Tyler Update, Vol. 3

Here is the latest on Tyler's condition:

He has remained out of the Isolette since Friday morning at 8:00 a.m., meaning we are on day 5 of maintaining his temperature. The nurses actually took the Isolette out of the room yesterday so they are pretty confident that he is going to keep his temperature up within normal limits for the rest of his hospital stay. He is now sleeping in a gown with one loosely wrapped blanket and his temperature has been consistent in the 98.0-99.0 range. Unfortunately, his little veins are having a hard time keeping the IVs in. He is on IV site number 4 now. It's heart-breaking to know that they are poking him so much and that he is so uncomfortable. He is still scheduled to receive his last dosage of IV antibiotics on Friday at 6:00 p.m. Mike and I are hoping to be able to take him home Friday night rather than Saturday. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we find the strength to make it through these LONG last couple of days and the courage to take him home with confidence!

Hospital Pictures

Check out Tyler's pictures taken at the hospital by clicking on this link:

http://www.our365.com/newbornportraits/babydetail.aspx?birthid=40c30b35-3777-4f81-be79-23b25b3334d1&babyid=5b8028c8-354c-4287-876f-bd20b2f2d1ad

We didn't want to open his eyes so the nurse was sticking her finger in his mouth to wake him up and the pictures were taken between cries!

Tyler Update

Most of the people who check our blog consistently probably already know that Tyler was admitted to the the Children's Hospital of Illinois at OSF St. Francis in Peoria, IL. However, I've decided to outline the details, to update our friends and family, and also to have a diary of the events of this last week.

Tuesday, October 21
Tyler seemed extra fussy throughout the morning. Granted I hadn't known him for very long at that point but his demeanor in his first 3 days of life was very calm. At around 3:00 p.m., I was trying to put him in his bassinet so I could catch a nap but I noticed that every time I laid him down, he screamed his lungs out. When I would pick him up, he would stop. After this went on 2 or 3 times, I decided to try to utilize his calming vibrating chair for the first time. When I un-swaddled him from his blanket, I noticed his hands and feet were blue. I bundled him up in an extra blanket and a knit hat and held him close, thinking I could just warm him up. Mike came home 5 or 10 minutes later and told me to take his temperature. We did and found that it was 94.6 degrees. We called the pediatrician right away to report the reading. They told us to come in right away. We frantically got Tyler into his car seat and rushed to the office. In the car on the way there, Tyler became unresponsive. I decided to take him out of his car seat in an attempt to do CPR, at which point he started to cry. When we got to the pediatrician's office, the Dr. said he wanted him to go to the ER via ambulance. The ER was crazy and I was a wreck. We thought we lost our little boy. The ER Dr. decided to have him air-lifted to the Children's Hospital in Peoria so he could get advanced care. Tyler was admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit around 7:00 Tuesday evening. He was placed on IV antibiotics and was put on a warming bed in efforts to get his temperature up (it was still only 94 degrees). Overnight, they tried to wean him off the warming bed but were unsuccessful. The good news was that his vital signs were very good.

Wednesday, October 22
Tyler had been off the warming bed and was maintaining his temperature for long enough to warrant a transfer to the Intermediate level of pediatric care. After about 4 hours of being there without a warming bed, his temperature dropped again, this time to 96 degrees. We had to argue with the Dr. to get him into an Isolette/incubator. Once there, his temperature stabilized and was within normal limits. We heard a couple of different opinions from a couple of different doctors regarding the cause of Tyler's hypothermia. One doctor claimed that the cultures drawn revealed he had a urinary tract infection and also a strep infection. Another doctor said that he felt those cultures were contaminated by bacteria from the skin. Apparently he also had a "borderline abnormal fatty acid deficiency" show up on his newborn screening (we still don't know what this means). His vital signs continued to look good and the only thing the doctors could agree on was that he appeared to be healthy at the time.

Thursday, October 23
Tyler remained in the Isolette overnight with stable body temperatures. A new attending pediatrician (Dr. Edwards) came to us to tell us they knew (that his cultures showed signs of infection) and what they didn't know (if those cultures were contaminated). The plan was to repeat the cultures. He also suggested that Tyler have a lumbar puncture to rule out meningitis. This freaked us out but we gave consent. About 3 hours later, we found the results of the lumbar puncture were negative. Tyler was out of the Isolette for 5 hours and kept his temperature up but he was put back in the Isolette overnight. His vitals were still good.

Friday, October 24
Tyler came out of the Isolette at 8:00 in the morning. Shortly after that, one of the residents came in to report that the repeat blood and urine cultures were also negative. He explained that just like the lumbar puncture, it only meant that there was no indication of an infection at that point in time. It was possible that the 3 days of IV antibiotics had already killed off any signs of infection. Although there was still a possibility that Tyler had an infection earlier, we were relieved to know that he didn't have an infection at that point. Dr. Edwards later said he wanted to finish the course of IV antibiotics treatments (10-14 total days) just to be safe in case there really was an infection at the time this all started. Tyler moved from Intermediate Care to General Care (the only difference being how closely he gets monitored). Tyler remained out of the Isolette all night and only had his temperature drop to 97.0 once--when a nurse left him in saturated bedding. We were furious with the nurse's negligence but we were happy he didn't have to go back into the Isolette. Vitals were all good.

Saturday, October 25
Tyler has been out of the Isolette for 24 hours at this point. He had maintained his body temperature with the help of many layers of tightly swaddled blankets. In the morning, one of Dr. Edwards on-call partners came in for rounds. She said Tyler did in fact have an infection when he arrived at the ER Tuesday evening. I don't know if this was her opinion but she said she took the call from Bloomington and that he presented as "a very sick baby". She did say his vitals looked great and that his prognosis was very good. She stated that he will finish his antibiotic treatments and will be here until Thursday or Monday, depending on how he does in the next couple of days. He stayed out of the Isolette all day and night with stable temperatures.

Sunday, October 26 (Today)
Tyler has been out of the Isolette since Friday morning. He hasn't had his temperature drop below 98.0. We were given the okay to give him his first bath. He kept his temperature up despite being wet. He has started to sleep between feedings and seems much more comfortable.

At this point, Mike and I are just thankful that Tyler appears to be doing okay. This has been a very stressful and trying time for us as a family but we do appreciate all of the thoughts and prayers that have been sent our way. I hope there will be no new updates, with the exception of Tyler's discharge. We hope he will finish the course of antibiotics without any temperature drops and that we will get to take him home (again) on Thursday. However, if something comes up in the next few days, I will attempt to put updates on the blog site. Please continue to keep our family in your thoughts and prayers!

Welcome to the world Tyler Dylan Ellsworth!

My last pregnancy picture at 36 weeks, 6 days
Waiting to head into the OR
Mike says, "We're good to go!"
Tyler Dylan's first actual picture Grandma Ellsworth

Grandpa Ellsworth
Grandpa Breclaw
Grandma Breclaw
Very proud Grandpa and Grandma Breclaw
Close-up!

Resting peacefully
In his going home outfit
Very happy Mommy
Very happy Daddy
Thank you to Dr. Santiago for helping me through the last month of my pregnancy and for a safe and successful delivery!

He's finally here!!!!!! I had my scheduled C-section on Friday, October 17th and God has blessed our family with a healthy baby boy! We welcomed with love Tyler Dylan Ellsworth on October 17th at 12:10 p.m., weighing in at 6 lbs. 9 ozs., 19.5 inches long. He is healthy despite being 3 weeks early and we couldn't be happier! He has blessed our lives in so many ways and it's only day 3! Here are lots and lots of pictures to enjoy!

Baby Update, Vol. 4

Mike and I went to my OB appointment today to have an ultrasound and to hear the results of the weekend labs. Turns out that things are still looking okay with me (my protein levels went down slightly) and Baby so the doctor cancelled our C-section appointment for tomorrow. We are now scheduled for a C-section on Friday and it's final--no chance of going any longer. So it's official--Baby Ellsworth will be arriving on October 17th!

36-week pics

36-weeks pregnant
In the nursery, all ready to go

Here are my 36-week pictures. I feel blessed to have made it 9-months! Mike got everything from the shower put away and organized so I think we are ready to go! We'll find out at our appointment on Monday whether we will definitely have the C-section on Tuesday. There is a chance that if things look good, we can try to carry it out a little longer. We would love to get to 37-weeks!

The roller coaster ride continues...

Mike and I went to my doctor’s appointment today. They found that the protein levels went up to 539 this week, which officially changed my diagnosis from pregnancy-induced hypertension to pre-eclampsia (a much more serious condition). The doctor also did an ultrasound and found that the baby is still doing well. He weighed in at 6 lb. 10 oz., which makes his a little large for his gestational age (which is a good thing at this point). He also did what they call a biophysical profile and determined that his lungs are just “borderline” mature enough to handle the delivery. So after a long discussion on the pros and cons of delivering now vs. waiting it out a little longer, we collectively decided to try to make it one more week. That extra time should almost certainly ensure that Baby’s lungs will be mature enough to handle the delivery. In order to make sure that both of us are doing okay, I will have to have my blood work repeated Thursday and Sunday and I’ll also need to go back to the office on Friday and Monday to have repeat ultrasounds. If we are both handling the extra time without further complications then we will be able to make it to Tuesday, the 14th, in which my doctor has already scheduled a cesarean delivery for 7:30 a.m. He wanted us to understand that things can still change but that is the best plan for now. I’ll keep sharing any major updates.

A scary false alarm

Well I spent last night in the labor and delivery unit at St. Joseph’s hospital. It started when I had one my nurse friends from the nursing home come over yesterday morning to take my blood pressure. She found it was high again, 142/108. I called the doctor to report the reading but he was out of the office for the day. So I waited for close to 4 hours to hear from the attending OB, who recommended I go to the hospital for monitoring. At around 4 p.m. they hooked me up to the fetal monitors and drew some labs. They were also monitoring my blood pressure every 10 minutes and found that it was very inconsistent. Some reading were high, some were borderline-high and some were normal. So the attending doctor decided to keep me overnight for observation. They found that my blood pressure stabilized through the night when I was laying on my sides (stayed down around 110/75). My normal doctor then came in this morning and reported that the labs came back normal and that the baby looks really good so they released me at around 11 a.m.. The doctor wants me to continue the bed rest but to try and stay on my sides as much as possible. Then the plan is to go back for my regularly scheduled appointment tomorrow to have an ultrasound and to find the results of the urine analysis. If they are both good then he will start seeing me twice a week (with also having someone monitor my blood pressure daily). It’s kind of a “wait and see what happens” day-to-day situation but we will know more after the appointment tomorrow. Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and concerns. I’ll update again after we know more.

A shower for Baby Ellsworth

The guest of honor--it's me!
Gift table and scoreboard
Adorable diaper cake made by my mom
Adorable Cubs cake (made and decorated by Sue--Mike was so mad!)
Baseball-themed favors in a diaper

Baby's cross-stitched bib made by Grandma Ellsworth (Sue)
Baby's cross-stitched blanket made by Grandma Ellsworth (Sue)
My mom gave me a whole box of blankets and knitted outfits from my childhood, made by both my grandmas and my mom
Me, Ashley, Morgan and Alyssa
Beautiful oak cradle handcrafted by Great-Grandpa Ellsworth (Matt)

Our over-filled nursery--YIKES!

My mom hosted my baby shower yesterday at the Hampton Inn in Normal. I feel blessed to have been able to make it despite being on bed rest. My doctor told me that it’s the ONE thing I am allowed to do this week as long as I kick my feet up and let everyone come to me. We had a nice turnout of close family and friends and we received lots of generous gifts from everyone who came and even from some of those who weren’t able to make it. I have to admit though that it’s very overwhelming to look into our nursery right now. As I was opening gift after gift, I kept thinking to myself, “How does a tiny little baby need all this STUFF!?” And even worse, “How will we know how to use it all!?” I guess we’ll be like all first-time parents and we’ll learn the answers to both of those questions as we go. Anyway, overall I think the shower went very well and I truly appreciate those people who came, especially those who traveled, and all the generous gifts we received. I also want to thank my mom, who obviously spent a great deal of time and money into planning the shower and Sue and Jean for all the help that they provided her to get ready. Thank you!

Baby Update, Vol. 3

Well, Mike and went for my weekly appointment today. Things started out pretty good. They took my blood pressure first thing and it went down again, this time to 128/78. So we were feeling pretty good about that. Then the doctor did an ultrasound and said that things were looking good. The baby had enough fluid and was still growing—in fact he now weighs almost 6 lbs! Super! The blood work was all within normal limits again. Great! But now the bad news—the results from my last 24-hour urine sample revealed the protein levels are on the rise again. The protein levels went up from 275 last week to 330 this week. The doctor said that it’s not a huge jump but it is reason enough to be concerned. So as a precaution, he wants to have a home health agency come over and monitor my blood pressure and urine levels on a daily basis. Of course, I’ll still have to go back to the hospital at the start of next week to have my blood work repeated and to repeat the 24-hour urine sample. Then next Wednesday (October 8--my birthday), we'll go back for another ultrasound and to go over the lab results. If things are still looking good, we’ll try to make it another week. But the doctor forewarned us that if the protein levels go up again then we will most likely be parents at the end of next week (probably by cesarean delivery)! Mike and I were both somewhat shocked to hear that, especially because it’s SO soon but we are prepared to do what’s best for my health and the health of our little guy. So we are just kind of playing a waiting game now while I do everything I can do to rest this coming week.
Keep us in your thoughts and stayed tuned for the BIG update next week…….