The Long Journey
It was very hard for me to move around after the surgery. I hadn't walked for 5 weeks. My legs were so sore and tight I looked like a little old lady walking. I finally got to go down to see my girls that night.
They were so tiny! Catherine Joyce was 860 grams (1lb 15oz) and 13" long. Shannon Elizabeth was 840 grams (1lb 14oz)and 13" long. They had full vent support and every tube and wire coming out of them. They had them in separate nurseries so they wouldn't get their meds mixed up. Catie's lungs were really bad. The left lung collapsed twice in the first week. Shannon had a Pulminary Duct Arteriosis (PDA) ligation at 2 weeks old. I had her baptized before she went for surgery. It was the longest 6 hours of my life! She came through with flying colors! Her road was rather straight. She came off her vent at 2 months old, and was on CPAP for 2 weeks. They then transferred her to the Primary Care Unit, and then she was on room air for another 3 weeks before she came home after 95 days in the hospital.
Catie had a rockier road. She developed an IVH brain bleed. It went from grade III to grade IV and she also developed hydracephalus. They tapped the fluid from her brain often, then at the end of March she weighed enough to put an Omehia Reservoir in to allow them to drain the fluid easier with a decreased chance of infection. The night before her surgery the nurses brought Shannon over to see her sister for the first time since they were born. They layed them next to each other and took a picture for us! When they put Shannon in Catie's bed she grabbed Catie's hand as if to say "Hi Sis! I'm here for you! Good luck! See you after the surgery!" The picture was in Catie's bed when we got there in the morning - what a surprise on such a scary day. Of course, Catie came through with flying colors. I also had Catie baptized with the same bottle of sterile water the priest blessed and used for Shannon's baptism. I still have the water.
Then at the end of April she had surgery to put in a shunt. Catie was transferred to our local hospital the day after Shannon came home. Catie stayed in the hospital another month, and she came home on an apnea monitor. Unfortunately, the special care unit Catie was in didn't recognize the signs of the shunt being blocked. Catie cried the day she came home until 2 days later when I took her to the emergency room and they transferred her back to Syracuse to have surgery to replace her shunt. She didn't eat for 2 days. I tried to get breast milk into her every hour. She took maybe 1/2 an ounce every 3 hours. She had a bad eating problem, even while in the NICU. When Catie finally came home, 1 week later, she was a different baby.
Links to other sites on the Web
Get your own Free Home Page