Thursday Pictures

After I posted the MRI results I went back to the PICU and found the nurse had changed Zoey's sheets and blankets and cleaned Zoey up. She looked so much better than when I had left. Zoey didn't even have the tube they had put up her nose! She was an excellent nurse and I felt really good about leaving Zoey for the night. Zoey will be sedated all night, so there really wasn't a point of anyone staying up there with her. One more thing I forgot to mention in the last post, they put Zoey on a medication now that will make the duct in her heart stay open. Yes, this is the same duct we were waiting to close, but now that we know that she needs surgery it would actually cause problems if it does close.





This is a picture of Zoey's bed and all the machines and medicines she is hooked up to. Although this may look bad, most babies with HLHS are hooked up to more-so it could be worse. However, she will have many more after her surgeries.

MRI Results

Zoey had her MRI today. They sedated her and then gave her medicine that paralyzed her. After she was paralyzed they put in a breathing tube down her throat, and another tube in her nose that helps keep air out of her stomach so she doesn't get acid reflex. Her MRI showed that she does have a narrowing in her aorta. The narrowing is enough to be concerned about, so she will need reconstructive surgery. She will have surgery on Tuesday. During this surgery they will take out the portion of her aorta that is narrow and they will also put a band on her pulmonary artory to restrict the blood flow and pressure to her lungs. They will have to stop her heart and put her on a bypass machine for part of the surgery. Because of the new tubes we won't be able to hold her anymore until a few days after surgery. She is such a brave little girl! I am at the hospital right now and cannot download any pictures right now, but I will post them later.

Meeting Results

Our meeting went well with the doctor today. He said that they decided that it was too early to tell if Zoey will need surgery or not because her duct in her heart has not closed yet. They did another echo today and nothing had changed from yesturday. She will need an MRI tomorrow to determine if she will need sugery before she goes home or not. They did tell us we could start to hold her today! It was so good to be able to hold her! They said we could continue to hold her until she needs surgery...whenever that will be! We were so happy to hold her! It is so nice to hold her and give her lots of loves!

Mommy holding Zoey!


Daddy holding Zoey!


Even Uncle Clint got to hold Zoey!

Our Adorable Zoey

Here is an adorable picture of Zoey! She is playing with her Daddy when this picture is taken. She has been so much fun today. She likes to stick out her tongue and blow bubbles. We can't hold her, but we can touch her. She loves being touched and we love rubbing her soft skin. She is a very good baby, and cries very little. She doesn't even seem to mind all the medical attention and prodding they do to her. She hasn't needed to be on any medications yet. She isn't even on oxygen! All of her levels have been very good! Her oxygen levels have been especially good. They told us that her oxygen levels are as good as a healthy baby's levels. We got the results of the echo back today, but it didn't give them good enough pictures so she had another echo today. They will take the echo from yesterday and today into a meeting with all her doctors and surgeons tomorrow morning to discuss what surgeries she will need and what time frame she will need the surgeries. She may need an MRI before they know for sure, but they will discuss that in their meeting tomorrow as well. We have a meeting tomorrow with a doctor at 11:00 AM for him to explain their decisions. She is getting such great care! We are so grateful for everyone's love ans support. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
On a side note, I am going to be discharged tomorrow from the hospital.

Zoey's Doing Great!

Just wanted to do an update on Zoey. She is doing great! After they got her stable both Adam and I were able to hold her for a few minutes before they transferred her to Primary Childrens. It was the lifeflight team that trasferred her. She is currently in the PICU at Primary Childrens. All of her levels are great. They did another echo on her heart. We haven't gotten the results back yet, but we will tomorrow morning. I haven't uploaded any pictures to the computer yet, but I will tomorrow. I just wanted to do a quick update because I didn't know when I would get another chance.

SHE IS HERE!!!!!!

Zoey Ann Spencer
7 lbs 5 oz, 21" long
The nurse took these pictures of her for us. We haven't been able to see here other than the 10 seconds while they passed here through the window into the NICU. She was screeming, she is really cute. We can't wait to see her. Adam should be able to go over to the NICU within the next little while. Once she is stable they will bring her to my room for a minute and then take her to Primary Childrens. We love you Zoey! Welcome to our family!

There is no turning back...

Today at 4am the nurse came and moved us back to room 10. By the time they got Rachel all hooked up and started on pitocin, it was about 5:30. Things look like they are finally going to happen. About 7:45 Dr. Bryne came in and broke Rachel's water. :) Now there is no way they can stop thing and make us wait for another week, not that they would but it gets rid of that worry, lol. Rachel is HAPPY to have an epidural again. I read this to Rachel before I posted it and she told me to take out the ":)" she said it makes me look insensitive, so I just wanted to clarify "I am not insensitive just excited for Zoey!!!"

The New Plan

Last night I started to have very hard and frequent contractions starting at 3 AM. They still wouldn't give me any medication so I just had to endure them. The contractions went on for hours. At 8 AM I got a new nurse that found what I had been receiving as treatment "cruel and unusual." She was a great nurse. She went and told the doctors that I really needed some sort of paid meds. She did get permision to give me some morfine and some sort of sleep medication. I was able to take a pretty good nap. That was really good cause I was getting so tired and so was Adam.

They plan on giving me pitocin again tonight starting at 5 AM. The hope is she will be born tomorrow afternoon when all of the teams of people are here to help her! I am hoping they will give me the epidural at 5 AM or sooner as well :) I have had enough contractions without medication :) I know I have said this in almost every post, but I really am hoping I will have pictures of her to post tomorrow!!!!!

Back at it!!!

Friday after noon Rachel was having contractions every 6 minutes and they were lasting 1.5 to 2 minutes, so we came back in. When we got to the hospital the contractions stopped. After we make it to Labor and Delivery, Rachel was checked for progress. We had spent 26 hours the day before and had only made it to a 1, 50% so we did not expect they would find a change. To tell the truth Rachel and I felt silly being there since the contractions had stopped. They did their exam and said Rachel was a 3, 90% so they had us spend the night here. They want Zoey to be born in the day time so there are more helping hands available to help Zoey after she is born, so they told us they would not do anything to stop the labor but they would not do anything to help it either. They said they would check Rachel in the morning and see if progress had been made, if progress was being made they would then give Rachel an epidural and help labor progress. It is now morning and we were up past 3:00 am with Rachel having intense contractions, so we were hoping that all of our work had made some progress. They did their exam and said 3, 90%. Now the plan is to keep us here until she is born but that might be Monday or later. If Rachel starts making progress they will still give her an epidural and help things along, as long as it is morning and there is time to have the baby today.

Coming Home

Well, after being here 24 hours I only dilated to a 2. Our little Zoey just isn't ready to come yet, so we will be leaving the hospital soon and coming home. We will come back Monday at 6:00 PM. We are just waiting for the epidural to wear off some more before we leave.

Slow

Well, things are moving slower than we had hoped. Actually, it is going so slow that they are talking about sending us home. :( Last time they checked me was at noon and I was still only at a 2. They are giving us until 4:00 pm, and if I am not dialated to a 4 we will be sent home and have to come back next week. Contractions have seemed to pick up so hopefully we will be having a baby tonight or tomorrow.

Update

We started pitocin at 4 AM this morning and I got my epidural at around 9. I am on a high dose of pitocin, but things are just progressing really slow. They think we will still have a baby today, but not until evening.

Ready or Not....Here I Come!

So, it has been a really long time since I have posted. I am sorry. I will do better! :) Here is the last picture of me that we took. (I promised you I would post it Katie!) I am actually posting this from the hospital. Since my last update in March, a lot has changed. (I know, what a shocker....it has only been 4 months!)

The big update: Zoey has been diagnosed with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and Double Outlet Right Ventricle. The Double Outlet Right Ventricle has been a huge blessing so far. This additional heart defect has made it so that her aorta is connected to her heart on her right side of her heart instead of on her left side (the aorta is connected to the left side in a normal heart). The great thing about this is that the first surgery, the Norwood, is no longer needed. We actually have to wait until she is born to know for sure if she doesn't need the Norwood, but the Norwood is not in the plan as of now. In place of the Norwood, she will need a different surgery. This other surgery will put a band on her pulmonary artery, restricting the amount of blood that will go to her lungs. We are not sure when she will need this surgery. The other two surgeries, the Glenn and the Fontan, are still the same.

Right now, they have given me some medicine to thin my cervix. It is just a waiting game right now, but the hope is that I will be ready for pitocin by the morning. We are sure hoping we have a baby tomorrow afternoon to post pictures of!!! We are so excited!!!!

Also, we don't have any cell phone service here at the hospital. If you would like to contact us, you can leave a comment or email me at rachj909@yahoo.com. We have also created a twitter account if you would like updates sent to you via text. Go to www.twitter.com/babyzoey411 to follow us!