Lukey comes home!

A weekend of fun in the NICU. We spent the weekend changing diapers and doing feedings. Now that Luke is on his own schedule for feeding, Lulu slept over the whole weekend at the NICU in order to breastfeed Luke. He’s doing great with the feedings. He got his feeding tube removed and only has the heart monitor attached to him, the only thing that needs to stay attached until he leaves.

After 48 hours of ab lib feeding (meaning on demand) Luke was discharged today and is now at home. Dad dressed him up in a Cubs outfit and Carlita kept looking over Luke while driving home. Today the new Kaliher clan came together for the first time. Carlita is in love with Luke and parents are excited for this new adventure. We are very blessed that Luke got better so fast. 20 days in the NICU is a short time compared to some of the other babies. We are indeed blessed. Thank you to everyone who prayed for Luke and kept us in your thoughts. Now the fun is about to begin in Lukaland!

Friday, Aug. 22: On the home stretch

Big news. Luke drank all his milk by bottle over the night. Once he hit 4 bottles, they decided to let him ab lib, which means to let him wake up on him own and get feed. No more every 3 hours. It’s all up to him to wake up and tell us “I’m hungry”. Very exciting. Once he does this for 48 hours and doesn’t lose weight, he can get discharged. That means maybe Sunday evening but I think Monday will really be the day. So we worked on breastfeeding for half hour, which he tried his best but didn’t understand how to get more milk out and then got feed by bottle. We tried again later in the afternoon and he did much better latching on the left breast and feed for twenty minutes. I decided to sleep over at the NICU in order to get into the rhythm of breastfeeding all the time. Hopefully this all works out and Luke will be coming home either Sunday or Monday.


On Wednesday, Karl’s work, Delaware Guidance Services threw us a baby shower. It was planned a month ago because they thought my C-section would be next week. Luke had other things in mind. The baby shower was held in Wilmington and there was tons of good food, presents, and great company. It was just so nice that they did this.


In other news, Luke got his hearing screen and passed. He also got fitted into his car seat by the occupational therapist since he’s a preemie. We took cute shots of him in that seat. He’s so tiny in it. Next Luke is on the list to get circumcised. Karl is already feeling the pain for him. I hope this goes well but they haven’t come yet to take him away to do it. So we’re getting to those final steps to getting out of the NICU and getting home. Now its up to him with his feedings when we get home. Come on Luke – you can do it!

Thursday, Aug. 21: The full body experience ~written by Lulu for all those who don’t know what the body handles

There’s a lot of books out there regarding pregnancy and what goes on with a woman’s body. However, there is hardly anything written regarding post-pregnancy. Sure, there’s jokes about the pregnancy brain (aka scrambled eggs) and how exhausting it is to have a baby (i.e. no sleep). But there’s hardly anything out there that tells you EVERYthing from head to toe what’s going on with a woman’s body. So here it is for all of you who ever thought “what is it like to have a post-baby body?”.
WARNING: The following does include crude, and explicit details of the woman body that might disturb most from ever having a baby. You have been warned!

1) The head and feelings
a. Some women get thicker hair during the pregnancy. Some even have their hair fall out. As for me, my hair was pretty much the same. Semi-thick and luscious!
b. As for what’s happening inside the head, that’s another story. Forgetedfulness, irritability, moodiness. All types of emotions (good and bad) come out throughout the pregnancy, but especially afterwards. Extra sensitivity to being touched, irritable with everyone around you. That is what happened to me. Karl gets most of it. There’s many reasons why this happens: no sleep, tired of everything around you, all new things happening and you have no control over it, body chemicals affect your mood, etc. I love company and talking to a lot of people, but by the end of the first week, I was so tired of repeating everything three hundred times that I just wanted to be quiet. Can you believe that? Me Lulu wanting to be quiet and not be bothered. All these feelings do subside, though they stay there for some time.
2) Arms/fingers
a. I had and still have at times gotten “pins and needles” feelings in my arms and legs. This occurs mostly while sleeping when I’m laying down in bed, but also when I’m holding something for some period of time (like a cell phone). This is slowly going away, but still exists.
3) Chest/breasts
a. Oooo the breasties. The boobs. The Lu-lus. Okay, before giving birth they increase like triple in size in preparation for the golden liquid (aka milk). After birth and a few days later, the milk arrives. How do I explain this? Hmmm…. It’s like filling up a balloon with water. Attach it to your chest and there you go. The breasts add 5-7 pounds to your weight (so you lost roughly 20 pounds after the birth, but added on 7 pounds for the food supply). If you are breastfeeding, you ideally start right away feeding your baby. I was unable to do this, since Luke is in the NICU, so I started pumping. After 3 days, your true milk supply comes in. Now here comes the fun times. If you don’t empty out those girls, they get very painful, sometimes sending a sharp pain to your upper back. You get clogged ducts, which may lead to infection if they are not flushed out. I had this for a while. You have to just work it out with your friend, the pump, and rub that duct out and try to get that milk flowing out of the areoli (newsflash to everyone: milk does not come out of the nibble but the areoli). As for me, I rented a hospital grade pump to have at home because my Medela pump wasn’t doing it enough for me. I sleep with a bra on (i.e. no underwires ladies) and pump every three hours. The hospital grade pump has better suction than commercial grade. So just imagine being hooked up to a milk machine, similar to ones used for cows and there you got it. The fun enjoyment of the post-birth breasts. Ooo one more thing.. they start heading south VERY quickly and don’t return north ever. So enjoy them when you can, because they won’t be the same after becoming pregnant.
4) Abs/stomach
a. The type of birth you had (i.e. vaginal or C-section) will influence how your abs/stomach turn out. No matter what for the first week you will look like you are 6 months pregnant. Your uterus starts contracting back to its normal size right away, so you have constant cramps (ladies it’s like your menstrual cycle cramps). If you are breastfeeding (or pumping), this whole process goes faster but is still painful. Every time you pump/feed, your uterus contracts, so you’re getting a double whammie from the top to the bottom. After two weeks, most people wouldn’t know that you gave birth unless they saw you naked, but you do see yourself nake. You see the flab hanging there. You see the scar from the operation (if you had a C-section). You feel the stretches from anything you had happen and you want to scratch them (but you can’t because they are located too low on your body).

(Are you OK so far? If you are getting a little queasy, you might want to skip the next two parts—to number 6, because it’s about to get very explicit).

5) Genital/butt
a. Inside your body, your intestines are trying to work so you can go to the bathroom. This is a crude joke nature put on us women. You have to wear a pad for several weeks, first for the bleeding and next for the pee that escapes. No matter if you had a C-section or a vaginal birth, going to the bathroom is the worst experience. Take stool softener to help you get it on. Not the sexiest thing to know about, but it will help out greatly when you are trying to do number 2. Pissing is hard too, sometimes getting sprayed all over your legs or dripped because your vagina is recovering still. Timeline on this: unknown. After two and a half weeks, I still use stool softener and have to piss every hour. I wear a pad for those loose drips and left over residue. O the fun of being diapered up just likes a baby.
6) Leggs/feet
a. pins and needles still exist. You reserve some water during the pregnancy and afterwards, so you blow up and look like a tree stump. Only solution is to put your feet up and drink plenty of water. But that’s’ the catch -22. You ‘ll have to go to the bathroom more often and if you read my above comments, you know that’s not fun. So you’re daned if you do and damned if you don’t. Luckily this is the one area that does get fast relief and is the least of your worries.

I think I have covered the entire experience of the post-pregnancy body. Really why do we go through this over and over – because no one tells us and our brain plays a funny trick called forgetness. But it is worth it all when you have that baby in your arms and you watch them grow into little and big people. Besides, it makes for a great story for any party you throw your kid just to embarrass them.

Wednesday, Aug. 20: Luke breaks the silence (written by luke)

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven’t written but I’ve been a bit busy these past two weeks. See, my buddy, the placenta, didn’t like being my roommate. I guess he had issues with the use of space. Look, I tried to compromise with him, but I needed more room. I’m a big guy. So placenta decided to move out, which caused a big disruption in our space. Before I knew it, I had to do a room change and was moved into a very strange place with lights, sounds, and air. It was definitely strange. As a result, I retreated into myself for the past two weeks. Finally I decided it was time for me to come out of my hiding hole and join the world. Surprisingly, I really liked it. There’s these two people always at my bedside, and a little girl who told me that I was her sweetheart. That really woke me up from my miserable funk with Placenta. Actually there’s a lot of people always taking care of me, checking in and making sure I’m okay. Sometimes they get me mad when they stick me in the heel, but most of the time they leave me alone to sleep and dream the days away. I have realized that I get hungry and one of these people, I think she’s the one they call Mom, provides a nice supply of milk every day. I‘ve overheard that they’ll have to open a new milk bank the way she is going. I’ve been shy in drinking this stuff. Look, I’m really depressed about placenta leaving me and haven’t been myself in a LONG time. But my stomach does like milk, so I’ve been nibbling here and there and getting used to the white stuff. Mom, as they call her, seems to really want me to get going on this. She wears me out trying to get me to drink the stuff and from the strangest place, a breast. All I’ve ever known has been my hands, so this has been a really strange adventure. Then there’s the other person, Dad. He’s cool. He reads to me and cuddles me. I really like how warm he is. Reminds me of my old space. Ooooo… I’m retreating back to where I was…. Stay in the present, Luke. Okay, I’m fine now. Well, this really tried me out writing so much for the first time. I promise everyone I’ll do better with this milk drinking and get out of this place they call the NICU so everyone can check me out. I haven’t seen myself, but I’ve heard that I’m pretty cute. Well, I gotta show myself off to the world. Catch ya later!

Monday, Aug. 18: Gaining weight

Luke Highlights: belly button stub fell off, spent two hours awake looking around and being cute, got a bath from Mom, and gained two ounces. Mom’s highlight: got to drive again after two weeks being chauffeured around, pumped an unbelievable amount of milk, gave a bath to Luke, and thought of Luke’s D-day (discharge day). Today was a very nice day. Over the night, Luke lost his belly button stub. Luke is nibbling more on the breast and was wide-awake for two hours. He wanted to be cuddled and looked all over the place. He has big blue eyes, similar to Carlita when she was born. This morning Carlita came along and was so sweet with Luke. She said “Ooooo he’s my sweetheart”. She kept kissing him and wanting to hold him. She’s doing so great with Luke and the NICU visits. After the morning, Karl took Carlita to a playground and to the pool and I drove to the hospital all by myself. It was weird to drive after two weeks off. I spent the afternoon holding Luke and trying to help him breastfeed. We got a nice surprise visit from Jen and Sean Eddy and Sean’s sister Alice (Jen was one of my RAs at JMU). They visited Luke, and we all went out for dinner and ice cream. After they left, I returned to the hospital and got a chance to give Luke a bath. Before getting the bath, he gave me a great present in his diaper. Good boy! He was so cute, and didn’t fuss that much during the bath. He got weighed and has gained two ounces, which is good. The nurse explained that babies should gain one or two ounces a day hopefully. Hopefully Luke does this.


Today was two weeks since Luke was born. He is considered 36 weeks old gestational, rather than two weeks old. Karl and I have learned so much throughout this experience. I really am dealing with feelings of not being able to do anything for Luke, other than pump for milk. The nurses are great and give me things to do for him, but still we spend hours just sitting there watching Luke sleep. We’re not at home and in our own zone. We have two homes and it’s hard to balance between the two. I just want to have him home so I can take naps with him, cuddle, and not pump as much. Hopefully this will happen soon.

Sunday, Aug. 17: More of the same

After the first week of 24-hours of craziness these days are slow and boring. We get to the NICU roughly around 9-10am, we get an update of Luke’s evening (i.e. how much did he poop, eat, etc), pump milk, and wait for the care hour (happens every three hours). 9am, noon, 3pm, 6pm, and etc. We sit there in rocking chairs, reading books, and looking at Luke. We do little projects (i.e. thank you cards, research preemie information) and make phone calls/text messages.

Today Aunt Laura and Bob came to visit. We went out to eat at the Olive Garden and went for ice cream. They were so kind to take Carlita to Vince’s Sports Center so that Karl and I could have time by Luke’s bed.

I got to breastfeed Luke at noon and at 6pm (he didn’t wake up for the 3pm feeding). He really latched on one breast for 5 minutes and then passed out. Good boy! Little by little. Carlita did very well with him, wanting to hold him and giving him lots of kisses and hugs. She was a good helper getting my water and breastfeeding pillow (aka “the Bone”) and patting Luke’s head. The doctor and nurses just love Carlita and she behaved very well in such an intense environment.

It’s so different now that he is all better. There’s hardly a nurse by his side every minute and hardly any tests being conducted on him. The first week we barely could keep up with everything that was going on, but now we fall asleep in the rocking chairs just waiting for him to wake up in order to change his diaper and feed him. I really want him to catch on breastfeeding in order to get home. It’s tiring to go back and forth to the NICU (though it’s a very nice place) but would love to sleep with him at home in our space and just take care of him. I’m sure soon enough this will happen.

Saturday, Aug. 16: Brother-sister love

Another great day in the NICU. Today we brought Carlita to visit Luke. This was a more successful than her first visit last week. Luke was awake which was great for Carlita. She came in and just was in awe of Luke. The night before we had her make a special project for Luke and put it up in his nursery area. She quickly noticed it and stated that Luke liked it. Karl and Carlita read a book to Luke while I pumped.

This really worked so well for Carlita. She had packed a suitcase of her toys so when she got bored, she went to the Comfort Room and played there with Karl. Her godparents, Tara and Mike, came to take her to the UD pool after we ate lunch. This really helped us out. We spent the whole day at Luke’s side. Every three hours Luke and I tried breastfeeding (and they increased his intake on the gavage up to 50 ml), but he didn’t wake up at 3pm. He slept straight through for 6 hours after our noon feeding attempt. I must have worn him out!

Tara, Mike, and Carlita returned from their day at the pool. Everyone got to visit Luke one more time before we left. We also were able to bring in outfits for him to wear, which helps alot. Hopefully Luke starts learning how to breastfeed so he can come home.

Friday, August 15, 2008: One less wire attached

The big news today is that as a result of his new found ability to regulate his temperature on his own, Luke has been transferred into a regular crib! That’s right, a regular baby crib, which we can take him in and out of easily; no more isolette, no more “big heating machine” (official term for “radiant warmer”). The other big news was that his IV was removed, so now all he needs to work on is feeding.

He’s getting breastmilk through a tube that is in his nose and goes into his stomach. Every three hours we do “care” (check temperature, change diaper, feed). I get to try to convince him to feed off the breast. He’s into playing and just staring off into space. He got on several times but didn’t really hold on. But he did do two-three chews and that’s good. We had a friend, Jessica (our babysitter) come visit, and while the visit Luke spit up all over himself and pooped. O…. the beginning of the mystery white stuff and things coming out from both ends. He is getting cuter every minute. We asked about when he would be release and the doctor explained it depends on how he does with his feedings. So eat little man!! Learn how to catch the nibble.

After a week plus in the NICU, we have a new extended vocabulary. Here are some of the words we have learned through all of this: ventilator, oscillator, radiant warmer, isolette, pulse oximeter, heart rate and breathing monitor, intravenous lines, umbilical catheter, nasogastric tube, nasal canula, blood pressure monitor, endotracheal tube. Quiz, anyone?

Thursday, August 14, 2008: Play by Play action

He-man returned again last night! When we arrived this morning, the nurse told us that Luke pulled out his nasal cannula over the night, and that his breathing and oxygen levels have stayed high! CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES, COME ON!!! We can’t believe how much he has improved! He is now breathing fine on his own without any support ☺. That was obviously today’s big news, but Luke was put into a regular crib today (can you believe it?), the doctor increased milk consumption to 30 ml (1 full ounce, oh yeah) and Lulu also got to breastfeed again today. Luke did better at the breastfeeding—here is the play-by-play: Luke steps up to the breast, here comes the mouth, oh it missed a little bit to the left, ball one; here’s the next pitch—a bit to the right, ball two; and here he comes again, this time it looks good, right down the middle, Luke makes contact, it’s a strong hit; it could be, it might be, IT IS!!! A HOME RUN!!!! Yes, Luke was able to latch on a few times (although he was like a home run hitter, most of the time he struck out) and may have actually gotten a little bit of milk. In other news, Lulu had her first experience of the male baby anatomy—she learned that the unit has to be tucked down, so as to avoid being sprayed—she forgot this crucial step, and watched helplessly as Jr. peed all over himself and made a mess on his bed. We hope that tomorrow will continue the progress, and that he will be able to take his IV out. Can’t wait to take him home.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008 – A step in the right direction

~Written by Karl, the proud papi

Another beautiful day! Luke continued to do well on the nasal cannula again today, and they lowered his oxygen level all the way down to 21%, which is the same level we breathe at (he is now getting no additional oxygen support). The doctor said that he will be taken off the cannula tomorrow, but if he takes it out himself tonight, they will allow it (and continue monitoring him, of course). They also removed another one of his lines out of his belly button today (because of concern over infection), and gave him a new IV in his right arm. He is pooping great (I’ll bet you really wanted to know that) and able to take 9 ml of milk, so they increased his milk consumption to 20 ml, and (drum roll, please) LULU GOT TO TRY BREASTFEEDING FOR THE FIRST TIME TODAY. He apparently (according to mom) made a few feeble attempts and then promptly passed out (so satisfying to be on mommy’s breast). But I know that mommy was very happy being able to at least have the chance to breastfeed. Daddy also got to hold him after breastfeeding, and Luke continued to rest peacefully (and he also had the hiccups from the breastfeeding ☺


Lulu’s dad came to visit which was nice. Today Carlita asked to go see her little brother (rather than going to school). She seems to be getting the idea that he’s around but not at home. It feels like we have two lives right now – one at the hospital and one at home. Can’t wait to blend them together.

Tuesday, Aug. 12, 208: what a difference a week makes

Unbelievable! When we got to the hospital this morning, Luke was off the ventilator! The nurses told us that over the night, he had pulled the tube out himself! Hercules, Hercules! He-Man! What a strong little boy! They had told us that if he did this, they would try to leave it out and see how he does. Apparently, he did well all night and this morning, so they left it out ☺. They have him on 30% Oxygen on a nasal cannula, and he is doing fine. If he continues to do well (they took one gas level this morning, which was good), they will continue to lower the oxygen level until it reaches 21%.

Dr. Stuartz stopped by and told us that they would be removing one of his lines (in his belly button) and that we’ll get a chance to hold him today. What! We can hold him. No way! We got very excited about this. We spent the day sitting near him, waiting for this moment. Finally at 4pm the line was removed and he was swaddled (which he liked very much) and was put in our arms. I couldn’t believe I had him in my arms finally. I squeezed him so tight and smelled him. That’s when I started to cry. My son, my little man. I finally had him near my skin, my heart. I just couldn’t believe it. After 40 minutes, I finally gave him over to Karl, only because I had to pump (those breasts were crazy when holding him). Karl had a similar experience, got teary eyed, and was in awe with his son. We are truly in the home stretch and it is amazing. We are so grateful and thankful. Thank you to everyone that has been sending out positive thoughts and prayers.

Monday, Aug. 11, 2008: One week old

Today we came to the hospital around 10 am, after dropping off Carlita at the ELC. Carlita was a little bit cranky this morning on the ride over and when we dropped her off; she also is still a little confused about what is going on with Luke—she asked this morning, “Is Luke still in Mommy’s belly?” and of course, we had to tell her that he was out of her belly and at the hospital. And then she said, “Luke’s an angel.” So cute!


After dropping her off, we headed to the hospital and the NICU. We met a new nurse (Kathy), who told us that Luke was continuing to do well, having good gas levels despite continuing to lower the settings on the ventilator (he is now at Oxygen level of 21, which is as low as they can go; and the f (frequency) is 25, and the pressure setting is at 20). They also have cut the Morphine drip from 15 down to 5 ml, and they have taken him off the antibiotics (has been seven days, so infection has been treated);he had a chest xray this morning, which they are evaluating. Depending on what the xray shows and how he continues to respond, they hope to continue decreasing the ventilator settings today and have him escavated (aka get his tubes out) from the ventilator tomorrow. He has significantly less wires attached to him and is way more alert, opening his eyes, moving his little arms and legs (and his left arm is a little mischievous, going underneath the tube and worrying the nurse that he will try to pull it out). He did have to be put back on the tanning bed and the cool shades (phototherapy for Jaundice), but that is not unexpected or alarming, because he has not been eating much. But, the doctors have decided to start GIVING HIM BREASTMILK today!!!!!!! WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!!!
YEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAA!!!!! Mommy is very happy about this, and this should help with the Jaundice. He did well but threw it all up due to mucus in his stomach. That’s okay. Little by little.


Around 5:30pm we said bye to our little man and went and picked up our little girl. She was very sweet and we spent the evening playing with her. It’s strange to be sitting at home doing nothing and knowing Luke is in the NICU. It’s a bit odd to just sit (which I hate). I’m getting a lot done though (getting pictures and videos created about him) and of course pumping (which I’m very good at). It doesn’t feel we have a new addition to our family. It just seems like nothing. Just waiting and doing nothing. The worst thing for me. I must do – that is what keeps me going. I’m not like others who can just chill and kick back. Look, this is kicking back for me (blogging, playing with computer, etc). Hopefully our little man will be home soon and he can fill our lives up.

Saturday, Aug. 9: Balancing life with kids

During the night I woke up at 4am to pump and then at 8am. I needed to be out of the room by 9am so I showered and moved out. Luke seemed to have an okay night but his numbers were not looking good. Though they weaned him from 100% to 30% oxygen support, his numbers were going down hill. It seemed like he couldn’t get more weaned off. A new nurse was on (Karen) and a fellow (Kristie) who explained to me that his numbers got worst. They changed the “food” fluids in hopes that his numbers change (which they did). His morning x-ray did not look as clear as it did yesterday. In fact, they got worst. Talk about another transfusion was introduced and I was again in an emotional state. Karl and Carlita showed up with breakfast and ate. Karl went to see Luke while I played with Carlita (well she played by herself but I directed the fun). I needed to pump so Karl took Carlita to see Luke. They came into the room where I was pumping and Carlita stated “ Luke is an angel”. I just teared up! So cute!


We headed home for lunch and a naptime. Carlita and I went to bed but I guess she got up and Karl and her went to the pool while I slept for 2 hours. I woke up to a nasty phone call from my mother and I got up to watch some of the Olympics. Karl and Carlita returned from the pool and we heated up some dinner and headed back to the hospital. Carlita did very well, playing while I pumped and then standing by us near Luke. She really can’t see him and didn’t want to get near him due to all the machines and wires but she did as well as she can do. She did get upset leaving with Karl because Mommy (that’s me) wasn’t leaving too. Poor little girl! I’m sure this is all overwhelming, not having me at home and being able to cuddle and play together. And poor Karl who gets no time with Luke and is taking care of Carlita and me. The man is Super daddy. I don’t even know how he’s handling all this. I just cry and have little breakdowns. He’s cried and I’m sure is having his moments but we keep strong for each other and Carlita.


I spent most of the night next to Luke. I helped Kari (the nurse) do “care” and keep track of all the numbers. He got another chest x-ray done and it was getting better regarding the clearness of his lungs. His numbers were okay but just not good enough. Most likely a transfusion will happen tomorrow. I’m getting more comfortable with this because I know it’ll help him. It seems like he’s anemic and needs a boost. I hope this does this. One week is coming up soon and I just want to hold him and feed him.

Friday, Aug. 8 – An unlucky day

Today is supposed to be a good day, a lucky day with 8/8/08 but it turned out to be an unlucky day for us. Today was my release day from the hospital. Also the first day of the Olympics if you are paying attention to it. We slept very well last night. I pumped at 4am and saw Luke who seemed to be doing well. At 7am I got all checked out by my nurse and pumped again. We tried to sleep more but we received several phone calls from family and friends requesting a Luke update. We packed up and then my sister and mother came over for the last time because they are heading back home today. Actually Mother never came to see me and say good bye. She hung out in the lobby and was very rude to Karl as he helped Sandra get things into the car. Mother really was becoming distraction and needed to get out of here. I wish my sister could stay but she’s been wonderful staying the entire week. We also have been lucky to have our friend, Samanta (Luke’s godmother), be able to pick and drop off Carlita at daycare every morning and evening. Once Sandra and mother left, we got released from our room and headed home to unpack to repack. See, the NICU has family rooms that you can stay in overnight (you have to sign up for it every morning) and I signed up for tonight. We got home after going to our pharmacy to drop off my pain prescription. While unpacking, we realized that our Ipod Touch and wireless mouse was missing. I remembered having them on the window still but I know we didn’t pack them up. I called the hospital and they only found a cell phone charger. This really stressed me out. We rushed packing and went to the pharmacy to get my medicine and found out that they couldn’t fill it out because they couldn’t read the doctor’s name. If it’s not one thing, it’s another thing. We drove back to the hospital and went to my room and found nothing. Our Ipod touch and mouse was gone but not the charger. I don’t think the nurses took it because they didn’t even know what an Itouch was but obviously after we left anyone could have came in and took it. I was so upset!!! Nothing was going right.


After that drama, I went to the hospital pharmacy and realized I didn’t have my ID (it was at home so poor Karl had to drive home to get my ID). I was getting more and more upset. Then after he got back, we opened some mail and found a “photo” speeding ticket. What a day! Lastly, Samanta was 6 minute late getting Carlita due to a train crossing and daycare called us and are charging us a late pick up fee. Damn it!!!! What else, what else can go wrong? Karl was very sweet and got me flowers and a family figurine from Willow Tree. He’s so sweet! I’m very lucky to have him and his even-tempered personality to balance out my emotional state right now.


We did have good news today with Luke. His chest X-rays were improving. They showed us all his x-rays from birth day one. The X-rays showed that his lungs were closed off (you can tell by the white, cloudy coloring). The most recent X-ray showed his lungs were starting to open (there were more dark spots) which was very good news. Dr. Stuartz was very pleased and decided to stop his pavulon (this was the medicine to make him paralyzed so he can be relaxed). It was also making him too paralyzed, which is not good because you need to exercise your muscles. He was also off the phototherapy for jaundice so at least we had a good day with Luke.


So after a day like this, I moved into the NICU family room and hung out at Luke’s bedside until 11pm. After pumping, I headed to bed and watched a bit of the Opening Ceremonies. I needed mindless activity after this unlucky day. Hopefully tomorrow we are more lucky.

Thursday, August 7, 2008: A whirl mill of emotions

Last night was pretty tough for Karl and I. We took turns sitting by Luke through the night. Karl took the first shift until 2am then Lulu until 5am. Luke was definitely having some problems. All his numbers were going down, rather than up. His O2, which originally was great, were getting worst. The nurse practitioner talked with the doctor on call and they decided to put Luke on a morphine drip in order for him to get relaxed. He was getting over stimulated and not allowing himself to get relaxed and let the medicine or the ventilator work for him. They also changed to a different breathing machine called the oscillator. It vibrates and makes a sub-woofing sound in order to get the CO2 “bubbles” out of his lungs. They also put in a line into his belly button in order to have another source to draw blood and give his morphine drip. He also has Pre-ductile and post-ductile to measure his oxygen flow. There’s a lot of terminology that we are learning quickly. Last, he received a transfusion in order to boost his red blood cell count. That really made a difference. Within a few hours, his red cell count was way up and his chest X-rays were clearing up. It was indeed a better day. I did cry a lot today because knowing that he’s sick and there’s nothing I could do to help him made me feel so useless. Luckily my milk came in and now I’m a pumping machine. Every two hours or so I pump away just thinking that this milk will eventually help him get better.


Throughout the day we got to do “care” with him (i.e. check his temperature and change his diaper). I had visitors come at lunch time (friends from work Kathleen, Cathy, and Michele) so I missed one care so Karl did it. I wish I were there because I guess Luke gave his father two poops and a nice stream of peep that bounced right off his finger and hit Luke in his eye. Good aim Son! Luke’s doctor, Dr. Stuartz, was very pleased with his progress but wanted to do some different tests to eliminate other causes for his condition. She ordered an echo cardio gram (ECG) to look at his heart to make sure it was working all right. The cardiologist (who happened to be very hot; almost McDreamy) looked at the heart structure, vents, etc. And Luke got a clean bill on his heart. So that eliminated the possibility that there was also a heart problem. He simply (if it can be very simple) has pre-mature lungs and RDS (respiratory distress syndrome). The doctor thinks he might also have an infection but not sure. Luckily he has been receiving antibiotics since day one so that should address that problem. The doctor wants minimum interruptions so we had a “family discussion” with my sister and mother in one of the NICU family rooms. We really did this in order to “chill out” my mother who was getting a bit overwhelming with all her questions and requesting to see Luke (which we were not allowing her to do). The doctor did great answering all the questions and trying to explain what was happening with Luke. Some tough things to listen to and understand but I think it satisfied my mother.


In the afternoon we received more visitors from work (Sarah, Sendy, Jimmy, Ivet, and Samanta) came to visit. My sister and mother came for dinner. We had take-out from Olive Garden – yummy. The night before we had Cuban food that Mother cooked which was delicious. The hospital food has been okay – breakfast and lunch has been really good but dinner is a different story. We have ordered almost every item and now we’re just making fun of the food. Everything looks like that cheap plastic food that kids play with. Not appealing at all. After tonight’s dinner, everyone left. Karl and I visited Luke until midnight and decided to sleep as much as we could. It was much needed after such a long day. Unfortunately, my mother wasn’t behaving herself at our apartment (i.e. waking up the girls and going through out stuff) and Karl had to drive home to make a “presence”. This chilled her out but wasn’t what we needed at midnight. Karl came back and we both fell asleep.

Wednesday, Aug. 6: Luke status

~Written by big papa Karl
It’s been a rollercoaster of emotions since Luke was born. I didn’t get to hold him for more than 5 minutes when he was taken away to the NICU. The first night we went to see him he was doing okay, but then he needed to have an IV and receive antibiotics. They did a C-pap (which means Continuous Positive airway pressure - a method of respiratory ventilation ). They started with this method to see if they could prevent the need for intubation, but it didn’t work so he had to have the tubes. He was put on a respirator, hooked up by a tube going down from his mouth into his lungs (orotracheal intubation), in order to help him breathe. However, we found out today that his lungs were not opening properly to let out his carbon dioxide, so the CO2 began to build up. The doctors handled it well, though, providing him with the enzyme, Surfactin and increasing the rate of respiration. The parents, however, not so much…we have been anxious, worried, scared, exhausted and all this terminology has been like a spinning whirlpool of words and letters (CO2, O2, RDS, GPS, oh wait, that’s not….):


We had a lot of visitors to help us through this rough spell. Lulu’s sister and mother got here the day of the birth and have been a great help in taking care of Carlita. They brought Carlita to visit with Lulu and meet Luke today, but the experience was a little overwhelming for everybody. Karl picked Carlita up from day care and the plan was to meet everyone back at Lulu’s room. However, when we got there, the room was deserted and the nurses told us Lulu had gone with Samanta and Sami (colleagues and friends from work) to visit the baby. Daddy got Carlita to put on her “I’m the Big Sister” shirt, but then Karl made the not so wise choice of taking Carlita down to the NICU also (hello—lots of babies on machines, mommy in wheelchair, doctors, nurses running around—daddy was not using his noggin very well), and of course Carlita was startled, overwhelmed and scared. She allowed daddy to pick her up and look at Luke, but I don’t think she understood that it was Luke; then she asked mommy to pick her up and carry her, and mommy of course was in a wheelchair and couldn’t pick her up, so she had a meltdown in the middle of the NICU and down the hallway back to the room. Then, there were all these people packed together in lulu’s room, so she continued to be fussy for a while. But thank goodness Sandra’s baby Sofia was there. Gradually Carlita ate some food and played with Sofia, and calmed down. She even expressed a stunning revelation, after looking inquisitively at mommy’s tummy—“Luke not in mommy’s belly?” She continued to play with Sofia and family/friends for a while, but soon she ran out of steam, became cranky and had to leave. Daddy walked her out to Sandra’s car and helped put our car seat in Tia’s car. On the way, she wanted to hold Sofia’s hand, and when she could not, she began crying. When daddy put the car seat in the car, she was so excited to sit next to Sofia. She is going to be an amazing Big Sister!


Gradually Luke’s CO2 levels have come down and the doctors are now decreasing his level of extra oxygen and respiration (from the machine). We have been visiting him regularly, talking and reading to him, but he seems to be a very sensitive baby (whenever babies started crying or alarms went off, he would “desat,” which meant that his oxygen levels were dropping (his breathing was disregulated). So we have had to be careful to just sit, talk or read quietly next to him, and we haven’t been able to touch him as much as we’d like (much less hold him), so it has been really hard. However, the night nurse Alicia was great, telling us all about what they were doing with Luke, and she even allowed Lulu to take his temperature and Karl to change his diaper (meconium—it was so sticky and Karl was doing a good job of smearing it all over his butt—and then Luke pooped twice to give Karl more opportunity to practice his poop smearing skills): But his CO2 levels have dropped to the levels they want, and they have decreased the rate of respiration (and the oxygen level has stayed low), so we are hopeful that he will be able to come off the respirator soon.

Week 35: A Luka-size Surpirse

After last week’s ultrasound, we had a relaxing weekend. Karl and I both got massages and had a date to a Ragtime concert here on campus. Sunday we spent it at the pool just lounging around.


Monday, Sept 4, 20 we all got up, had breakfast and Parents as Educators came over to work with Carlita. (This is a free program in the school system that helps children be prepared for school. After Chris left (the instructor), Karl went to work and I waited for my friend, Samanta, to come pick Carlita and I up (She had borrowed my car for the weekend). Roughly 9:30am she arrives and Carlita and I headed out to get into the car. All of a sudden, I felt a rush of liquid and I thought to myself – great I peeped on myself. But it wasn’t pee but blood. There I stood looking down at my pants as they turned red and Samanta, who was sitting in the car, looked at me. Carlita started getting nervous and said “Mommy you have red pee”. Yes, honey lets get into the car. Samanta got her in while I called my doctor’s office who directed me to triage at the hospital. Samanta got a couple of towels from our bathroom and I stripped off my pants right in the middle of the street. I really didn’t care because it was gross to be in. We got Carlita into daycare and off to the hospital we went.


Karl met us there and right into triage we went. I was still bleeding and starting to get cramps. They decided to admit me and took us to High Risk. There the doctor on call reviewed what can be happening. Since I have placenta pervia, the cervix could have started getting relaxed and the placenta start bleeding. It looked like it had slowed down so they were going to monitor me and try to keep the baby in as long as possible up to 37 weeks. Wait a minute! You mean that I would have to be o bed rest in the hospital for two weeks. Yes was the reply. Well I didn’t like that idea and I don’t think Luke liked that idea because at roughly 2pm I started getting more contradictions, fast and painful. They took me to get a bio ultrasound and while there more blood came. I couldn’t get any medicine because they didn’t know if I would be getting a C-section right away or not. After the ultrasound, they wheeled me back to High Risk and right away they determined that I was going in for a C-section. I had lost a lot of blood and had so much pain.


By 4:30pm, my sister and mother arrived right in time before they wheeled me off to OR2 for the C-section. By 5pm I was getting prepped for the C-section. Karl looked quite handsome in his blue outfit, and we had latin music pumping as Luke was pulled into this world at 5:27pm. He weighed in at 5 lbs and 11 oz and is mighty long at 19 inches. He cried a lot and has a good patch of dark hair on his head. After they finished sewing me up, we all moved to the recovery room. I got my favorite thing – the bear hug which helps you keep warm and get rid of the shakes, which I had. Luke was a bit too grunting for the nurses and they looked him over and determined that he needed to get to the NICU right away. I got to hold him for a few minutes before he was taken away in an incurbator. We got hourly reports on how he was doing, as we spent four hours in the recovery room. Because he’s late pre-term, his lungs didn’t have everything needed for him to breathe on his own. They were evaluating him for Respiratory Distress Syndrome and doing x-rays, giving him antibiotics, and an IV. He did come out kicking strong but probably wore himself out. Poor baby! He’s my little kickboxer!


After 4 hours in Recovery, we got move to the maternity ward to a private room. Right away we wanted to go see him but the NICU was a bit busy and he was in the nurses’ observation room, which no one can go into. We had to wait until 11pm when they called us to let us know we could come visit him. We got to the NICU and found our little boy all hooked up but looking good. His coloring was so much better and he was calmer. We held his hands and talked to him. The nurse told us that he was doing quite well considering his age. His weight and height is helping him because he’s actually large for a pre-term baby. After hearing more about what they did for him (review this website http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/rds/rds_treatments.html) for more information, we came back to our room so I can start pumping and for us to get some rest.


So it was quite a surprising day. One month from his due date, Luke came into the world. I’m doing fine, recovering from the C-section. This birth was such a different experience compared to Carlita’s birth, who was overdue. Bleeding, emergency C-section, and NICU are all new experiences for us. We are very lucky that we had our friend, Samanta, with us and that my sister and mother came so fast. Carlita hasn’t seen her little brother but tonight she will. I will keep you all informed on how things are going and when we’ll be heading out of the hospital. Welcome Luke to Lukaland!!!