Baby Pierce Olsen

Pierce Brent Olsen

May 25th 2011

6 lbs. 13 oz.

19 inches long

When you are waiting for the arrival of a new baby you don't think about what if things are not okay when they are born. I went to work early on Wednesday May 25th so I could put in a few hours before going to the hospital to see our newest little grandson. Phil and Alesha knew this baby would be born by c section so everything was planned out as to who would take the other boys and what time I would want to be there so I could see him right after he was born.

I talked with Alesha around 11-11:30 and she said that Dr. Later would deliver him around 12:30. I left work at noon. I purchased a few things for baby Pierce and Alesha then made a couple of stops one being Dairy Queen to get something to eat as I figured I would spend the majority of the afternoon and evening with them. I got to the hospital just before 1:00, I told them who I was and that I was there to see Alesha Olsen. They said she was in recovery and would be out in about an hour. I also saw Dr. Later, he said "hi, grandma," I asked how she did and he said she did great. They told me that they would let them (Phil and Alesha) know I was there waiting in the waiting room. I had brought a book I was almost finished with so I decided to speed read and see if I could'nt finish it before they came to get me. I figured Phil would come and get me when they took the baby to the nursury.

After waiting a little over an hour, I went back to the desk to ask if Alesha was out of recovery. They told me her room # and that she was on her way to the room. I went to the room and just as I got there I saw them bringing Alesha. She looked great, especially for just having surgury. Her make up was great and she was even wearing earrings. She said she had not seen Phil since the baby was delivered. She said he had gone with the nurse and the baby to the nursury. She knew that the baby was having some problems as the rushed him out as soon as he was born. The Dr. had assured her that what he had was common in c-section babies and that he would be okay.

I left the room and went to the nursury. They let me in and I could tell by the way they were busily working with him that he was in distress. Phil filled me in on what they were doing and told me about the breathing process they were working on. I could tell Phil was very concerned and that things were probably worse than Alesha was aware of. I stayed there for about 10-15 minutes then Phil's parents came. Only one set of grandparents were allowed in at a time so I left so they could see that baby and visit with Phil.

Shortly thereafter they all came back to the room and said that they were thinking that they would have to life flight him to another hospital with a nic unit. We were hoping maybe it would be IMC in Murray as that would be close to home but the call was Primary Childrens in downtown SLC.

Phil went back to the nursery. His parents are friends with a gal over the life flight program and they called her. I went back to the nursery. I just waited outside of the glass doors. I saw that the life flight team had arrived and they were busy working on him. Brent and Kris came down as well as Alesha. Alesha went in but we all waited outside of the nursery. The friend they had called showed up there at the hospital. She said she was just driving by but we all knew she came because of their friendship. She was so great to come out and update us on what was going on. She did tell us he was one sick little boy. That was the first time that I had realized just how serious his condition was.

Whitt came straight from school. He got to see the baby as well before they life flighted him to Primarys.

This same evening was Koen's graduation from preschool program. Alesha really wanted Phil to go to the program as it meant so much to Koen. Phil didn't want to leave and he really just wanted to go straight to Primarys to be with Pierce. The hospital doesn't let anyone into visit when they are changing shifts and they change between 7-8:30 so Alesha insisted that Phil go home and take Koen to his program before going up to the hospital. I left around 6:10 to go pick up Brigs from Kirstie's house and take him home to put him to bed. I had called work to let them know that I wouldn't be coming in on Thursday as I needed to stay with Koen and Brigs so Phil would be free to go to the hospital.

I got Brigs home and got him fed and ready for bed. Phil got back with Koen from his program and then he left to go to the hospital. I stayed in touch with Alesha at Alta View and waited to hear from Phil.

Around 11:30 I decided I would go to bed and I heard Phil come home around 1:00.

The next morning Phil got ready to go to the hospital. He took Koen to a neighbor and I took Brigs back to Kirstie's so I could take Alesha up to see baby Pierce. Alesha and I got to the hospital around 11:30-12 and the nurse filled us in on what they were doing for him. She was great to tell us everything. Around 1:30 Missy met up with us and brought us lunch. After lunch I took Alesha back to the hospital. I then went and picked up Brigs and took him home. We walked over to the neighbors to get Koen.

Missy came on Thursday late afternoon to watch the boys and I went home so I could go to work on Friday.

After work on Friday I called Alesha and she said Missy had brought the boys over to see her and that Phil had taken Koen up to see baby Pierce. I met Missy at the hospital and took Brigs home for a nap and she went on up to the hospital to see baby and pick up Koen and bring him home. Lynae came to Salt Lake to spend the weekend so she met up with me at Alesha's house after she took Bryan to the airport. He was flying to Texas to work on a Beehive home.

Lynae brought us dinner from Arctic Circle. The kids had a great time together then we put them all to bed. Lynae and I visited and watched TV and Phil got home around 11:00. We talked with him about what they were doing for Pierce and how he was feeling about it all.

Saturday morning I got up and found Lynae and the kids all busy decorating the bikes for a neighborhood bike parade. Phil had forgot to mention this the day before and the parade was a 9:00. Lynae and I are still in our pjs and the kids are ready for a bike parade. Lynae said if she had been Phil she would have conviently forgot about the bike parade, but being the great father he is he was game to take all of the kids with him. After the bike parade Phil left to go pick Alesha up from the hospital and take her to Primarys to see Pierce. Lynae and I watched the kids and made soup for them for dinner that night.

Around 5:00 they got home and we left them to their little family and came to my house where Lynae and the girls went with grandpa to Golden Coral. I stayed home with little Rhett and relaxed. I guess I have really forgotten how much work a little family is. It seemed like all I did was pick up after them all day. Once while the kids were in the back yard I opened the back door to find Brigs soaking wet and covered in wood chips. I don't know where he got the water but he had had a great time. Now add a bath to all of the other chores of the day.

Sunday morning Phil and Alesha brought the boys over and headed up to the hospital. They called about 2:00 to let us know that the doctor was planning on extubating Pierce before they came home. We were all very excited as this seemed like a great step forward for him. He did really well all evening and we were very happy for that. Phil and Alesha stayed and we had dinner. Then they took their little family home.

Monday morning I went to work at 8:00. I had looked at my email before I left and found a wonderful note from Nana (Phil's grandmother) she was telling all about little Pierce and the great job he was doing. Shortly after 10:00 I got a call from Lynae telling me that she had received a text from Alesha and that Pierce was not doing so well and they were going to reintubate him. This was very upsetting to me and I hurried to finish my work so I could leave work. I called Lynae and she made arrangements so we could go up to Primarys so see little Pierce. She had not seen him yet and she wanted to see him before she left to go back to Cleveland, Utah.

Little Pierce looked so sad. He was crunching up his little face and eyes and looked like he might would have cried if he could. This was heartbreaking for me and I just sat there and cried. We did have a pretty good visit with Phil and Alesha then we left to pick Bryan up at the airport. They discovered that Pierce had a fracture in his left clavical bone so they were giving him some pain meds for that and also to keep him comfortable in spite of all the tubes and needles he has in his little body.

Tuesday was a great day Pierce was doing much better. Alesha sent me a text saying "He is doing ok still. They are starting feedings again today because they discontinued it yesterday because of some blood in his tubes. Also he will be getting a pic line and getting rid of the belly button line. This was all very good news. They also had seen him awake for about an hour and seen his pretty eyes and watched him move around a little bit. We are so happy for this progress.

Wednesday I went to work and then came home changed my clothes and headed up to the hospital. I met Alesha going in just going to pump so I went in and sat with Phil. Chris, Pierce's nurse, explained a few things to me and Phil did so as well. I held his little foot and looked him over good. It was so good to see him looking better. When Alesha came back Phil left and she and I had a great visit and I got to hold the tube that had her milk in it to feed him. The nurse also removed his little mask so I could see his whole face and his pretty eyes. He just was enjoying his feeding then he opened his eyes for me a couple of times. I was so excited to see him and realize he is a week old today. In a way it seems like this has been the longest week in my life but in another way it has really gone by fast. Tomorrow they are planning to extubate him and we are happy to see if he will tolerate it and be able to breath on this own with out an oxgen tube down his throat. He will still have to have some oxygen but it will be less invasive. I am looking forward to seeing how he does. Sleep well and have a great night little one.