no educational activities or crafts to share. just five updates on our newest little love, Liza June.
one.
i went to the hospital on Wednesday afternoon because i had been feeling kind of sick all day. i wasn't necessarily having contractions, i was just feeling "odd" and hadn't been feeling the baby move as much, so my doctor told me to come on in and they'd check everything out. the girls were already at my mom and dad's since i hadn't been feeling well so, i waited for jeffrey to get home from work and we drove to the hospital around 6:30pm. we were about 99.9% certain that we'd be sent back home an hour or so later. (so much so that we didn't even bring my hospital bag with us!)
but, lo and behold, i started having contractions once we settled in and before i knew it, i was getting an epidural at 10pm. jeffrey ran home to get our things, we called our parents, and just a few hours later i started pushing. Liza June Tippins was born on Thursday, July 18th at 1:57am. She weighed 7lbs 11.5oz and was 21 inches long. She was born at 36 weeks, 4 days.
two.
we knew that i would be induced right around 37 weeks because of 1.) high blood pressure, 2.) history of heart issues and 3.) both libbi and laney were born right around 37wks and weighed close to 9lbs!
i guess baby liza wanted to "one up" her sisters already and come even earlier than they did. the NICU team was prepared and present for the delivery, "just in case" and we knew that she had already swallowed a bit of meconium, so we were prepared for her to be taken as soon as i delivered. we were overjoyed to hear her cry immediately and to see that she was a nice sized baby. the delivery went smoothly and all seemed well.
three.
unfortunately, liza wasn't able to get her breathing regulated on her own. after she was first born, the doctors/nurses gave her a few opportunities to correct her breathing, but she was unable to slow it down. she was taking about 100 breaths per minutes while they would like to see her take about 40. so, long story short, liza was taken to the NICU around 5:30am on the morning she was born. she was around 3 hours old. once she was in the NICU, the doctors determined that she may have a few other issues in addition to her respiratory distress.
four.
baby liza continues to breathe more rapidly than what we'd like which results in an inability to eat. since she is breathing so quickly, she is unable to nurse or eat anything because it would inevitably result in choking. she has some fluid built up in her lungs and we are waiting and hopeful that this will clear and reabsorb on it's own. she is currently receiving IV fluids and has been since early yesterday morning. BUT today we were able to hold her while she had her first feeding via a feeding tube! the doctor's had a few concerns about her heart, but after an ultrasound yesterday we were SO thankful to find that the results showed her heart defect to be one that they felt would correct itself. she does have a small hole in her heart, but the cardiologist feels as though it will close up on it's own. we will follow up with him every few months until it does. finally, there is a chance that she has a possible infection, so she is being treated with two different antibiotics while we await the results of her blood cultures.
five.
praises and prayers -
first of all, we are SO thankful that liza is here. while she has a few issues to work out, and her beginning is not what we would have chosen - we feel confident that she will make a full recovery in due time. and for that we are extremely thankful. we are so thankful that the ultrasound of her heart showed an issue that would resolve itself. we are praising God that she is making progress and that slowly but surely we are seeing improvements. we are so thankful that we were able to hold baby liza today and that we were able to begin feeding her via a feeding tube. we are also thankful for all of the doctors and nurses that have been taking such good care of her.
while there have been many improvements and strides made over the past day or two, baby liza still has a way to go before she's cleared to come home with us.
we are praying her breathing is regulated so that she can begin nursing and being weaned off of the feeding tube. she must be breathing without incident or without assistance for 48 hours before she will be cleared. we have yet to begin the 48hrs. we also know that more than likely (okay, very likely) we will be going home without our baby. while we know she is improving and that she will be home soon, it is is still difficult not being able to hold our baby and to know that she will not immediately be coming home with us.
so far, libbi and laney have been wonderful. of course they don't really understand much about the whole "bringing home a baby" process so they're not really even aware that this is not the norm. we were thrilled that they were able to at least go in and see their new sister. i had initially thought they would be unable to while she was in the NICU, but that wasn't so! they were both so sweet and loved seeing "baby wy-za" as laney calls her. we love our girls and miss them like crazy, but at this point - we're thankful that they are so content being at the grandparents' house. we are praying that they continue to loved and content during this time of transition. finally, we're praying for sweet baby liza to keep getting stronger each day. we want nothing more than to bring baby liza home, but we really want to bring her home to stay and without incident. while the NICU was definitely not part of our "birth plan" we are thankful that liza's issues were realized before we were discharged for home and that she is being so well taken care of.
thank you to everyone that has called, texted, emailed, and messaged us. we are so thankful and humbled by all of your prayers and support. we will try our best to keep you updated on baby liza and all that is going on. for right now, no news is good news as we are just watching and waiting for her lungs to clear and her breathing to slow down. we can't wait for y'all to meet her! she is as sweet as can ben and just a tiny little love. she has blonde (blonde!) hair and i think she looks like jeffrey. :)
thank you again for all of your prayers and encouragement while we navigate this unexpected path. we love you all!
"Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand." Isaiah 41:10
