3/31 Update

I'm going to steal my mother-in-law's wording from Facebook because she summarized it very well:

"Maggie is doing very well. She came home from the NICU yesterday. They will recheck her bilirubin level again today. She is eating, sleeping, and pooping! She is very alert when awake. There are no signs of viral infection of the liver or brain. Her discharge diagnosis was prenatal perforated bowel. Bowel contents caused the infection and fluid in her abdomen. This condition has healed without medical intervention. We have a healthy baby girl thanks only to God's marvelous grace. I give Him all the glory!"

(Her bilirubin levels were still good today so we will not need to check again until next Monday.)

Back in the NICU

Well unfortunately Maggie is back in the NICU. This time it's due to her bilirubin levels. They are elevated to the point that they wanted to get her in for phototherapy. They don't seem overly concerned but it's something that they wanted to address right away. Feeding, peeing, pooping, and hanging out under the light are the things that will bring her levels down the fasted. We'll be in overnight for sure, but hopefully this stay won't stretch out for days.

Papa T and Nana D got to meet Maggie for the first time today! They pulled into town just in time to meet us at the hospital...theygot to hold her for just a couple of minutes before we had to whisk her away to the bili light. Pray Maggie comes home quickly so she will get more snuggle time with them before they have to head back home!!

Pictures and Visits

PICTURES:

Click here to see Maggie's Birth.

(My birth photographer and her daughter had influenza so she was unable to attend. My mom took over the job.)

VISITS:

A lot of people are asking when they can stop by and visit...I would LOVE to have visitors and show Maggie off, but just make sure and text, call, message or email me first to let me know when you would like to stop by so I can make sure it's a good time. I also want to make sure I don't have too many people showing up at once so I get to spend time with each person who visits!  -Amanda

PS...click here for Baby Maggie's Journey's Facebook page.  "Like" to follow our posts on FB.  I am much more timely on posting updates to Facebook than I am to the blog.

3/27 Update

We were in the "rooming-in" room of the NICU last night since Amanda was discharged but they wanted to keep Maggie for a tad more observation and testing. These are bigger rooms that are designed to be comfortable for the parents (queen-sized bed, microwave, minifridge). It's awesome that they have these available. She slept really well and allowed us to get some good sleep as well. We hope that's a sign of things to come! She had her vision/eye screening this morning and that came back with good results. Since the last update a few other tests and screenings have come back with positive results as well. The doctors are satisfied and Maggie and Amanda get to come home today! After she's home she will have the typical appointments and exams with her pediatrician and some more of the slower lab results will continue to trickle in. We couldn't be happier and or more excited to get her home. We ended up with the very best of the best-case scenarios and we know it was due to all the prayer and love from everyone who has shared in this with us. I also can't say enough good things about the care she received while in the NICU. The doctors, nurses, and staff are all amazingly skilled at what they do and it's clear that they have a love for these NICU babies that need their care.

Another 3/25 Update

Another 3/25 update: We got a few more results back this afternoon. An MRI was ordered earlier today as part of the process of ruling out or detecting signs of a viral infection. Even though their suspicions have since changed, that order was left in place. The results came back clear. They didn't see anything abnormal on the MRI that would cause them to suspect viral infection. We also received positive results with the upper GI that was done earlier today. Nothing abnormal was noted. They did note that Maggie is not a fan of barium, however.

Thanks again to all of you who continue to keep Maggie in your prayers. While you're praying for her, please also say a prayer for the other babies who are here in the NICU, and their parents. We pass them daily in the halls and it's a constant reminder that we are surrounded by a lot of heartache and medical issues that we will never know about. -Jon

3/25 Update

Update: We just had a visit with Maggie's NICU doctor this morning. They're completely switching gears in terms of their thinking on what may have happened to Maggie. They're moving away from their focus on a possible viral infection and focusing instead on the possibility that Maggie suffered a bowel perforation...one that may have already healed itself (best case scenario). There are several factors that are pointing them in this direction, but they'll continue to rule out viral infection. This is good news because the prognoses are far better for this scenario than those for viral infection. Testing for this new route of thought begins now, starting with an upper GI series. This will lengthen Maggie's NICU stay by a couple days, but, like I said, it's even better news, so we'll take it!

She's Here!!

Baby Maggie was born at 10:52am!! She weighs 7 lbs 7 oz and is 20 inches. She's looking great and got to spend some time with us before she headed to the NICU. Mom is doing great as well!