An archive of Daddy's letters to the family and friends, telling people of her progress
Date: Tue, 20 Oct 1998 03:31:17 -0500 (CDT)
2:30 waters broke. 3:00 contractions? Going to Dr. 6:00 (if not sooner). Will keep you posted. -- John
Date: Tue, 20 Oct 1998 23:05:13 -0500 (CDT)
This will ramble a bit, since I've been up since 2:30 AM. Tina's waters broke around then (2:30 Tuesday AM). By 3:00, she began having contractions about 5 minutes apart. By 5:00, we were registering at Fairview Riverside (or Fairview University, I forget). Things proceeded in a textbook fashion. She was a hell of a trooper, abstaining from any painkillers (!!!!!!!!). The baby had passed the myconeum (sp?), so there was some concern about its health. However, the heartbeat continued strong and steady, even through some pretty major contractions. We spent a lot of time in the tub, by the light of the lava lamp. (why so many flourescent lights in hospitals? efficient, but ICK!) By 1:00 pm, she was pushing. This was a difficult phase, as the baby was facing forward instead of back. Also, we had some difficulty getting the stubborn little thing to face STRAIGHT back. By 2:00, we were seeing a fuzzy little head appear at the peak of contractions. But we couldn't get it to go further for a long time, in spite of herculean efforts on TG (Tina)'s part. Around 5:00, we added some stuff to make the contractions a little stronger, and a little vacuum assistance. Suzanna Kay Robinson (tentative) was born at 5:56; roughly 7 1/4 lbs, dont' know the weight, and rushed to the Neonatal ICU. However, she had aspirated the myconeum pretty thouroughly, and needed a good cleaning out. At this point, she's on a respirator (can't breathe for herself yet), her color's looking much better since they balanced her Ph. She's drugged so she won't thrash around, and she's sedated so the immobility won't freak her out. Mom is doing quite well. The next 2-3 days will give us a better idea of her long-term outlook. For a shot of Suzanna and dad, go to http://www.visi.com/~johnr/images/suzanna.jpg Please pass this on to anyone else who should know. Thanks for letting me go on and on. John
Date: Fri, 23 Oct 1998 18:35:46
Subject: The latest word... Things have been scattered here in the John and Tina household, so some of you might not even know that: on October 20th, 1998, 5:54 pm, Tina Robinson gave birth to a baby girl, Suzanna Kay Robinson, 7 1/4 pounds, and who knows how long? Baby had some difficulty, as she breathed in a lot of stuff that she shouldn't have. She's in the Neonatal ICU and will be for at least another week. However, she's improving every day. Tina spent an hour in there today holding her in her (Tina's) arms. EEG came back pretty normal (there were just a few indications that this baby got off to a stressful start). And she has her mother's eyes! The latest news and pictures are always available at http://www.visi.com/~johnr/suzanna.html Baby is doing great! No more tubes in her arms, no respirator, no drugs. They stopped the antibiotics today, and they're continually dialing-down the oxygen enrichment that she's getting. We watched her sleeping this evening (she's still a little dopey from the narcotics she hasn't cleaned out of her system), and she was moving around, screwing up her face and making little noises just like a baby should! Mom is doing fine. I brought her home from the hospital yesterday. All she needs now is peace and quiet, and time to regain her strength, mentally and physically, for the challenges that lie ahead. If we don't answer the phone for a while, please forgive us. All of your prayers and good wishes that we've recieved in the last couple of days have been greatly appreciated, and we both thank you. As I've probably forgotten a few of the most important people in my life, I ask you to please pass this on to anyone else whom you think would have an interest.
Date: Sat, 24 Oct 1998 22:23:15 -0006
Subject: beautiful day.. It was warm and wonderful today. Suzanna continues to improve, sleeping in a real crib now! We held her for hours. Latest pictures are at http://www.visi.com/~johnr/suzanna.html spread the word to people who might want to know. Thanks for all your support.
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 1998 11:37:23
Subject: Suzanna's Progress Report Suzanna is completely off medications and oxygen. She's breathing on her own, and taking "real" food, albeit through a tube stuck down into her stomach. After several attempts, she still hasn't caught on to the idea of feeding herself -- she tends to fall asleep after only a little trying. In fact, she's still spending most of her time asleep. We'll be asking the doctor today whether we should be concerned about that. The nurses feel that she's doing really well, and said that they'd be "real surprised" if she weren't home by Saturday. No official word yet, however. Today (in fact, right now), they're running another EEG on her to make sure that her brain is all right -- an earlier test a few days ago indicated that everything looked okay, just a little "background pattern" which they felt was normal for a little baby who'd been through the stress that she'd been through. Keep her in your prayers. Thanks for all of the support. As usual: pix and info at http://www.visi.com/~johnr/suzanna.html and tell anybody else who you think should know. and john can be reached at jrobmn@gmail.com tina can be reached at tg@visi.com
Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 11:53:37
Subject: Little Suzie's progress report Sorry I haven't written in a while....didn't want to crowd everyone's mailbox with "nothing much to report!" reports. But the weekend is coming, so... Suzanna is becoming more alert and aware of her surroundings each day. She's been moved to "Nursery #1", which is a somewhat-quieter room filled with babies who tend to be doing better and are closer to going home. The one thing she has yet to learn is how to feed herself adequately. To be released from the hospital, she has to nurse properly and demonstrate a "consistent weight gain". A "full feeding" for her is about 60 ccs of mother's milk. This week, she started out getting 2 cc's on her own. Yesterday, she was up to 10 cc's. But it varies with each feeding (ZERO this morning, although mom can tell you that she clamped down pretty hard!). As one who has used the old "little finger as pacifier" trick, I can assure you that she can suck VERY WELL if she puts her mind to it. So..release date? Can't say. Let's all hope for next week sometime. Between e-mails, the whole updated story is always available at http://www.visi.com/~johnr/suzanna.html. I'll try to get some new pictures (now that she's opening her eyes a lot more) up this weekend.
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 11:59:34
Subject: Suzie News Things continue to progress, not as quickly as we'd like, but it's progress just the same. We're staying at the hospital now, so mom can feed Suzie whenever she asks for it. We've started bottle-feeding her when she tuckers out at nursing. While her EEGs are all normal, she exhibited some behavior on Tuesday night that has the doctors asking for an MRI just to be on the safe side. She goes through the scanner at 1:45 this afternoon. I'll be with her while mom gets some rest. The nurses say that she's demonstrating "purposeful" smiles (not just gas!) They're very sweet to see. Her little face has changed so much since those last pictures. She looks old and wise sometimes. All the latest is at http://www.visi.com/~johnr/suzanna.html. (still no new pictures -- sorry) I should let you all know that I update the webpage much more frequently than I send these e-mails. If you don't have web access, drop me a line and I'll gladly copy- and-paste for you. Sorry for the brevity -- I'm busy and I'm tired. Thanks to you all for your continuing good wishes and positive vibes. Papa John
November 9, 1998:
The whole family is home now. The hospital sent us home on Sunday, at 2:00 in the afternoon, once Suzanna demonstrated that she could feed on demand and continue to gain weight. Mom & Dad are tag-teaming it, so we each get a chance to rest. It's good to be home amongst our own stuff, our own food and clothes, etc. It's all standard "baby stuff" from here on out. Thanks for your support -- it's meant the world to us. We will now retreat into our little den for a good long while.
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1998 16:52:24
Subject: One week, all is well Suzanna has been home for a week, and she's looking good. Mom and Dad have been feeding her, and her appetite is increasing. A home check by a nurse last Thursday confirmed that she's putting on weight. She's a little doll and sleeps when she's not eating -- unless it's between 11 pm and 1 am! We've been taking sleep in shifts, and so far it appears to be working. We've learned that "ringer off" isn't a bad way to live life. Please don't be offended if we don't return calls for a while. There are a couple new snapshots at http://www.visi.com/~johnr/suzanna.html and I promise that someday I'll get a picture of her with her eyes open!
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1998 11:43:00
Subject: No News Is Good News Hello, everyone. By now, some of you are beginning to wonder whether we all dropped off the face of the earth, or what? Well, rest assured that All Is Well in the Family Robinson. John and Tina and Suzanna have been getting along famously. Here's a basic rundown of things that have been happening: Tina's mother came out for a visit, and got in a lot of "baby-holding time." Suzie and Shirley enjoyed each other's company a whole lot. Wednesday, December 16th: Suzanna has her third well-baby visit with the pediatrician. She's had a rather fussy day and is difficult to calm down in the doctor's office. Measurements: 9lbs 9oz (this represents almost a full ounce of weight gain DAILY since her last visit, and puts her in the 25th-50th percentile for weight). 22 inches long (50th percentile), head circumference 38cm (also 50th percentile). Doctor McKay loves her, and says "if I didn't know how difficult her birth had been, I wouldn't be able to tell now." Suzanna is calming down. Then she gets not one, not two, not three, but FOUR shots, two in each thigh. Her world almost ends, she screams and screams, and John completely freaks out watching it happen to her. Moments later, she's just fine, but WOW. Christmas was great -- I took a lot of pictures of a healthy, happy, smilling baby in her new Christmas outfit (and wearing her new Christmas bib from Aunt Solveig and Uncle Peter). Imagine my distress two days later when I discover that the camera hadn't been loaded! TG had a followup visit with the midwives last Monday. She saw Mary Ann, the midwife who helped at the delivery. It was a very good visit for both of them -- Mary Ann had been really concerned about Suzanna, and had of course lost track of her progress once she left the hospital. She and the doctor were second-guessing themselves, wondering whether they should have respected Tina's "no interventions" wishes a little less, and intervened sooner. The doctor said that in her 14 years delivering babies, she'd NEVER seen a baby in that rough shape after a healthy, noneventful pregnancy. I guess we shook 'em up a little bit! Suzie is becoming more calm. When she has an outburst, it's shorter and quieter, and often she can calm herself down. She's got an adorable smile which is quick to come when Daddy gets home and smiles at her. She's still eating a lot -- every two hours during the day, sometimes as long as four hours overnight. She's starting to discover her hands -- sometimes pushing her pacifier out of her mouth in order to stuff her fist in her mouth and suck on that instead! So, all is well. Our phone ringer is off, but I'm still checking e-mail.
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 09:33:54