Grace and Hazel

Hi again…quick update.

Thank you for all of your well wishes. They apparently worked as we are now comfortable and stable. As I have told some of you, we could NOT be getting better care. Our nurses are phenomenal and we are getting the best CPMC has to offer despite the strike. I can only assume this is the best they have to offer because if there was any better no one would ever leave this place.

Our perinatal specialist is among the best in the country (so I will assume the world) and he has spent time with us to make sure we understand what is going on.

So what is going on?

Jenn has mild pre-eclampsia. That is a condition that will remain with us throughout the pregnancy. If it remains mild, we will make it to our goal (36+ weeks). If it deteriorates, they will try to treat the symptoms and if that doesn’t work quickly, their hand will be pushed to deliver.

Our nearest goal is to get Grace 48 hours into the steriod shots so that if things happen quickly she will be better prepared to breathe. The next goal will be a week by week thing until the magic 36 when they really don’t mind delivering and she will be 95% likely to go home with us normally.

We are here at the CPMC until Wednesday being monitored. They will reassess then and see if it is to be home bedrest or hospital. Though this place is nice, I think home is nicer.

Some of you have asked about visits and we are comfortable and healthy so visits are welcome, but please call me and let me know so there is no rush and I can let you know if it is still ok.

Love to you all. Keep up the good thoughts.

Brad and Jenn

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Jenn and I spent the night in the hospital last night (3/20) after a panicked early evening after finding some blood when you don’t really want to see it. Needless to say, we were freaking out but calmed down once we got to the hospital and heard Grace’s strong heartbeat. She is apparently perfectly healthy, though she is probably wondering what the commotion is all about.

For those of you who don’t know, Jenn has been having some high blood pressure issues and we have been doing some tests to see what it is so that it can be controlled. Apparently we would have learned in about 24 hours, based on the test results that going to the hospital was the nextstep. Last night only accelerated that and caused some serious freakout in the process.

We are now comfortable and stable and the ultrasounds and other indications are actually great. Right now are waiting to see what the issue is. It could be Pre-elampsia or Pregnancy Induced Hypertension coupled with some other things like pre-term labor, I’ll let wikipedia explain those things. The important thing is that at 29 weeks, Grace is perfectly capable of entering the world healthy but small…but obviously that is not ideal. She is currently about 3 lbs and Jenn had a steroid shot to make sure her lungs are good to breathe, in case she makes an early entrance…something we are still intent on avoiding.

If you need to reach us, we are at CMPC hospital [redacted]. We will be here somewhere between 3 days and 2 months depending on the causes and treatments. We don’t need anything, its actually pretty comfortable…we have Scrabble, ipods, internet access and deck of cards so its just like home. One big timing problem is the nurse’s strike for the next 10 days. We are apparently perfectly well staffed with qualified care but it’s not the regular nursing that CPMC is famous for.

That’s it for now. I will try to update as we learn more.

Lots of love and good thoughts,

Brad and Jenn

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