Saturday, August 28, 2010

Day 2

We all got some great rest last night and are feeling somewhat refreshed. Last night the cardiologist took a look at Jenni's EKG and said that everything was perfect with her heart. This news was to be expected but was great to have confirmed. They were still mystified on why her heart rate was so low, but they weren't worried about it, meaning it wasn't an issue, especially since her oxygen levels have been at 100% this whole time, meaning even though her heart is beating slow she is getting all the oxygen needed.

Jenni's OB came up last night to take one last look before heading home, since she had been there at the hospital 24 hours already. She came up with the OB that was going to be on call through out the night. This OB just happened to be the OB that was on call the night Taylor was born. She was the one that performed Jenni's C-section. It was nice to have both OB's there discussing everything as they are the two OB's most familiar with Jenni. Jenni also got to ask the OB a bunch of questions about her C-section surgery and get some answers about the status of her uterus.

Both of the OB's did lots of physical tests on Jenni's abdomen and they were both certain that she wasn't showing any signs of her digestive system organs being under any stress. But the blood results that they keep taking every 8 hours still show a high level of this enzyme excreting from her pancreas along with some issues with her liver.

They ended up doing an ultrasound on her pancreas & liver last night but the results of those came back perfect as well. They have discussed the possibility of next doing a CT scan on those two organs to see if they show anything.

Her OB's have basically passed her case onto a new doctor, since everything is fine with her postpartum issues. We are now waiting to meet with the internal medicine doctor to see what he decides to do since this is his specialty. We met with him briefly yesterday, but that was when everybody was still focusing on Jenni' heart, so he didn't have much to suggest and was leaving the calls up to Jenni's OB and the cardiologist. But now today he will be the one calling the shots.

The big dilemma right now is, the typical treatment for Jenni's current symptoms is to keep Jenni on a no food diet for a few days until her liver & pancreas reset, then to start adding nutrients through an IV and then eventually work up to an oral liquid diet, then to eating solids and if her organs responded correctly, then we could go home, but since she is breastfeeding Taylor this throws in a whole new loop. So, far Jenni's milk hasn't dried up and Taylor seems to be getting filled up each feeding, but they don't know how long that will last with Jenni not getting any nutrients, but if they give Jenni nutrients too soon and things flare up, then we are back to square one.

Jenni seems to be doing fine. She is a bit weak from not eating, but is past that hungry stage. They slowed down the amount of magnesium they were giving her because her levels were a bit high when doing the blood tests. This caused her blood pressure to rise back up into the 140's - 150's last night, which brought her headache back, so she has been taking some pain medication to ease her headaches. Jenni jokes that if they would let her eat a good meal, then her headache would go away and all would be well (since that is usually the case at home when she gets a headache she just needs to eat). Her heart rate has come up a bit from yesterday's low 40's. Now it is usually in the mid 50's, so it is nice to see that getting closer to her normal 70 & 80's bpm.

That's it for now. Taylor & I are going to head out and get some breakfast/lunch after we meet with the internal medicine doctor. Taylor has been the perfect baby throughout all this, just sleeping and eating and pooping, making my job easy. We'll see how the day goes and hope Jenni's blood results will start showing some positive signs soon for her pancreas and liver.

8 comments:

Dalynn said...

We hope the internal medicine doctor will be able to find some answers for everything. You two take care! We'll be thinking of you.

Unknown said...

Oh man, what a crazy experience. We'll be prayers for some answers and a quick recovery. I'm amazed a Jenni's strength. We love you both.

Every Star Is Different said...

Hope you get some answers!

Aby Runyan said...

Jenni,
I am so sorry about all this, it sounds just awful. I'm so glad you have your wonderful husband by your side. Feel better soon sweetie!

luvs, aby

Lori-ann said...

I'm so glad there's been some improvements! Every prayer we say in our home has had her in it. I pray that she will continue to improve and will be able to go home soon without any more complications. Tell her that we love her and am thinking of her!

Mrs. Schaeffer said...

Thanks for the update! I've been thinking about Jenni all day. Please let her know we're thinking of her in Pennsylvania!

Sandy said...

So good to hear the update. Glad things are getting sorted out. I'm with Elizabeth ~ amazed at Jenni's strength and so grateful for Will's faith. You are all in our prayers. Will, you deserve Taylor. He reminds me of you at 6 months when we had to leave you in IF and take Luke to Primary Children's in SL. You couldn't have been a better baby ~ son!!

FSD said...

Thanks for the update, Will. Jenni's been on my mind all day. I hope things start to turn around soon. You guys have already received good news. I'm praying that trend continues and that Jenni can go home very soon. I will be praying God continues to protect her milk supply. I'm so sorry all of this happening. Please say hi to Jenni for me.