (John 14:27)

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. (Romans 12:12)