Holladay, Alexandra Nichole

[mholladay]

Hi everyone. Our daughter Alexandra Nichole Holladay was born via c-section at approximately 5:30 pm on Friday, 3/8 at Washington Hospital Center in DC and immediately transferred to the NICU at Children's National Medical Center next door, where she remains this morning. She weighed 6 lbs 12 oz at birth, which happened suddenly at 36 weeks. I started feeling weird around noon and within 6 hours she was out. It's been a whirlwind few days. She got by for about 20 hours on just a respirator before the doctors decided it was best to put her on ECMO. She's been very stable ever since but not well enough to reduce her support level just yet. The doctors keep telling us to be patient, that it could be another week or so before they can take that step.

Meanwhile I'm doing my best to heal from the surgery but it hasn't been easy. I'm breast pumping which is not going great but I'm getting lots of support from the counselors at the hospital and also from my OBG staff. Everyone at Children's is just AMAZING and we are so grateful to all of them for their support and care. It's all a bit overwhelming right now we're just trying to take it day by day and look for signs of her getting stronger.

I'm resting at home this morning (overdid it yesterday and had a rough night) but we'll be back at CNMC after lunch. I've been making regular updates on our Facebook page which is probably the best place to go for news on our situation: www.facebook.com/FlyTheAirplane. Will also try to make a longer blog post on our website, www.holladayaviation.com at some point today.

Hoping to be at the march in DC next month.

Mer

[Chris and TracyMeats]

It is good to hear from you! Congratulations on the birth of your baby girl, what a pretty name!! Will keep Alexandra in my prayers. Tell her to keep fighting! One day at a time and focus on the positive. Hope ECMO gives her body time to rest and get stronger for her repair surgery.

Hope you heal from surgery...so hard when you have a baby in the NICU. Walk when you can, drink lots of water and don't overdo. Alexandra needs a strong mommy!

Fight Alexandra fight!! Will go check out your facebook page and see if you have pics posted! I bet she is beautiful!

[freedom]

Congratulations! Thank you so much for posting an update for us. I agree with Tracy. Take it easy...which I know is SO hard. I've had 5 - yes 5 c-sections and it's not easy. I was not good about taking care of myself and pushing too hard which only caused me to talk longer to heal. Ask for help when needed. Sending you all so much love & hugs. Stay strong sweet Alexandra. Thinking of you all tons. Sending love from Maryland.

[mholladay]

Thanks everyone. Alex is doing very well today and they've started reducing her levels since her gases have been so good overnight and this morning. She even opened her eyes for us this afternoon... bright sky blue, just like my grandmother's. And yes I learned my lesson about overdoing it, am taking it easy here and doing my best to keep up with the pain meds though I'd really like to be off the oxycodone by the weekend. Not able to cut it out just yet. Breast pumping is going much better now that I got some good advice from my OBG staff. Taking it one day at a time. My stepdaughter is coming to visit now with a friend, and tonight I do hope to get the blog updated with pictures.

[Chris and TracyMeats]

That is a good sign they are reducing her levels!! Hope the pumping starts going better and you get to spend more time with Alex in the days to come. That is a good sign she has opened her eyes with the all the meds she is on....precious baby girl.

One day at a time and keep focusing on the positive.

[klunick]

My son was treated at Children's National Medical Center for his hernia almost 9 years ago. (Wow! Time flys!!) It's a great hospital and the staff is very caring. When my son had his appendix removed in 2011, I had the option to go back to Children's for the surgery. I should have taken it. He ended up having his surgery at Georgetown University Hospital, which was a nice place, but it would have been nice to go back to Children's and be able to thank them for everything they did in our brief stay there. If you read any of the stories I've posted about my Dalton, you understand when I say, I have a feeling I might get another chance to thank them in the future. :/

Good luck and know you are in great hands.

[freedom]

Oh, what a sweet update. Love the part about her eyes being like your grandmothers. Soak it all in mom and enjoy every speical moment with her. Keep up the good work on taking it easy. I hope you have a good family/friend support team to help you out as well. That is always so helpful. Take care

[ReneeB]

Wonderful congrats on the arrival of Alexandra. Keeping her in my thoughts that she continues her upward trend.

[mholladay]

We seem to be in a holding pattern at the moment, but the way we look at it, no news is good news. She seems to be stable at a 50/50 support level but having a hard time getting her CO2 levels down enough to ratchet down the support much more. We're taking the nurses' advice and sleeping at home which I think is essential for us to be able to get through the day. Dana is back to work on a limited basis and we have TONS of support from friends locally as well as from Dana's daughter Nikki who is 22 and lives in DC. So far so good. Just each day we hope she makes progress. Would be great to get her into surgery by the end of next week.

[Chris and TracyMeats]

Keep fighting Alex!!! I agree with the nurses on trying to get as much rest as you can, hard to do, but good for your body to heal. Hope she has a very strong weekend and you start to see her CO2 levels come down and her support. She will let them know when she is ready.

Praying for strength for Alex and your family.