Wake up and get to work!

Um, so it turns out Chris is amazing. Yeah, I know, you already knew that, but she really is amazing. To recap: (1) Chris went to the OBGYN on June 6th and received such a good report they told her not to come back for another month. (2) Less than 24 hours later, her water unexpectedly broke; (3) She drove herself to the hospital before calling me; (4) She was given high-powered drugs to prevent labor, transported in an ambulance to Norton/Kosair, and visited by a doctor who told us we would likely deliver in the next 48 hours and detailed all the things that could be wrong with the kids; (5) Chris laid in a hospital bed for the next 10 days; (6) On the ninth day of bed rest, Chris was in incredible pain, thought she was having contractions, but nothing registered on the contraction monitors; (7) After being awake all night, Chris felt "something" between her legs early in the morning on June 17th; (8) The "something" was Clara's foot; (9) Chris was immediately taken in her hospital bed to a delivery room where she delivered Clara vaginally, breach, with no pain medication; (10) the docs put what they could back in, got an ultrasound monitor, and considered leaving Wilson in utero; (11) Wilson was delivered via c-section; (12) less than a week later Chris' c-section became infected, had to be re-opened, drained, and packed with gauze twice a day; (13) every two hours Chris used, and continues to use, a breast pump to provide the best nutrition for Clara and Wilson; (14) On the kids' one-month birthday we were in a car wreck that totaled our car and required Chris to be taken in an ambulance to the hospital; (15) she received stitches for severe cuts on her hand and was told to consult a hand surgeon; (16) three days later Chris had surgery to repair a severed nerve and severed artery in her hand; (17) yesterday, she went back to work. Seriously. She went back into the office and will hopefully be working at least part-time for the foreseeable future. Uh-May-Zing. It definitely makes me feel like a slacker because really, what have I done this summer?

But yesterday was a big day. The normally strong and stoic Chris returned to work and cried in front of her colleagues at Yum during their team meeting out of a deeply-felt appreciation for their patience, understanding, and loyalty during this entire ordeal. Chris' team at Yum has given us the love and support you expect from family, not from co-workers in major corporation. We will be forever grateful.

Chris back at work with her team at Yum! Brands

We hope Clara follows Chris' lead and gets back to work herself. Unfortunately, the blood infusion she received on Monday did not curb her desats or bradys (dropping oxygen and heart rate). The doctors and nurses think this could be related to the fact Clara isn't receiving enough caffeine. Clara and Wilson have been receiving small doses of caffeine since birth to help elevate their heart rates and maintain other vital functions. Clara's caffeine dosage has not been increased to match her weight, so she will receive more caffeine today. Along with the caffeine, Clara will be given a dose of lasix to help remove any excess water/fluid in and around her lungs. We also just learned her hemoglobin is still low and she will receive another blood transfusion tonight. Hopefully the combination of more blood, lasix, and more caffeine will put Clara back on a track similar to her brother. 

While we are worried about Clara, we continue to be thankful for how well things are going under the circumstances. Wilson is doing very well and Clara will hopefully rebound soon. Chris would have been 32 weeks pregnant today and the kids will instead be 6 weeks old tomorrow. We knew this was going to be a roller coaster, but could not have predicted how hard Clara and Wilson would fight to make the ride as enjoyable as possible. Sure, they are our kids and we're biased, but we are very proud of their progress. Now, if only Clara can get some caffeine and get to work, I'll let her sleep until noon every day when she is thirteen. Maybe.

Tomorrow Chris goes back to the hand surgeon for a check-up and we'll hopefully have more news about Clara's progress. Thanks for checking in with us and continuing to care so much about us and our little ones.