Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Ned, Kelly & Baby Smith update....

I must start my blog today by thanking everyone for their thoughts and prayers that have been offered up on Ned, Kelly and Baby Smith's behalf. Never underestimate the power of prayer!!
I am in Nashville. I'll be coming up and staying at the hospital with Kel during the day while Ned is at work. In the evenings I go back to their house so I can check on the 3 horses that are still there. Kelly's condition is basically the same. The doctor ordered more bloodwork yesterday and her white count and C reactive Protein levels were elevated. They changed her antibiotic during the night. I ask the nurse if this was just a bump in the road or if this was a car crash. She said it was a bump in the road. I think they like it when I use all my medical jargon.....Today she had another ultrasound to check and see if the baby was doing it's breathing exercises and to check muscle mass. The baby scored 6 out of 8! Two points were deducted for not having any water. This ultrasound didn't do any measuring or weight estimates. After the ultrasound the lady from the PICC team came in and inserted an intravenous line that is more permanent than a regular IV. This new line goes up the arm and into the main vein in the chest. It will not have to be moved on a regular basis like the other IV. The PICC lady ask me to leave the room so she could create a sterile environment for the procedure. So I didn't see any of it. Kel said it wasn't too bad though. I used this time to go to the food court and get my lunch. Grilled chicken wrap. The food court has a Dairy Queen, Subway, Pizza place and Morrison's. Not bad, but we have food in the room to eat. Sometimes Kelly and I trade food for favors from the nurses. That's how we got her the bigger and better bed. Never underestimate the power of good cookies!! Thanks Kathy McCloy!
After the PICC Nurse left a guy came in and did a chest x-ray. Then a while later they all came back and did another x-ray. Just now the nurse came in and put Kelly back on the baby monitor. She is monitored for one hour every eight hours. As soon as they get the go ahead about the PICC line she will be back on an antibiotic drip. Never a dull moment up here on the high risk floor. This morning soon after I arrived the girl next door had her baby in her room! I had heard the nurse ask for someone to notify NICU then in a few minutes we heard screaming. Not bad, blood curdling screaming but the "I've not had anything for pain and I'm giving birth" type screaming. It didn't last long. Everyone says the mother and baby are both doing good. The doctor this week is Dr. Fortunato. We haven't seen him yet today. He has been on the floor once but was called away for surgery. Kelly spent the morning on the internet looking up statistics on car seats for preemies. If anyone has experience with this leave a comment or email me. It's hard to be ready in May for a baby that isn't due until August! Luckily Ned and Kelly had gone and registered at Target and Babies-R-Us. Now I can go and shop for the right things!
Kelly says thanks to all for the emails. Now that she has internet, (as soon as I get off here) she can respond to your emails more easily. The phone was just to tempermental. I am fixin' to set her up a facebook account. So be sure and do a friend request.
Again, thanks for the many, many prayers and keep 'em coming.

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