The Baby is Here!!

I was called a few days ago and told to get on a plane to Little Rock because the baby was coming. Tierney had pelvic floor pain and then vaginal pain. It got worse and then seemed to come in waves so she went to the ER. They checked her and she was dilated to a 6. They immediately gave her steroids and had her almost upside down on an inversion table to try to keep the baby in at least 24 hours so she could get the second steroid shot. The steroids help the baby's lungs develop.

I was notified at about 2pm. I left work, went home, packed a bag for me and a bag for Julianna. I set up people to get Julianna and keep her for a few days. My neighbor gave me a ride to the train station. I got to JFK airport just in time to board my flight. It took off at 6pm. I had to fly to Charlotte, NC and switch planes to get to Little, Rock. When I was switching planes I got a message that said they were prepping Tierney for a c-section.

Baby Jack Richard Humphrey was born at 7:51 pm Arkansas time. Unfortunately my plane landed at 10pm Arkansas time. He was 26 weeks, 2 days gestation. He was big for his age at 2 pounds, 6 ounces and 14 inches. He is in the NICU at Baptist Hospital in Little Rock, Ark. It is a level 3 NICU (the highest level). He is critical but stable. He came out screaming and was breathing on his own for some time but had to be put on a ventilator. He was getting tired and forgetting to breathe. He is super tiny. I got to touch him but it will be some time before he can be held.

He has a lot of risk for a lot of issues. He has a heart murmur so they think he may have patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) it is very common in extremely premature infants. They gave him medication that may correct this problem. He will have an echo cardiogram tomorrow. He is at high risk for brain bleed so he will have a brain scan on Wednesday.

I have to leave here tomorrow. It makes me very sad to leave him but it is likely that he will be here 3 months. I am going to try to come here every other weekend. Everyone in this hospital is super nice. They said they will email me pictures of him every day. I can call anytime to ask about him.

Tierney had to have a c-section due to him being breech and being so small. She was not feeling great for awhile but was able to be discharged today. She is pumping milk for Jack. It will be sometime before he can have it and then it will be through the oral gastric tube. I am eternally grateful for all she has done. They do not know why Jack came so early. It might have been an infection and it might have been a blood clot on the placenta. The placenta went to pathology but it takes some time for the results to come back.

Tierney said she will visit Jack and continue to pump milk for him. The nurses and other staff at the hospital said they will give him extra love since I won't be here all the time.

Julianna was born at 34 weeks. I am amazed at the world of difference between a 34 weeker and a 26 weeker. The amount of intervention required to keep Jack alive is amazing. In Julianna's case she was a "feed and grow" preemie, meaning she didn't require much intervention. Jack certainly does. His care will be over $1 million. They applied him for medicaid. I advised the social worker that is was unlikely I would qualify for that. She told me that all babies born at under 1200 grams automatically qualify. It should cover all expenses my insurance will not cover. I am hoping that is true.

Jack was baptized yesterday. The priest came to do it. I figured it was best to have him covered. We will have a real baptism when he comes home.

Please pray for baby Jack. He has a very long road ahead of him. He is a real fighter and I am told he is doing great.

Thanks everyone who helped me out with Julianna, Smudge and with good thoughts and prayers!!

Crazy Times

Things have been pretty crazy in the last few weeks. Hurricane Sandy came and devastated Long Island and many other places. We lost our roof in the storm and were without power or heat for over a week. Most of my neighbors lost their first floors in the flood water and many lost their entire homes. With the help of family and friends I was able to get a tarp on my roof and re-mortar the chimney. When the power came on I was able to get the furnace started. My upstairs tenants moved out because they were worried that the ceiling would cave in. My upstairs is now being used as a community shower for my neighbors who are still without heat and hot water. I have a lot of work to do to fix everything but we will get through it.

Tierney called me yesterday to tell me that her OB put her on bed rest. She is having pelvic floor pain. I am hoping and praying that the little guy can stay in as long as possible. She is almost 24 weeks pregnant so it is way to early for him to be born. I am really hoping he is a full term baby. I am praying and keeping my fingers crossed.

I am here in a nice warm house with power so things are good. Thanks to everyone for the help!!!!

Its A.......

I am back home from Arkansas. It was great to see Tierney. We were able to spend some time together.

We saw the sonogram. It was great. The baby is a boy!!! He appears to be healthy and is now 13 ounces. Julianna was the first person I called. She was a little iffy about a brother but was won over when I explained to her that Uncle Rich is my little brother. She loves Uncle Rich and hopes her little brother is as great. She did correct me to say that Uncle Rich really isn't little.

She was picked up at school Tuesday night by my friend Vanna. Vanna called me to say she thought Julianna had pink eye. She was nice enough to take her to the doctor who said she did have pink eye. Betty picked her up at Vanna's house and kept her Tuesday night and Wednesday. She has been on the drops since Tuesday but was still unable to go to school today. I am hoping she can go tomorrow.

So we are celebrating the happiness of expecting a baby boy!!!!! Thanks everyone!!

Going to Arkansas

"However motherhood comes to you its a miracle!"

So I am off to Arkansas tomorrow! The big 20 week sonogram is at 8am (Arkansas time) on Wednesday morning. I will get to see Tierney and the baby. If all goes well we will find out the gender. I am pretty excited about it. I promised Julianna that I will call her when she gets picked up from school so I can tell her all about it.

My flight leaves Laguardia airport at 6am. I was not able to get a flight to Arkansas for under $900 and with less than 2 stops so I had to make some concessions. First, I hate Laguardia airport, but I am going from there. JFK is better because it is so easy to take the train there. But, there were no flights from there that worked.  I decided to go to Memphis instead. Memphis is about 100 miles from Little Rock. It appears to be a straight shot on I 40. I will zip over there in my rental car. I am staying overnight in Little Rock and then driving back to Memphis after the sonogram. I should get home at about 11 pm Wednesday night.

Julianna is sleeping at my friend Colleen's house tonight. She will drop her off at school tomorrow. My friend Vanna will pick her up tomorrow afternoon and she will sleep at Vanna's house. Vanna will bring her back to school Wednesday and Colleen will pick her up and bring her to my friend Lori who will keep her until I get home about midnight. It will be easy to get her home since Lori is right next door.

I worked my days off to make up for these two days so I don't have to waste any time off. I want to save as much as I can for when the baby comes. I used a lot for cancer treatment. Not fun, but I had no choice.

So it is all set up and now I am ready to roll in a few hours. Thanks to everyone for helping me out!!!!!!

Getting Excited!!

I am getting very excited about the baby. The "big" 20 week sonogram is on October 17th. I am going to go to Little Rock, Arkansas to see it. I am going to fly down on the 16th, stay overnight, see the sonogram and fly back. There are no direct flights from any of the New York airports to Little Rock. This means you have to change planes somewhere. The best airfares have you changing planes two or three times, but that is too much for me even if it is a big savings. I am still seeking out the airfare, stealthily checking various sites at all hours of the day and night. This method has worked for me in the past so I am hoping it works again.

My stepmother Betty has shingles. She is in a ton of pain. I went over there yesterday so she could go to the doctor. They confirmed it was shingles and gave her an anti-viral and pain medication. She is currently having very severe flu-like symptoms, fever and bad nerve pain. Of course this disease is stress induced. Her stress level is super high. If you can get the shot for this I would suggest it, it is a terrible illness. I called my pediatrician immediately because someone who has not yet has chicken pox can get the chicken pox from someone with shingles. She cannot transmit the shingles to anyone who has had chicken pox. In that case the disease is already dormant in your body. Julianna has not had chicken pox and her whole immunization schedule was disrupted, first because she was a preemie and needed RSV shots and then because I was having chemotherapy and she was not allowed to have any vaccines during that time due to the extreme immunosuppression from the chemotherapy.

We went to the pediatrician this morning and it turns out she actually had the varicella (chicken pox) vaccine right before I was diagnosed with the breast cancer. Score! But they did give her her last hepatitis B vaccine and a flu vaccine. She was a trooper as usual and we are finally all caught up with all shots. I wanted her to get caught up for her health as well as the new baby's health.

Tierney is super busy but she is feeling good. It is amazing that we are almost half way there!

Good News!

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.
 ~ Henry David Thoreau


I had my MRI. I had an appointment for Thursday at 7:30 am in the Nassau Radiology (NRAD) Garden City office. Just as I was about to pull in the parking lot they called me and asked me to go to the Woodbury office instead due to some problem with the machine. So off I went to Woodbury in the heavy Long Island morning rush hour traffic. I got there and there was a wait due to them moving everyone around. The MRI tech marked the spot on my clavicle by taping vitamin E capsules to the spot. The MRI took about 40 minutes. It was super loud and they put a head immobilizer on me right before they slid me into the tube. I was happy to get out of there.

I went back to work after it. I had to give a lecture and just as I was walking out of it my cell phone rang. It was Desiree from Dr. Citron's office to tell me that the MRI was negative. They don't know why it is swollen and tender but its not cancer. Big relief!! That is an area where breast cancer often goes. I don't know why it is swollen either but a few weeks ago I had an incident where my elbow swelled up. It was very swollen, red and hot. I had not injured it as far as I knew. I went to the orthopedist and they said it was infectious bursitis. They put me on an antibiotic and antiinflammatories and it went away, but it took awhile to go away. So now I am wondering if the two things have anything to do with each other. I do not know but I am just happy it is not cancer.

I like to think I beat the cancer but it does creep in to mess with my head. Just when everything is great it seems like it creeps in to remind me, "not so fast, I can take it all anytime." I don't let it take me over. I really do my best not to think about it too much but sometimes there is no choice but to think about it. It does remind me about how lucky I am and how grateful I am for everything in my life.

Good Things and Bad

Tierney is feeling good. The baby is getting bigger. I am going to try to get to Arkansas for the 20 week sonogram.

I went to Dr. Citron, my oncologist, yesterday. I have some pain to my right clavicle that has been bothering me for about a month. He said it does appear to be inflamed there and is sending me for an MRI. He said it could be an inflamed sterno-clavicular joint. Of course they never tell you what else it could be.  But I already know that. They can't do the MRI until Thursday due to having to wait for insurance approval. Then I will have to wait for the results. I hate waiting for these tests, it is torture.

My Dad's Alzheimer's disease is progressing. Betty has been considering a nursing home. While that is probably a good idea it is very tough. He has been getting harder ans harder to care for which is what led to that decision. So she got to the point of making that decision and suddenly he started to get easier. It is like he knows and doesn't want to leave. I had him on Friday. I took him to lunch and for a drive. Then I got a pizza and picked up Julianna and we all ate together. He really was easier. It was hard to believe. We are still going to check into places so we are ready but for now it is on hold. I was happy that we got to have such an enjoyable visit.

All these things going on help me to put things into perspective. What matters, what doesn't. Julianna is involved in a lot of activities and I love watching her discover new things. She is such a happy little girl!