The Journey Home

On September 29th, 2010 Mike, Robbie, and Lillian made the journey from Modesto, CA to St. Louis, MO (By way of a drive to San Francisco, a flight to Denver, a layover, and connection to St. Louis).  Everyone was tired, but especially Lillian.  Now, all are recovered and happy to be home.

Waiting in the San Francisco airport...

Preparing for Lillian's first flight...

Well rested and happy to be home...

 

Heroes

So many people touched our lives:  the most amazing DMC nurses, NNP's, RT's, friends, family, doctors.  I don't know where we would have ended up on this journey without your care and support.  Looking back, I wish we had been more ready with the camera because so many people are missing.

Someone very dear to us said it best... The human spirit is amazing.  It's about love.  You go in and you give love.

Lillian Growing: 86 Days in the NICU

The Short Version of Lillian's NICU stay:

Lillian:  Born July 4th, 2010, 24w5d gestational age, 660g (1lb, 7oz)
Lillian was on CPAP and then high flow canula from birth.   Her lungs are impressive for her age.
She was lucky, and had only Level I IVH.
She did have PDA, which was treated with indomethicin.
She had sepsis and lung infection around 2 weeks of age, and was intubated for about a week at that time.
As a result of infection, PDA re-opened, and she was given a second course of medicine.
Lillian continued to grow and hit milestones.
Around seven weeks old, her PDA became symptomatic.  She was transferred to Stanford Children's Hospital for PDA ligation.  Lillian spent nine days at Stanford, recovered from the ligation, and moved on to room air. 
Lillian is transferred back to Modesto, and begins bottle feeding.
Lillian continues to grow and develop, and is discharged on Monday, September 27th weighing about 5 lbs, 8 oz.  She flew home to Missouri on September 29th.

Things Get Complicated

Evan and Megan (Lillian's godparents) come to visit Mike and Robbie at the end of June.  While at the zoo with them (picture below), Jessie has unexpected bleeding.  She is admitted for dilation of the cervix, and transferred to Doctors Medical Center to be in a hospital with a Level III NICU.  She is on hospitalized bed rest, hoping to sustain the pregnancy.  Robbie flies to California to be with her in the hospital.  July 4th:  Lillian is born at 24 weeks, 5 days gestational age, weighing 1 lb 7 oz.

Lillian is breathing on her own, and is surprisingly not intubated - unusual for such an extremely premature, small baby.  Lillian gets a PICC line (below) while she holds Robbie's finger.

To make things more interesting... Mike is still in St. Louis because Mike and Robbie are also closing on a house and moving on July 7th.  

 Robbie gets to hold Lillian for the first time...

July 8th:  Mike closed on the house and moved the day before, and now gets to meet his daughter for the first time.

Mike also holds Lillian for the first time...

Mike will spend the next 3 months flying back and forth St. Louis to California every 10 days... work to Lillian to work to Lillian.  Photo taken while bored in plane restroom during the hours of flying... (Southwest Airlines is amazing in situations like these).

Embryo to Fetus

11 Weeks Gestation...

11 Weeks Gestation in 3D.  Cool.

18 Weeks Gestation.  It's a Girl (and she likes to move her hands around her face, which she does a LOT).

Jessie is showing.

The Back Story

Mike and Robbie decide to have a baby...

They meet Jessie - and she is absolutely the one they want to have carry their child.  She is awesome and says "Yes"...  Jessie is one of the heroes in the story.

Mike and Robbie visit California in November to meet Jessie...

There is a long process in signing contracts, selecting an egg donor, and tons of injections to prepare for in vitro... Mike and Jessie hang out in California the weekend before the IVF appointment...

They have a LOT of fun...

In the meantime... 20 donor eggs were retrieved.  17 of them were fertilized and developed to the blastocyst stage.  The two embryos below were selected for transfer... One of them becomes a star... Then one of the doctors implants the embryos into Jessie's uterus.  Jessie was kind enough to take a photo from her perspective...

 The wonderful folks at the IVF center take an ultrasound photo of the transfer as it is happening... voila, pregnant... sort of...

An ultrasound five weeks later confirms the Beta tests, and the heartbeat is seen on ultrasound on March 8, 2010.  Indeed pregnant.

 Mike, Robbie, Jessie, Jessie's daughter, and the doctors and staff of California IVF celebrate.