At my last post, I was 36 weeks pregnant. A week later, during one of Charlie's regular nurse visits, the nurse was unable to pull blood off of his PICC line. This should be an easy proposition...the line goes right to his heart. Since we had some issues with the first PICC line getting pulled, I immediately thought that may have been the case, again, less than a week after having the second one placed. (Placement is a surgical procedure under anesthesia). After a call to our doctor, we made our way to the ER for evaluation of the line. Within that three hour window, Charlie's skin on his upper arm around the line had turned bright red and hot. The dreaded line infection. At the ER, they took labs, gave him some IV antibiotics and, because he wasn't running a fever, sent us home. The next morning, it was just as red and swollen and the skin had sloughed off under his arm and it was open and weeping. Back to the ER we went, this time we were admitted. This was a Tuesday and I was 37 weeks pregnant. My best friend was coming to visit the next day for a quick overnight trip since she was in the vicinity for a business trip. I spent that first night so ridiculously uncomfortable on the hospital daybed holding Charlie. Because we didn't know the nature of the infection, he was put on isolation. 2 year old + confinement to a small hospital room = not fun! The plan was to treat the infection by way of IV antibiotics and then have him go to surgery for a Hickman central line (a line in his chest instead of a peripheral central line (PICC)). On Wednesday, they did an ultrasound at surgery's request, just to see what we were dealing with before they went in and operated. They discovered he had a large blood clot in his arm where the PICC line was. Which meant starting him on a 3 month course of twice daily injections of a blood thinner. My best friend arrived and Jared took over so she and I could go to dinner and I could sleep in my own bed that night. We had a lovely, relaxing dinner at PF Changs, which was such an oasis for me. I hadn't seen her since December and it was so nice to just have a girls night out.
The next morning, I had my regular twice weekly non-stress test and then planned to head over to stay with Charlie so Jared could go to work. During the NST, the baby was not reactive and was having some decelerations with contractions. My doctor came in and told me they needed to deliver him that day! I was shocked, to say the least. A gazillion thoughts went through my head about how this was all going to work (did I mention Jared had JUST started a new job??) with Charlie in the hospital and facing surgery plus Jack to care for, etc., etc. My in-laws came up to care for Jack, Jared planned to take off work and stay with Charlie and I prepared to have a baby THAT DAY. Meanwhile, my mother tried to get the earliest flight to Portland. Since Jack was at school, my in-laws were able to come stay with Charlie so Jared could be present at the birth. Around 2 pm, we went into the OR for delivery...and our sweet Teddy was born shortly after. Weighing in at a whopping 5 lbs 7 ozs, he was perfect! Although we had planned all along to name him William, the week before his birth, my husband started having doubts. Jack suggested Teddy (not sure where he got it from) and we were debating between Henry and Teddy...right up until 15 minutes post-birth! I am a Type-A planner all the way, so this indecisiveness is very unusual for me! EVERYONE was pulling for Teddy as the name. He was so tiny...and Teddy just seemed to fit him. So, we went with Henry Theodore Scott for his full proper name and we call him Teddy. :-)
Since my mother couldn't get a flight until Sunday (this was Thursday), my friend Rachel came to stay with me overnight in the hospital. What a blessing she was! I had all kinds of fears going into the c-section but the thing that threw me for a loop was how nauseous I was post-surgery. I couldn't keep even the smallest sip of water down. So, Jared headed back to the Children's Hospital a couple hours after Teddy was born and Rachel came on duty. She was wonderful...she just came in and took over with Teddy when I needed her to, changing diapers, transferring him, and holding him when I was sick. We had some difficulty over the next couple days with feeding and I think she is the main reason we were able to conquer breastfeeding. A perfect blend of sympathetic and gently pushing to keep trying.
On Sunday morning at 6 am, I awoke to a text from Jared that a nurse had made a mistake and a peripheral IV they had placed in his arm to give him PPN (IV nutrition through a peripheral instead of central line) had been placed improperly and had been infusing in his arm. His arm was now very, very swollen and he may require plastic surgery. What?!?!?! I had been feeling pretty good the night before and so I had told Rachel I didn't need to have her stay. Well, I put Teddy in his bassinet, walked him to the nurse's station and asked them to keep him for a bit. I then walked over to the Children's Hospital (connected by a skybridge) to see Charlie. I needed to see him. I paid the price later in soreness but... Anyway, his poor arm was swollen to about 4 times its normal size. Apparently, whatever is in PPN can cause tissue damage and that was the reason plastic surgery might be needed. They said if his skin started to break down in the next 24 hours, he would need surgery. Otherwise, we would be in the clear. Thank God...his skin stayed okay although it took weeks to get that swelling down. Unfortunately, this meant that arm can't be used for IVs for a long time and neither can the other arm due to the blood clot. All of this postponed him having surgery AGAIN. This was one of the worst hospital stays we had ever had. The IV infusion issue came after they subjected him to several failed IV attempts and made Jared hold him down screaming. He is usually such a champ with getting IVs placed but they wouldn't listen to Jared when he said he does fine if he can just sit on one of our laps. Instead, they made him be pinned down. It was a rough, rough stay.
My mom arrived on Sunday and Teddy and I planned to discharge on Monday. The plan was for Charlie to have surgery on Tuesday. However, it got pushed back to Wednesday. It was very hard to leave the hospital and leave Charlie and Jared there. It was even harder to come home with the baby for the first time without Jared.
On Wednesday, Charlie has his Hickman surgery. It went well, he spent one additional night and was able to come home! We celebrated Easter at home the following weekend!
Well, this is long enough. I will update on the crazy months that followed Teddy's birth later. But, here is a picture of him shortly after birth...
And, going home!
