I was trying to remember what happened last ... the adrenaline of dealing with something unexpected has begun to wear off and I am in a bit of a fog, that and it is getting late tonight.
Olivia is doing better every day now though, so no real worries there, just no easy answers for any of the questions. I guess I left off on last Wednesday. The X-rays did not show any problems, other than she has fairly small bones in her wrists and ankles. (I am not sure how they can judge this, since all her bones are really small) But, it does not look to be anything that signifies any sort of future handicap ... after her ultrasound of the kidneys, they decided that they wanted to run a full check on them to see if they actually function properly. That didn't happen until yesterday, Sept 13th since they ordered it on Friday and don't do those things on the weekends ...
So, last Thursday, Adrienne was worried about being sick and getting Olivia sick, so she didn't go see her ... that was tough. I went up and was able to do the Kangaroo hold with her, ie, open shirt and Olivia on my chest. She was warm and the room was quiet and we both slept a bit.
I also got to change her diaper. Those sorts of things make her much more real and tangible than just looking at her in her heated crib. (she has never been in the full isolation chamber, just a small crib under a heat lamp. After the Wed tests and poking and prodding this was quite nice. Then on Friday we both went up and got the news about the X-rays and the kidney test. we had a good visit that day too. She slept quite a bit and we took turns watching her. Saturday we all went up to visit and Adrienne got some good time with her in.
But first, in the morning, Sara played her 1st game as a 10U player having to use a hard ball and with another girl pitching. She got on base by a hit pitch (just her foot) and then scored on a sacrifice hit by another player. (her and another teammate got on base and stole to 2nd and 3rd , then came in on the sacrifice) We won the game!! (sorry, Cynthia, I know we will have to play you guys again).
At the hospital, Hermann-Memorial, we found out that there is a place on the 10th floor called the sun-room which has a sort of park built in with spongy floors and some play equipment ... the kids and I spent quite a bit of time playing around up there and then watching TV down on the floor of the NICU. She keeps on trying to be bottle fed, but is not quite ready yet. She struggles with it, and has to learn how to take food that way. They had taken her completely off any extra Oxygen as well, and she only has a tube to feed her going through her nose and into her tummy. She better learn to eat soon from a bottle, because she tends to pull at the tubes and wires monitoring her. She is only off oxygen because she was taking such a low level of extra O2 as compared with our air and she pulled the tubes out of her nose. Boy, talk about stubborn and strong willed...
Sunday, Adrienne went for a visit by herself (with Poppi (Kyle Tillman) driving her up there) then, later that afternoon, I drove up to pick her up with the kids. Adrienne has been holding her as much as possible and changing her as well. Weekends are strange up at the hospital. A sort of skeleton crew runs the place and more people are visiting the other little ones ... some of whom are much more fragile than our Olivia.
Monday ... I went back to work and Adrienne and her mom did the visit. Andy has begun to not enjoy his trips up there as much. It is hard on everybody. The drive.
Parking. Walking. signing in. The other people. The dour faces. The total alienness of it all. Very tiring, very much an enigma of what we regularly understand as reality. I really have been feeling the fog and kind of just going through the
motions. Work was work ... questions of course. some answers. quite a few I don't knows. yadda yadda.
Today was even more surreal. I was at work trying to figure out the 2 projects I have been working on. One is a hideous amalgam of other projects that just won't ever go away and the other is a composition of 4 surveys thrown together ... luckily, I am not in charge of this one. Thanks to Yvonne and Tony for keeping my part alive and kicking. So, as I was going to try to investigate something, the fire alarm goes off, and we think it must be a test. nope. Apparently, someone on the 3rd floor had a paper jam in the copier and it caught on fire (or got hot and started smoking) instead of unplugging the machine, they left it and pulled the fire alarm. This was in an office that is not affiliated with our company, just another company who leases space ... probably one of the Law Firms ... This does wonders for a building. the sprinkler system goes off in the area of the alarm and the water comes out and then down to the 2nd floor and then to the 1st floor (Fairfield building Sw freeway and Commerce Green, Sugar Land) so we just hung around outside and then I came home and then went back (thanks for the ride Scott) and was allowed to go in and get my keys and stuff and leave again ... I didn't go back since I am on Andy and Sara duty for Tuesdays and Thursdays. My area was not damaged, the water came down across the hall, which smells like burnt up plastics and junk.
So, Adrienne was able to get good long visit with Olivia courtesy of her dad driving her this time. The Kidney test results came back clean, so she has good kidneys. She seems to be able to regulate her own body temperature pretty good and she has gained weight. Birth was 3 lb 14 oz then it went down to below 3 lbs and has been going up ever since she started getting fed. She was up to 3 lb 12 oz today. That is a good sign again. She remains an unsolvable riddle to the doctors for now.
Why did she stop growing in utero? I am not sure there will ever be a single answer for that. and I am not sure that we need one. as long as she keeps growing and "passing" the tests I don't care about the"why" at all. So, her job is to learn how to take food from a bottle and she has a specialist in that coming to see her tomorrow. This girl has more doctors than I ever had. she has her own cardiologist!!
I didn't even want to have to say that until I needed one in the distant future, right? so, things are rather routine as far as daily activities go. We do what we do and then rest. I can be a bit numb at times, but Andy and Sara keep me grounded. Adrienne is doing the very best that anyone can under the circumstances. I am glad that she is Olivia's mother, she is getting plenty of attention and love from her
and I know that will never cease. Now, I am pretty tired. it's 11:00 pm
and Ivan is churning up the gulf.
Jeanne is out there now too ... and the rest of the world is but a bleary hazy vision ...
until such time,
Andrew
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
Soon after
On Tuesday Sept 7
Adrienne and her mom went to visit Olivia. Adrienne was feeling better and was able to hold her while she was being fed (still through a tube not by bottle, which is pretty standard for many preemies) and that made her feel great!! Both mother and child enjoyed that immensely. She was able to talk to the geneticists for a while and although there are no absolute conclusions about anything along those lines (it may take some time for the dna/chromosome tests to be completed and evaluated) the overall mood is positive. She may have just not been getting enough nourishment from the placenta in the last few weeks, so she stopped growing. She is now playing catchup. She is a fighter though, and definitely lets the nurses know when she is hungry (she is taking much more milk now) and otherwise uncomfortable.
Today, (Wednesday) Adrienne and I both went up to visit for a while. ... (I think we would just camp out there and hold her as long as they would allow, if the Andy and Sara didn't need us to keep their lives somewhat normal). It was another stepping stone day. We finally met the neonatal doctor in charge of her. All the others were just filling in and/or residents reciting the lines given to them by the doctor. It is nice to get in touch with the person making most of the decisions. while we were there, we saw that she is off any IV supplement and does not have the CPAP anymore ... just a little bit a oxygen to supplement her and try help her mend her heart.
Some techs came in to do some of the tests ordered ... yesterday they did a brain scan of sorts ... it may have just been an ultrasound ... that looks fine.
Today they scanned her kidneys to make sure all is flowing normally and also did a full set of X-ray to get a feel for her skeletal structure ... things appear to be positive though ... they want to rule everything out as being a problem or not.
We should have results on all that stuff on Friday.
So, today when most of the action was taking place and they woke up my darling girl I kept talking to her as I have since I met her ... just telling her about the family and letting her get to know my voice. She opened her eyes and seemed to move her head in the direction of my voice!! it may be just her going through the motions, but it was pretty sweet none the less. Now I have much more video tape of her and with her eyes open too.
Thank you for the thoughts and prayers, I really feel that it will all work out eventually.
Thank you for the flower arrangement too, it is really nice.
Mom is doing well, sore again now that the staples are out ...
Sara had a softball practice the other night and is on a good little team with a very mellow coach and assistant ... I am playing bleacher creature this season as planned before all this which is good. Andy is in preschool Tuesdays and Thursdays now and he likes it a lot.
My brother made it through Frances fine ... they were cave dwellers in their house because they boarded it all up. lost power of course (may still be out at this writing) and had some more minor roof damage and another tree down across a fence. They have been eating everything that would otherwise go bad, and sharing well water with the neighbor who has a generator. (to power the well) That is two hurricanes in 1 month.
Now they and the rest of Florida have to watch out for Ivan without the benefit of daily news reports on the TV ... hope it heads another direction ... well, that is all for now. until such time,
Andrew
Adrienne and her mom went to visit Olivia. Adrienne was feeling better and was able to hold her while she was being fed (still through a tube not by bottle, which is pretty standard for many preemies) and that made her feel great!! Both mother and child enjoyed that immensely. She was able to talk to the geneticists for a while and although there are no absolute conclusions about anything along those lines (it may take some time for the dna/chromosome tests to be completed and evaluated) the overall mood is positive. She may have just not been getting enough nourishment from the placenta in the last few weeks, so she stopped growing. She is now playing catchup. She is a fighter though, and definitely lets the nurses know when she is hungry (she is taking much more milk now) and otherwise uncomfortable.
Today, (Wednesday) Adrienne and I both went up to visit for a while. ... (I think we would just camp out there and hold her as long as they would allow, if the Andy and Sara didn't need us to keep their lives somewhat normal). It was another stepping stone day. We finally met the neonatal doctor in charge of her. All the others were just filling in and/or residents reciting the lines given to them by the doctor. It is nice to get in touch with the person making most of the decisions. while we were there, we saw that she is off any IV supplement and does not have the CPAP anymore ... just a little bit a oxygen to supplement her and try help her mend her heart.
Some techs came in to do some of the tests ordered ... yesterday they did a brain scan of sorts ... it may have just been an ultrasound ... that looks fine.
Today they scanned her kidneys to make sure all is flowing normally and also did a full set of X-ray to get a feel for her skeletal structure ... things appear to be positive though ... they want to rule everything out as being a problem or not.
We should have results on all that stuff on Friday.
So, today when most of the action was taking place and they woke up my darling girl I kept talking to her as I have since I met her ... just telling her about the family and letting her get to know my voice. She opened her eyes and seemed to move her head in the direction of my voice!! it may be just her going through the motions, but it was pretty sweet none the less. Now I have much more video tape of her and with her eyes open too.
Thank you for the thoughts and prayers, I really feel that it will all work out eventually.
Thank you for the flower arrangement too, it is really nice.
Mom is doing well, sore again now that the staples are out ...
Sara had a softball practice the other night and is on a good little team with a very mellow coach and assistant ... I am playing bleacher creature this season as planned before all this which is good. Andy is in preschool Tuesdays and Thursdays now and he likes it a lot.
My brother made it through Frances fine ... they were cave dwellers in their house because they boarded it all up. lost power of course (may still be out at this writing) and had some more minor roof damage and another tree down across a fence. They have been eating everything that would otherwise go bad, and sharing well water with the neighbor who has a generator. (to power the well) That is two hurricanes in 1 month.
Now they and the rest of Florida have to watch out for Ivan without the benefit of daily news reports on the TV ... hope it heads another direction ... well, that is all for now. until such time,
Andrew
Monday, September 06, 2004
She is born
Olivia Grace Schultz
She is here now ... a bit earlier than expected and quite a bit smaller
too.
Friday, September 3, 2004 around 3pm 3 lb 14 oz 16 inches. I (Andrew) had gone to work early so I could join a group of us from Fairfield to observe some data acquisition up in Palestine, Tx. Adrienne called me when we were almost there to tell me that her Ob/Gyn had decided that Olivia needed to come out right then ... I continued my field trip and wondered what was going on down in Houston. I seem to not know my voice mail password, so I couldn't get the message from Susan (Adrienne's mom) with the details until the drive home, when she called me back (which was around 5:30 in the evening) Luckily, Susan had always been watching the children when Adrienne had her checkups with her doctor, so she was able to keep them occupied and fed and generally spoiled during the long day that it grew into ... (Kyle and Susan did quite a bit of work for us Friday.)
Dr. Sinacari (Adrienne's Ob/Gyn) apparently saw that Adrienne had high blood pressure as well as some swelling in the hands and that Adrienne felt tingling sensations ... she was concerned with possible hypertension so they went to measure the amniotic fluid via ultrasound and found that Olivia was rather small and that there was lots of fluid ... She made the decision to do the C-section then...
Olivia was born with high APGAR scores and seemed over all very healthy...
I made it to Houston and the hospital around 7 pm on Friday (thanks for the ride Scott) and I went to visit Adrienne and we talked a bit and then I went to visit Olivia ...
I was getting the whole story of how the NICU works at the hospital when one of the Neonatal doctors came in to check her out ... She detected a heart murmur while listening to her that evening ... She then made the decision to have her sent to Hermann/Memorial in the Med Center downtown.
That was quite a bit of information to absorb after being away all day long...
Adrienne was not real happy about it either ... We had to wonder what it meant and how serious and feel completely helpless ... So, I took the children home around 10pm when Susan brought them back and we went home and had to leave Adrienne to face the doctors and see Olivia taken away in the travelling incubator ... very tough on us all... Saturday morning I was able to talk to Adrienne again and keep the kids fed and under control here at the house.
(Susan had taken the Ollie the dog and Tinker bell the cat to stay at the vet - Thank you for that!!!)
I was able to get a friend of Sara's to take Sara to a birthday party over by the Spring Branch (which ended up lasting about 5 hours or so) and Andy and I played until Tim and Sharon came over to watch Andy while I went to visit Adrienne and then to see Olivia at her new deluxe facility overlooking the Houston Zoo ... She had been stable over night and continued to be that way while hooked up to a CPAP (to help her breathe better) and an IV for nourishment and a bunch of sensors for heart rate, Oxygen level in the blood, Respiratory rate, and otherthings ... she looks like an angel despite all the tubes and wires and machines that go BING!!
Sunday we were able to get our Adrienne back at home ... still weak but happy to be free ... we took Susan and Kyle and the kids over to the Hermann/Memorial and Adrienne got to finally take a longer look at her little girl. ... we also brought her some liquid gold ... moms milk. She has been really taking the milk like a fighter ... although she is not taking by bottle yet. She is fed through a tube down to her stomach.
Monday; Adrienne and I made it back to the hospital with more milk and just the two of us after taking the kids to Tim and Sharon's place (they played video games most of the time.) I had a pleasant surprise today with our visit ... they had taken the catheter out of her belly and the nurse asked me if I would like to hold her!!! very good thing. Adrienne unfortunately has come down with the cold that the kids have been sharing around the schools, so she could not go in and see her today. I held her for about 1/2 and hour. I could have stayed all day, but we had to get the kids and come home and eat the dinner (tomorrow is a school day) that some church friends made for us ... (thanks Nancy)
The heart murmur has two issues right now ... One is the failure of an
opening that exists in all children in the womb to close itself after birth, which is when it usually closes. The other is a hole between ventricles that may or may not close by itself...
We don't have any more details at this point, other than that she is in stable condition and isn't in any serious immediate danger ... we hope to keep you all updated and informed as we know more information.
Please forward this to anyone within our family and friend loop as you see fit, that way I won't have to tell the story over and over again ...
be seeing you,
Andrew Schultz and family
She is here now ... a bit earlier than expected and quite a bit smaller
too.
Friday, September 3, 2004 around 3pm 3 lb 14 oz 16 inches. I (Andrew) had gone to work early so I could join a group of us from Fairfield to observe some data acquisition up in Palestine, Tx. Adrienne called me when we were almost there to tell me that her Ob/Gyn had decided that Olivia needed to come out right then ... I continued my field trip and wondered what was going on down in Houston. I seem to not know my voice mail password, so I couldn't get the message from Susan (Adrienne's mom) with the details until the drive home, when she called me back (which was around 5:30 in the evening) Luckily, Susan had always been watching the children when Adrienne had her checkups with her doctor, so she was able to keep them occupied and fed and generally spoiled during the long day that it grew into ... (Kyle and Susan did quite a bit of work for us Friday.)
Dr. Sinacari (Adrienne's Ob/Gyn) apparently saw that Adrienne had high blood pressure as well as some swelling in the hands and that Adrienne felt tingling sensations ... she was concerned with possible hypertension so they went to measure the amniotic fluid via ultrasound and found that Olivia was rather small and that there was lots of fluid ... She made the decision to do the C-section then...
Olivia was born with high APGAR scores and seemed over all very healthy...
I made it to Houston and the hospital around 7 pm on Friday (thanks for the ride Scott) and I went to visit Adrienne and we talked a bit and then I went to visit Olivia ...
I was getting the whole story of how the NICU works at the hospital when one of the Neonatal doctors came in to check her out ... She detected a heart murmur while listening to her that evening ... She then made the decision to have her sent to Hermann/Memorial in the Med Center downtown.
That was quite a bit of information to absorb after being away all day long...
Adrienne was not real happy about it either ... We had to wonder what it meant and how serious and feel completely helpless ... So, I took the children home around 10pm when Susan brought them back and we went home and had to leave Adrienne to face the doctors and see Olivia taken away in the travelling incubator ... very tough on us all... Saturday morning I was able to talk to Adrienne again and keep the kids fed and under control here at the house.
(Susan had taken the Ollie the dog and Tinker bell the cat to stay at the vet - Thank you for that!!!)
I was able to get a friend of Sara's to take Sara to a birthday party over by the Spring Branch (which ended up lasting about 5 hours or so) and Andy and I played until Tim and Sharon came over to watch Andy while I went to visit Adrienne and then to see Olivia at her new deluxe facility overlooking the Houston Zoo ... She had been stable over night and continued to be that way while hooked up to a CPAP (to help her breathe better) and an IV for nourishment and a bunch of sensors for heart rate, Oxygen level in the blood, Respiratory rate, and otherthings ... she looks like an angel despite all the tubes and wires and machines that go BING!!
Sunday we were able to get our Adrienne back at home ... still weak but happy to be free ... we took Susan and Kyle and the kids over to the Hermann/Memorial and Adrienne got to finally take a longer look at her little girl. ... we also brought her some liquid gold ... moms milk. She has been really taking the milk like a fighter ... although she is not taking by bottle yet. She is fed through a tube down to her stomach.
Monday; Adrienne and I made it back to the hospital with more milk and just the two of us after taking the kids to Tim and Sharon's place (they played video games most of the time.) I had a pleasant surprise today with our visit ... they had taken the catheter out of her belly and the nurse asked me if I would like to hold her!!! very good thing. Adrienne unfortunately has come down with the cold that the kids have been sharing around the schools, so she could not go in and see her today. I held her for about 1/2 and hour. I could have stayed all day, but we had to get the kids and come home and eat the dinner (tomorrow is a school day) that some church friends made for us ... (thanks Nancy)
The heart murmur has two issues right now ... One is the failure of an
opening that exists in all children in the womb to close itself after birth, which is when it usually closes. The other is a hole between ventricles that may or may not close by itself...
We don't have any more details at this point, other than that she is in stable condition and isn't in any serious immediate danger ... we hope to keep you all updated and informed as we know more information.
Please forward this to anyone within our family and friend loop as you see fit, that way I won't have to tell the story over and over again ...
be seeing you,
Andrew Schultz and family
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