Pictures

                           Tierney, who carried baby Jack, with me and Jack in the NICU.

 

Stephanie Scott, one of the directors of Simple Surrogacy (the agency I used) with me and Jack in the NICU. Stephanie flew in from Idaho to be there for me, Tierney and Jack. Simple Surrogacy has been amazing. I highly recommend them.

Echo Cardiogram Results

The NICU called me with the echo cardiogram results. Jack does have a PDA. However, it is small and they think it should close on its own. They will keep watching it so he will have more echo cardiograms in his future. I am happy that it is not a bigger one that will be a real problem for him.

They called me for consent for a PIC line. That is a surgically implanted intravenous line. He will need that because they are going to have to take his umbilical lines out soon.

The nurse said he is doing great. I can't wait to go see him.

Jack is hanging on

I called the NICU and they said Jack was doing ok today. He had a blood transfusion, his second so far. They didn't tell me how much this was was but the last one was 8cc. That is less than 2 teaspoons. He is getting blood to replace the blood they are drawing. He also received sodium bicarbonate (IV) today due to being slightly acidotic. He is still on the ventilator.

On Saturday they advised me that he had a heart murmur and they suspected he may have a PDA. That is a patent ductus arteriousis. That means that the hole for his fetal heart circulation likely did not close. That means he has a hole in his heart. They gave him medication to try to close it and he had an echo cardiogram today. We will not get the results of the echo cardiogram until tomorrow. I am hoping the medication worked and that it is fixed. Tierney came to the hospital to be with Jack during his echo cardiogram. She also brought more breast milk since she has been pumping for him.

Jack has not yet eaten. He will not be able to eat anything until they remove the umbilical catheters. He has one in this vein and one in his artery. After that they will put 4cc of breast  milk down his oral gastric (OG) tube. Then they will wait 4 hours and aspirate the tube to make sure he digested it. If he did he can continue with small feedings. If not, they will stop. Feeding a preemie that is not ready to feed is a huge big deal. They can get necrotizing enteric colitis (NEC). This is a huge killer of preemies and they have to be super careful with him. Even with the utmost care some babies get NEC and most do not survive it.

On Wednesday Jack is having an ultrasound of his head to make sure he does not have any bleeding into his brain. Intraventricular hemorrhages are very common in small preemies. They are graded from 1 to 4 with 4 being the most serious. They are most common in the first 4 or 5 days of life which is why they scan them when they turn a week old. The doctor said some babies with severe brain bleeds do very well because their brain is pretty plastic. In other words, their brains are still capable of making alternate pathways at this point. However, some babies do not do well with even small bleeds and develop cerebral palsey or other difficulties. The doctor said it is very rare for it to effect their intellect, it is usually physical.

It is all very scary. It is a bummer not to be there with him. I have scheduled a trip back for 12/14. Please pray for him.

 Jack's bear next to his monitor. The bottle next to it is 1/2 liter.

 Jack with his teddy bear. It is much bigger than him!

 I am holding Jack's hand when I had to say goodbye.

The priest baptizing Jack. He will have a real baptism when he gets home.

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!!!!!!