The Higgins Family: Embry Suzanne Has Arrived

Hello!

This is going to be a quick update; I know we have a lot of people out there concerned about Embry's health and current status. I can't help but share a few photos, but will do more of that fun stuff later. Just want to give an update on what's new around here...

The Birth

Embry arrived at 1:49 pm on Monday October 1, 2012. She weighed in at a hefty, I mean healthy (hehe), 9 pounds 12 ounces and was 21 inches long.

It was quite the whirlwind. All of our parents and all of my siblings were here for her big debut. We have some great camera footage and awesome photos of everyone seeing her for the first time, which I can't wait to share soon.

The C-Section went well. I was given a spinal in the OR, Jacob was let in, and a few minutes later our baby girl was born! It actually took them three tries to get her out of me and they had to use forceps! Big girl! She was immediately taken by the team of NICU doctors in the OR and Jacob got to go be near her then. Because she was stable at birth, they didn't immediately rush her upstairs and they spent some more time in the OR where they weighed her, etc. She was brought over to me for a few quick kisses and pictures and then Jacob followed Embry and the team of docs upstairs to NICU. On their way up they were able to stop by the family where they all got to see her.

I had to go to recovery for about 90 minutes where I was a little out of it. I had lost blood during the surgery and they had to give me two different doses of something to stop the bleeding. I also got quite nauseous and ended up vomiting while they were closing me up and the anesthesiologist gave me anti-nausea meds that he warned would make me incredibly tired. By the time I was done with recovery and ready to head up to my room everyone had already been in NICU seeing Embry. On the way to my room, they wheeled my bed into NICU where they let me hold her for about 10 minutes. That night, Jacob got to be with her a lot, which was awesome. He got to feed her and watch her first bath! Definitely a jealous mama here, but so glad he got to be there!

Embry's Status

We've been waiting until we hear back from the Pediatric Neurosurgeon to post on the blog. This evening we finally heard from his group and still don't know too much. The good thing is that they have looked at her ultrasound from Monday and they are not insisting she be transferred to Children's Hospital now.

They are going to wait until the day I am released from the hospital (assuming Friday or Saturday) to make one of two decisions:

1) They will transfer her to Children's Hospital for a shunt to be placed upon my release; or

2) She will become an outpatient (meaning...we don't know... follow up appointments with neurosurgeon, shunt at a later time, just not sure).

They will make their decision based on one more ultrasound of her head and daily head circumference measurements (whether it's growing).

One good thing is we just had the NICU nurse look up her head circumference. It was 39.5 cm at birth. We measured it ourselves and it's now 38 cm (they told Jacob that it may be enlarged a bit right after birth because they had to use forceps).

So far she's done great in NICU. She's been off IV fluids since Tuesday morning and they even removed her IV today. Meaning, she's there being watched closely by nurses, but is on no machines, etc. Jacob even asked the NICU doctors and they said that if she continues feeding well throughout tonight, she may be able to be moved to our room! Yay!

Cori's Status

I am recovering well from the C-Section. Yesterday was incredibly painful as many people had warned me. I even may have said a few times that Embry is going to be an only child! Today I am a new woman! It's still very painful to get up and down, out of chairs and beds, but I feel so much better.

As for the blood clot, I was taken off of Heparin at 6:00 am Monday morning and put back on it Tuesday morning at 2:00 am (12 hours after the C-Section). Today I was moved from the Heparin drip to Lovenox shots (basically blood thinners but in shot form versus IV). This means that for the first time since Monday, September 24, I have been off of an IV. For the past 9 days I've had to drag an IV pole around with me to the bathroom, to NICU, across the room, etc. It also means that I was not ever allowed to put on anything besides a hospital gown, not even a bra! So you can imagine the joy I had today!

I will be on Lovenox injections twice a day for the next three months. I had my first one this evening and it wasn't so bad. I think tomorrow they are having someone come teach me and Jacob how to do them. Yikes! Jacob is really good about all things medical, so I know he'll be great at giving the shots. Just worried about when I'll have to do them myself.

Besides the blood clot issues and upkeep, I am hoping to be released from the hospital Friday or Saturday. I think I mentioned before that they had to do a vertical incision below my belly button instead of the nice new way they do them where the scar is hidden under the underwear line. Because of the blood clot, blood thinners, and fear of bleeding a team of doctors decided that this was safer for me. I should have my staples removed in the next few days...not sure if that will be before I leave the hospital or early next week.

A Few Photos

I know in the coming weeks, months, years I will be sharing way too many photos of Embry, but for now I have time to share just a few! Jacob is out getting my first non-hospital meal in nine days (Lover's Pizza...yum!) and we have Embry's 8:30 pm feeding to get to.