Bella Updates
Little Bella continues to improve. They have taken her off of the antibiotics that she has been on since birth. Her milk intake has increased from 5ml at my last post to 8 ml and is now up to 11 ml per feeding. As her milk is increased, her IV fluids are decreased. At one week old, she has just weighed in at a whopping 2 pounds 2 oz! Just a few grams shy of her original birth weight! It's hard to believe how our world has changed in such a short amount of time. I do have to say that today was much less eventful than last Friday.....
Bella's Birthday
MAN WHAT A DAY!!!! Have you ever had one of those days that started so badly that you just wanted to go back to bed and ask for a do over? Well, that's how my day began on Friday, April 2, 2010. April 2 is Ricky's birthday. We had notified WAAO, our local radio station, to send him well wishes but other than that, it was business as usual at the Gibson house. We were planning to celebrate later that night, but little did we know that Miss Bella had other plans.
It was just one of those mornings for me where everything seemed to go wrong and everything that was going wrong was out of my control. (Yes, that would continue throughout the day.) By 7:30 am, I was in tears and praying for God to please show me what I needed to get from all of this so that my day would get better. (At this point, Lori was fine). By 8:15, I was finally at the office and starting to feel some better. I had the main computer up and was about to dive into my work when I received a text from Lori that read "Is it ok, if I'm cramping?" To which I promptly replied, "NO!!!"
We had a similar conversation earlier in the week when she starting spotting but my concerns were mounting. I proceeded to make my usual round of phone calls. First, the doctor's office. No, they were closed for Good Friday. Then to Aunt Karen, who is a nurse for a different ob doctor in town. We couldn't reach her either. Finally, to Labor & Delivery who, without hesitation, said "Bring her in." When I called Lori back to tell her what they said, she tells me that it's not that bad. Well, I explained to her that we didn't want it to get bad, so she needed to go on. Another round of phone calls now to John, who was thankfully off work and nearby, to get my office covered, and then to Ricky.
By the time I made it from Evergreen to Andalusia Regional Hospital, Lori and John were already in the observation room. She was hooked up to a monitor and the IV was being started. A nurse was asking lots of questions and soon stated, "Yes, you are definitely having contractions!" WHAT? Before my frazzled brain had time to make sense of it, we were asked to step outside. Lori's doctor came by and didn't seem very optimistic, but he had not examined her yet, so I still had hope. At this point, I made a few more calls and waited impatiently for the Doctor to come back out. When he did, the news was not what we had hoped it would be. He said that Lori was in labor, already at 5cm and this was too far along to transfer her to another hospital. He explained that the dangers of her water breaking and having the baby during transit were far greater than delivering the baby in Andalusia. She was admitted and quickly put on medication to try and stop the contractions but at 5cm, he didn't expect that to work. Our hope and prayer at this point became to prolong the delivery as long as possible, in order to get as much medicine into Lori for the good of the baby. One hour, one day, three days ...any time we could buy would help, but the longer the better. At this point, we prayed and prayed some more. Our wonderful hosts of family and friends began to flood the waiting room, and they were praying too. Lori had wonderful nurses that afternoon, taking such good care of her and explaining things every step of the way. John and I pretty much stayed with her the whole afternoon. The object of the game was to keep her in a quiet, dark, calm atmosphere. They were able to prolong Bella's delivery long enough to get one dose of steroids and two doses of antibiotics into Lori.
Annabella Nicole Snoweden made her grand entrance into the world at 6:40 pm. Words cannot begin to express how thankful we are to the medical team at ARH who worked on Bella. Dr. Eldridge was there waiting for her when she was born and never left her side. Our friend and cousin Tamara, the respiratory therapist, worked to get Bella stable and then became the family photographer. All of our crew in the waiting room was able to see pics before they could see the baby, thanks to Tamara and digital photography. The doctors in Pensacola even commented on the wonderful care that Bella received in Andalusia.
After Bella was born and the team got her stabilized, they let up the blinds in the nursery and we were able to see her through the window. All 2lb and 2oz of her! She spent about 3 hours in Andalusia before the flight team from Sacred Heart arrived.
It took a while to be transferred from the hospital equipment to the flight equipment. This included Bella's first wardrobe change. She got a fashion upgrade as she went from plastic wrap
to this fancy Ziploc Bag. We call this our "staying fresh" picture
She also got this fancy new ride
She was doing so well, that she got to stop by and visit Mommy and Daddy before she went on her big trip to Pensacola.
Mommy's first touch
Daddy's hand
The flight team was awesome and they rolled Bella into the room and explained everything that was about to take place. They also presented her with her first set of wings. Of course, it was hard to watch her leave but we knew she was in good hands and most importantly that God was in control.
John went on to Sacred Heart that night to be with Bella and Lori and I joined him on Saturday evening.
This is the first time Lori got to hold Bella on Sunday. It's called the kangaroo. Notice Bella's tiny hand wrapped around her Mommy's finger.
This was also taken on Sunday. You can really see how tiny she is.
This is Bella sporting her first bracelet....actually it's not hers. It is Daddy's wedding band on her tiny little wrist.
Our cup is still overflowing from the outpouring of love and support that we have received from all of our family and friends. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Please continue to pray for Bella and her family as we continue to put our trust in our Father.
"But the Lord watches over those who fear him, those that trust in His unfailing love."
Psalm 33:18
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