I can't believe it has taken me this long to sit down and blog about our little adventure to Edmonton! I apologize if you've been waiting for the latest and greatest update regarding our little 3 Altena Close Momentum :)
About a week ago I got a phone call from the Royal Alexandra informing me that some of my appointments changed. Instead of having us there for two days, they could squeeze everything together on Thursday. Well, that worked out nicely for us out-of-towners! It also meant an early morning followed by a long day. (Nola stayed with Aunt and Uncle while we made the trip! Thanks!)
The first appointment was at the Royal Alex Hospital. I had an ultrasound and they checked all the regular stuff on LG. The only thing she refused to do was her practice breathing but this is always hit and miss with the little one's in utero. The amniotic fluid is fine, her growth is fine, everything measures appropriately...la-de-da.
Donna, the Nurse Practitioner, then took us for a tootle around the hospital showing us where I would be sliced open and LG born. There is a separate room directly off the operating rooms where LG will be taken immediately for assessment. If she appears to be adjusting to the open air reasonably well, we will be able to spend a little time with her. If she is unstable, it will be a quick kiss good bye and a highly trained specialized team will whisk her off to the U of A. She will be riding in style in an amazing incubator atop a gurney right beside an obscene amount of technology that will be able to help her in any way, shape or form. Pretty amazing. The only other hallway we looked down was the ward I will be recovering in.
If you were thinking: "Wait. Does that mean Jeanette won't be recovering in the same hospital as LG?" The answer is yes. Sadly, the Royal Alex does not handle surgery and the U of A does not handle delivery. Separating Mother and Child, we can thank Ralph Klein for that. Daddy will be by her side the entire time though, and I will hopefully be feeling well enough after 24 hours to get a day pass over to the Stollery (inside the U of A) where she will be recovering either in the NICU or the Pediatric Ward.
The staff are all very supportive of breast feeding, so I will have all resources available to me and Kevin will transport milk over for the baby to use. They said the Royal Alex will likely not keep me longer than 3 days as that is typical time in hospital for a C-Section. We are also on the waiting list for the Ronald McDonald House, which would be an affordable $12 a day, and have been told with our situation we will likely be bumped to the top.
Huh?
Kevin and I are still having a hard time wrapping our brain around all this. When you're in the thick of things and feel as confident and...relaxed (don't know if this is the right word) as we do, you tend not to think your situation is really that important. I mean, we're coping and dealing and laughing and enjoying everything we can about it. It's easy to think it's not that a big deal. And then when we hear things like that, it rechecks us a little, like, yeah, this is serious.
We left the Royal Alex and got a bite of Taco Bell then headed to the U of A/Stollery where the rest of our day was. We had a Fetal Echo at 12 pm and knew we would meet the head of Pediatric Cardiology afterward.
Fetal Echo's always take a little longer than a regular ultrasound and the rooms are always dark and warm with a constant hum from the machine. Also, there is little talking so the sonographer can concentrate on all the things he/she needs to get pictures of. Naturally...I fell asleep. Now, when I fall asleep it is often followed directly with an uncontrollable spasm from a leg. You bet I did. I totally had an awesome spasm on the ultrasound bed scaring the beejeebers right out of the tech...and myself of course. That was followed by an embarrassed laugh and an explanation that it was nothing she had done :D
We did meet Dr. Lisa Hornberger! A WORLD RENOWNED Pediatric Cardiologist who has written many/most of the journals and papers on Congenital Heart Block. Awesome! We were even informed that the fellow who is head of PC at the U in Toronto is the guy she hired... Do us Albertans know HOW lucky we are to have such amazing doctors?? I had no clue, but let me tell you from experience, some of these mucky muck docs are pretty freaking fantastic.
Dr. Hornberger doesn't appear to be passed 50. She's a slender woman who might be about 5'6". Super friendly but matter-of-fact, and takes her time to explain things to make sure you understand what's going on with your baby. We didn't talk long with her after the ultrasound because we were scheduled for a teleconference with all doctors shortly thereafter.
The teleconference was another bitter-sweet moment for us. We conferenced with Dr. Fruitman in Calgary, as well as the Peri and Nurse we saw over at the Royal Alex, and in our room was Dr. Hornberger, a Neonatologist, a Pediatric Nurse and a Social Worker. We thought, "this is so cool it's all available to us and neat we've got all this care...but that must mean it's a big deal :("
In this conference the Neonatologist didn't have a lot to contribute because he doesn't have much to do with us until the baby is breathing our air. As I understand it, the Perinatologist is everything about the baby in the womb and when the umbilical cord is cut the Neonatologist steps in. He left early. Then we got down to business with the others. We talked about the breastfeeding, the pacemaker, the surgery and recovery of mother and baby, and most importantly how long they should let me stay pregnant.
The Peri was very in favour of letting me go to week 39, but after hearing the case from the PC's they found a common understanding. It has been researched and documented that if a woman carrying a baby with Congenital Heart Block goes beyond 38 weeks there is a high likelihood the baby will suddenly die. They are NOT in favour of letting me go beyond 38 weeks. The Peri then agreed :)
So, we all came to the understanding the scheduled C-Section will be set for between 37-38 weeks with LG doing as well as she is with me on the meds I'm on. Although they didn't say the dates, I can very well look at a calendar and tell you I'll be 37 weeks on March 19. They said the Royal Alex does C-Sections on Monday and Tuesday. My best guess is the baby's birth day will be March 19 or 20. The Nurse Practitioner, Donna, will contact me soon with a "relocation" date and then it will be apparent which day delivery will occur.
Relocation to Edmonton must happen 2 weeks before delivery. They are concerned about preterm labour or any sudden changes and want me close to the hospital. If we can get into the RMH then it will be easy for Nola to be with me for that time. Hopefully, I'll be able to get in some play dates with a few long lost Facebook friends that happen to live in the area... :D
I hope I've covered everything... From what we understood recovery for LG will be about a week or 2. It's totally dependent on her strength, coping, and reaction to the things happening to her--of course. I have a sneaking suspicion she's going to be a bit of a trooper...as she's already proven. I will certainly have a longer recovery with the C-Section then she will :S
I will be back in Calgary on Wednesday for the regular monitoring. I will do this until I relocate.
I got a heap of reassurance today that Nola is going to be A.O.K as a big sister. Kevin and I went up to the hospital to see my cousin who just delivered a beautiful baby boy at 4 am. The baby was about six hours old an Nola wanted to sit right with me holding him. She kissed him and stroked his head and helped me say, "shh shh shh" when he cried. So sweet. She'll probably love her baby sister SO much until LG learns to walk and talk...or at least that's how it happened with me and my brothers, HA!
Ok, if I didn't cover something let me know! Have a question? Fire away!
Thanks for reading about our Momentum ♥
And the beat goes on...
About a week ago I got a phone call from the Royal Alexandra informing me that some of my appointments changed. Instead of having us there for two days, they could squeeze everything together on Thursday. Well, that worked out nicely for us out-of-towners! It also meant an early morning followed by a long day. (Nola stayed with Aunt and Uncle while we made the trip! Thanks!)
The first appointment was at the Royal Alex Hospital. I had an ultrasound and they checked all the regular stuff on LG. The only thing she refused to do was her practice breathing but this is always hit and miss with the little one's in utero. The amniotic fluid is fine, her growth is fine, everything measures appropriately...la-de-da.
Donna, the Nurse Practitioner, then took us for a tootle around the hospital showing us where I would be sliced open and LG born. There is a separate room directly off the operating rooms where LG will be taken immediately for assessment. If she appears to be adjusting to the open air reasonably well, we will be able to spend a little time with her. If she is unstable, it will be a quick kiss good bye and a highly trained specialized team will whisk her off to the U of A. She will be riding in style in an amazing incubator atop a gurney right beside an obscene amount of technology that will be able to help her in any way, shape or form. Pretty amazing. The only other hallway we looked down was the ward I will be recovering in.
If you were thinking: "Wait. Does that mean Jeanette won't be recovering in the same hospital as LG?" The answer is yes. Sadly, the Royal Alex does not handle surgery and the U of A does not handle delivery. Separating Mother and Child, we can thank Ralph Klein for that. Daddy will be by her side the entire time though, and I will hopefully be feeling well enough after 24 hours to get a day pass over to the Stollery (inside the U of A) where she will be recovering either in the NICU or the Pediatric Ward.
The staff are all very supportive of breast feeding, so I will have all resources available to me and Kevin will transport milk over for the baby to use. They said the Royal Alex will likely not keep me longer than 3 days as that is typical time in hospital for a C-Section. We are also on the waiting list for the Ronald McDonald House, which would be an affordable $12 a day, and have been told with our situation we will likely be bumped to the top.
Huh?
Kevin and I are still having a hard time wrapping our brain around all this. When you're in the thick of things and feel as confident and...relaxed (don't know if this is the right word) as we do, you tend not to think your situation is really that important. I mean, we're coping and dealing and laughing and enjoying everything we can about it. It's easy to think it's not that a big deal. And then when we hear things like that, it rechecks us a little, like, yeah, this is serious.
We left the Royal Alex and got a bite of Taco Bell then headed to the U of A/Stollery where the rest of our day was. We had a Fetal Echo at 12 pm and knew we would meet the head of Pediatric Cardiology afterward.
Fetal Echo's always take a little longer than a regular ultrasound and the rooms are always dark and warm with a constant hum from the machine. Also, there is little talking so the sonographer can concentrate on all the things he/she needs to get pictures of. Naturally...I fell asleep. Now, when I fall asleep it is often followed directly with an uncontrollable spasm from a leg. You bet I did. I totally had an awesome spasm on the ultrasound bed scaring the beejeebers right out of the tech...and myself of course. That was followed by an embarrassed laugh and an explanation that it was nothing she had done :D
We did meet Dr. Lisa Hornberger! A WORLD RENOWNED Pediatric Cardiologist who has written many/most of the journals and papers on Congenital Heart Block. Awesome! We were even informed that the fellow who is head of PC at the U in Toronto is the guy she hired... Do us Albertans know HOW lucky we are to have such amazing doctors?? I had no clue, but let me tell you from experience, some of these mucky muck docs are pretty freaking fantastic.
Dr. Hornberger doesn't appear to be passed 50. She's a slender woman who might be about 5'6". Super friendly but matter-of-fact, and takes her time to explain things to make sure you understand what's going on with your baby. We didn't talk long with her after the ultrasound because we were scheduled for a teleconference with all doctors shortly thereafter.
The teleconference was another bitter-sweet moment for us. We conferenced with Dr. Fruitman in Calgary, as well as the Peri and Nurse we saw over at the Royal Alex, and in our room was Dr. Hornberger, a Neonatologist, a Pediatric Nurse and a Social Worker. We thought, "this is so cool it's all available to us and neat we've got all this care...but that must mean it's a big deal :("
In this conference the Neonatologist didn't have a lot to contribute because he doesn't have much to do with us until the baby is breathing our air. As I understand it, the Perinatologist is everything about the baby in the womb and when the umbilical cord is cut the Neonatologist steps in. He left early. Then we got down to business with the others. We talked about the breastfeeding, the pacemaker, the surgery and recovery of mother and baby, and most importantly how long they should let me stay pregnant.
The Peri was very in favour of letting me go to week 39, but after hearing the case from the PC's they found a common understanding. It has been researched and documented that if a woman carrying a baby with Congenital Heart Block goes beyond 38 weeks there is a high likelihood the baby will suddenly die. They are NOT in favour of letting me go beyond 38 weeks. The Peri then agreed :)
So, we all came to the understanding the scheduled C-Section will be set for between 37-38 weeks with LG doing as well as she is with me on the meds I'm on. Although they didn't say the dates, I can very well look at a calendar and tell you I'll be 37 weeks on March 19. They said the Royal Alex does C-Sections on Monday and Tuesday. My best guess is the baby's birth day will be March 19 or 20. The Nurse Practitioner, Donna, will contact me soon with a "relocation" date and then it will be apparent which day delivery will occur.
Relocation to Edmonton must happen 2 weeks before delivery. They are concerned about preterm labour or any sudden changes and want me close to the hospital. If we can get into the RMH then it will be easy for Nola to be with me for that time. Hopefully, I'll be able to get in some play dates with a few long lost Facebook friends that happen to live in the area... :D
I hope I've covered everything... From what we understood recovery for LG will be about a week or 2. It's totally dependent on her strength, coping, and reaction to the things happening to her--of course. I have a sneaking suspicion she's going to be a bit of a trooper...as she's already proven. I will certainly have a longer recovery with the C-Section then she will :S
I will be back in Calgary on Wednesday for the regular monitoring. I will do this until I relocate.
I got a heap of reassurance today that Nola is going to be A.O.K as a big sister. Kevin and I went up to the hospital to see my cousin who just delivered a beautiful baby boy at 4 am. The baby was about six hours old an Nola wanted to sit right with me holding him. She kissed him and stroked his head and helped me say, "shh shh shh" when he cried. So sweet. She'll probably love her baby sister SO much until LG learns to walk and talk...or at least that's how it happened with me and my brothers, HA!
 |
| I asked the Sonographer how big her heart is. She said it measures about 4 cm squared! That tiny little thing, and all the knowledge we have! Awesome! |
Thanks for reading about our Momentum ♥
And the beat goes on...
For those that don't get to see Nola often enough,
this is just a regular little blurb of play with Daddy ☺
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