We're Home!

I was afraid to jinx it by posting earlier but we were able to bring baby Jack home from Houston this afternoon. He is sleeping well right now--one of the benefits of being in a NICU for 10 days is the ability to sleep through anything! Because Jack's been in a pristine environment for nearly two weeks, the doctors advise us to keep him away from crowds, too many visitors or lots of other kids for another two weeks. I'm looking forward to a few days of just bonding with my baby, toddler and husband.

Xavier comes home tomorrow after having the time of his life with my extended family. I understand from my mother that he has new words and new tricks.

Our cat Edie is beginning to forgive us for being gone for so long. She took one look at Jack and looked up at me as if to say, "You brought home another one?!"

On the Receiving End

It's not everyday that you come home to a nice meal served up to you by a professional basketball player. The Houston Rockets, their dance team, and a bunch of folks from Southwest Airlines were at the RMH last night doing just that. The kids loved it as did most of the parents. It made me tear up a little.

It was relatively more comfortable for me to be on the receiving end of so much help and support from family and friends who have provided everything from childcare to cat sitting to hotel accommodations. I'm slowly getting used to the feelings that receiving good works from complete strangers bring. I'm learning that it is a special grace to be able to allow others to help you in your time of need. There are all sorts of unseen hands lifting us up right now. They deliver pizzas to the RMH in the hospital, bring by little stuffed bears for the sick kids, or even just sing Christmas carols in the lobby for us to enjoy. I still get overwhelmed by it all from time to time but I'm beginning to accept that by this experience as the receiver we'll be better givers in the future.

Two Bits of Good News

Today brings good news on two fronts. First, the blood pressure in Jack's left arm has increased slightly which MAY indicate that a clot in the artery is being diminished by the medicine he is on. Tomorrow's Doppler scan will reveal more on that front. In any case, it is a little more positive than the "stable and waiting" position we've been in for the past few days.

Our second bit of good news is that Tim and I are making preparations to have Xavier join us here...perhaps as early as Sunday afternoon! It has been less than a week since I laid eyes on him but I crave his presence.

Tim and I checked out the Sibling Place here at TCH. It is a daycare-like, supervised play center open for a few hours three days a week. Its mission is to help parents of NICU babies have a nearby place for their other kids while visiting. We met one of the caregivers who was very friendly.

We also found a small outdoor courtyard connected to the RMH here in the hospital.
Between the other kids, the pretty nurses, and the available food here, I am sure Xavier will have a good time hanging out with Mom or Dad while the other one of us is with Jack or busy with other day-to-day stuff like napping. I think we are all looking forward to just sitting down to dinner together again as a family. Simple pleasures indeed.

Photos!

Here's an updated one of Jack. I want to try again to get a better shot but as you can see he's a cutie.

Here's one of Xavier and his cousin Matt playing chef at my sister's house. I know he is having a great time there but we miss him so.

The labs on Jack are trickling in and we hope to have a report from hematology this afternoon. So far nothing that has come back thus far indicates a clotting disorder which we hope continues. Friday Jack has another Doppler scan of his shoulder to assess if the clot has changed at all and to plan a course for further diagnostic testing.

Jack is scheduled for a follow up Doppler of his arm on Friday morning which will give us more information about the clot, if it is growing or shrinking or staying the same, and further exploration.

Oh McDonald's!

After being on the waiting list, Tim and I finally got a room in the larger Ronald McDonald House a mile or so down the road from the hospital. For those of you not familiar with the program (as I wasn't just a few days ago) it is a part communal living/part private quarters place that houses families of kids who are hospitalized or undergoing treatment.

Part of the reason for the wait for us was the fact that the floor we are on was damaged by Hurricane Ike. They just opened it up (replete with fresh paint and new carpet) today and boom, we were in. Our room is quite large with floor to ceiling picture windows. Food or drink is not allowed in the rooms and reservable television rooms are down the hall. It is a cross between a nicely appointed hotel, a dorm room, and a monastery (think simplicity).

Downstairs we have our own cubby in a freezer, a fridge and a pantry in the large kitchen with several cooking bays. Nearly every night a different organization or company sponsors dinner which makes for less work and clean up. There are activities for the kids staying here like a Teddy Bear Clinic where kids can get a health and hygiene lesson by using their stuffed animals as role models.

In addition to a significantly lower cost than a hotel, it is just nice and normalizing to be around other families who are in the same boat. Part of the way they keep costs down here is that each family has a communal chore to do to help keep the common areas clean. Ours is emptying the three small garbage cans each night in the outdoor BBQ pavilion. As it is freezing cold right now, we basically have the EASIEST job you could think of. Peek into three garbage cans to confirm that they are indeed empty and you're done!

Jack continues to do well. We are still waiting on some bloodwork the hematologists ordered to come back to discern if the clot is an anomaly or an indication that he may have some sort of ongoing condition that causes clotting issues for him. The clot still is in place as the nurses aren't able to find a pulse in his elbow or wrist yet. (By the way, this is less gruesome than it sounds since the smaller blood vessels are doing a great job of supplying his arm with blood.) While we are waiting on those results, Dr. Leonard, Jack's neonatologist, has asked the TCH vascular surgeons to consult to start pulling together information from their team and other medical centers around the country on procedural/surgical treatment options and experiences with similar cases. That way if the medications alone don't clear the clot, they will have a plan in place for next steps ready to go.

I will try to take some photos of Jack later today. He is beginning to lose that old-man-mystic-on-the-mountain-top look so common to newborns. He is fattening up and getting that lovely plump baby face. Nursing is going well as is pumping. I take a little delight in knowing that he's had virtually nothing but mother's milk since birth. The milk banking/nursing support at TCH is fantastic...a ideal model for how I wish the rest of society could be for all the other nursing moms out there.

That's all for now! Keep those prayers a'coming! They are certainly keeping us lifted up.

Photos

Jack is doing well today. The medical team was able to get the right dose of Lovinox (blood thinner) for him so I'm hoping this will result in fewer blood draws in the future. He is a real trooper though and hardly cries as long as he is getting a little sugar water on a pacifier while being stuck. We wait now to see if the blood pressure in his left arm increases as a result.

Tim and I checked into an extended stay hotel last night. It is nice to have a little kitchen in our room. The hotel is brand new...maybe too brand new. They are having issues setting up their internet and phone system right now. If it isn't resolved we will moving down the road to another similar hotel.

We went to a wonderful noon Mass today across the way at St. Luke's Hospital. The gospel and homily were about John the Baptist and how he pointed the way toward the refreshment and peace of Christ. I can only think how our experiences right now with our John, an Advent baby, is also leading us into a deeper walk with Jesus as we head toward Christmastime too.


Xavier went back to Louisiana to stay with family there while Tim and I are here in Houston. He had a slumber party with his cousin Matt last night and my sister reports that they are both as cute as can be. Matt is such a good host, making sure Xavier has diapers, stuffed animals to sleep with and even a night light. As you can see by this photo from my brother-in-law, I think Xavier may take after his auntie's musical interests. We can only hope!

Welcome to the World Jack!

It is with great joy that I write to tell you of the birth of our second son, John Andrew McNicholl. We have taken to calling him Jack. He was born on Monday, December 8th weighing 7lbs, 13 oz and measuring 19 inches. He and I spent two comfy days together at the hospital when the medical team at St. Elizabeth's noticed that Jack's blood pressure in his left arm was lower than his right. In every other way he is a healthy baby boy but the condition was a cause for concern. After a series of tests and observations in Beaumont, Jack was transported on Wednesday night to Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, a world-class facility, for more in depth investigation.

Jack's medical team here is carefully zeroing in on a firm diagnosis but it appears that he has a clot in the subclavian artery leading to his left arm. According to his neonatologist, this is an extremely rare condition--only four other cases of this sort (not induced by previous medication or medical treatment) have been documented around the world. Fortunately his arm is healthy, pink and fully functioning meaning that his little body has already managed its own "work around" solution for now. I can't stress enough that right now in every other way he is happy, healthy and typical--something that Tim and I are increasingly grateful for the more time we spend here in the TCH environment around babies in much more critical condition than Jack's. Our hope is that he will remain "Mr. Regular" as the nurses call him on the ward and have no other external symptoms while this condition is assessed and corrected.

Tim and I are staying in Houston close to TCH and each day we hope to get closer to a resolution. Until then we will be posting updates about Jack and the rest of the McNicholl clan on my personal blog. For privacy purposes, I may be adding a password access feature to the blog this weekend so you may need to register to access it soon.

We welcome all prayers and well-wishing comments/e-mails, but for now ask that folks not come to visit us at the hospital or call. We are focused on getting our little Jack healthy enough for a return home to Beaumont. You may share our news about Jack with others friends and family whom may not have been on our e-mail list (especially those who are not connected to the internet!). If you do so, please just reiterate our strong desire not to receive phone calls or visits at this time. Again, prayers and e-mails are the best support we can ask for right now.

I hope to have more photos up on the blog by tomorrow!

Advent

After a little scrambling I got our Advent wreath up in our dining room. I was determined to have some sign of Advent around here since I decided not to put garland around our door. You wouldn't believe how difficult it is to find purple and pink candles this time of year!

The white candle in the center is our Immaculate Conception candle representing Mary. I'm jumping the gun on this one a little since the Feast of the Immaculate Conception isn't until December 8th, but I'm planning to be a little busy that day giving birth. I carved out a small space in the candle and hid a little baby Jesus inside behind some ribbon. On Christmas I'll remove the covering to represent the birth.

Since Tim and I got married, we've made the choice to really focus on Advent up until Christmas Vigil on December 24th. Advent is chock full of special feasts (St. Francis Xavier, St. Nicholas, St. Lucy....) and traditions (Advent songs and prayers, Jesse tree...) and I hate to miss the joy of antipation in the rush to celebrate Christmas. With Christmas shopping, parties, and music starting in early November now in the popular culture, it often feels as if we are swimming up the culture stream on this one.

I know that Xavier is too young to "get" a lot of what we're doing but I feel like it is part of my job as a homemaker and mother to create our own domestic church environment. He and his siblings will be able to say that we've been celebrating saints' feasts and Advent "for as long as they can remember." Besides, the commemorations are as much for me and my husband as they are for the kids.

I've Let Myself Go

Well, it's official. I've got one more week until my scheduled C-section and I've given up any pretense of fashionability. Since about my 30th week of pregnancy my OB has marvelled at my large fundal size. I'm pretty much normal in the legs and arms, and I am told that from the back you can't even tell that I'm pregnant. My profile, however, clearly shows a baby waiting to be born. At 37 weeks, I have the tummy size of a mother of twins in week 42.

All of my maternity pants, including the sweatpants, are too binding now when I sit down. So I've resorted to wearing all skirts. This poses two fashion delimas. First, all three of my skirts are summery, peasant skirts. One of them is even *gasp!* white! Second, because the skirts flow away from me as do the remaining shirts (all fall tones of course) that cover my belly adequately, I look huge. Seriously, it is as if I'm wearing a multi-part, mismatched burqua minus the head scarf.

I held out as long as I could but Sunday I threw caution to the wind and just embraced the hilarity of it all. You should have seen what I wore to mass. No, I haven't taken any photographs and no, I don't plan to either. You'll just have to imagine it!