Finally in 2006 I became a Grandma & boy was I ever in love. Come to think of it I probably have thousands pictures of that little man.
It was abut 1 1/2 yrs later my daughter cames to me with the exciting news that she was pregnant & due in Aug. Guess who has a big grin on her face?? Just a few months later my son & his wife learn they will be having their 2nd child. Oh my gosh was I on cloud nine with even a bigger smile!! Two grandbabies in 1yr!!!
The two Mamas do all the things that it takes to get ready for their bundle of joys to enter our world & this grandma was making she was armed with her camera, tissues and hugs.
Almost close to my daughter due date she start having problems with her BP so her doctor thought it would be best to induce her. Finally after a long labor then a C-section I become a proud grandma to a little girl. She weighted 7lb8ozs 21 in long and is beautiful!!! and my camera was working over time.
Our little Claire Bear is jaundice so doctors decided to keep her a extra day. The next day they came in to tell mommy that Claire needs testing & a specialist so they were sending her by ambulance to the children hospital. My heart sunk but I knew she would be in good hands at the children hospital. So we thought! After a few days there her mommy was told whats wrong, that Claire needed surgery in a few months & she could finally take her baby girl home. Little did we know some else was about to happen that would make us hit our knees.
It was day 9 that Jen was told she could take Claire home the next day. Only that same day something didn't feel right. Claire started taking a hr to drink 2ozs just to throw it all up & we had to fight keep her awake. Jen & I both asked the nurse if something was wrong Claire. She acted like it wasn't a big deal and told us it's normal for a baby to want to sleep this much. I thought to myself but it doesn't feel right then again who am I to second guess a nurse of 30 yrs. That afternoon the pulse ox machine wasn't picking up her Sats so the nurse thought it was broken. She took it off Claire & said she would bring in another one. About a hr later she came in to put another on her foot but still no reading and the nurse said out loud two broke machines! she took it off & didn't bring another one in. When mommy asked again is my baby ok? The nurse tell her "She's fine, but you need to get her to hold down her feeding if you want to take her home". The nurse's sift ends & we get a new nurse.
It doesn't take to long for that new nurse to raise an eyebrow & ask the nurse in charge in to listen to Claire's heart. Once again it's brushed off that anything is wrong. Only this time Claire's nurse tell us she is getting the doctor. Jen wants to hold Claire so the nurse put her in her arm & goes to make that call. In just a few mins the screaming starts. Oh my God something wrong with Claire. I look out the door spot the nurse on the phone & she shout to someone to go into our room & before I know we are pushed out of the room with nurse after nurse & a doctor running in. Jen falls to her knees screaming "Please don't let my baby die" over and over again. I had to grab her to pull her into another room that was empty to try to clam her. Not one single person came in to make sure we were alright.
The next time we see Claire she is on life support & we are told she went into Cardiac Arrest & to count our blessing that it happen at the hospital because if she had been at home she most likely would not of made it to any hospital. They also told us she needed surgery but right now she is not strong enough.
Day 12 Claire has her 1st heart surgery. I really don't remember how long it took because it all felt like it was a dream. She did come out of it with them telling Mommy her little girl doing good but she took a harder hit to her heart then what they thought and if she does good in the next few days she should be able to go home in a week. Finally the day came she was moved to step down. Now our Claire is getting closer to going home to sleep in her own bed. So we thought!
Once again Jen was told her baby girl was going home the next day only I get a phone call from Jen saying "Mom something wrong with Claire". I spent a few mins talking to her thinking Jen is just scared so I told her I would be there in a bit. I called the nurse to ask her what was going on and she said she thinks Jen is just nervous because of what happen to Claire but they were going to do an echo to calm Mommy down.
Claire never came back to that room after that echo she was once again slapped on life support with Mommy being told her baby needed a heart transplant. What hard hard words for a young mom to hear all alone with no family to hold her up. 2 days later she was air lifted to Arkansas Children .
This is how I found out about the # 1 birth defect and the reason why I tell everyone to get their baby heart checked with a pulse ox at 24 hrs old, the reason why I talk so much about Claire and CHD because no family should find out about the #1 defect the way we did. the reason I don't take life for granted anymore I make sure I hugs my grandbabies alot.
Oh BTW the 3 grandbaby was a heart healthy beautiful little boy weighting about 10lbs.
Do I still want that house full of grandkids? Not if it means another one will be born with any defect. This was tough enough on this Grandma's heart.
