Still in the PICU

Well I'm still writing from the pediatric ICU at St John's. Most of you have received my email updates...Hannah was diagnosed with meningitis and is on a 2-3 week treatment of antibiotics to treat the infection. The poor child has been poked more times and in more places than should ever be allowed in a 12 day period. BUT we are seeing positive results. She is more energetic and is eating well. She's begun to gain back some of the weight she lost and is finally doing baby things (gnawing on her hands and screaming when she's hungry, cooing, etc). Never thought I'd see the day when blood curdling screams would bring a smile to my face but that day is here!!

Thank you for your prayers. We're hoping Hannah will be discharged by the end of next week but are prepared to stay one more week longer if needed to be sure that she'll be meningitis free. Please continue to pray for her future. The doctors think that she recieved treatment soon enough that she'll avoid the damage that meningitis can cause, but we'll just have to watch through her developmental stages to know what lies ahead.

I'll add some new pics soon!

Update...

I thought I'd update you all on how we're doing. We've hit another rough patch. We were discharged from the hospital Monday afternoon. Hannah quickly became lethargic and wasn't eating well. By Tuesday evening, she had a fever and we were sent to Urgent Care. They sent us to the ER and she endured a lot of tests (2 IVs, catheter and lumbar tap). We were in the ER until 2:30 am. All initial results came back normal but the doctor was in agreement with our concern about her lethargy - Hannah went through all of those tests with barely a cry. She just doesn't fuss about anything and couldn't be woken up enough to eat. So she was admitted to St John's pediatric ICU at 2:30 this morning. She's been given more antibiotics and is being fed supplements through IV. She had a fever all through today but tonight it seems to have dropped a bit. The doctor is still unsure of the reason for Hannah's fever and lethargic behavior. He believes it's either an unknown infection or unknown virus and the lethargy may be due to the pain meds I was given for the C Section.

Hannah is still difficult to wake and hasn't been breastfeeding. She has been eating some pumped milk today in a pediatric bottle. We're hoping that the antibiotics make her stronger. Her doctor will discharge her when he feels certain that she's healthy, breastfeeding regularly and we'll have a good start on life at home. He didn't expect her to come back so soon and doesn't want to make the same mistake again.

Sooooo please keep Hannah in your prayers. We hope to get well and go home Soon! Also pray for Madeline - this complication makes her adjustment to the addition of a new sister more complex. Chris and I are trying to be sure that we spend great quality time with Madeline while someone is always with Hannah.

With love and hopefulness for Hannah's health, Jen

More pics of Hannah, family and friends...

My sister Hannah...

Here's a video of Madeline announcing the birth of Hannah - Madeline is such an amazing big sister already. She's extremely gentle and nurturing, always making sure Hannah's toes are covered, giving her a paci when she needs it and kissing her all over. It's been so neat to see her in this role. What a blessing these two are already!


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Hannah is Here

Hannah Elyse Giles was born June 15th at 1:31 pm. She is 8 lbs 2 oz and 20 inches long. We had a bit of a rough time but she's much more stable now.

We came to the hospital Friday morning because I was having abdominal pain Thursday night that wouldn't subside. I had an infection in my amniotic fluid and a placental abruption. The Dr decided to induce labor and broke my water. Hannah's heartbeat was irregular and my fever spiked so within 10 mins of breaking my water, they decided to do a C Section. The delivery went very quickly but Hannah had the same infection that I had. Hannah was placed in the special care unit and required oxygen, antibiotics and an IV to keep her glucose level up. I didn't get to see her until Saturday morning at 9:00 because I wasn't able to visit her until my fever broke. She couldn't be held until this morning either. But we have good news now. We've been able to hold her several times today, she's been able to come to our room to visit, she's been weaned off of the oxygen and I was able to breastfeed her for the first time this evening. I think we'll be in the hospital until Tuesday.

We are so grateful that in spite of the complications, we are both stabilized and doing well now. God has been amazing in providing us peace through everything we've faced the last 2 days. Thank you for praying with us!!

I'm nana's baby

Our newest development - when Madeline does something that is "baby ish" she says it's because she's Nana's Baby. I think this is her way of working through the idea that there is going to be a new baby in the family :) Yesterday I let her get herself in the car while I filled up a water bottle for the splash park and when I got to the car, this is what I found!


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Update on Hannah 6/8/07

Went back to the OB this morning for another check up and still no progress! Silly Hannah, she'll come when she's ready I guess. We had initially scheduled an induction on 6/13/07 and then I pushed it back to 6/20/07 to give Hannah more time to come on her own. Today my Dr assured me that this was a good decision because she may have decided to push it back anyway based on today's appointment - I guess that since we're not progressing on our own, it would have put us at a greater risk for a C Section. I still can't see how we're going to make it another 13 days but what do I know? HAHA! I'll post new pics soon. Love you all!