Pediatrian Appointments

Kaidence had her first follow-up appointment yesterday. She weighed in at 8# 14 oz! Everything is looking good except her little belly button just won't close up. They cauterized it yesterday. And this morning it didn't look any better. So Nicole called the doc back and returned to the office, only for them to have to cauterize her again today. Poor little Kaidence has decided that she doesn't like her belly touched or messed with. I can't say that I blame her!

She has been discharged!

Kaidence has been discharged from the hospital and is on her way home! :)

Good News Today

Her renal function tests came back normal! So the docs are thinking that she'll be ok and pass these on her own. They anticipate discharging her home possibly tomorrow or Thursday with a follow-up CT scan in a month, just to be sure. Meanwhile, she's still a happy little camper! :)

ANOTHER UPDATE: The docs say it will be this weekend before they can consider discharge because she still needs a few more days of IV antibiotics. Her IV line went down this morning; and nurses had to restart a new one in her little hand. She wasn't happy about that :(

Dye tests done today

Our little angel is doing well today and has crossed the 8 pound mark with her weight. So she continues to eat well and maintains a healthy appetite. She had her dye tests this morning, which made her none too happy. But within minutes later, she was back to her happy little self. For her tough, trooper attitude, along with her wonderfully serene temperament, we are truly blessed and grateful.

Saturday Morning

Doc came in this morning and said Kaidence will be in the hospital at least 10 days. The source of the infection is E. Coli in the urinary tract. They believe that she has UT reflux causing it.

Friday Update

Little Kaidence remains in Wolfson Children's Hospital this weekend; and the docs tell us not to plan on leaving anytime soon :( The latest tests show several small kidney stones, or what they think might be kidney stones. They've referred her to a renal specialist for further opinion.
Despite all the antibiotics they are running via IV, her white blood cell count continues to climb. They still aren't sure about the source of this either. All of this is extremely unusual for a newborn. So I think everyone is both puzzled and worried at this point.

Please continue to keep our little angel in your prayers.

Sad News: Prayers Appreciated

Our baby girl spiked a temp of over 102 last night and had to make a trip to the local ER. She was subsequently transported by ambulance to Wolfson Children's Hospital, where she has been hospitalized. She apparently has an infection; and docs are trying to determine the source. We anticipate a spinal tap sometime this morning. Please keep her and her mother in your prayers.

9am update: So far, an UTI has been found, but no source. They're treating with IV antibiotics.

2pm update: Fever has broke and seems to be doing much better.

9pm update: Fever up and down this evening, ranging between 99 and 101.4
She's still eating well and getting IV antibiotics. More tests ordered for tomorrow to see if her urinary system is functioning properly.

Rough Night for Mom and baby

Kaidence needs to feel close to Nicole. She insists on lying naked on Nicole's chest and wants to feed hourly. Nicole held up during the night fairly well but was tearful by 8am this morning. She's going through the typical first-mom jitters, fearing she doesn't know how to make the baby happy, isn't producing enough milk, doesn't know what to do to soothe her, etc. I took the baby for a while to give her a break. That made Nicole feel worse, as she began to cry and complain that the baby quiets for me but does nothing but eat and cry for her. I explained that she is tired, frustrated and stressed. And the baby picks up on that....feels her momma's emotions.

The baby has her first pediatrician appointment this morning. After that, I'll see if I can get baby and Mom settled down for the afternoon. I'll try to post more pics this evening after dinner. Until then, I'm off to play with a little angel :)

SHE'S HERE!!

She's so pitiful!

Her doc doesn't want her in the hospital, nor does she want to even be in the hospital, until the contractions are regular and 3-5 mins apart for over 1 hour. Maybe that's the way they normally do things around here, but Nicole is starting to wear down. Her CP dystonia is starting to flare back up; her calves are tightened worse than I've seen them in years. When she walks, she's starting to "drag and flop" her feet, which she hasn't done since pre-school! Her contractions are now primarily in her back and moving down her thighs, but seem to be "stuck" in time at 5-7 minutes apart.

So, momma here is about to throw a hissy fit. Right now, I have Nicole soaking in the tub, hoping to loosen her up some. If that doesn't help, we're going to the hospital; and I'm going to get ugly if they don't treat this more holistically.

Progress Denial & Saturday Updates

11am: Nicole has had 6 really strong contractions over the past 2 hours. It's getting harder to distract her and keep her busy. But at the same time, she denies that these are contractions. She continues to claim that pain moving from her lower abdomen to her groin and around to her back can not be contractions. LOL Guess she'll figure it out soon enough, huh?

2:30pm UPDATE: Contractions are lasting longer and are much harder now, lasting almost 2 minutes each and spreading into and across her back and hips. She's now calling them contractions :)

7:30pm: Contractions are intensifying and coming every 5-8 minutes now. I think we may be ready to head back to the hospital soon! :)

Craft Day

Nicole and I worked on Christmas ornaments, gifts and stockings today. We also worked on a butterfly, dragonfly and hummingbird mobile for the baby's crib and made a baby sling today.
We found some great patterns on this site. Maybe tomorrow we'll try the grocery cart cover?

So far we are still awaiting Kaidence's grand entry into the world. So while we wait, we sew, paint and bead which is not an easy task considering Nicole has always been impatient with crafting and sewing. Now, she's impatient for the baby AND impatient with activities, making her one heck of a cranky person today. But we have to do something to stay busy.

Still no baby

We're still walking stairs and waiting. Thus far, the contractions are not being consistent. We're hoping since it's a full moon, rainy, high tide night, that maybe she will get more serious sometime tonight. I'm exhausted; and I'm not the pregnant one! But Nicole seems to be hanging in there well and is staying rather calm at this point.

Making Progress

Nicole is now at 50% and is having some pretty painful, but productive contractions. About 30 mins ago, she had one that made her complain "I changed my mind! I don't wanna do this anymore!" LOL Other than that complaint she's doing well.

I will keep y'all posted as we proceed.

With Nicole

I have arrived in Jacksonville and staying in an absolutely beautiful penthouse condo on the beach! I surprised Nicole by having Scott bring her up to Carraba's for dinner. The staff sat me with my back to the door and then tried to seat them with me. At first, Nicole backed away from the table, (later saying she was flabergasted that they would sit them in a booth with someone else). But once I looked up and Nicole saw me, she screamed "MOMMMMMMMMMM!!"

Right now, she's laying here behind me on the couch. She's had some pains today, some quite strong, but nothing with any rhythm or consistency yet. But I'm having some really serious lower back pain right now. So I'm starting to wonder which one of us is really doing the work here?!? LOL

In The Home Stretch

and still no progress with labor! ~sigh~ Doesn't she LOOK ready to burst at the seams?

So, that's it! I'm going to head down there, make her eat pineapple and raisins with apple cider! We gotta get that baby moving!! LOL

39 Weeks and still not ready

Nicole's body is showing no progress toward labor as of yesterday. Kaidence is still happy as a little lark in there and still dancing around on her head much of the time. When she dances her way into a tight spot, she just starts pushing herself around until she gets everything where she wants it to be, much to her mother's dismay at times. I made her a pair of infant dancing shoes this week. Hopefully, she'll be ready for them soon! If not, I'm going to have to head down that way and have a talk with the little squirt and see if I can lure her out! LOL

36 Weeks and counting

Nicole went in for her doctor's appointment today. Kaidence is in great shape, growing well, and is "head down, in position and ready to tango". They're estimating that the baby may be around 6 pounds now. There is no cervical effacement or dilation at this point. So we're figuring it will be at least another couple of weeks. But the doc says from this point forward, if Kaidence decides to come, "we ain't gonna stop her." And he absolutely won't let her go into a 40th week due to Nicole's pelvic size versus the size of the baby. So if the baby hasn't come by November 8th, they're going to schedule an induction for the following week.

Nicole continues to work, waiting tables in a restaurant. She says she stays really tired lately but fears not working due to financial needs and her health. Nicole has CP and has been off her CP meds since finding out she was pregnant. She started looking for a waitressing job at that time. She says that she feels that as long as she's waiting tables, she's getting exercise and moving. She fears if she stops working, her muscles will start tightening up and giving her heck. So she plans to work "until the labor pains are 5 minutes apart cuz if I keep moving maybe my muscles won't have time to notice a difference." (LOL) And her doctor says that as long as she feels up to it, he's kewl with it.

Nicole also claims she will not go back on her meds for at least 6 months after Kaidence is born because she wants to breastfeed. We'll see how that goes. She can't return to work for 6 wks and won't necessarily be able to move around as much for a couple of weeks at least. So I'm not sure how well she'll fair as a non-medicated CP patient after childbirth?

BABY KAIDENCE IS DUE NOV 15!

This is where I will post all the latest news and pics of Nicole and baby Kaidence.

At this time, both mother and baby are doing well. The doc anticipates that Kaidence is approximately 5.5 pounds. Kaidence is keeping Nicole awake at night with all her late night belly dancing. But hey, that's MY girl, huh?

To the right, I have posted links to slideshows and pictures. I will add categories as I add pictures so that you do not have to go through the entire album to see the new pics. The first category is Anticipation which will include pictures during Nicole's pregnancy.

There will be more to come over the next few weeks; so stay tuned! :)