i found out i was pregnant in early august (ben's birthday actually). a few days later i thought i was having a miscarriage. i spent the entire first trimester of this pregnancy spotting off and on. at 8 weeks our midwife told us that she thought we HAD had a miscarriage (we hadn't). at 10 weeks we found out our placenta was seperating (it healed itself by 22 weeks). at 17 weeks we found out we were having a BOY. we also found out that he had fluid backing up in his urinary tract (this got progressively worse throughout the pregnancy). we had ultrasounds every few weeks and watched his kidneys and ureters swell more and more with each visit. we met with urologists, weighed options, and watched and waited. we felt fortunate that our boy was doing so well, he was perfect in every other way, and his defect was one of the most common seen and fairly minor as birth defects go. as the swelling worsened we decided to deliver our baby in winston-salem (sadly not with our midwife) so that we could be close to the childrens hospital where alaska would recieve treatment after birth. at 35 weeks the worry increased as our amniotic fluid lessened. at 36 weeks it was practically non-existent and we were told we needed to deliver ASAP. i had been hoping for a VBAC, but at 4 weeks before our due date we were looking at a hard core induction with a willing yet unsupportive set of doctors we hardly knew on top of a stressful delivery. this combination was surely not what would help us achieve our positive and natural birth experience. accepting that, we opted for a cessarian delivery.
we had 2 days to prepare for our birth. we toured our hospital, did pre-op paperwork and bloodwork, made arrangements for maple, coyote, and our dogs, did our best to ready the house, packed bags, and tried not to stress.
one last preggo pic. 03-19-2008
we left the house at 5a.m. on march 20 and headed down to winston to have a baby. i cried off and on all morning as my emotions roller-coastered through fear, disappointment, worry, acceptance, excitement, frustration, and on and on. we got to forsyth medical center around 7a.m. and spent the next few hours sitting in pre-op trying not to think about what was about to happen. at 10:20 we were finally taken into the OR. 31 minutes later alaska made his entrance into the world. he was perfect, scored two 9s on his APGAR (so proud) and after about 5 minutes the NICU staff handed him over to ben and left. ben held alaska next to my head while the doctors finished the surgery. alaska just stared at us, right into our eyes, back and forth. he was so beautiful. he spent the better part of an hour in recovery with us after the surgery. i got to hold him, nurse, get skin to skin, and bond with my little man. it was amazing and unforgettable. i forgot about everything that had brought us to this point and all that mattered at that moment was that alaska had arrived safe and sound.
first feeding
i spent 48 hours at forsyth with alaska. ben and maple stayed at the ronald mcdonald house. alaska spent his first night in the NICU while i came down every 3 hours to nurse him. the next day he was doing so well he was able to come and room in with me. on march 22 i was discharged and alaska was transferred to brenner children's hospital.
waiting to be discharged
alaska spent easter weekend in the NICU at brenner children's hospital. i went straight from forsyth to brenner children's hospital. alaska spent easter weekend in the NICU at brenner. by the morning of the 23rd (easter sunday) i had developed a large rash on my back (reaction to adhesive used in my surgery) but of course their was no time for that as the day was filled with meeting with pediatricians, urologists, nephrologists, all trying to figure out what the plan of action would be. alaska recieved ultrasounds and had regular bloodwork done to see how his kidneys were working. it was decided that they would perform surgery the next day to remove a valve at the base of his bladder that they believed was causing the blockage. by that evening my entire back was immflamed with rash so i headed down to the ER to take care of that (with perscription strength hydrocortizone cream the rash disappeared in about 10 days). i got back to the NICU, gave alaska his last feeding and tried to get some sleep.
alaska the day of his surgery
the day of alaska's surgery was one of the hardest days of my life. it was considered a "minor" surgery, but to ben and me it was a big deal. sending our newborn son off to be put under, not knowing how he would react to anesthesia or how he would come out of it. its impossible to describe how scary that was. we were so relieved when the surgery was over. alaska did great and was able to come off his ventilator immediatly. it took the anesthesia a full 24 hours to totally wear off and for alaska to begin feeding well again. unfortunately though the procedure did nothing for his kidneys. they remained swollen with fluid.
the day after his surgey alaska was deemed stabled enough to move out of the NICU and into the main pediatric unit. the doctors weren't sure what to think. they used a catheter to try to determine if his bladder was functioning properly. they did bloodwork daily to monitor his kidney function. alaska had more ultrasounds and a renal x-ray (radioactive dye was injected into his bloodstream so they could watch the kidneys function under an x-ray). they couldn't seem to pinpoint anything and it came down to a decision of draining his kidneys with a pyelostomy (holes in the back) or doing nothing and continue monitoring him and hope that he would remain stable or improve on his own. we were for the latter and the docs were leaning this way too. finally on april 4th, 2 weeks later, alaska was released. we were able to go home and start living a normal life again.
alaska got bloodwork done twice a week to keep a close eye on things. we returned to winston-salem for another ultrasound on april 27th. this one showed IMPROVEMENT, we were very excited. his kidney function has remained stable since being discharged from the hospital and we got a great phone call from alaska's nephrologist two days ago. they are impressed with his latest ultrasounds and the stability of his bloodwork. so from this point on he will have bloodwork only every 2 months!! he has another ultrasound scheduled in june and we won't have to meet with the nephrologists again until early fall. things seem to be moving in the right direction and we are hopeful that alaskas kidneys will heal on their own. he is a very strong little boy and has gained over 2 pounds already.
alaska will be 6 weeks old tomorrow.
5 weeks and 6 days old, growing up fast!
