If you missed any of the previous posts about Isabel’s birth, you can check them out here:
Isabel has had an exciting first 3 days of life, including a trip on a private plane. It would be a few days before the heart catheterization because of the New Year holiday and finding time in the schedule. They placed a Nasogastric Intubation (NG) tube and started her on IV nutrition to make sure that she was getting everything she needed. She was eating but not as much as the doctors and nurses would like with everything happening. We had a few doctors stop by the room to ensure that we understood everything going on with Isabel and to allow us to ask any questions. Jen and I are both the kind of people who like to know everything possible, so we always had a few questions.
By the 4th day, we realized that all we had was what Jen packed in our baby bags, expecting to stay maybe 2 nights in Gunnison. The hospital was fantastic and gave us a taxi voucher to get to Target and buy a few needed things. It gave us an opportunity to leave the hospital for a few hours and walk around Target. Isabel was eating very well, was off IV nutrition by mid-afternoon, and could be off the NG Tube before the new year. We rang in the new year with the amazing nursing staff at and for the first time in days a baby that didn’t have any tubes taped to her face.
We spent the next few days in a holding pattern, waiting to find out when they would be able to schedule the Cath. The hospital had different people stopping by our room, letting us know what the hospital has for parents, and they gave us a week’s worth of Gift Cards for the cafeteria. This is also when I started talking to the financial aid consular. She helped organize everything with our insurance company, so we didn’t have to hear anything from them or the insurance company about money for a while. I know I have said this a few times before, but the people we worked with at every level during the process exceeded our expectations.
On January 2nd, we discovered that the Cath was scheduled for 8:00 am the next day. We were happy to know it was scheduled, but it also meant she was going to be put under and have a pretty major procedure done.
Isabel is going to appreciate being able to read her story when she is older. I think it’s awesome you’re putting this together.
Isabel’s story could be made into a movie someday.
Thanks Adam. I am mainly doing it because when we were in the hospital doing research it took a while before we found sites and people that had talked about their experiences. I want other parents that might be going through the same thing to see that it is not just them.