Life as a Leach

A Challenge So by now, you have heard me rave about the Ronald McDonald House. Let me just explain that it is more than a nice house with fun activities for the kids. We have met so many wonderful people who are all dealing with major medical problems. It is so nice to be able to share stories and know that people understand the jumble of emotions we are feeling. They all have the same wishes for their kids that we do. We are also so thankful for the staff who just genuinely show caring. I can't tell you how many times staff members have stopped us to ask how Abby was doing today. It is never in a oh, I need to ask kind of a way--these people truly care about the families that are staying there. It's evident by the way they interact with the kids. It's obvious when they great returning families who have been gone for a while. The volunteer network that RMH has is so awesome! Groups come in to prepare meals (not every breakfast and dinner, but frequently) and cr...

Meet Abby We are ready to introduce you to our beautiful girl, Abigail Elizabeth Joy Leach! There are some pictures in the photo album for you to enjoy. :) FYI: The orange tube in her nose is her trumpet, which helps her breathe and keeps her tongue out of the way. The orange tube in her mouth is her feeding tube, and the black cord in her mouth is a safety feature in case she has real trouble breathing. There's the tour. :) Sign My Guestbook Read Tributes Wednesday, October 27, 2010 5:50 PM, EDT Roller Coaster Ride Abby had a pretty good morning today. Matt and I stepped out while the doctors were rounding on the other patients and went to the waiting room for a while. I walked back to her room to deliver some milk before we went to get some lunch, and was hit with some news: "We're heading to the OR. Abby needs to be intubated." I ran to get Matt, who was in the waiting room, and we heard the whole report. After we left, Abby really star...

Day 3 of Our New Normal Bear with me as I more or less summarize our day! We headed to the NICU this morning in time to hear the doctors round on Abby. As much as we can, we like to be in on their conversations so that we can ask questions as necessary. We've learned and seen some things we probably wouldn't have otherwise, so it's been good. I was able to do Kangaroo Care again today! (I realized I didn't explain what that was yesterday. I hold Abby skin-to-skin and cover her with my shirt and blankets. The nurses all firmly believe in how much it helps the babies...and the mommies!) Matt woke up with a little bit of a cough and he did not want to risk getting Abby sick, so he didn't hold her. He was disappointed, but hoping he gets better soon so that he can bond with his princess! We left Abby alone for a while and ate lunch so that she could rest before an afternoon and evening of visitors! Her fan club: my sister, my friend Kelly, Pastor Jay and Ba...

Personality Seeing Abby for the first time in the NICU was surreal. That is really the only word to describe it. This little 4 pound peanut mixed up in a tangle of wires and tubes was my daughter! The foot wrapped in gauze is the same foot that kicked me and stepped on my bladder. The tiny hands curled up next to her mouth were in the same position they were during so many of the sonograms. The hair that we saw floating in the amniotic fluid, the same hair that was admired by so many sonographers, is every bit as long and full as everyone said! Abby will definitely be a bow wearer. She is beautiful to us and has been showing the nurses and doctors her feisty side! She clamped down on one NP who stuck her finger in her mouth; the NP declared her a rude little girl! (She has quickly become one of our favorites who has been excellent at explaining things and answering our questions!) Yesterday, she kept trying to pull out the trumpet in her nose. I told her repeatedly tha...

Psych! Apparently, my internet is working! Yay, Dad! :) Look forward to more frequent posts again now. What would you do without my daily ramblings and updates?! Sign My Guestbook Read Tributes Friday, October 22, 2010 9:41 AM, EDT Short post because i'm on my iPod: Abby is here! She came at 12:12 a.m. Weighing 4 pounds and measuring 17 inches. She is currently breathing on her own and is being examined by lots of specialists today to check out some things that hadn't shown up on sonograms. We will be more specific about those things when we have more detailed information. In the mean time, please pray for our girl---specifically that her fighting spirit we've seen so much continues!! She's going to need to fight hard. Thanks for your support! Sign My Guestbook Read Tributes Saturday, October 23, 2010 6:42 AM, EDT Entering the World With a Splash! On Thursday night, I started contracting heavily at 7:45. My meds were due at 8:00 anyway, so...

This is Not a Happy Post If you are looking for my typical Susie Sunshine post about everything being great and wonderful, you won't find it here. Because right now, I'm madder than I have been since I have been here. I chose blue for this post because it's supposed to be calming. It's not working. Soooooo it's 3 a.m. and I thought they were coming to do my vitals. Mildly annoying? Yes, because I get my meds @ 4 and they usually try to do them at the same time so I'm not woken up again, but whatever. Oh no. This would be the phlebotomist coming to draw blood and start an IV. Am I contracting and need a new IV? No. Am I on any medicines that require immediate blood tests? No. Am I in a dead sleep, trying to count every minute between med wake-ups and doctors? Why yes, yes I am. Seriously, I don't think people who work the night shift have any understanding of the sleeping patterns of normal people. What good do you think would come of drawing...

FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!! I had the most fabulous news today! Dr. K came to tell me that I am officially OFF of bedrest and am allowed to roll around the hospital! While I still need to take it easy (I won't be joining in the marathon that is currently running by the hospital!), I do not have to be flat-back and can take short rides around. Unless you have been on extended bed rest, you have no idea how exciting this is. Just rolling around looking at other people was quite entertaining. You just don't know. So if you'll excuse me, it might just be time for me to go on another ride! :) Sign My Guestbook Read Tributes Saturday, October 16, 2010 4:22 PM, EDT A Cool Way to Say Thank You During my adventure around the hospital (which was quite enjoyable-- thanks for asking!), my mom and I came across this box with little tokens in it. Intrigued, we moved up to get a closer look and discovered that they are "thank you tokens." There are cards that you ...

Tid Bits This is pretty much a stream of consciousness post. If you're not into jumping from one topic to another, stop reading now! Consider yourself warned. :) First of all, did you watch the Chilean miner rescue?! Wow, did I cry! It's pretty much amazing that all of them not only survived, but came out with minimal injuries! What a great story! I love that the "breaking news" today was something positive and encouraging for once. Matt spent the night last night and we spent the evening playing Phase 10 and watching Glee. It was almost normal...except for the vitals checks, medicines, and IVs. Yeah, except for that. I had loads of awesome visitors today! At mid-morning, 5 wonderful ladies from our church came bearing lots of yummy food. It was a great visit! Matt left shortly after they did, and I settled in to watch some of the live footage of the miners' rescue on CNN. A knock on the door revealed my favorite three year old! "Surprise...

Wow, You All Know Me Way Too Well... So, it cracked me up that people starting contemplating reasons why I would want the window open! I assure you that while climbing out of my 6th floor window to escape to freedom was somewhat enticing, I am way too scared of falling to ever do that. Much more likely would be me putting on a long-sleeved shirt to cover up my bracelets and IV and sneaking out of the hospital. Of course, getting home might be a bit of a problem... No, no, don't worry. I will be staying here with a smile on my face. When things get really bad, I remind myself that every needle, every IV, every day that I am in here means one less that Abby has to endure. That being said, tonight's dinner (yes, the food saga continues) was quite frustrating. When I took off my dinner cover in anticipation because I was quite hungry tonight, I discovered spaghetti with meat sauce and freezer-burned Lactaid ice cream. No, I'm not lactose intolerant. While I...

Humbled I am in amazement at the number of hits this site has gotten in the last 2 weeks since I started it. I think I had 5 blog readers before I went into the hospital. The things I have to do to get a little blog attention around here... :) Seriously though, it means a lot to Matt and I that you all care enough to check the posts, keep updated with the progress, and leave messages on the guest book. We know that so many people are praying for us! Yesterday God sent me an angel in the form of Ms. Penny, the sweetest nurse I could ever want. Remember the bad night I'd had? Well, God knew I needed a bit of encouragement before my reduction (the reduction that never actually happened) and Ms. Penny started talking to me about the power of prayer. I agreed and shared a bit of my story with her. Before she took me upstairs to have the procedure done, she asked if she could pray for me. That sweet woman prayed a beautiful prayer that calmed my heart and helped restore my p...

Round 3: Julie vs. Her Uterus Update: I will be having a reduction today. My favorite doctor came in and said she really felt like we should do it today before the weekend, since the levels are definitely higher. I agree, and I like that she is the one to be able to do it! Plus, I talked to her about my IV woes and she is going to put in my chart that I need linocain with every stick. She said that I'm the nicest patient who's been here forever and if that's my only request, they can handle that! Things are starting to look up! After last night's adventure, the doctor came first thing this morning to check my fluid levels. Low and behold, they were higher. She did it twice, so it's somewhere between 30-34. Regardless, they are increasing. While the team is still discussing final plans, they (and we) are leaning toward doing a reduction today so as not to go into the weekend with different people covering. It appears that I will need another one sooner t...

Football is Biblical ***We interrupt the regularly scheduled program of Horizontal Living to entertain you with a story and a song. My child loves football. He learned how to throw his arms up and shout "Touchdown, Redskins!" when he really little and has enjoyed watching football with his daddy this season. In fact, he sleeps in a Redskins shirt every night that they play. So yesterday, he was wearing a Redskins shirt running around my sister's house singing, "Hail to the Redskins! The Bible tells me so!" (sing it to yourself to the tune of Jesus Loves Me if you don't get it!) Yes, he is his father's son. Sign My Guestbook Read Tributes Thursday, October 7, 2010 11:59 AM, EDT Pass It On I have been fortunate to have friends bring me some magazines to occupy my time a bit. They vary from crafting to Christian to entertainment, but I read all of them cover to cover!! I started a pile of the magazines I had finished...

I Gotta Feelin'.... Why yes, I am in fact posting this at 5 a.m. A particularly chipper nurse gave me my 4 a.m. meds and I was unable to go back to sleep after answering her many questions. No matter though, because today is going to be a good day!! Here's why: * Matt is coming and spending the night! He hasn't stayed here since Thursday and I miss him. I'm used to him being away, but this is way longer than we've ever had to do before. * I haven't had Mag or been NPO for over a week!! Yay for 3 meals a day! * The menu order form for today's meals actually had a bit of variety, so I am straying from the regular tomato soup for once! * My favorite night nurse is back on tonight and she's awesome! * Last, but certainly not least, Glee is on tonight and we can watch it uninterrupted, thanks to my favorite dad buying us a few days of television! Glee rocks my world. :) So you see? It has to be a good day with all of that positive...

Never Fear, Never Fear I have an IV in again. The saddest part is that it took my favorite phlebotomist (is is pitiful that I even have a favorite?) TWO tries to get it in! In her words, "Wow, this is slim pickins!" I think that's a sign that I've been here too long. They'll be checking out my feet soon for good veins! We're back in business though and I have really enjoyed getting to know her. She has a five year old who was born here at 24 weeks, so she has been incredibly sweet and understanding (she was on hospital bedrest herself from 12-24 weeks!) It's nice to have people around who can share similar experiences. Sign My Guestbook Read Tributes Monday, October 4, 2010 10:16 AM, EDT Somebody's Got a Case of the Mondays... On this dreary Monday morning, I thought I'd share some good news! My fluid levels are still holding! After my first reduction, they only held for 2 days before starting to increase again. It has been 8 d...

The 12 Days of Bedrest On this, my 12th full day of bedrest, I thought that I might entertain you (or at least myself) with a song. For length's sake, I only included the 12th verse. Rest assured that I did type out the entire song with all 12 verses, because I really don't have anything better to do! :) On the twelfth day of bed rest, my nurse gave to me Twelve Venadyne lectures Eleven contraction palpations My tenth sonogram Nine various bracelets My eighth different room Seven Albuterol puffs Six cups of ice water Five Nifedipine pills! Four grams of Mag Three hospital meals Two Colace tablets And a needle stick in my right arm. Happy bed rest to all, and to all a good night! Sign My Guestbook Read Tributes Sunday, October 3, 2010 8:16 AM, EDT 2 Weeks Ago 2 weeks ago I took a quick shower (had I known it would be my last for a week, I would have slowed down and enjoyed it more!), ate breakfast...

Rain Drops Keep Fallin' on My...Hospital Window I love natural light. I'd seriously keep the lights off all of the time if it was light enough for me to see. Plus, natural light makes for great pictures!! (5 p.m. or so is the BEST lighting for pictures and also the time I'm normally outside with Caleb, so it works out well! FYI!) Whenever Matt's not around to close them (he doesn't like that other patients can stare into my room), I have the blinds pulled up on my two hospital windows so that I can get a glimpse of the outside world and add a bit of natural light to my room. There's not so much sunshine right now, but that's okay. Today, I've been watching the rain. I love rain anyway, but I'm gaining a new appreciation for it in my horizontal state. It's really interesting to note the falling patterns (or lack thereof) because it can be raining really super heavy and then all of the sudden just slow way down for a few seconds. Some ...