Emergency Weekend, Seven Days Old

A BIG THANK YOU
We want to thank you for all the prayers, support, encouragement and best wishes while we had little Charlotte at the hospital (bad visit). It was a horrific time and we hope we never have to deal with anything like that again, although, many of you parents have already said to us, "Welcome to parenting, the worry never stops". She was such a trooper in the hospital and slept pretty much the whole time very peacefully and deeply. It was us who needed to have the sedatives, learn how to relax again and trust that God and the doctors knew what they were doing. All in all, she is a perfectly healthy child and the whole experience is now in the past. She got her choking/coughing reflex that Monday after we got home on Sunday and she's gaining weight like crazy (little eating machine). More about what happened after the thumbnail pictures below.

We would also like to send a special thank you to everyone at the SAS healthcare. They were all so concerned and supportive during our trauma. Dr. McLaurin even came to the hospital and was with Charlotte for periods of time during her testing and visited us each day we were there. They are all a wonderful strength to us, and still are.

Seconds later another nurse came back to us and told us she had stopped breathing, was turning blue, but they got her to start breathing again. She had a little seizure of some type and the paramedics were on their way. EMS was at the office in what seemed to be seconds and her little naked body was on the bed being rolled out to the ambulance.

We were shoved into the ambulance (Cindy in the back with her) and off we went to Rex. Her blood sugar was dropping and she kept trying to choke while we were on our way. It was terrifying!

As soon as we got to the hospital she was turning a bit blue again and what seemed to be a dozen medical people were swarmed around her and we were in a state of confusion again. Finally after we were escorted to the waiting room the medical staff was keeping us informed of her well-being and her stats. They were having a very hard time getting the IV in her.

She was then whisked away up to the birthing center for a spinal tap and numerous other tests. We were left in a daze and waited for results barely breathing and in tears for a few hours. Cindy's parents and some of our closest friends came to our rescue in the waiting room for support and prayers (we needed that).

After all the testing was done, the ultimate conclusion was that she acted like a normal baby who may have been trying to spit up a bit....... she was at the wrong place at the right time. The explanation from the expert neo natal trauma nurse was: babies who can't cough yet will hold their breath as a natural defense so the fluid won't go into their lungs. When they hold their breath, their lips turn blue from lack of oxygen. Sometimes when they don't have oxygen they may "seize up" which appears to look like a "seizure" but can only be determined by a neo-natal professional who works very closely with sick babies. The doctor's office did the right thing by calling EMS since it could have been worse, but if we had been at home and this had happened, we would have freaked out but it would have passed by itself.

Something good that DID come out of this visit was: Charlotte had been having diarrhea her first week of life and we didn't know it. We thought poops were suppose to look like that and her diaper be changed that often (15 times a day). She was loosing a bit too much weight (down to 6lbs 3oz) and had been very gassy and in distress. This was due to Cindy's diet through the breastmilk. Charlotte obviously has a very sensitive system and was having such a hard time digesting some of the spices and foods. Cindy cut out a bunch of stuff like chocolate, cheese, milk, yogurt, citrus fruits, tomato sauces, spices (oregano/basil), cucumbers, peppers, onions, garlic and broccoli/calliflour. Now she is doing so much better and having normal "diaper deposits".

She will be 4 weeks old on October 3 and has FINALLY reached her birth weight of 7lbs 1oz again! She's growing like a weed and we love it!!! She can almost fit into her 0-3month clothes - the preemies are starting to get a bit snug....boo hooo......