Life in the NICU and the Ronald McDonald "Hotel"

     Well, currently Zoe is still in the hospital. We were supposed to have shunt surgery #3 today, but the infectious disease doctors did not clear her over the weekend. Her glucose numbers in her spinal fluid are low, which would mean that something is feeding on it. However, there is no bacteria growing in her cultures that have been drawn every 3 days. Her full MRI last Thursday showed some inflammation in her ventricles which would indicate infection. This is all a mystery that needs to be solved before they can put in a new shunt and we can go home. Yes, it is frustrating and my emotions are all over the place. It is a weird existence right now and we are trying to stay grounded in faith and family. Emma wants to see her baby sister...but can't. I think that is the most frustrating thing. She has had a good time at Grandma's and playing with Ella on weekends, which is a huge blessing and we are grateful. I just want both of my girls home and to begin some sense of normal (whatever that is anymore). It looks like another week in the hospital for us....at least.

       I was supposed to go back to school today. That' a whole other set of emotions and feelings. I love being a teacher and it is what I called to do. My friends and colleagues at Nashport have been AMAZING! They are such a giving and loving group of people. I don't know what we would have done without the money, food, and gas cards they have provided, in addition to the same things given by our church family and relatives. I miss school, but my mind cannot even go there right now...it overwhelms me. My once abundant sick days from 17 years of teaching are dwindling and decisions have to be made. I know the Lord will give me wisdom and strength to do what I need to do. Right now, my Zoe is the priority during the day and my Emma at night (Troy too..haha). Zoe is thriving in the hospital. She is smiling and totally chunking out (she is over 12lbs and doesn't miss a meal!). She is getting physical therapy and is a joy to the nursing staff who fight over her everyday. Last week, I brought in tons of outfits and the nurses have been dressing her like a little babydoll and it makes everything a little easier. Here is a picture of her now before I go back about 7 weeks and tell you about the NICU

 Here is a pic of Emma and cousin Ella this weekend having a snack...she is having a good time

     To go back about 7 weeks, after Zoe's shunt surgery we settled into life in the NICU for the next 8 days. The nurses and doctors were amazing. Zoe got tons of love and attention and we were thankful that Emma got to see her baby sister those first few days before the visitor restriction started. She loved going to the Sibling Clubhouse at the hospital and playing Candyland with us when she wasn't kissing her baby sister. Zoe made progress and the shunt was working and reducing her head size considerably. It is a weird site to see all the bones of your newborn's skull and accepting the fact that it not going to "normal"  for a while. Her bones will progessively fuse and take shape and she will "grow into" her head. It was a huge reality check when I held her for the first time. The weight of her head overwhelmed me and caused fear, but I knew in time the shunt would do it's work and we would adjust to it and learn how to handle her.

      We also stayed that weekend at the Ronald McDonald Hotel...as Emma called it. She LOVED this place....and so did we. We are so thankful for this place. It allowed us to be with Emma and still be there for Zoe. It has everything that home has (and more) Troy loved it because we stayed on the 3rd the first time and the 2nd floor the second time and each floor is completely BUCKEYES! The 3rd floor is football and mostly funded by Jim Tressel (it's hard to have ill will towards him when you see all that he and his family have done) and the 2nd floor is basketball and mostly Thad Matta. VERY COOL! Emma loves Brutus too, so she was also in heaven. I have so much more I could say about this place. It was a little piece of heaven during this time and we will always be thankful.

     We got to go home for the first time on January 18th and we were a bit nervous but excited at the same time. Below are some pictures of our time in the NICU and Ronald McDonald. We also took some time out to take Emma to see Beauty and the Beast in 3D...we met up with Troy's sister Tiff, our bro-in-law Denny, and niece Ella.

Zoe's Shunt Surgery #1

    We are hopefully approaching Zoe's last week in the hospital. We have been told that her shunt will be internalized again Thursday or Friday and then a few days after that, be home again. I am praying with all of my heart, mind, and soul that we will not have to come back and stay here for a very long time! Even though Zoe's stay at Children's has been made easier by the wonderful nurses and PCAs, it has been a long 3 weeks, and to be honest, I am craving some sort of normalcy at home with BOTH of my girls. I was supposed to go back to work next week, but that will not happen. So, we are still in a holding pattern until the next surgery and that's where the story of Zoe's journey picks up......

Thursday, January 12th was a crazy and blessed day. After pretty exhausting night, physically and emotionally, we settled down to try to get as much sleep as we could in a hospital setting. We were told Wednesday night that we could expect a phone call around 6am to let us know when Zoe would be taken for shunt surgery. OSU would release me to leave on a day pass and we needed to know a general time from Children's in order to time out everything well for me to leave...this included pain medication for me while I was gone. The nurses could not give me anything to take with me, so my only pain meds would be administered as I was leaving the hospital. On a side note, I have been very blessed with good recoveries from both of my csections. In fact, my friend Dee told me I was her "C Section Hero" after I had Emma because I only used a few doses of Tylenol 3 when I came home from the hospital. I'm not implying that friend Dee is a wimp or likes prescription drugs (ha ha), but the more I talk to people who have had C Sections, the more I realize that God gave me grace with them, especially with Zoe's.  Anyway, 6:00 am came and went with no phone call, so Troy and I began to pray and after a half an hour I started calling Children's hospital to see if anyone knew anything and of course the answer was "No". Around 7:30 am I finally got a call from the Neurology nurse that they were taking Zoe at that very moment for pre-op......WHAT? To say that we were a bit frustrated was an understatement, but we know that this is the way it goes in a hospital. My nurse at OSU literally put the pills in my mouth and put in the wheelchair and Troy ran to the parking garage to get the car for me. I don't want to scare anyone, but the prospect of not seeing Zoe before her surgery was enough to turn my mild mannered, careful driving husband into the newest addition to the Nascar Circuit! We made it to Children's in record time and in one piece....thank the Lord!
Our Pastor, Michael Bullock, was already there and in my opinion, stalled the process of them taking her to surgery until we got there. I had felt bad all morning that Pastor had gotten to the hospital so early and had to wait, but I now can look back and say that God had already known that this all was going to happen, and made the provision of our Pastor for Zoe. He talked to her, prayed over her, and loved on her until we got there and for that, we will be eternally grateful. We love and respect him so much and we were so grateful for his support that day and many days since!
    We got to pray over her and kiss her a lot before they took her off to surgery and then came the waiting. Our family member came up to wait with us, support us, and pray with us. I was physically feeling pretty good considering I had major surgery less than 48 hours before.....emotionally, I had to yield to God and relinquish control. A little over an hour later, Dr. Grondin came out and told us that everything went well and that he only had to put in one shunt (not three) and believed that the brain tissue was compressed...not missing! We began rejoicing and praising God! The first step in Zoe's journey was over and now she needed to recover. We tried not to think of the next steps, even though it was hard.  Zoe finally got settled and comfy in the NICU with lots of good nurses taking care of her. We went up and spent a little time with her and Emma loved getting to see her sister again. She gave her lots of kisses. I was starting to feel the hurt some and was extremely exhausted so we knew it was time to go back to the hospital. We decided to have Emma stay with us at OSU. I think she was missing us and I was missing her. I am so thankful for the nice hospital room that we had during our stay. When we got back, the nurses informed us that I was only supposed to be gone 4 hours and I had been gone 8....oops! No one had told us that piece of information. No one got into trouble and we all had a good laugh and thanked God for the grace He gave me physically to get through this day. Emma, Daddy, and I slept very well that night. I was getting released the next day and then we were going to the Ronald McDonald house for the weekend. Below is the link to a song that touched my heart during my hospital stay and my time at Children's holding my daughter and loving on her....asking God to bless her, heal her, and give me what I needed now and when I took her home. I have sung it to her a lot since her birth.
The words are so beautiful and I hope it blesses you
My Beloved by Kari Jobe

Here are some pics of the waiting room and Zoe in her head wrap