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TracyLanders

First post..first update.

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So today, my baby girl is 26 days old. And what a rough 26 days it's been!

I went into labor at around 10:30 on St. Patrick's Day. Labor lasted a little over 11 hours, and my little angel was born at 9:40 am on March 18th at Women & Infants' Hospital in Providence.

And what a feeling! She was 7 pounds, 11 ounces and about 20 inches long. (They never officially measured her.) She had a full head of hair and let out a little, tiny cry. Which was the happiest moment of it all! :D

The worst part was that I wasn't allowed to hold her. They cleaned her off, brought her back to me so I could look at her for a minute, then took her away to hook her up to everything.

She stayed in Providence for 11 days without having her surgery. She had developed severe pulmonary hypertension and Women & Infants was too afraid of doing the surgery. They also believed she needed ECMO right away. Off to Boston and Mass General we went. :|

She had been there for two days when they did the surgery, without the help of ECMO. She did AMAZING throughout the surgery. She lost barely any blood and held her own very well. The surgeons and everyone around were very optimistic about what was to come. She did amazing for about three days. Then..she went into distress.

She started to de-sat and her blood pressure was still high. Her heart was working overtime and everybody was worried. Now it was time to go on ECMO. She was put onto venous venous ECMO and was doing well. Four days later, she had a bad day. And by the next morning, she started de-satting again and crashing. They felt the only thing to do, and the best thing for her, would be to put her on venous arterial ECMO so both her lungs and heart could rest and get healthy.

Apparently, the venous venous lines had kinked, causing the meltdown. But here we are. She's been on venous arterial for five days now. She's had to have two chest tubes put in, one on each side because of the development of bilateral pneumothoraces. But she's holding on. And so is her father and I..and the rest of her very large, extended family.

Ericka Elizabeth has been a blessing from God. She came to be unexpectedly but I wouldn't trade her for ANYTHING. Her CDH has essentially been fixed. Now it's the effects of the hernia that we're dealing with. It's been hard and has already seemed like forever. But she's not giving up. And neither am I. Fortunately, she was born full-term and continues to stay strong. Please keep her in your prayers. She's in mine everyday.

To see someone who looks exactly like you, that means so much to you, in so much pain..it's not easy to think about anything else. And I rarely ever do.*Keep fighting the fight, my little Fighter.*

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