Last Sunday, I received a phone call I wasn’t expecting. Like how most of these usually go, no one was expecting it. My mom called to say that Lisa, my sister, was being careflited down to Texas Women’s Hospital in downtown Houston for severe preeclampsia (high blood pressure during pregnancy). The doctors at the ER had decided she would either be on bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy or she would have an emergency c-section that night, but either way the message was clear: she wasn’t leaving the hospital pregnant. By the time she was rushed into Texas Women’s, they decided that she was in too much danger to remain pregnant, and Madeline Grace Pugh was brought into this world at 6:30 p.m. on August 29th. When Mom called again to let me know that they had to take Madeline early, I made plans to go down to Houston as soon as possible. That ended up being Tuesday.
Lisa remained in the ICU until Wednesday morning. Her blood pressure still wasn’t coming down, so they wouldn’t even let her see her baby. Tuesday night she pleaded with the night shift, and they let her see Madie. Shockingly enough, Lisa’s blood pressure came down the next morning and she was released from the ICU. Mom and I went to the hospital every day and pretty much hung out in Lisa’s room with her husband. She had so many incredible friends stop by to check on her, including her boss, who ordered her not to work while in the hospital and not rush to come back.
The whole experience was an emotional ride. I teared up every time Lisa cried, and I cried practically every time I visited Madie in the NICU. On Wednesday, her skin was so thin that it looked like her rib cage was about to protrude from her chest. You could even see her heart beating through the skin. I knew she was only 2.3 pounds, but I still wasn’t prepared for what I saw. My niece is so incredibly tiny and still has a long way to go in development. I know that NICU technology has made some advances over the last few years, but it was still hard to see her so small and attached to so many tubes.
Madie improved each day I saw her. Her skin became thicker, so we could no longer see her heart beating or her ribs. She’s very active, and the doctors and nurses all said that her prognosis was fantastic. The only concern they had was a heart murmur and the fact that her aorta hadn’t closed all the way – something that happens after birth. By Friday, my last day to see her, I overheard the doctor say that her heart murmur was completely gone. But then, as I got off the plane on Saturday, I got a text message from Lisa saying that Madie needed to have heart surgery to close the aorta. The surgery went very well and all the doctors are pleased, but my heart still aches for little baby who had to go through that and Lisa, who has been through so much this year.
Even though Lisa is healthy and good to go for tests to find out exactly why she contracted preeclampsia, she still needs lots of prayers and good thoughts because she is devastated that she had to leave the hospital without Madie. I can’t imagine what she is going through. They almost discharged her on Friday, and she broke down in tears at the thought of leaving. Joe asked the doctors if she could possibly stay one more night, and they agreed. What makes it all worse is that this hospital is about an hour away from them. Luckily, Lisa’s best friend lives ten minutes from the hospital, and she gave Joe and Lisa keys so they can spend the night there whenever they want.
Madie won’t be home until late November at the earliest, so it’s going to be a long three months for my Houston family. Mom said she is pretty much canceling everything through November so she can visit Madie almost every day. Lisa can’t go back to work for at least two weeks due to her own surgery, so I have a feeling she’ll be staying with her friend quite often until she can go back to work. And even then, all vacation plans they’ve made for the fall have been canceled so they can see their daughter. I am actually going to Houston two more times this month – it’s insane, I know – so I’ll get to see how much she’s improved too. If I could just move in with my sister to help, I would, but I have my own parenting duties to contend with.
I’ll tell you what though…Thanksgiving is going to be a HUGE celebration.
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