Original Post Date: 7/19/2008
Neither Candice nor I got much sleep last night. We were constantly being awoken by the stupid I.V. machine. Because Candice was dehydrated it was very difficult to get the I.V. into a vein. So they put it in a vein around the inside of her elbow. The problem with this is when the machine senses a block or anything out of the ordinary it would beep very loudly. If Candice simply folded her arm long enough then it would beep. About 2 am I wanted to through it out the window. We were also kept awake by her nurse that kept coming by for a visit about every 4 hours. The next day we were visited by one of the doctors, Dr. Spain, about how Candice was doing. He was very impressed with her progress and was hopeful for Ella as well. After I answered about 50 emails I went down to see Ella. We aren’t allowed to see her until 10:30 in the morning, after the doctors had made their rounds. I walked in and did the same ritual, then went to over to where they were keeping Ella. She had responded very well to the medicine they had given her. Her lungs were not developed enough for her to breath on her own. She was on a ventilator to make sure that she was getting enough oxygen and was breathing steady. The first time I went in the machine was helping to make 35 breaths per minute. They had turned it down to 25. The lower the number, the better she could breath. She was a little more bruised than the day before. Dr. Ngyen said that this was expected because of the C-section and the Footling Breach. She also said that she was doing very well. About lunch time, Erin and Matt, came by to visit and bring us some gifts. We chatted about things and the progress of my girls. Shortly afterwards my mom and stepdad came in with flowers to go along with the flowers from the Vine and the Moons. I finally ate some food while they talked to Candice. Not too long after, Candice’s parents and twin sisters walked in. They all wanted to see Ella with their own eyes. The rule for visiting the NICU is one parent and one visitor at a time. So we spent the next two hours visiting with Ella. About half way through, I saw Candice walking in with her nurse into the Nursery (NICU). Not even surgery could hold this new mother from coming to her daughter. The nurses couldn’t believe she walked from her room to the nursery less than 24 hours after surgery. She and I got the full update and were left alone with Ella. As we began to speak (and sing) to Ella she began to move and make lots of cute faces. It was very overwhelming for both of us. The rest of the family and friends got their turn to visit with Ella and then we went back to the room. To our surprise, we had more visitors. Some of our friends from Valdosta, GA (Chris and Staci) had come down to see us. Naturally they wanted to see Ella too so we went back to the nursery once more. Afterwards we were all talking and catching up on things. Chris and I were talking and I mentioned to Chris that I really wanted a good cup of coffee. He made the mistake of telling me that he almost got me a cup at Starbucks. I asked him, “what was he thinking?!!!” But he was really great and went and got me a Venti Vanilla Latte. Mmmmmmmmm. . . Yes sir!! While Chris and Staci were gone my sister, Keri and her boyfriend, Jeff had come over from Tampa to visit. The nurses began to ask if we were really from out of town. It was a good day, but I’m exhausted. Good night. Kent
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Original Post Date: 7/19/2009
3:25pm -As I walked back to the original room we had been in, I met my mother and we sat down an began to make phone calls to our friend and family. After about 10 minutes a doctor came in and began asking us questions about Candice and myself. Shortly afterwards, we had to move out of the room to make room for another expectant mother. We were moved to the main waiting room. This was the last thing I wanted. I didn’t want to go to a room and sit down so that I could think of all the possibilities that could be unfolding. The gravity of the day’s events were not making it through to my mind. As my mother and I sat there, we would answer the phone in between prayers and tears. In order to focus my mind, I began to journal about the days events, all the while I was fervently asking God to keep my wife and new daughter safe. I began to pray for everything I could possibly think of for Ella. As I was writing about the day, David Walters, the lead pastor for the Vine, called me and I gave him an update. He assured me of God’s providing hand and the He was in control. He also mentioned that many of my family (from the Vine) were praying for us. That meant so much to me. I could do nothing, but pray. As David was praying for us over the phone, I was called to the Nursery. Ella was stable and wanted to meet her father. 5:20-Scared out of my mind, I walked into the nursery with my mother and Erin, and went through the cleaning ritual. After 3 minutes of scrubbing my hands, I walked over to where they were keeping Ella. She was more beautiful than I could have imagined. I was expecting a tiny underdeveloped baby that would fit into the palm of my hand. She was 3 lbs 3 oz and 15.25 in long. She also had a full head of hair. I met the Neo-Natal Specialist and the doctor that was going to be there for weekend. The doctors talked me through the all the wires and tubes she was hooked up to. They were very hopeful and honest. There were 4 main concerns:
I didn’t see Candice until 7 p.m. We walked into the room just as the nurses were putting her in bed. She was a little groggy, but she looked great. All we could do now was wait. Original Post Date: 7/19/2008
In the car, she began to have very strong contractions. **UPDATED** All of a sudden I remembered I had Candice’s insurance card out talking to the insurance company before we left. I asked her if she had her phone and insurance card. Nope. We had forgotten the card on the table. So. . . I quickly called Vivian (Kent’s mom) and she and Carole (Jerry’s sister) quickly left for the hospital. We arrived at the hospital at about 2:40 and was immediately taken to the Family Care wing of the Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach. The Family Care unit was becoming very busy. We had to wait a few minutes for a room, of course to Candice this felt like hours. Carole and Vivian arrived shortly after we did. She changed into her hospital gown as soon as we were in the room. It was then that we knew something was wrong. She was bleeding. Doctors arrived very shortly after the blood was found and they did an ultrasound to see the position of the baby and found it was breech. On closer inspection, they could see her left foot was down farther than her hips: Footling breech. The doctor wanted a better diagnosis so a physical inspection was done. She was fully dilated (10 cm) and the foot had broken through the placenta and had passed through the cervix. She was in labor. Her contractions were very powerful by this time, however the doctors said “Don’t you dare push! You need an emergency C-section!” I didn’t believe what I was hearing. It was as if I had to replay that last statement over in my head to make sure I had heard her right. She was rushed directly into the OR (operation room). On the way, I was being asked about her allergies to any medicines or antibiotics and another doctor was asking Candice about consenting to the surgery. It was less than 10 minutes from the moment we arrived at the hospital to the time they rushed her into the OR. I was told to wait right outside the OR. And then I was alone. The reality of my situation hit me so hard I had to sit down to keep from passing out. My head was spinning so fast I was getting nauseated. What had just happened to me, to Candice? All I could do was pray and breathe. I prayed until a nurse came by and sat down next to me with lots of papers in her hand for me to sign (the image above). Candice hadn’t even been checked in. The doctors who were operation on Candice didn’t even know her name. So as I signed, my phone began to ring and I tried to explain the situation. About 5 minutes after the surgery began, the doors opened and out came 3 nurses with my daughter in an incubator as they took her to the NICU (Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit). All I could see was a black head of hair and a foot. I thought to myself, “this isn’t happening.” Original Post Date: 7/19/2008
Well this is what we had planned to do that yesterday. Sit on the beach, get some sun, play in the ocean, and just enjoy the day at the beach. It didn’t go as planned. . . On Wednesday afternoon we packed up and headed for Cairo. We were planning to spend a few days in Daytona Beach relaxing before we had to go back to school several weeks later. We had mentioned that this would be our last vacation for a while. Little did we know. . . Candice had been complaining of back pain and some crampy feelings, but the doctor told us that this was perfectly normal for her stage of pregnancy. We felt safe to travel so we left with no reservations. Than night Candice had a lot of difficulty sleeping. Her back had gotten worse. We attributed it to the long day’s travel and thought nothing more about it. She had been wanting a particular body pillow made just for pregnant women, so we stopped and got one. The trip to Daytona Beach, FL isn’t terribly long. We drove down in about 5 hours. She was extremely uncomfortable most of the time. Here again we didn’t really think much about it because most of her symptoms could easily be explained by being 30 weeks along in her pregnancy. That night she slept the entire night. (the pillow worked) I got up early, and Candice was enjoying sleeping. About 8:30 we walked down stairs and got breakfast. Candice was complaining about feeling crampy again. Afterwards we got ready and went to the beach. We got to the beach about 12:15 and began to set up our towels and the umbrella. As we were eating our sandwiches she felt that the pain was becoming more steady and wanted to call the doctor. I talked with her nurse and she told us to count the number of times that the pain came in an hour. If it was more than 5 or 6 then that was too many. She also said that being dehydrated could cause some contractions. We wouldn’t have called them contractions because the pain was more constant that repetitive. (I think we just couldn’t believe she was in labor, it was just way too early) We took her up to the room and gave her some water and let her sit in some warm bath water to help her relax. After a while, the contractions (by now they definitely felt like contractions) were becoming stronger and she was getting worried that something was really wrong. So we left for the hospital at 2:40. |