And the roller coaster continues...

Today I was at lunch with my friend Faith when I noticed a missed call from the NICU. I called back and to my surprise the nurse told me to keep my phone close because the doctor was about to call me. She said that her regular doctor was out today and that the doctor who saw her wasn't comfortable sending her home. I was shocked. I hung up trying to contain myself as I told Faith. It was really tough. As you know from my earlier blog post I was so excited about this special day.

A few minutes later my phone rang. It was the doctor. He said that her pulse ox was still going below the "ok" mark and although she is able to bring it back up herself, he was not comfortable sending her home. In addition he said that her lungs sounded great, but he wanted to order another chest xray to verify. He then said when he listened to her heart he heard a heart murmur. He said that many are born with it and grow out of it, but that he wanted to order an echo just to verify that there were no defects in her heart. He assured me that the test results would be in late tonight or first thing in the morning and that they would call me. He also said we would not room in tonight and that her regular doctor would make decisions about her future care tomorrow.

I hung up the phone heart broken. Why had no one else noticed the heart murmur in her 2 1/2 weeks of care? I talked with Faith and she offered to go to the hospital with me and pray for Evelyn. I was so thankful that she was with me during this rollercoaster moment! I called my dad and of course that's when the tears started flowing. He reminded me that there is a reason for everything and that it was better that we get all tests needed now rather than having to come back.

Faith and I went to the hospital together. Evelyn was peacefully sleeping so we prayed for her and as we were leaving the echo machine pulled in with old school VHS tapes to record it on. I didn't really want to stay and listen so we left. Then, I went to see my doctor. He reassured me that the percentage of babies that have defects on the echo is a very small. I left his office feeling better (like always, thanks doc!) and headed back to the hospital.

While I was feeding Evelyn they came to do her chest xray. In addition, the doctor (whom I had never met) came by to meet me and assure me that he was just being extra cautious and wanted to make sure we explored every avenue with her care.

About 10 minutes later the phone rang in the NICU, it was the cartiologist that had read the echo looking for the doctor. My heart didn't skip a beat or jump at all. For some reason, I was suddenly at peace. I knew everything was going to be ok :)

A few minutes later the doctor came in and gave me 2 thumbs up! He said that the chest xray looked great and that the echo showed no defects. So, we have a little heart murmur, but nothing to be alarmed about.

We had some sweet time together celebrating the good news!
I'm so proud of my strong little girl!
I can't wait to have you at home with us!

So, tomorrow we find out the new plan since we got the all clear from this doctor, but not the "go home" all clear. Who knows what tomorrow will bring on our roller coaster ride.

Happy 2 year anniversary!
Great dinner at The Libertine!