Our First Taste of Parenthood

We have had our first taste of parenthood and it’s titled “Supraventricular tachycardia” (SVT). In short, this is a condition where the baby’s heart beats at a high rate. It can be treated by medication and it not uncommon amongst high risk pregnancies. Yes, it seems as if we are now categorized as a high risk pregnancy. A normal baby’s heart rate ranges between 120 – 160 bpm. Little ‘Carlos’ will run at 250 bpm and then drop to 140 bpm and continue this cycle. The good sign is that the heart is healthy and there is no fluid around the heart. Everything else is healthy with the baby, it’s already 4 pounds 10 ounces at 33 weeks! So, if the heart rate predicts the sex of the baby, then we are having a girl and she will be as active as her Grandma Lin! I am writing this from our room in the High Risk Pregnancy unit of St. Vincent Women’s Hospital, we are here until Carlos’ heart rate comes down to a normal range. Emily is on Digoxin, and has been on it for nearly 68 hours. The doctors seem to be optimistic that it is helping with Carlos’ high heart rate.

We were admitted on Thursday late afternoon. My parents stopped by that evening on the way back from Southern Indiana. But what really hit us Thursday night was when my father said, “You never have this feeling until you have kids.” We have realized that both of us are healthy, but there is nothing we can do but put our time, plans, etc. on hold until this little guy gets better. Not that we would be out doing anything crazy, but all our thoughts and efforts are concerned strictly with this child. I guess it’s a small glimpse of parenthood.

We have managed to pass the time and keep things very light; some of our more entertaining moments have been:

Hangman w/ Po: We erased the Nurse’s dry erase board and played Hangman with Po, Emily guessed the first phrase after one letter. All that ‘Wheel of Fortune’ is paying off!

Olympics: I now know why Curling is sold out at Vancouver. It’s a suspenseful and exciting game…and I think I’d be good at it. Plus nothing says fun like Men’s Figure skating from a hospital room! But seriously, Ice Dancing is horrible.

Rummikub: Emily currently leads 3 games to 1, but I’d bet on me!

Listening: For one hour, every six hours Emily is hooked up to a machine that monitors the baby’s heart rate. During that hour, we can hear the baby. Here is some dialog from those one hour sessions...”Was that fast?”, “That’s the normal heartbeat, right?”, “Boy, he’s really going now”, “That wasn’t for very long”, “Did you hear that, that’s the baby moving”, “Was that the hiccups?”, “Easy Carlos!”

So it seems as if for the time being, we are in a waiting period. Waiting for little ‘Carlos’ to regulate his heartbeat. Thank you all for your phone calls, visits, thoughts, prayers, and time. We’ve had great support and the doctors and nurses have been great (even got to talk IU Basketball with a player’s mother).

Just like our parents have told us….Welcome to Parenthood!