Kailey's birth - 23 weeks and 3 days

Kailey's due date was May 21st 2012. On January 23rd she decided she didn't want to wait so long before she met mommy and daddy. I awoke at 4:00am to my water breaking. Terrified, I woke my husband up and he rushed me to the nearest hospital. After being examined by nurses and having an ultrasound done they sent my doctor in to talk to me. She informed me that at 23 weeks the baby would not be viable. Then I was moved to a room to prepare to deliver my child. An hour had passed and my doctor came to check on me and realized I had not progressed any with my labor. She left the room and when she returned she said she was sending me to a hospital with a better NICU and high risk doctors. Two hours later I arrived at the Childrens Hospital, the doctors checked me and thought i was going to deliver at any moment. Kailey had her butt and part of her legs sticking out of the cervix (she was bent like she was touching her toes). They started me on magnesium to try to stop my contractions, It worked (mostly). Throughout the next couple days when they checked her position they were amazed to find out she had one leg through the cervix, then the next time when they checked she had climbed back in half way. My little girl couldn't figure out if she wanted to stay in or come out. On January 26th the doctors stopped the magnesium due to me being infected. (I had received two steroid shots to help her lungs develop, without the shots there wasnt much of a chance for her.) It was time for Kailey to make her grand appearance. At 2:30pm I told my wonderful nurse that I felt like I needed to push, she ran to get all of the doctors (we had 5 doctors/assistants in the room just for me, and at least 5 more for the baby). Kailey was born at 2:38pm weighing 1 pound 1.8 ounces and 11 inches long. My husband and I got moved to a recovery room where we had to wait 5 hours before we were able to see our daughter. When we first saw kailey laying in the incubator we didn't know what to think. She was so tiny. Her eyes were fused shut. She had no fat on her body. She had tubes and wires everywhere. The doctors came and told us that she was stable and we just had to wait and see. Our nurse convinced us to put our hands inside her bed and let her know we were there. My husband went first, he put his finger at her hand and she quickly wrapped her hand around it and would not let go. That was the first time I realized just how strong she was.

kailey birth

kailey birth

KAILEY DONATIONS

Monday, June 25, 2012

Home!

We came home Monday June 18th, it has been a rough week with not much sleep but it's starting to get easier. I must admit False alarms are about to drive me crazy. Kailey had a horrible cough the other day and kept desatting so we took her to get checked out. The doctor wouldn't do anything for her, he said he was afraid. So he shipped her to UK. We stayed there for a good 5 hours just for them to tell us she is plugging (we already knew that, we want to know why and if there's something wrong) and they sent her home. As soon as we got her home she stopped breathing. My husband and I had to bag her then so an emergency trach change. She was fine and playing afterwards. Fast forward about 4 hours, she desatted and the alarm woke us up. She had stopped breathing again, we bagged her and once again did a emergency trach change. I'm so glad we remembered everything we were taught at UK and Cincinnati, not to sure what would have happened if they didn't prepare us. We are still looking for a nurse, although I don't really think we need one, if we find one she's going to be very bored b/c im very greedy with Kailey. Anyone know a RN that would like to get paid to sit around watching tv or whatever for 10 hours a day and watch a baby for 2 hours while I nap?
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Saturday, June 16, 2012

2 more days...

Until we go home!!! Monday's the day! We finally got everything we need for her thanks to friends/family and a huge donation from MIRACLE BABIES! Kailey is taking a lot more from her bottle these days, around 75% I think. Which is awesome and I'm hoping she won't need her NG to much longer. Our trip home is going to be horrid, it's a 4-5 hour drive and they want us to stop every hour to get Kai out of the carset for a rest. Kailey's two cousins came for a visit today with Barrys parets but they are to young to come in the Nicu so we went to the RMH to play at the playground...

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Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Discharge Date!

We had our family meeting today. Looks like we will finally be going home next week a day or two after her bronc! The discharge coordinator is trying to find us a LPN or RN to stay with Kailey at home for 12 hours a day but isn't having much luck because we live in such a rural area. Barry and I can take turns napping if thats what it takes to get her home. We will be doing all of her followup appointments at UK (thank god) except Ent.  Kailey will be enrolled in the first steps program, which i think is physical therapy and speech therapy (not to sure what else)... She still isn't taking much from her bottle, but speech therapy here has watched me feed her and saw how comfortable we both are and know that i follow her cues. Speaking of which, she has a swallow study tomorrow, they think she is aspirating some and want to get that under control before she goes home (hopefully without a Gtube)...UGH we have about a week to get things together for her to go home, so little time... so much to do
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