Elyssa LeBlanc
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I had a normal pregnancy no complications. Elyssa was born on March 11, 1999 after 12 hours of labor. My water was broken after I had been in labor for 7 hours only to find that it was maconium stained. I continued to labor until I delivered Elyssa at 9:06am.
I remember seeing the doctors "bagging" her, I am an EMT so I knew something was wrong. They took Elyssa out of my room and I did not get to see her again until she was intibated and on her way to the NICU across to the other side of town. Elyssa came off of the vent when she was a day old only to go back on it when she was three days. The second time she was extibated Elyssa got a nasal trumpet and an oxygen tent. Elyssa stayed on the oxygen tent for about two weeks once she kept her O2 sats up the took out the trumpet and discontinued the oxygen. The nights were so long having to come home from the hospital with out the baby. I would wake up frequently and call to check on her. Elyssa finally got to come home when she was five weeks old.
When Elyssa came home her apnea monitor kept going off her tongue kept blocking her airway and she was struggling so hard to breath that she did not gain very much weight at all. Elyssa went back into the children's hospital when she was eight weeks old. She went in for what we thought was going to be and over night evaluation and ended up getting the trach one week later. Elyssa has done so well with the trach. Our ENT said that once Elyssa has all of her repairs and surgeries that she should be able to get the trach out.
Elyssa will be evaluated next month for a G-tube due to Reflux and aspiration when eating with the trach. Right now she feeds through an NG-tube and refuses the bottle when we go to her speech therapist.
The first time that my husband and I got to hold her we just cried and cried, we never had any idea that Elyssa was going to have to go though so much My husband and I were both in the Navy when Elyssa was born but I got out when she was three months old. I guess that I just did not want anyone else to take care of her. We now have nursing at night, so that I can rest, and my husband is still in the navy so he is gone allot.
I just thank god for our little blessing I truly feel that he sent Elyssa to us because he knew that she would be well taken care of.
Elyssa was born at 5# 8oz. and now weights 12#. She is starting to roll over now and just smiles at every new face she meets.
