Emily is up to 4 lbs. 4.8 oz. Her gaining has slowed somewhat but any gain is better than a loss. We haven't been up there today so hopefully she has continued to gain.
Thursday, Emily started nursing!! She was rooting and knew it was time for a feeding so we tried it out and she knew what to do. I mean, she's technically only 34 weeks (gestational age) so we didn't expect much but she had the idea. It was wonderful! We did it twice Thursday and twice on Friday and both days she did really well at one feeding but not the other. She still received her full 'tube' feeding afterwards but she's definitely on the road to eating like a big girl. Hopefully that will be soon since her favorite thing to do is pull our her feeding tube. Silly girl!!
Follow-up blood work on her anemia will be done Tuesday. We're hoping and praying that everything comes back normal. She seems to be doing really well since her transfusion. She still has her nice baby-pink color and doesn't seem to be excessively sleepy.
Big sister is doing well too. You guys might forget we actually have another daughter so I thought I should update you in Megan too! She's definitely starting down the road towards independence. She isn't afraid to speak (er ... shriek) her mind when she doesn't want to do something. She's learning all sorts of cute and adorable new things though words don't seem to be among her new tricks so far. She loves throwing food on the floor and if the dog is down there to eat it, well that's just the funniest thing in the world. She will go to the stairs when you tell her it's 'night night' time. She will go to the bedroom door when you say it's time for a diaper. She will pretend to eat something out of your hand and she's constantly picking things up off the floor and handing them to us, like a crumb, or a dog hair, or a piece of grass, or nothing at all. She also has started fighting bedtime a little. When we get her ready for her bath, she buries her head to hide from daddy (though she really likes her bath so I think that is more of a game to her). Overall she seems to be adjusting well to this new and crazy routine we have even though she never knows who will be here. It has been rough on her too but she's a super trooper!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Still growing!
Emily is up to 4 lbs. 3.2 oz, as of Tuesday. They were able to reduce her oxygen flow Monday night and they removed her oxygen altogether Tuesday morning. It was so good to see her without the nasal cannula and I know she has to be much more comfortable without it. One less tube to worry about when I try to hold her and it was the one she really enjoyed pulling on! The blood transfusion seems to have made her feel a little better. Now that she has more red blood cells to carry oxygen through her blood she doesn't need that extra puff of air up her nose and seems to be doing fine without it, so far. Her blood work looked good yesterday too, though we expected it to. Her next tests on Monday will tell us a little more about what is going on inside her little body so until then, we just continue our waiting game.
I didn't get to spend much time with her Tuesday because of the stupid weather. The "worst ice storm ever" was supposed to hit and it didn't even start icing over until after 6 pm. I hurried through my visit so I wouldn't get caught in it. Stupid weather people. It is 4:50 am now and there is a blanket of white on the ground but I'm not trying to go to the hospital now. Stupid weather people!
I didn't get to spend much time with her Tuesday because of the stupid weather. The "worst ice storm ever" was supposed to hit and it didn't even start icing over until after 6 pm. I hurried through my visit so I wouldn't get caught in it. Stupid weather people. It is 4:50 am now and there is a blanket of white on the ground but I'm not trying to go to the hospital now. Stupid weather people!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
a step backwards ...
Things have been going so well. Emily is back up over 4 lbs (4 lbs. 0.3 oz. to be exact) and seems to be a growing baby girl. Except for this jaundice that doesn't seem to want to go away. The docs decided to run further blood tests to see if something else could be going wrong. The tests showed she is pretty severely anemic. I'm not an expert, and really all I heard was that something was wrong so I can't really explain it. The tests showed she has about half the red blood cells she should have and she isn't producing them fast enough on her own for some unknown reason. They couldn't do further testing because she didn't have enough for them to safely draw more blood. So, she had two blood transfusions today. The nurse (and the books and websites) all say anemia is common in preemies and a transfusion will usually do the trick but the doc wasn't so quick to calm our fears. She seemed concerned by what could be causing the anemia and her slow regeneration rate (or something like that) and openly said she was stumped because Emily seems to be a stable and strong growing little girl. The doc said she hopes it is just something 'transient' that will be resolved by the transfusion. She will have some follow-up testing done Tuesday and they're going to just watch it but we will probably have to wait a week before we know more.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Big GIRL!
Friday, Emily hit 4 POUNDS!!!!!!!! A wonderful milestone and we're so excited. Of course, when the night nurse weighed her she had lost about 15 grams so she's back under 4 lbs., but just barely. She was also moved into an open bassinet out of her isolette. WOOHOO! Let me tell you how much easier it is to change a diaper when you're not reaching your arms through two little doors. Now, if we could just get rid of all the wires! Yeah, I know that won't happen until she comes home.
She was looking a little yellow so they checked her bilirubin level again and they're back on the rise. They'll check again at 5 am and if she's trending upwards again she'll have to go back under the phototherapy lights. Which means she'll have to go back in the isolette because she has to wear only a diaper for the lights to work. So our bassinet victory may be a short lived one ... but a victory none the less.
She is still having her desats and bradys and is still on the 1L room air oxygen. It is to be expected though because technically she's still only 33 weeks gestational age, quite young, so her systems are still immature. They decreased her feeding time to one hour from 90 minutes and she is tolerating that very well.
She was looking a little yellow so they checked her bilirubin level again and they're back on the rise. They'll check again at 5 am and if she's trending upwards again she'll have to go back under the phototherapy lights. Which means she'll have to go back in the isolette because she has to wear only a diaper for the lights to work. So our bassinet victory may be a short lived one ... but a victory none the less.
She is still having her desats and bradys and is still on the 1L room air oxygen. It is to be expected though because technically she's still only 33 weeks gestational age, quite young, so her systems are still immature. They decreased her feeding time to one hour from 90 minutes and she is tolerating that very well.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
and an update on Mommy
I had my visit with my OB and am officially off her terror watch list. Yay me! Her official finding as to why I went into labor early was my cold. My placenta had no signs of infection and neither did Emily but it is likely my sinus infection and probable low grade fever kicked things into motion. She also confirmed that my cervix was 100% closed and there were no signs of labor in my ultrasound the Friday before so it's not like I missed something or ignored something, which is a thought that had been haunting me for two and a half weeks now. She had previously mentioned something about a tiny blood clot and a partial abruption of the placenta but I guess that was a theory that they found to be untrue. Pretty much ... it was a fluke ... which puts me at greater risk of it happening again. Needless to say if Megan and Emily are going to have a little brother or sister I will be watched even more closely than this pregnancy ... if that is even possible!!
On a lighter note ... just wanted to add for those of you who might have been reading my blog all along ... my total weight gain had been about 3 pounds, right? I am now 12 pounds lighter than I was when I got pregnant. Silver lining ... I suppose.
Also, I am healing quickly and have been cleared to drive and actually take care of Megan. I can actually pick her up now as long as I take it easy. I promised that I would. And I will. I don't want to hurt myself and be out of commission for even longer.
Just had to share.
OH - and I did stop in to see Emily and she sure is in a better pod than before. It was so much quieter and half the babies are in open bassinets and the moms were nursing and feeding them. One of her new roomies was discharged this morning (and he had the corner room with a window view) so we jokingly told the nurse we were eyeing his spot. Who knows? Maybe she'll get it! The doc called me later in the day and said she had about 10-11 bradys yesterday so she was upping her oxygen flow to 1L again. She said the bradys are not severe but if they're avoidable we might as well try to avoid them. The increased oxygen flow might not even work, and if it doesn't, they'll reduce it again. So it's really only about a half step back ... and we're OK with that.
On a lighter note ... just wanted to add for those of you who might have been reading my blog all along ... my total weight gain had been about 3 pounds, right? I am now 12 pounds lighter than I was when I got pregnant. Silver lining ... I suppose.
Also, I am healing quickly and have been cleared to drive and actually take care of Megan. I can actually pick her up now as long as I take it easy. I promised that I would. And I will. I don't want to hurt myself and be out of commission for even longer.
Just had to share.
OH - and I did stop in to see Emily and she sure is in a better pod than before. It was so much quieter and half the babies are in open bassinets and the moms were nursing and feeding them. One of her new roomies was discharged this morning (and he had the corner room with a window view) so we jokingly told the nurse we were eyeing his spot. Who knows? Maybe she'll get it! The doc called me later in the day and said she had about 10-11 bradys yesterday so she was upping her oxygen flow to 1L again. She said the bradys are not severe but if they're avoidable we might as well try to avoid them. The increased oxygen flow might not even work, and if it doesn't, they'll reduce it again. So it's really only about a half step back ... and we're OK with that.
Baby on the move ... UPDATED
When I spoke to the night nurse last night she said they were probably moving Emily to a new pod. I liked her room with a view but there is a lot of drama going on in her current pod with the other babies so maybe a change of scenery would be good. The view out her window is one that made me chuckle a little when I first noticed it. Through the parking lot, past the other buildings, on the other side of the freeway is the hotel James and I lived in before we moved into our house up here. We got our new start up here just yards away from where little Emily is getting her start. It was just a funny coincidence. Anyways, the drama of the other babies is pretty serious, including staph infections and pneumonia. I've said before that she shares a pod with a set of quads. The really odd thing is that I had just started reading their blog about a week before I went into labor because that's around when they were delivered. It was a link through a link that someone had requested a prayer and I don't know these people at all. Here's the link if you're interested. I keep up with what's going on with Em's roomies through this blog because it's not like I can ask the nurses! http://treverjennaeva.blogspot.com/ I suppose James will confirm the move when he stops by on his way to work this morning.
So little Miss Em is getting bigger again. She gained a whole ounce and is up to 3 lbs 14 oz. The nurse last night had not yet weighed her so I'm just hoping for more of a gain again today. They switched out her nasal cannula (oxygen tube) and put her on a smaller set-up. Her oxygen flow is still on 0.4 L/room air and they're still trying to convince her she doesn't need it but she's still convincing them she does. We tried to go without it while I was holding her but that didn't last long. She almost made it a whole day shift without a brady but had two late in the day then had two more early in the night shift. Silly girl!
***** ***** update ***** *****
Emily was moved to a new pod overnight. James said it is much quieter and she will have to share a nurse with 3 other babies instead of just one other baby but that's OK if the other babies aren't quite as demanding as her former pod-mates. Apparently both Emily and her boyfriend across the hall were both moved out of the "quad-pod" for whatever reason so now I'm glad I have their blog listing to keep up with them. I am just happy she seems to be in a place that has much fewer alarms going off. That room she was in was SO loud. When I sit there holding her for two hours I just clench my jaw because of all the alarms. We might have about 10-15 seconds without one then the craziness starts up again and the monitors all beep for like 10 minutes straight. One of the babies in her new suite is even in an open air crib. Apparently Emily will have to reach 4 lbs before they trust her to maintain her body temperature enough to be moved into one of those. She actually lost 5 grams yesterday but is still 3 lbs 14 oz, just a little further away from 4 lbs than she was yesterday. We sure want her to gain and keep gaining but I guess a weight loss of 5 grams isn't much to worry about. Maybe she pooped a lot overnight! ;-) They tried turning her oxygen flow down again overnight but she didn't tolerate that very well so it's still at 0.4L. It's such a low puff of air but I guess she still wants it. They'll keep trying though and it's only a matter of time.
***** ***** back to original post ***** *****
Slow and steady wins the race. Until we bring her home we have our routine down. It's an exhausting routine but it works for us, so far. Poor Megan seems to decide on a day-to-day basis whether she likes the routine or not. She's tired and not napping well. Sometimes she'll eat and sometimes she won't. Sometimes she has fun and sometimes she is fussy. I guess that's every toddler but I think she's trying to figure out what is going on. My mom comes over every morning to help me get Megan ready since I'm not supposed to be lifting over 10 lbs. Megan weighs 26. Grammy Olga shows up around 11 every day so my mom can take me to the hospital to see Emily. Then my mom gets an extended lunch break while I'm there and Olga feeds Megan and puts her down for her nap. Then my mom comes to pick me up around 3:00 and we go home (or maybe run an errand on the way) to relieve Olga. My mom then stays with me until James is home or until Megan is done with dinner so she can help me get her out of the highchair. It's a long day for everyone. Especially James who has to wake up early to see Emily before work, then work a full day at a NEW job (he was promoted effective January 1st and Emily made her surprise birthday on his second day on the new job while he was in NY so he had to catch a flight home and he took the rest of the week off). Poor James is so stressed about that (new job, new boss, new business) and us. He gets home at night, usually not until around 7, and we try to eat dinner, play with Megan, then he has to do her bath and get her ready for bed (though that's always been his job for some reason). He doesn't get a minute to relax until about 8:40 pm. Then it's time to do dishes, pay bills, maybe a load of Emily's clothes from the hospital. Never mind that I have to find time at least 8 times a day (around the clock) to pump milk for Emily. That's 20 minutes in the chair plus the time it takes to set up and clean up and store everything. The worst part of the whole thing is that we are absolutely exhausted like any new parent would be but our baby isn't at home with us.
The big appointment with my OB is today. She kind of told me why this happened before I was discharged from the hospital so I was still dazed. I am anxious to talk to her today to get the whole story. On top of that, it will be good to get off her terror watch list. I'm still an emotional mess but I'm functioning pretty well, considering. Though I guess a prescription for some happy pills might not be a bad idea ... I'm almost out of Vicodin after all ...
So little Miss Em is getting bigger again. She gained a whole ounce and is up to 3 lbs 14 oz. The nurse last night had not yet weighed her so I'm just hoping for more of a gain again today. They switched out her nasal cannula (oxygen tube) and put her on a smaller set-up. Her oxygen flow is still on 0.4 L/room air and they're still trying to convince her she doesn't need it but she's still convincing them she does. We tried to go without it while I was holding her but that didn't last long. She almost made it a whole day shift without a brady but had two late in the day then had two more early in the night shift. Silly girl!
***** ***** update ***** *****
Emily was moved to a new pod overnight. James said it is much quieter and she will have to share a nurse with 3 other babies instead of just one other baby but that's OK if the other babies aren't quite as demanding as her former pod-mates. Apparently both Emily and her boyfriend across the hall were both moved out of the "quad-pod" for whatever reason so now I'm glad I have their blog listing to keep up with them. I am just happy she seems to be in a place that has much fewer alarms going off. That room she was in was SO loud. When I sit there holding her for two hours I just clench my jaw because of all the alarms. We might have about 10-15 seconds without one then the craziness starts up again and the monitors all beep for like 10 minutes straight. One of the babies in her new suite is even in an open air crib. Apparently Emily will have to reach 4 lbs before they trust her to maintain her body temperature enough to be moved into one of those. She actually lost 5 grams yesterday but is still 3 lbs 14 oz, just a little further away from 4 lbs than she was yesterday. We sure want her to gain and keep gaining but I guess a weight loss of 5 grams isn't much to worry about. Maybe she pooped a lot overnight! ;-) They tried turning her oxygen flow down again overnight but she didn't tolerate that very well so it's still at 0.4L. It's such a low puff of air but I guess she still wants it. They'll keep trying though and it's only a matter of time.
***** ***** back to original post ***** *****
Slow and steady wins the race. Until we bring her home we have our routine down. It's an exhausting routine but it works for us, so far. Poor Megan seems to decide on a day-to-day basis whether she likes the routine or not. She's tired and not napping well. Sometimes she'll eat and sometimes she won't. Sometimes she has fun and sometimes she is fussy. I guess that's every toddler but I think she's trying to figure out what is going on. My mom comes over every morning to help me get Megan ready since I'm not supposed to be lifting over 10 lbs. Megan weighs 26. Grammy Olga shows up around 11 every day so my mom can take me to the hospital to see Emily. Then my mom gets an extended lunch break while I'm there and Olga feeds Megan and puts her down for her nap. Then my mom comes to pick me up around 3:00 and we go home (or maybe run an errand on the way) to relieve Olga. My mom then stays with me until James is home or until Megan is done with dinner so she can help me get her out of the highchair. It's a long day for everyone. Especially James who has to wake up early to see Emily before work, then work a full day at a NEW job (he was promoted effective January 1st and Emily made her surprise birthday on his second day on the new job while he was in NY so he had to catch a flight home and he took the rest of the week off). Poor James is so stressed about that (new job, new boss, new business) and us. He gets home at night, usually not until around 7, and we try to eat dinner, play with Megan, then he has to do her bath and get her ready for bed (though that's always been his job for some reason). He doesn't get a minute to relax until about 8:40 pm. Then it's time to do dishes, pay bills, maybe a load of Emily's clothes from the hospital. Never mind that I have to find time at least 8 times a day (around the clock) to pump milk for Emily. That's 20 minutes in the chair plus the time it takes to set up and clean up and store everything. The worst part of the whole thing is that we are absolutely exhausted like any new parent would be but our baby isn't at home with us.
The big appointment with my OB is today. She kind of told me why this happened before I was discharged from the hospital so I was still dazed. I am anxious to talk to her today to get the whole story. On top of that, it will be good to get off her terror watch list. I'm still an emotional mess but I'm functioning pretty well, considering. Though I guess a prescription for some happy pills might not be a bad idea ... I'm almost out of Vicodin after all ...
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
20 more grams
Emily has started on the weight gain again. YAY! She was up 20 grams again yesterday so she weighs 3 lbs 13 oz again. I am happy she starting packing on some more weight. I just talked to the nurse and I forgot to ask about her weight. Oh well, James stops by in the morning so I'll know in about an hour or so.
They decreased her oxygen pressure again yesterday. She was tolerating 1.5 L very well so they dropped her to 1 L and she didn't react very well. I was holding her and her alarms kept going off. Mommy was dozing off so I think she just wanted some attention and to remind me I'm not supposed to sleep while holding her. They had to increase her oxygen % for a little while but by the time I left the hospital they had turned it back down too and she was doing well. The night nurse did say she was tolerating the lower pressure very well and only had very few dips through the night, both desat (oxygen level) and brady (heartrate).
Otherwise everything still looks good. She's eating well and has only spit up once in the past couple days. She's making progress. It seems like such slow progress to us but I think she's probably progressing at a normal preemie pace. If I were still pregnant I wouldn't be in a hurry for her to be born (especially knowing what I know now about having your baby early) so I guess I should just let her take her time getting stronger and not be in a rush to get her home. There are just so many bad stories out there and some of the other babies in Emily's pod aren't doing very well. We have been very fortunate in our preemie journey so far and I just hold my breath every time the phone rings or every time I call for an update or walk through those doors.
They decreased her oxygen pressure again yesterday. She was tolerating 1.5 L very well so they dropped her to 1 L and she didn't react very well. I was holding her and her alarms kept going off. Mommy was dozing off so I think she just wanted some attention and to remind me I'm not supposed to sleep while holding her. They had to increase her oxygen % for a little while but by the time I left the hospital they had turned it back down too and she was doing well. The night nurse did say she was tolerating the lower pressure very well and only had very few dips through the night, both desat (oxygen level) and brady (heartrate).
Otherwise everything still looks good. She's eating well and has only spit up once in the past couple days. She's making progress. It seems like such slow progress to us but I think she's probably progressing at a normal preemie pace. If I were still pregnant I wouldn't be in a hurry for her to be born (especially knowing what I know now about having your baby early) so I guess I should just let her take her time getting stronger and not be in a rush to get her home. There are just so many bad stories out there and some of the other babies in Emily's pod aren't doing very well. We have been very fortunate in our preemie journey so far and I just hold my breath every time the phone rings or every time I call for an update or walk through those doors.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
quickie
Emily weighed the same today ... 3 lbs 12.3 oz. No gain, no loss. They increased her meals to 32 ml because she has stopped spitting up quite so much. They also decreased her oxygen flow today. Doc thinks she may not need it anymore but they're going to wean her off of it and see how she does. She only had 3 alarms last night and one this morning when we got there. So 4 over about 16 hours is much better than the 10-15 she was having per shift!! YAY Miss Em!! We got to take her temp and change her diapers today and I held her for 2 hours again. Something sure made her mad while I was holding her because she started screaming! Good strong set of lungs on that little one. I didn't mind. It was good to hear. She probably had some gas in her tummy because she also let out a pretty good little burp!! She is a laundry producing machine thanks to spitting up and a very active digestive system. ;-) All in all it was a good visit and a good Sunday. I just hope and pray she continues to get stronger. That's all for now!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Saturday
ahhhh ... the weekend. It was good for James to get to sleep in a little and it was good for me to not wake up to his alarm in the morning. My mom drove me to the hospital and James met me up there after Megan went down for her nap. Grammy came over to sit while Megan slept. Let me tell you, this has been really hard on poor Megan. She has been really fussy and clingy, which has never been her style. All this is happening at the same time she should be coming into her tantrum phase so add that to everything funky going on around here and all hell is breaking loose. Her routine is virtually unchanged but Mommy never picks her up and Grandma and/or Grammy are always here with Mommy and we never go anywhere. She hasn't been out of the house since I came home from the hospital and she just seems tired. She never knows who is going to be here when she wakes up because it is always changing and I think it's starting to affect her sleeping. I go to the doc Thursday so hopefully I'll be able to pick her up occasionally. I'm still hurting but it is getting better every day.
As for little Miss Emily ... She was up to 3 lbs 13.7 oz. yesterday but was down to 3 lbs 12.3 oz. today. They said a little dip isn't anything to worry about as long as she is trending UP. We called to check on her tonight but she hasn't been weighed yet. She had been spitting up some so her feedings are now being done over 90 minutes on the pump and it seems to be helping. She's still eating 30ml per feeding. We changed her diaper this afternoon and she had a real poopy diaper - no more meconium (however you spell it). I was happy to see that, however weird that may sound. It's like she's an actual baby with real baby poops and everything! :-) She seems to be maintaining her body temp well and might be moved to a 'big girl bed' within a week. I'm really hoping she does because then we'll be able to give her a bath and it will be so much easier to hold her and change her and all that fun stuff, not to mention it's just one step closer to her coming home!! I spent another hour and a half in the chair with her today and it was great. She slept very soundly with her mouth wide open almost the whole time. Her bradys continue to become less severe but they are still happening several times throughout the day. She had a couple while we were there today but she brought herself out of them almost before they even registered. She's still on room air oxygen at 2 liters (I think) and they're hoping to decrease that soon. She looks so cute dressed in all her new clothes and now has a few more outfits ... thank you Gina!!She'll be the best dressed baby in all the hospital!!
I know a lot of you have called to check up and offer support and I'm really sorry if we're not getting back to you guys. We really do appreciate it. It just seems like the days are whizzing by and before we know it, it is time to take care of Megan ... or eat ... or leave for the hospital ... or go to bed ... or, for me, it's always time to pump again ... and we forget to return phone calls and emails. We miss everyone and would love to see people soon but things are just so crazy right now. Thank you so much for everything ... we love you guys ... hopefully things will settle down soon.
As for little Miss Emily ... She was up to 3 lbs 13.7 oz. yesterday but was down to 3 lbs 12.3 oz. today. They said a little dip isn't anything to worry about as long as she is trending UP. We called to check on her tonight but she hasn't been weighed yet. She had been spitting up some so her feedings are now being done over 90 minutes on the pump and it seems to be helping. She's still eating 30ml per feeding. We changed her diaper this afternoon and she had a real poopy diaper - no more meconium (however you spell it). I was happy to see that, however weird that may sound. It's like she's an actual baby with real baby poops and everything! :-) She seems to be maintaining her body temp well and might be moved to a 'big girl bed' within a week. I'm really hoping she does because then we'll be able to give her a bath and it will be so much easier to hold her and change her and all that fun stuff, not to mention it's just one step closer to her coming home!! I spent another hour and a half in the chair with her today and it was great. She slept very soundly with her mouth wide open almost the whole time. Her bradys continue to become less severe but they are still happening several times throughout the day. She had a couple while we were there today but she brought herself out of them almost before they even registered. She's still on room air oxygen at 2 liters (I think) and they're hoping to decrease that soon. She looks so cute dressed in all her new clothes and now has a few more outfits ... thank you Gina!!She'll be the best dressed baby in all the hospital!!
I know a lot of you have called to check up and offer support and I'm really sorry if we're not getting back to you guys. We really do appreciate it. It just seems like the days are whizzing by and before we know it, it is time to take care of Megan ... or eat ... or leave for the hospital ... or go to bed ... or, for me, it's always time to pump again ... and we forget to return phone calls and emails. We miss everyone and would love to see people soon but things are just so crazy right now. Thank you so much for everything ... we love you guys ... hopefully things will settle down soon.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
More good news ...
Emily weighs 3 pounds 11 ounces now so she is up 2 ounces over her birth weight. Not only is she gaining weight but she no longer has an IV for fluids/nutrition. She is taking in 30 ml per feeding, through her tube of course, but is still tolerating them well. They are fortifying the breast milk with a powder that basically adds calories to help fatten her up a little. I like to think she's having a protein shake to help bulk up. :-) Since her IV is out she is finally able to wear clothes!! My mom and I went to Babies R Us yesterday to purchase some preemie clothes and some receiving blankets to take to the hospital. I know we already have quite a few of those flannel blankets and she won't need the preemie clothes for very long but somehow she just deserved some of her own stuff. Besides, the blankets we bought were more spunky than your typical flowers, butterflies, lambs and gingham and I really felt Emily needs something with more pop! We washed them all yesterday and James took them up to the hospital last night. When he stopped by on his way to work this morning, she was dressed and swaddled! TOO CUTE! She looked wonderful in her own clothes and without that IV in her head. Obviously the little caps we bought are still too big so she's in her hospital cap but that's OK. James and I were both there at noon today and it took both of us to change her diaper. Fighting with clothes and wires and blankets all through the doors in her isolette almost defeated us. Not to mention the poopy diaper from hell. 10 minutes and 3 diapers later she was ready for me to hold her! We sat in our recliner for 2 hours today. It was wonderful. She slept soundly for most of the time and I'm pretty sure I got a cat nap in too. I would have stayed longer but I had to go pump her next feeding.
I made a quick phone call tonight to check on her. The night nurse hadn't weighed her yet so I won't have that until tomorrow but she did say she hadn't had a brady since she had been on. Shift change was at 7:00, so that was good news. I asked when her last brady was and she said it was at 11:53 am today. That was about 10 hours without a brady when she typically has 15+ per day. A small step, one day, but we were excited none-the-less. BTW - 'brady' is a bradycardia - that's the heartrate episodes I refer to when her rate drops below 100.
OK all you breastfeeding mommies out there ... I need some help. When I had Megan I never pumped a supply that I had to freeze. Now, I already have too much in the freezer at the hospital so I am keeping about half of it at home. Anyone have any suggestions on a space-saving way to freeze? I bought some Medela bags and they are working but are a pain to use. Is there another brand that is easier? Any other suggestions or recommendations?
Anyways - We're surviving. Looking forward to the weekend and spending some time together. I am getting better too. I sometimes think I'm ready to give up on the drugs ... and then they wear off.
I made a quick phone call tonight to check on her. The night nurse hadn't weighed her yet so I won't have that until tomorrow but she did say she hadn't had a brady since she had been on. Shift change was at 7:00, so that was good news. I asked when her last brady was and she said it was at 11:53 am today. That was about 10 hours without a brady when she typically has 15+ per day. A small step, one day, but we were excited none-the-less. BTW - 'brady' is a bradycardia - that's the heartrate episodes I refer to when her rate drops below 100.
OK all you breastfeeding mommies out there ... I need some help. When I had Megan I never pumped a supply that I had to freeze. Now, I already have too much in the freezer at the hospital so I am keeping about half of it at home. Anyone have any suggestions on a space-saving way to freeze? I bought some Medela bags and they are working but are a pain to use. Is there another brand that is easier? Any other suggestions or recommendations?
Anyways - We're surviving. Looking forward to the weekend and spending some time together. I am getting better too. I sometimes think I'm ready to give up on the drugs ... and then they wear off.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Emily - One Week Old!
I can't believe it has been a week. I finally was able to hold little Miss Emily!!! They do a thing with preemies called "Kangaroo" care where you hold them for an extended time period, skin on skin. It was incredible. I sat in a recliner with my feet up and my sweet little teeny girl on my chest for an hour and a half. I watched her monitors and tried so hard not to fall asleep. It was so relaxing but I didn't want to miss a minute of it. I'm sure it did wonders for my recovery as well and I can't wait to do it again.
Her bilirubin level was on the rise again so she's back under the bright lights. She's still having her heart rate and breathing episodes and we're still just waiting for them to stop. She is tolerating her feedings well and if everything goes perfectly, and I don't count on perfectly, she will be off IV fluids by sometime Friday. Once she gets rid of the IV we can start dressing her and swaddling her in her own little blankets. We just look forward to every little milestone.
The big news is that they did an ultrasound of her noggin to check for bleeding in the brain and it was normal. Also, she has gained a little more weight and is now 3 lbs. 8.8 oz., which is 0.2 oz. below her birth weight!!
Her bilirubin level was on the rise again so she's back under the bright lights. She's still having her heart rate and breathing episodes and we're still just waiting for them to stop. She is tolerating her feedings well and if everything goes perfectly, and I don't count on perfectly, she will be off IV fluids by sometime Friday. Once she gets rid of the IV we can start dressing her and swaddling her in her own little blankets. We just look forward to every little milestone.
The big news is that they did an ultrasound of her noggin to check for bleeding in the brain and it was normal. Also, she has gained a little more weight and is now 3 lbs. 8.8 oz., which is 0.2 oz. below her birth weight!!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Quick Emily Update
I was discharged from the hospital yesterday and that had to be the most difficult thing I have ever had to do. It was good to be home but ... it just wasn't right.
As of right now, things are going well. Emily was taken off the CPAP - a giant headgear of an oxygen mask with huge tubes up her nose. She now just has the standard oxygen tube up her nose and she looks SO much more comfortable. Her bilirubin level was elevated so she was under lights for two days but those are off now too. She is much less yellow and, again, much more comfortable without the puffy mask she had to wear to shield her eyes. Friday, the nurse detected a heart murmur so they gave her some medicine to correct it and it appears to have worked. Nobody has detected the murmur since they started treatment but a follow-up test will be done to be sure. While she was on the heart medicine she wasn't able to eat so that was tough (probably more so on us than on her) but she was able to resume feedings at noon today. Her main problem is her heart rate. She keeps having steep dips in her rate that sometimes require a little stimulation to bring it back up. The good news is they're not quite as severe as they were a couple days ago but they are still happening very frequently. Since being put on the regular oxygen tube she's had a few apnea episodes so they had to increase the pressure in the tube to kind of remind her to breathe. Those are probably due to an immature respiratory system and will hopefully go away as she continues to grow. She has lost a little weight but I guess all babies do and she didn't eat anything for about 48 hours. She's down to 3 lbs. 6.3 oz. I hope she'll start putting some back on now that she's eating again.
They have asked if I want to hold her the past two days but I'm still fighting this incredible crud so I don't want to take the chance. I feel bad enough being in there as it is and I am constantly putting sanitizer on my hands every time I move. I have changed her diaper and taken her temperature a few times. I'm also getting more comfortable just touching her. It was very hard in the beginning and I think James is still a little nervous. His fingers are bigger than her arms and legs so I can certainly understand. Today, while I was 'feeding' her (holding the syringe attached to her tube while gravity did the work) she had her eyes open for most of it. It was absolutely incredible how alert she was. She has also started sucking on a pacifier and it's just so cute (and the sooner she learns how to do that so she'll be able to lose the feeding tube).
She is so small and still has so far to go. Please continue to keep our little Emily in your thoughts and prayers.
As of right now, things are going well. Emily was taken off the CPAP - a giant headgear of an oxygen mask with huge tubes up her nose. She now just has the standard oxygen tube up her nose and she looks SO much more comfortable. Her bilirubin level was elevated so she was under lights for two days but those are off now too. She is much less yellow and, again, much more comfortable without the puffy mask she had to wear to shield her eyes. Friday, the nurse detected a heart murmur so they gave her some medicine to correct it and it appears to have worked. Nobody has detected the murmur since they started treatment but a follow-up test will be done to be sure. While she was on the heart medicine she wasn't able to eat so that was tough (probably more so on us than on her) but she was able to resume feedings at noon today. Her main problem is her heart rate. She keeps having steep dips in her rate that sometimes require a little stimulation to bring it back up. The good news is they're not quite as severe as they were a couple days ago but they are still happening very frequently. Since being put on the regular oxygen tube she's had a few apnea episodes so they had to increase the pressure in the tube to kind of remind her to breathe. Those are probably due to an immature respiratory system and will hopefully go away as she continues to grow. She has lost a little weight but I guess all babies do and she didn't eat anything for about 48 hours. She's down to 3 lbs. 6.3 oz. I hope she'll start putting some back on now that she's eating again.
They have asked if I want to hold her the past two days but I'm still fighting this incredible crud so I don't want to take the chance. I feel bad enough being in there as it is and I am constantly putting sanitizer on my hands every time I move. I have changed her diaper and taken her temperature a few times. I'm also getting more comfortable just touching her. It was very hard in the beginning and I think James is still a little nervous. His fingers are bigger than her arms and legs so I can certainly understand. Today, while I was 'feeding' her (holding the syringe attached to her tube while gravity did the work) she had her eyes open for most of it. It was absolutely incredible how alert she was. She has also started sucking on a pacifier and it's just so cute (and the sooner she learns how to do that so she'll be able to lose the feeding tube).
She is so small and still has so far to go. Please continue to keep our little Emily in your thoughts and prayers.
Friday, January 09, 2009
Emily Grace Starke
This is just a quick update. Things are going well. I am still in the hospital and should be through Saturday. James and his mother brought Megan up to see me today and it was good to see her giggly, smiley, yet still somewhat snotty face.
Emily Grace was born Tuesday, January 6, at 8:08 pm via c-section. I was only 30 weeks and 4 days along so she was quite early. She weighed 3 lbs. 9 oz. and was 16 3/4 inches long. She is still doing very well. She is stable. She hasn't shown any real improvement but she is not getting worse either. It has only been two days. She has lost a tiny bit of weight but all babies do when they're born. She is a scrappy little girl and is expected to be just fine but we all have a long road ahead of us. Especially the grandmas who have their work cut out for them chasing Megan around and keeping her company for the next few weeks/months.
I won't be posting pictures of Emily until she gains some weight and strength and is no longer attached to machines. We have decided we would like to maintain a little privacy ... but I will be sharing updates as she progresses.
We appreciate all your kind words, thoughts and prayers and thank you all so much.
Emily Grace was born Tuesday, January 6, at 8:08 pm via c-section. I was only 30 weeks and 4 days along so she was quite early. She weighed 3 lbs. 9 oz. and was 16 3/4 inches long. She is still doing very well. She is stable. She hasn't shown any real improvement but she is not getting worse either. It has only been two days. She has lost a tiny bit of weight but all babies do when they're born. She is a scrappy little girl and is expected to be just fine but we all have a long road ahead of us. Especially the grandmas who have their work cut out for them chasing Megan around and keeping her company for the next few weeks/months.
I won't be posting pictures of Emily until she gains some weight and strength and is no longer attached to machines. We have decided we would like to maintain a little privacy ... but I will be sharing updates as she progresses.
We appreciate all your kind words, thoughts and prayers and thank you all so much.
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Baby #2 Update!
Well, I had my first weekly visit to the doc yesterday. We did a biophysical profile (BPP - ultrasound just watching for baby's movements, position, heart function, amniotic fluid level, and the basic stuff) and a non-stress test (NST - where they hook me up to the monitors and I have to push a little button every time she moves so they can make sure her heart rate increases with her movements). I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the NSTs - just laying there listening to your baby's heartbeat is really relaxing. Especially if someone else is at home watching your 13 month old! ;-) My perinatologist recommended the weekly BPP/NST visits in the 3rd trimester and we will start doing NSTs twice a week at 34 weeks, which is the first of February. The doc is giving me a little more time to get the blood sugar under control and isn't all that worried about my moderately high numbers so that was some good news. My amniotic fluid level has dropped and is right in the normal range. Apparently it is normal for the fluid to drop around this time of the pregnancy when the baby starts processing more of it and then it should hold steady. She is finally head down so we're not worried about a c-section for a breech. The doc said as long as everything continues to go well, and she doesn't foresee any problems, I'll be induced at 38 weeks. She doesn't want me going much longer than that, mostly because I've been dealing with the Gestational Diabetes since the beginning this time. So it looks like I only have 8 weeks left! WOOHOO! This little girl should be here at the very end of February or the first of March and we can't wait.
I can't forget the most important thing ... my weight gain is back down to two pounds!! Obviously I've lost weight but I feel like I'm carrying around an extra ton. I finally got one of those fancy girdle belly supports. It is the ugliest thing I've ever seen but it sure is making my legs and back feel a little better. I think it's making me carry more out front though ... because I'm just getting HUGE. James laughed at me yesterday when I climbed up on the table for the ultrasound and lifted my shirt. Just what you want to hear, right?
Well, I ate leftover chips and queso from Chili's with my lunch so I better go exercise to get that blood sugar down. I guess I'll help James take down some Christmas stuff. The weather is nice, though a little warm for me for January. I miss my Uggs!
I can't forget the most important thing ... my weight gain is back down to two pounds!! Obviously I've lost weight but I feel like I'm carrying around an extra ton. I finally got one of those fancy girdle belly supports. It is the ugliest thing I've ever seen but it sure is making my legs and back feel a little better. I think it's making me carry more out front though ... because I'm just getting HUGE. James laughed at me yesterday when I climbed up on the table for the ultrasound and lifted my shirt. Just what you want to hear, right?
Well, I ate leftover chips and queso from Chili's with my lunch so I better go exercise to get that blood sugar down. I guess I'll help James take down some Christmas stuff. The weather is nice, though a little warm for me for January. I miss my Uggs!
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