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Dylan
If you are looking for the latest photos of Dylan,
please visit his Photos page.
Dylan is doing Great! He's on #2 foods, just now rolling
over but not yet crawling. He's making the motions,
but doesn't seem to be able to "put 'er in gear".
Once he figures out he can move around with that motion
we will have a lot of childproofing to do! (We're already
making plans).
We'll post more milestones as they happen.
If you want to read the long, detailed story about
the challenges Alicia had with this pregnancy, read
on...
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3-D Photo
Taken mid-January, you can see his face at left.
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I could write many paragraphs about all the things Alicia
did to make it this far. She has been on bed rest since
before Thanksgiving. Then she developed gestational diabetes
and had to adopt a restrictive diet. Next came a severe
headache due to high blood pressure. The diagnosis was Pre-eclampsia
(also known as Pregnancy Induced Hypertension (PIH) or Toxemia).
A VERY strict low-sodium diet, in addition to the diabetic
diet she was already following, was maintained for several
weeks, along with blood pressure testing several times daily.
Eventually the pre-eclampsia prevailed and despite her
best efforts she had to go into the hospital on Monday,
1/19/04. Not only was her blood pressure dangerously elevated,
she was also having contractions 3-1/2 minutes apart. Alicia
was stabilized and went to the doctor Tuesday 1/20/04. At
this point in the pregnancy every week, even every day,
is critical, so Alicia was given a medication to control
her blood pressure and contractions with the hopes of adding
a few days or weeks.
Unfortunately, she had a severe reaction that required
a second hospitalization. Another stabilization and back
home for monitoring, but by the end of the week her blood
pressure was so elevated that she required hospitalization.
Alicia was admitted to Western Baptist Hospital 1/23/04.
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Saturday 1/24/04
Khrista Solomon drops by to visit Alicia 1/24/04.
Khrista had just delivered her second daughter, Marleigh,
the night before! Alicia was in the hospital for the
third time this week with blood pressure problems.
We just hope the latest medicine will do the trick!
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Jennifer Vest stopped by a little later to visit.
Alicia keeps trying to talk her favorite CRNA into doing
the anesthesia for her delivery! |
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Monday 1/26/04
20:10 CST: This morning the doctor determined that
Alicia's condition was deteriorating to the point where
advanced neo-natal care will be necessary. At 9 a.m. she
was transported via ambulance to the University of Louisville
Hospital. Transport via helicopter was indicated, but the
heavy fog precluded helicopter transport today and a cold
front due tomorrow is scheduled to bring icy conditions,
so an ambulance transport was made.
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Alicia was transferred to Labor and Delivery at U
of L Hospital. The plan is to administer steriods to
assist fetal lung development and then induce on Wednesday.
If her condition takes a turn for the worse, they may
have to c-section the baby sooner. If things go much
better than expected, the delivery may be postponed
a few days, but delivery is likely 1/28/04. That would
be 33 weeks + 6 days. |
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Tuesday 1/27/04
19:53 CST: Alicia is still stable and delivery is
planned for tomorrow, 1/28/04. They began the preliminary
steps toward inducing labor at 7 p.m. tonight. The next
phase begins tomorrow at 7 a.m., but actual delivery is
expected to be much later, perhaps even early Thursday.
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No matter how challenging things are, there is always
enough time and energy to get your legs shaved. Christy
wouldn't dream of letting her sister Alicia go into
labor without having smooth legs! |
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Wednesday 1/28/04
Phase two of induction is almost
complete. Today was spent waiting for the preliminary
"stuff" to take effect. The final phase
begins as early as midnight CST and delivery is expected
tomorrow some time. It's impossible to predict, but
late morning seems to be the earliest to reasonably
anticipate.
Jennifer and Vicki dropped in for a visit today!
They took some film photos, but all we have for now
are the digital images I've taken.
Alicia is sleeping now as I type away in the dark.
I'll keep everyone posted...
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 It's a Boy!
Name: Dylan Carter Colp
Date of birth: Thursday 1/29/04
Time of birth: 6:26 a.m.
Place of birth: University of Louisville Hospital, Louisville, KY
Sex: Male
Weight: 4 lbs., 5 oz.
Length: 17-3/4"
 Friday 1/30/04
03:45 EST: Alicia was taken off IV medications shortly
before 1 a.m. After a shower and change of clothes, I wheeled
Alicia to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) to see
Dylan for the first time. As of 02:30 today, Dylan is on
assisted breathing via CPAP which is a low pressure pump
that gently blows air into the lungs to keep them inflated.
He does not require a breathing tube and he breathes fine
on his own, but the doctors use the CPAP to help along lung
development. All of his test results have been great, so
there are no known problems at this time.
Alicia will probably move out of Labor and Delivery and
into a Maternity room today. She expects to be discharged
Sunday morning. Dylan will likely remain in hospital for
at least two weeks, but his situation is evaluated regularly.
47 hours after arriving, I finally get to go back to my
hotel room for some sleep in a real bed and to get a much
needed shower, shave, and change of clothes!
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15:47 EST: Alicia has been moved out of her
Labor and Delivery room and into Post Partum Room
338. Her blood pressure is still elevated and there
is still a lot of edema (swelling) in her feet and
hands, but her condition is improving. We are still
hopeful that she will be released Sunday morning.
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Sunday 2/01/04
06:30 EST: Dylan is still doing well. He is
breathing on his own and has started taking milk from
a bottle. Alicia is still having problems with high
blood pressure so she is likely to remain in the hospital
until at least Monday. Dylan will remain in the NICU
for a few weeks. It's impossible to predict, but 3
to 6 weeks is likely.
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Wednesday 2/04/04
20:23 CST: Dylan is still doing well. He is
breathing on his own and has started taking milk regularly
from a bottle. Alicia is still having problems with
high blood pressure, but the latest medication seems
to be working. We've thought that before so we're
still a bit skeptical. As of now she's still in the
hospital and likely to be there at least another day
or two. Dylan will remain in the NICU for at least
another week and maybe a few more weeks.
Thursday 2/05/04
16:43 CST: Dylan is still doing great! There's
a chance he will be released in just a few days, perhaps
as early as Saturday! Alicia is doing better and may
be released tomorrow!
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Friday 2/06/04
21:54 EST: Alicia, Dylan and I are staying
in a place called "Room In" at the hospital.
It's actually a hospital room across from NICU, but
it has a regular bed and is decorated more like a
hotel room. We will stay here tonight with Dylan in
our room to be sure we can take care of him ourselves.
We then all expect to come home tomorrow!
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Saturday 2/07/04
16:00 CST: Alicia, Dylan and I arrive home!
It's been a long and arduous journey but we are finally
a family at home! We were given explicit instructions
that Dylan was to have no visitors until April.
We would love nothing more than to show him off, but
there are special considerations for a premature baby
and he wasn't even due until Mid-March, so we must
insist for the health of our baby that we not have
visitors until April. We will post occasional photos
and Alicia is now able to reply to your emails, but
we really must focus our time and efforts on giving
Dylan the very best start we can.
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