More Jadyn Monica

A few new pictures, and a whole lotta praising God!

Here you see Jadyn enjoying some "kangaroo carrying," or rather skin-on-skin with Mom and Dad. I can't begin to tell you how incredible it felt to have our little girl in our arms and near us like this. She squirmed a little, but settled right in and fell asleep. Even after the transfer from Mom to Dad, she fell right back out and didn't peep until we had to go.

Today they had taken Jadyn off the CPAP, so here are pictures of her without any breathing apparatus. They ended up putting it back on later in the night as a precautionary measure. She's eating twice what she was eating yesterday and she's doing very well with the dirty diapers.

Still no word on when she will be able to join us at home. Sandra was discharged today, and it's a pain we've never experienced before to have to leave our newborn baby in the hospital without us. But thankfully, we live only a few minutes from the hospital and will be there often, if not always. We continue to be watchful and thankful for all God has done today and for what He will do tomorrow.

I'm tired. I'm going to bed.

Jadyn update

Well, the day has brought many things. I feel I'm losing a bit of my mind, which is sad because I didn't have much left to begin today...So tonight it's home for a quick blog entry and a little Grateful Dead from 06-06-1970 at the Fillmore West.

I have forgotten so many commitments and often I say I'm going to do something that I then just plain forget. I'm blessed to have the support and understanding of so many wonderful people. Thank you all (and especially Briana, who has been an immeasurable blessing to us, the twins and has given of herself and her time so sacrificially that I could never repay - sorry I made you late tonight...). We've felt outpourings of love and support, and I just wanted to let everyone know how tings are going.

Today was a banner day for Jadyn. She is now officially off the Nitric Oxide completely. They have stopped the fentanyl also, so she is starting to perk up quite a bit. They took her off the sedation so that she could start feeding on the milk Sandra is providing, which she has been doing all day and processing it perfectly (dirty diapers never looked so good!). When we arrived back in NICU tonight, we saw that they had removed the breathing tube, and she was simply being assisted with a small amount of oxygen via a mask (CPAP). Things are looking up for our little girl!

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. Again, I'm humbled to know that the Lord of the universe who creates life and heals is using your prayers as part of His perfect plan to heal my child. Thank you so much, and good night.

Jadyn Monica Rolling arrives

I wanted to post a picture or two from our recent hospital stay. Jadyn has arrived, and it's been a rough start to life for her. To chronicle her journey so far...

Sandra started to have strong contractions somewhat irregularly a week ago Monday. Since they were irregular and she was not dilating rapidly (or at all, for that matter) we waited to go to the hospital. Finally, they were coming every 5 minutes early on Monday the 27th, and we grabbed our bags, called our dear friend Briana to watch the twins and off we went.

Once connected to the monitors, it became apparent that the baby was in distress. Her heart rate dropped considerably on each contraction, and the decision was made to perform an emergency c-section. We thank God for the wisdom and quick action of the doctor who made the call, believing that she saved the life of our daughter!

The surgery went well, but once the amniotic sack was punctured it was obvious that the baby had been sitting in the maconium of her first poop in utero. The neonatal unit was on hand, thankfully, and thanks to the quick and expert action of the neonatologist our daughter Jadyn was born and stabilized enough to get her down to the intensive care unit, where they continued to work on her to stabilize and bring her around.

As a computer geek, I can only relay the layman's understanding of what has and is happening. Essentially, the first poop came for Jadyn days ago, and she has been in distress ever since. When she was distressed, she would take deep breaths and she took a lot of the maconium deep into her lungs, causing her lungs to contract as if still in utero and aspiration pneumonia. The bottom line is that they were not absorbing oxygen like they should, and the heart was sending the blood to a non-existent placenta for life giving oxygen.

Over the day, several procedures were implemented to foster the opening of the capillaries in the lungs, most of which were unfruitful. Finally, late in the evening, she took a turn for the better and has been improving since.

Today we hope that she will have the breathing tube removed. They are weening her off the sedation meds and will start feeding her the milk Sandra has been pumping. I would give more detail, but will leave this off now to go sit with my lovely wife (who is recovering well from the surgery) and my beautiful new daughter, named Jadyn (which means "the Lord hears") Monica (in honor of her Great-Grandmother). Our current expectation is that she will be in the NICU another week, perhaps two. We thank you for your prayers and feel them in a very real, intimate way.

The information I know the ladies will want:

Jadyn Monica Rolling
Born 9:15 AM, 2007-08-27
8 pounds, 13.6 ounces
20 inches long

Gracie took a look at one picture of her and said "there's Jeremiah!" What do you all think?

May (God) grant you your heart’s desire
and fulfill all your plans!
May we shout for joy over your salvation,
and in the name of our God set up our banners!
May the LORD fulfill all your petitions!

Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed;
he will answer him from his holy heaven
with the saving might of his right hand.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
Psalm 20:4-7

Bicycle riders can suck, too

Just a quick update...

Today was one of the few days I was driving around in a motor vehicle. I ride my fixed-gear bicycle the five miles to work nearly every day, and love it. I usually find myself angry and irritated at car drivers who rarely see me (or the flashing LED's attached to my bike) and run me off the road or drive inches away from me when I'm driving in the roads which are rightfully mine to share.

But anyway, as I sat at a four-way stop in a company vehicle today, I waited for my turn to progress through the intersection. As I entered it, a guy on a bicycle sped up to the intersection and didn't stop. We both hit the brakes - me so I didn't kill him and he so that he would not become a hood ornament - at which point he made an obscene gesture and offered some sort of denigration at me as if I had blown the stop sign and was in the wrong.

Unbelievable!

I'm an advocate for bicyclists' rights. Nothing irritates me more than car drivers acting as if bike riders have no right to be on the road (it is actually unlawful to ride on the sidewalks, in case anyone was wondering). But come on! Bike riders need to obey the road rules, too, or expect to be treated like they don't belong. If you want equal treatment, bicyclists, follow the rules. If you don't want to be a hood ornament for a PT Cruiser, don't blow downtown stop signs.

Easy enough.