Surgery

Well Amarie is going in for surgery today. She did not do well in her sleep study so she is going to have her jaw extended so she can sleep, breathe, and eat better. I am not too familiar with the procedure, but from what I can understand they are going to break her jaw and place some sort of vice and crank in there. This will help stretch and extend her jaw so she can breathe easier. She will be in the ICU for about 5 days after the surgery. The doctors here have been great and I've been told this procedure was created at this hospital. This has put her mother and my nerves somewhat at ease. There are some risks of infection and potential blood loss, but this is a risk with any surgery. The bright side is that after the surgery Amarie should be able to eat on her own and breathe with a lot more ease. We are very hopeful and we have faith that she is in God's hands. Thank you all for your prayers and encouraging words. God bless!

-Jason and Corin

Pictures

Update

We are still at Scottish Rite Children's Hospital and will be here at least until Wednesday. Amarie is doing well...much better now that she is getting tube feedings. She is on a monitor to make sure her breathing is ok and is getting fed breast milk through a tube in her nose. We are all doing well just sleep deprived! She was seen by two more doctors today- a craniofacial specialist and an ear, nose, throat doctor. The biggest issue that is causing her feeding and breathing problems is her small jaw. They are going to do something called a sleep study on Monday where they monitor her breathing while she sleeps. Since her jaw is small her tongue can fall back in her throat and block her airway. If she does ok on the sleep study they will probably send us home Wednesday on tube feedings and breathing monitors and then they will do surgery when she is bigger. If she has trouble during the sleep study then they will do jaw surgery and we will stay here for two weeks. Also, the ENT doctor said that he could not see an ear canal on her right ear so she more than likely will have hearing loss. Thanks so much for all of the support and prayers from everyone! Keep praying!

Love, Corin

Week 37 Back to the Hospital

OK, so I know a lot of you are wondering why we are back at the hospital all weekend. Well let me first say everything is ok and I'm sure it will get better. As previously mentioned in a prior note/blog Amarie was born with a syndrome known as Treacher Collins. This syndrome causes some physical abnormalities in one's facial structure. The severity of the distortions varies from person to person. In Amarie's case she has a recessed jaw. Meaning her jaw is small and it causes some trouble when she eats and tries to breathe at the same time. We have been feeding her every 2 or so hours, as one should do with a new born. Every time we feed her she snorts and sometimes the milk or formula protrudes from her nose. This is because she is not swallowing properly due to her recessed jaw. In other words it is difficult for her to swallow properly. We discovered this during our appointment with a lactation specialist. The specialist referred us to the pediatrician who referred us to the emergency room at Children's Health Care in downtown Atlanta. So we have been here since Friday night. Amarie is doing well. They had to place a feeding tube down her nose and into her stomach to ensure she digests the milk properly. The primary concern was the milk was going into her sinus and lungs, which puts her at risk of infection. We are going to see a geneticist tomorrow who can give us further counsel. Any prayers and encouraging words are greatly appreciated. Thank you all. 

-Robert J. Orean

for more information check out oreanfamily.blogspot.com

Amarie Grace Orean

Well she is finally here.  After a month of labor Corin's water finally broke.  At 9:55 PM Friday April 3, 2009 the water broke and the clock began.  We called the hospital to see if we should come in, however there was no room in the inn.  They told us to wait until morning to check in, unless the contractions got stronger.  So Jim, Mary, and Marissa (Grandpa, Grandma, and Aunt) came over and spent the night at our house.  It was a sleepless night to say the least.  Everyone was so excited that I don't think anyone got more than a few hours sleep.  We arrived at the hospital around 8 am Saturday morning to find that there were still no rooms available.  So we had to wait in a small triage room for a few hours before a bed opened up.  The contractoins were very mild and she was only at 2 centimeters dialeted so there was no rush.  Once we got into the room the doctors started Corin on Pitocin.   This is a drug that helps to increase contractions.  Once the Pitocin kicked in labor was intense.  I never seen my wife in so much pain.  Around 3:00 PM the doctor came in to start the epidural.  Around 3:30 PM he finished and the pain subsided.  At this point Corin was 3 centimeters dialted so we decided to take a nap.  She needed to be at 10 centimeters in order to deliver and the average pregnant woman dilates at 1 centimeter an hour.  So we were preparing for a long evening.  Well at 5:00 PM we awoke from our nap to find out that Corin was fully dilated at 10 cm.  That means she dialted 7 centimeters in an hour and a half.  We couldn't believe that she was ready to push, none the less she pushed and out she came.  At 5:09 PM Amarie Grace Orean was born.  We were so happy.  Poor Corin was not feeling so well though.  She was ill from the painkillers and antbiotics that she was on.  The nurses took the baby to be cleaned and examined while Corin was recovering.  I got to hold my daughter for about 20 minutes while Corin recovered.  Corin finally got to hold her for a few minutes before they took her to the NICU (that is the neo natal intensive care unit)  That was the last Corin got to see her that day.  The pediatrician came in to talk to us a little while later to inform us that she thinks our baby has some sort of syndrome.  It is still not confirmed but we are pretty sure she has what is called Treacher Collins Syndrome.  She tells us that this affects 1 in 10000 babies and it is mostly cosmetic, although hearing loss is often associated with it.  Obviously this was hard to hear, espically only having such a short time with her that day.  God is good and even though that was hard to hear things are working out well.  I will elaborate more on that later.  That night was hard, Corin was ill and tired from the medicine and the child birthing and I was an emotional basketcase.  Jim, Mary, Marissa, Chris (my mom), Bryon and Anna (close friends) were all amazing and very supportive.  I was able to take the grandparents over to see Amarie in the NICU later on that night.  It was very hard telling her good night and having to walking away from her.  I tear up now even as I write.  After a good night sleep Corin and I felt much better.  Amarie was able to come to our room later that Sunday afternoon and we got to spend some much deserved time together.  The grandparents were absolutely in love with her.  Lots of pictures were taken and spirits were much higher.  It turns out her hearing is just fine.  We had some tests done.  Her heart, lungs, and kidneys were all tested and came back fine.  So we are on our way home now and can't wait to start our new lives together.

35 weeks

Still having contractions! She is a determined little thing! I had an OB appointment today. The baby is doing well. I had an ultrasound last week because my belly is still measuring two weeks behind where it should be. She is measuring right on track so I think its just because she is hiding around the side/back...some women have the little basketball..I have the tire :) She was 5 pounds 3 ounces last week! I'm still on bedrest (boring!) and on medicine to stop contractions (though it is only slowing them down, not stopping them. I still have a lot through out the day which is really frustrating...nothing like having pointless labor for a month. I'm thankful that I've been able to keep her cooking for this long but its not fun to have contractions all the time for no reason.) This Tuesday I will be 36 weeks so they are going to take me off of bedrest and off of the medication so we will see what happens!