| Mar 21, 2006 |
Well, I finally decided to actually do something and take a break
from my life of leisure since we all have soooooo much time available
since Bethany was born and Stacy came home. I figured why not get
the biggest bang for the buck with the amount of effort I am going to
devote so I'll publish some recent photos to get my mother-in-law off my
back. LOVE YOU STEPHANY!
Click here for the latest
pictures. Bethany has been doing very well. She
astonishes the doctors and nurses with her progress and we keep our
fingers crossed for constant positive progress like we have seen.
Stacy even got to hold her briefly yesterday. Being that she
responded so well, Stacy is searching the classifieds for a job for
Bethany. The countdown continues and we hope she will be home within the
next 9 weeks. She is up to a whopping 2.05 pounds now...up from a
scrawny 1 pound 15 ounces. She's bulkin'up! |
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| Mar 14, 2006 |
We have been visiting Bethany every day. She is progressing
very well and the doctors are quite pleased. Very premature babies
have many issues, several of which stem from immature lungs.
Fortunately for Bethany, it appears her lungs are developed quite well
as she is able to maintain her blood oxygenation at the desired levels
with ease. The doctors are going to take her off of the forced
demand respirator (a machine that pulses air into the lungs at 600
pulses per minute to maintain the lungs open) to an on demand respirator
that simply assists Bethany as she inhales. This is a milestone in
preemie development so that is a good thing. We also got our follow-up
news on the inter-cranial bleed that showed up on her initial cranial
sonogram. It appears the main clot or pool has reduced in size
which is good. This pool of blood may have been caused by many
things from the worst case - a bleeding artery in her brain - to the
best case - bruising from the delivery. Only time will tell.
The doctors have to analyze a serious of sonograms over time (in one
week intervals) to assess what they think is happening and develop a
strategy to treat. Obviously the whole process is an up and down
struggle. Preemies have difficulty regulating heart rate, blood
pressure and a whole host of other natural body functions because their
nervous system is so immature.
Bethany is progressing well though and improves with each passing
day. She was born at the 27th week mark. 28 weeks is a
significant milestone as is 32 weeks. As time passes her survival
is more and more assured and we will then start focusing on any
developmental issues that arise in preemies. But we'll cross those
hurdles when we come to them. Right now we're simply elated to
have her alive and well. |
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| Mar 12, 2006 |
Stacy came home today! She was finally released from the
hospital which means we will be traveling daily to visit to the hospital
to visit Bethany. |
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| Mar 11, 2006 |
Bethany had surgery today to close her
Patent Ductus Arteriosus or PDA. It was a quick 25 minute
procedure to close a duct that normally close when the baby is born but
is often left open when the babies are born prematurely. |
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| Mar 09, 2006 |
Hope Emma Bluestein passed
away in Stacy's arms at 0125. The doctors called Keith and
said she was going to pass within an hour at 2100. A friend came to our
house and stayed there to watch Kellen while Keith ran to the hospital.
When Stacy and Keith were there, Hope started to recover and after 1.5
hours she was improving so Keith left and Stacy went to her room.
Apparently Hope got a lot worse after Keith left. They called
Stacy and Hope passed in Stacy’s arms at 0125. Very sad but we got 12
more hours with her than any doctors said we’d have. While premature,
she was the most beautiful little angel and had an indomitable spirit
hence the name Hope. She was never given a chance but she proved
everyone wrong. It is always amazing how much you can love and how
intensely in such a short span of time when it is your child. Thank you
all for your prayers. |
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| Mar 08, 2006 |
Stacy was having issues in the hospital since last night and the
docs were concerned she was getting an infection (she was) so they took
her in and gave birth to the twins today. The “healthy” twin
Bethany Grace Bluestein is
doing as well as can be expected at 27 weeks (born 1325). She’ll be
through the wringer over the next 12 weeks before she can come home. As
we’ve mentioned before, the second twin was given no chance of survival
for most of the pregnancy (no name yet) but surprised the docs with
minimal lung growth so they have her pumping at 100% capacity on the
ventilator and are able to stabilize her. The doctor is “cautiously
optimistic” although she said this could be the honeymoon before the
crash. She is alive now after being born at 1321 today. Hopefully my
wife will come home this weekend and we’ll be hoping and praying the
docs can work miracles with the twins. |
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| Jan 25, 2005 
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We received bad news about the twins in late
December. They ultrasound revealed that one of the twins (Twin A)
has lost all of its amniotic fluid and no longer had an amniotic sac to
provide cushioning. This meant the blood clot and the other twin
would continue to restrict Twin A. Worse, it also meant that the
vital fluid required for lung development was no longer available.
This introduces several risks to the pregnancy and the doctors all but
assured us that Twin A has no chance of survival. Below are a
couple of pictures of Twin B (the healthy twin)
These are two shots of her face.
These are two profile shots where her
foot is by her nose!
Here is Stacy in her pregnant splendor!
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| Jan 05, 2006 |
Stacy was very sick over New Years and it got so bad
she ended up turning herself into the hospital. The doctors never
did determine what she had beyond saying it was probably viral.
Here are some pix that show how happy she was!
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| Dec 20, 2005 |
We moved into our new townhouse! Stacy is
ordered onto Bed Rest! |
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| Oct 26, 2005 |
We went for a follow-up visit with Dr. Stefanie Filak
today. We also did another ultrasound. At this point there
is precious little we can do except let nature take its course.
Both babies appear to be doing fine and we got to listen to their
individual heartbeats.
| Here is Twin "A" |
Here is Twin "B" |
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| Oct 24, 2005 |
Crisis! Stacy started bleeding so heavily at
work today they called an ambulance and took her to the emergency room
at Arlington Hospital while Keith flew back from Arizona. Stacy as
it turns out was experiencing
subchorionic hematoma. So the docs did an ultrasound to verify
and were pleased to not that both heartbeats were fine. That's
right folks. Twins. After several ultrasounds and 8 hours in
the emergency clinic they released Stacy. |
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| Oct 5, 2005 |
 Stacy
had to get some Xrays done and needed to ensure she was not pregnant
prior to the Xrays so she took a test. Voila! She is
pregnant! |
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| Sept 19, 2005 |
Stacy started as a full time
General Dynamics
employee. The folks at GenDyn were so impressed with her work they
tendered her a job offer within 4 weeks of her working there. She
remains in the same position as before but is no longer a contract
employee. |
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| June 20, 2005 |
Stacy has been hired by
Contract Professionals
Inc to work as an Executive Assistant to the
Vice President for Strategic Business Development at
General Dynamics
Advanced Information Systems. She was essentially hired
sight unseen based on her impressive resume. |
