Welcome

Hello all, and thank you for visiting Eli's new blog! If you are a regular reader, I appreciate your interest and your concern for Eli. If this is your first time, welcome! Since this is the first post here, I will provide a short history.

My name is Courtney and I am Eli's mother. I have been keeping a blog--for personal record, to update family, to educate and entertain--since shortly after Eli was born. He was due on August 27, 2008, but my water broke on March 9th (15 weeks in). This early breaking of water is referred to as pPROM: preterm premature rupture of membranes. My fiance, Seth, and I were told that I would most likely go into labor too early for the baby to be viable; they expected within the week. If that didn't happen, they said, I would probably not make it to term and even if I did, the baby would be born with very immature lungs (babies need amniotic fluid for their lungs to develop, and mine was leaking about as fast as my body could make it) and there would be nothing that could be done for it. The baby would also probably be born deformed, because with no fluid, the uterus is like a deflated balloon, and the baby has little room. Along with these risks were a terribly long list of complications that come along with being premature, which they assured me, he would be.

Despite the odds, Seth and I decided to take our chances, and pray; we continued the pregnancy. I couldn't imagine giving up on my baby...my baby... a part of me and the man the I love. I would have wondered my whole life, "what if?" I went about the pregnancy with an optimistic attitude, keeping in mind that it could still end in heartache.

Until 23 weeks, I was placed on strict bed rest at home. For the most part, I was cared for by Seth and his mother, but I had a lot of help from many other people as well, and I'm incredibly grateful. At 23 weeks, the baby is considered able to survive outside of the womb. It was then that I was admitted to Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus, 3 hours away from home and my family. Since there is nothing that can be done about pPROM, I was there for monitoring and close access to hospitals capable of caring for a very premature baby.

At 28 weeks, I started to have some heavy bleeding. An ultrasound indicated that the placenta was beginning to tear away from the uterine wall, something that would be very dangerous to Eli and to me. At the advice of the obstetricians and a neonatologist (NICU doctor) I had been talking to throughout my stay at OSU, we decided I would be induced. Because my body was far from ready for labor, it took a while, but I successfully delivered vaginally and Eli Richard arrived at 12:53 a.m. on June 11th--exactly 29 weeks. He even let out a small cry, which gave us hope for his tiny lungs.

I wasn't able to see him up close right away, but the NICU team did pause at my bed side for a moment before wheeling him away in the incubator. A few hours later, Seth and I were allowed to enter the NICU and meet our son. He weighed in at 2 lbs 12 ounces at 15 inches long, and although curled in a ball, he was roughly the size of my hand, he looked remarkably big and absolutely perfect and beautiful to me. At first sight, I knew everything would be ok. Of course I was still scared, but I just had a good feeling.

For the next few weeks, I spent as much time as I could with Eli, and when I went home, I called the NICU every day for updates and learned as much as I could about what was going on with my little miracle. I learned about bilirubin, the incubators and alarms, meconium, PICs, bradycardias, and sats. Boy, did we hear a lot about sats. Oxygen saturation in the blood, or sats, are measured by pulse oximeter (or pulse-ox, the little red light they put on your finger). The goal was to keep Eli's sats above 85%. Anything below was considered a de-sat, and anything in the 70's or below was a pretty bad one. The level of respiratory assistance was adjusted according to his needs. Eli started out on the ventilator, or breathing tube, which pumped air into his lungs and "breathed" for him. At about 1 week old, Eli moved to a CPAP, which blows air into his nose with pressure to keep his lungs expanded, but he took each breath on his own.

When he was 3 weeks old, Eli was transferred from OSU to Nationwide Children's Hospital because we had a scare with a condition known as NEC in which parts of the bowels die and need to be removed via surgery. Thankfully, Eli didn't end up needing surgery, and the move ended up being a blessing. The day before the move, there was an opening at the Ronald McDonald House which is practically in the parking lot of Children's Hospital. I was able to be by Eli's side for the rest of his NICU stay.

Around 8 weeks or so, Eli was able to move from the CPAP to the nasal cannula (which gives him a tiny whiff of pure oxygen), and shortly after, he was able to begin bottle and breastfeeding. On August 19th, 8 days before Eli's original due date, he was released and sent home on oxygen. He came home at 5 1/2 pounds, which is exactly double his birthweight.

At home, things went pretty smoothly. We were still living at Seth's parents' which ended up being a huge help. There were many people who enjoyed meeting Eli for the first time or being able to see him more often, including his Daddy. He gained weight and adapted well to being home. He was able to become cannula-free on October 1st, after being home for 6 weeks.

Today, Eli is 7 months old, 23.5 inches long, and 14 lbs. His adjusted age is 4 1/2 months. We often think about the things we were told about terminating the pregnancy and about Eli never being able to take a breath. I used to be angry at the doctors for leaving us feeling hopeless, and I'll admit that I was angry that this happened to us. I no longer feel that way, though. The doctors were just stating the facts, and I soon realized it wasn't them I needed for support and strength. And other than the pain this journey may have caused Eli, I wouldn't trade the experience for a normal pregnancy. I learned so much about myself and about prematurity, and Eli and I have created a very special bond. I know it sounds cliche, but Eli is a strong little boy and I know he is going to do extraordinary things. I thank God for him every day.

Here is a picture of Eli at birth and recently: