She is feeling better, that's for sure. Now, she yells at the nurses because she's hungry! I guess that's what happens when you have to get taken off of feedings for a few days. They have worked her back up to almost full feedings. She's back up to 25 cc's, and as long as she can tolerate it, they will continue to increase it to 32 cc's.
As for her infection - we still don't know anything. None of the cultures grew anything, although the spinal culture from the lumbar puncture still has several days. The doctors are pretty sure it is just a virus, but they are still going to give her the full course of antibiotics (7-10 days), so hopefully, she will be off them by the end of the weekend. But, unfortunately, her iv in her foot went bad, so it's back in her scalp. UGH!! So, I won't be taking any pictures of her in her crib, since I don't want documented proof that there was ever needles in my daughter's scalp!
They did an ultrasound on her belly yesterday just to make sure that there isn't some inflammation somewhere that they are missing. We haven't heard the results on that just yet, later today.
The big news is that little girl isn't so little anymore, so she is now in an open crib! No more isolette! While this is very exciting, until we are sure she is better, Matt and I are very wary about everyone getting to touch her. Technically, no one has told us that other people are now allowed to touch or hold her yet, but that was what they said at the very beginning - that when she moved to an open crib people other than Matt or I would be able to hold and touch her. We have definitely decided that we don't want anyone to hold her until the iv is out, especially since it's in her head. We would prefer that no one hold and have limited touching until we know she is free and clear of whatever the infection is that she has. We know that everyone wants to hold her, but we hope that everyone understands and will respect our wishes. It's all very exciting, but she's still a sick little girl even if she isn't necessarily acting like she is.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
12.28.10
Sorry for the lack of post yesterday, but we got home pretty late and I forgot to get online and post anything.
We still really don't know anything about her infection. None of the cultures are growing anything and all the tests they have done have come back negative. They are leaning more towards her having a virus rather than a bacterial infection because that's the direction her blood test are steering them in. Unfortunately, you can't treat a virus with antibiotics, you just have to be patient and wait for her little body to fight it off. They have resumed the feedings, but only at 5 cc's, so as to not overwork her system. We don't have to do the gown and glove thing anymore and no more iv in the scalp, thank goodness! She seems to have more energy today but most of that energy went into being fussy. I don't know if it's because she is hungry or if it's because she doesn't feel good though. I wish I could hold her tight and comfort her, but yesterday both her iv's were in her scalp, so I almost didn't want to hold her, I didn't want to hurt her. I just want to cuddle with her, but it stresses her out to be moved around a lot, and I don't want to add any stress to her system. Poor baby! She is really swollen because of all the fluids they have pumped into her system (like, yet another blood transfusion yesterday, BT's = 3 so far). Morgan says she looks like the stay puff marshmallow man. I looked at her today and wondered where her double chin came from. I never thought I would see the day where I would complain about how chubby my girls face was! :) They don't want to give her anything yet to get rid of all the excess fluid just yet, because she tends to drop her sodium levels when they give her the diruetic, so they want to see if she will pee it out. I hope she gets over this before I have to go to work next week, otherwise I am going to get absolutely NOTHING done, my mind will constantly be on her (which it will probably be anyway).
We still really don't know anything about her infection. None of the cultures are growing anything and all the tests they have done have come back negative. They are leaning more towards her having a virus rather than a bacterial infection because that's the direction her blood test are steering them in. Unfortunately, you can't treat a virus with antibiotics, you just have to be patient and wait for her little body to fight it off. They have resumed the feedings, but only at 5 cc's, so as to not overwork her system. We don't have to do the gown and glove thing anymore and no more iv in the scalp, thank goodness! She seems to have more energy today but most of that energy went into being fussy. I don't know if it's because she is hungry or if it's because she doesn't feel good though. I wish I could hold her tight and comfort her, but yesterday both her iv's were in her scalp, so I almost didn't want to hold her, I didn't want to hurt her. I just want to cuddle with her, but it stresses her out to be moved around a lot, and I don't want to add any stress to her system. Poor baby! She is really swollen because of all the fluids they have pumped into her system (like, yet another blood transfusion yesterday, BT's = 3 so far). Morgan says she looks like the stay puff marshmallow man. I looked at her today and wondered where her double chin came from. I never thought I would see the day where I would complain about how chubby my girls face was! :) They don't want to give her anything yet to get rid of all the excess fluid just yet, because she tends to drop her sodium levels when they give her the diruetic, so they want to see if she will pee it out. I hope she gets over this before I have to go to work next week, otherwise I am going to get absolutely NOTHING done, my mind will constantly be on her (which it will probably be anyway).
Sunday, December 26, 2010
12.26.10
I certainly hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! We had a great time with my parents and Morgan this weekend. We could have done without Harper's infection, and I think she would agree with me.
I know that with preemies you have to expect challenges, but this one hit me really hard. Really hard. We were riding on such a high and to have the rug pulled out from under us (on Christmas no less) was really tough to deal with. I think I have handled her previous challenges pretty well, but this one I have just fallen apart. Today was better than yesterday, so here's hoping that tomorrow is better than today...
Good news is she doesn't have RSV or Influenza A or B. Bad news is we don't know what she has. She is on the same antibiotics they had her on for the last infection and they gave her a blood transfusion today. They put one of her IV's in her scalp which really bothers me, but apparently it's the best place for her to have one because they have less nerve endings up there, still it bothers me. Her other IV is in her arm, they had the two because one was for blood and one was for the antibiotics. They increased her air flow to .5 and they have suspended feedings (so no gaining weight, darn it!) to help her save her energy to fight whatever she has.
They are going to probably do a procedure tomorrow where they take some spinal fluid out to check for meningitis, which scares the s*%$ out of me, but they obviously have to do it. They are growing blood and urine cultures, but they haven't revealed anything yet.
Because they still don't quite know what she has, she is on "Contact Isolation" which means we have to wear gowns and gloves when we are in her room. They don't want the nurses to pass whatever she has to their other babies, or for other visitors to bring in any additional bacteria. This was really hard to deal with. I have watched other parents have to do this over the past several weeks and I have always felt so bad for them because I knew their baby must be really sick, and now we are those parents with the sick baby. I know it is best for Harper, but I feel like she can't really feel her mommy and daddy's touch through the gloves. Oh, and then we didn't get to hold her at all yesterday (on Christmas!), so anyone who wants to complain that they haven't gotten to hold her yet, I really have no sympathy for you :) I'm joking. I know everyone wants to hold her. Who wouldn't, she's adorable! :)
I would probably have to say that this is the scariest thing we have dealt with, especially in the last several weeks. I have to try SO hard to remain positive, and my parents and Matt can attest to the fact that I have failed miserably at that most of the weekend. I did get to hold her today for a little bit, it was different because it was hard for her to get comfortable with an IV in her hand and in her head, and I missed getting to feel her soft skin (because of the gloves), but I got to hold her. Matt is a rock, like always, and my parents and Morgan have been trying very hard to pull me out of this funk. I know she needs me to be positive and be there for her more than ever, so I have to try and push through.
I know she will be okay.
I know that with preemies you have to expect challenges, but this one hit me really hard. Really hard. We were riding on such a high and to have the rug pulled out from under us (on Christmas no less) was really tough to deal with. I think I have handled her previous challenges pretty well, but this one I have just fallen apart. Today was better than yesterday, so here's hoping that tomorrow is better than today...
Good news is she doesn't have RSV or Influenza A or B. Bad news is we don't know what she has. She is on the same antibiotics they had her on for the last infection and they gave her a blood transfusion today. They put one of her IV's in her scalp which really bothers me, but apparently it's the best place for her to have one because they have less nerve endings up there, still it bothers me. Her other IV is in her arm, they had the two because one was for blood and one was for the antibiotics. They increased her air flow to .5 and they have suspended feedings (so no gaining weight, darn it!) to help her save her energy to fight whatever she has.
They are going to probably do a procedure tomorrow where they take some spinal fluid out to check for meningitis, which scares the s*%$ out of me, but they obviously have to do it. They are growing blood and urine cultures, but they haven't revealed anything yet.
Because they still don't quite know what she has, she is on "Contact Isolation" which means we have to wear gowns and gloves when we are in her room. They don't want the nurses to pass whatever she has to their other babies, or for other visitors to bring in any additional bacteria. This was really hard to deal with. I have watched other parents have to do this over the past several weeks and I have always felt so bad for them because I knew their baby must be really sick, and now we are those parents with the sick baby. I know it is best for Harper, but I feel like she can't really feel her mommy and daddy's touch through the gloves. Oh, and then we didn't get to hold her at all yesterday (on Christmas!), so anyone who wants to complain that they haven't gotten to hold her yet, I really have no sympathy for you :) I'm joking. I know everyone wants to hold her. Who wouldn't, she's adorable! :)
I would probably have to say that this is the scariest thing we have dealt with, especially in the last several weeks. I have to try SO hard to remain positive, and my parents and Matt can attest to the fact that I have failed miserably at that most of the weekend. I did get to hold her today for a little bit, it was different because it was hard for her to get comfortable with an IV in her hand and in her head, and I missed getting to feel her soft skin (because of the gloves), but I got to hold her. Matt is a rock, like always, and my parents and Morgan have been trying very hard to pull me out of this funk. I know she needs me to be positive and be there for her more than ever, so I have to try and push through.
I know she will be okay.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
12.25.10
I'm not going to put up a big old long post, but Harper has a little infection, we have learned today. They don't think it's in her respiratory system, but they have done pretty much every test they can do to try and figure out what it is. She is already looking better this afternoon and evening. They have put her on antibiotics and have pretty much quarantined her. We have to wear gowns and gloves when we are in her room and can't hold her (talk about tough).
I will keep you posted. For now, though, no need to worry. She is where she needs to be and they are taking great care of her.
I will keep you posted. For now, though, no need to worry. She is where she needs to be and they are taking great care of her.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
12.23.10
Well, we had quite the exciting day!
First off, they dropped her down to .1 liter flow! Almost there! Dr. Hubbard said she may think about making her Christmas present to Harper the joy of NO NASAL CANULA!! But, mommy doesn't think that will happen so soon. Dr. Hubbard said she would just experiment with it, she doesn't think she would necessarily be able to be off of it for good yet, but maybe a little time without it, like when she is awake.
Then, the nurses have been slowly weaning her air temperature down because as she is able to regulate her own temperature better, they don't need her isolette to help her out as much. She has to have the bed down to 27 degrees Celsius before they will put her in an open-top crib, and she is currently at 27.8! Yesterday, she was at 30.8, so she's moving in the right direction.
And now, the most exciting part! Mommy got to give her her first bottle!! The nurse said we would give her about 20 minutes with it or until she doesn't seem interested anymore. She didn't think she would take very much, but Harper scarfed down 19 of the 29 cc's. The little piglet! Then, they just fed the remaining 10 cc's through her NG tube. Now, the only problem was, that at the next feeding she had about 7 cc's residual (typically, she doesn't have any or maybe a 1/2 a cc), which is a ton for her. I asked if the bottle feed from earlier may have caused that, and he said that she may have worn herself out on the bottle and, therefore, her little body didn't have enough energy left to digest all the feeding. She just has to get used to working to get her food. The bummer here was that Matt was going to get to try and feed her with a bottle at that feeding, but since we always want to do what's best for her, we decided to let her rest during that feed and just take it through the pump and NG tube. Now, remember, when she has residuals they always give that leftover back to her and then give her the feeding, so if you think about it, at the 7:30 feeding she actually ate 36 cc's of milk! Oh my goodness, was her little belly full! I was really worried she was going to have a big spit-up, so I refused to leave until she either spewed or I thought she was going to be ok. She did end up spitting up, but only a little, maybe a couple cc's. We called a few minutes ago to see how her residuals were for the 10:30 and she only had 1 cc!! Whew, good girl, way to digest! The nurse did say that while her 10:30 was through the NG tube as well, he was probably going to try a bottle again at the 1:30 feeding to see how well she handles it. The doctor said she could have 1-2 bottles a day, so it will be interesting to see if that large residual will happen when she takes bottles, and hopefully, she will get over that soon! It's just a new thing for her to get used to, I know.
We are really going to try and get after the breastfeeding tomorrow too. The lactation specialist is coming up to help out, because I think they would really like her to try and start latching on instead of just nuzzling and playing around like we've been doing the past couple of weeks. So, 1-2 bottles a day, 1-2 breasting feeding sessions a day, we are getting there. In order to go home, one item on her checklist is to take all feeding by bottle or breast, so we are up to 2-4 out of the 8! Keep on going little girl!
She weighed 1650 grams tonight, a whopping 3 lbs. 10 oz.! She gained 59 grams!
First off, they dropped her down to .1 liter flow! Almost there! Dr. Hubbard said she may think about making her Christmas present to Harper the joy of NO NASAL CANULA!! But, mommy doesn't think that will happen so soon. Dr. Hubbard said she would just experiment with it, she doesn't think she would necessarily be able to be off of it for good yet, but maybe a little time without it, like when she is awake.
Then, the nurses have been slowly weaning her air temperature down because as she is able to regulate her own temperature better, they don't need her isolette to help her out as much. She has to have the bed down to 27 degrees Celsius before they will put her in an open-top crib, and she is currently at 27.8! Yesterday, she was at 30.8, so she's moving in the right direction.
And now, the most exciting part! Mommy got to give her her first bottle!! The nurse said we would give her about 20 minutes with it or until she doesn't seem interested anymore. She didn't think she would take very much, but Harper scarfed down 19 of the 29 cc's. The little piglet! Then, they just fed the remaining 10 cc's through her NG tube. Now, the only problem was, that at the next feeding she had about 7 cc's residual (typically, she doesn't have any or maybe a 1/2 a cc), which is a ton for her. I asked if the bottle feed from earlier may have caused that, and he said that she may have worn herself out on the bottle and, therefore, her little body didn't have enough energy left to digest all the feeding. She just has to get used to working to get her food. The bummer here was that Matt was going to get to try and feed her with a bottle at that feeding, but since we always want to do what's best for her, we decided to let her rest during that feed and just take it through the pump and NG tube. Now, remember, when she has residuals they always give that leftover back to her and then give her the feeding, so if you think about it, at the 7:30 feeding she actually ate 36 cc's of milk! Oh my goodness, was her little belly full! I was really worried she was going to have a big spit-up, so I refused to leave until she either spewed or I thought she was going to be ok. She did end up spitting up, but only a little, maybe a couple cc's. We called a few minutes ago to see how her residuals were for the 10:30 and she only had 1 cc!! Whew, good girl, way to digest! The nurse did say that while her 10:30 was through the NG tube as well, he was probably going to try a bottle again at the 1:30 feeding to see how well she handles it. The doctor said she could have 1-2 bottles a day, so it will be interesting to see if that large residual will happen when she takes bottles, and hopefully, she will get over that soon! It's just a new thing for her to get used to, I know.
We are really going to try and get after the breastfeeding tomorrow too. The lactation specialist is coming up to help out, because I think they would really like her to try and start latching on instead of just nuzzling and playing around like we've been doing the past couple of weeks. So, 1-2 bottles a day, 1-2 breasting feeding sessions a day, we are getting there. In order to go home, one item on her checklist is to take all feeding by bottle or breast, so we are up to 2-4 out of the 8! Keep on going little girl!
She weighed 1650 grams tonight, a whopping 3 lbs. 10 oz.! She gained 59 grams!
12.23.10
Harper is clothed! YAY!! The first outfit was rather a traumatic experience for the both of us. She was not happy with me by the end of it, but she looked super cute (as always). Then we had to undress her for the nurse to weigh her (3 lbs. 8 oz.!!), and mommy decided that we were not going to attempt that outfit again, so we went to another outfit. Much better!! The first outfit was a gown and it was difficult to put it on over her head, she didn't like that, and I was by myself (the gown is a two person dressing job). The nurse told me (after the fact) that I should put the gowns on from her feet up and not go over her head. Well, we will try that next time.
Because she is now clothed, they just have her on air temperature in her isolette. Which means, they no longer have a probe on her monitoring her skin temperature 24/7. They think she is big enough and old enough to regulate her temp. without it being constantly monitored. Now, she will just have her temp. taken every 3 hours during her hands-on.
They dropped her down to .2 liter flow now, and she seemed to be doing rather well with it yesterday, so hopefully she will keep doing well with it.
They increased her feedings to 29 cc's, almost an ounce!
Because she is now clothed, they just have her on air temperature in her isolette. Which means, they no longer have a probe on her monitoring her skin temperature 24/7. They think she is big enough and old enough to regulate her temp. without it being constantly monitored. Now, she will just have her temp. taken every 3 hours during her hands-on.
They dropped her down to .2 liter flow now, and she seemed to be doing rather well with it yesterday, so hopefully she will keep doing well with it.
They increased her feedings to 29 cc's, almost an ounce!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
12.21.10
Her brain scan came back normal!! Yay!!
Other than that, not much new today. She gained 39 grams, so she's now 3 lbs. 6.3 oz. Getting up there!!
Our nurse today told us we could start bringing in clothes for her to wear, which is exciting. No naked baby anymore!
Other than that, not much new today. She gained 39 grams, so she's now 3 lbs. 6.3 oz. Getting up there!!
Our nurse today told us we could start bringing in clothes for her to wear, which is exciting. No naked baby anymore!
Monday, December 20, 2010
12.20.10
Not much new today. Weekly labs came back pretty good. Her red blood cell count is a tad low, but not low enough for them to do anything about. Last night's weight was 1521 grams, which we thought was a little inaccurate and too high, and it appears as though we were right. She weighed 1499 grams tonight (3 lbs. almost 5 oz.), and there is no way she lost that in one day, so yesterday's was wrong. Stupid bed scales. 1499 sounds much better for today anyway, much more reasonable.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
12.18.10
The latest with the little one - well, she's not quite as little anymore, now is she? Still petite, but not as little. She's almost 3 lbs. 4 oz. at 1463 grams, she's really putting on the weight now. Keep it up!
Other than that, things are pretty much the same.
Other than that, things are pretty much the same.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
12.16.10 Part II
Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness!!!! She is 3 pounds!!! She gained 24 grams so she is almost 3 lbs. 1 oz. We are so stoked!! Way to go baby girl, next goal - 3 1/2 pounds!!
12.16.10
Happy 1-month birthday to our beautiful little girl! Hope the next month goes just as fast because then you will be a lot closer to going home!
Okay, so switch what I said yesterday. They decided to go ahead and drop her to the .3 liter flow, but keep her breathing treatments going, at least through the weekend.
She had her eye exam today, which is pretty standard. She has some immaturity, but that's because...surprise, surprise....she's premature. I know, shocker. But, the immaturity is on track with her age, so far so good. She will have a follow-up exam in 3 weeks.
Because the little porker is bigger now, they need to give her more milk, so they increased her feeding to 25 cc's. She only gained 1 gram yesterday, so she's really stalling on getting to the 3 pound mark, either because she is waiting for that celebration to happen today on her 1 month birthday, or because she wants to drive her impatient mother nuts. But, since they increased her feeds, hopefully, she will gain big tonight!
I hated being at work today while the eye exam was going on, killed me to not be there. This week is slowly starting to get to me, I love my job, but it's just tough to be here right now. 1 more day - then a 2 week break. I can do that.
Okay, so switch what I said yesterday. They decided to go ahead and drop her to the .3 liter flow, but keep her breathing treatments going, at least through the weekend.
She had her eye exam today, which is pretty standard. She has some immaturity, but that's because...surprise, surprise....she's premature. I know, shocker. But, the immaturity is on track with her age, so far so good. She will have a follow-up exam in 3 weeks.
Because the little porker is bigger now, they need to give her more milk, so they increased her feeding to 25 cc's. She only gained 1 gram yesterday, so she's really stalling on getting to the 3 pound mark, either because she is waiting for that celebration to happen today on her 1 month birthday, or because she wants to drive her impatient mother nuts. But, since they increased her feeds, hopefully, she will gain big tonight!
I hated being at work today while the eye exam was going on, killed me to not be there. This week is slowly starting to get to me, I love my job, but it's just tough to be here right now. 1 more day - then a 2 week break. I can do that.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
12.15.10
Not much new today so far.
The doctor is going to wait one more day to drop her oxygen level, because they are going to suspend her breathing treatments and see if she can handle the .4 flow without the breathing treatments. I don't think I've mentioned her breathing treatments yet, but she has been on them for a couple of weeks now. It's just like using an inhaler, using a drug called Xopenex. They use an oxygen mask and blow the medicine in her nose. It's supposed to help dialate her lungs, just like an inhaler does with people who have asthma. They started these when a chest X-ray a couple weeks ago looked hazy.
She gained 24 grams yesterday so she's up to 1351 grams (2 lbs. 15.6 pounds), 10 more grams and she will be 3 pounds!!!! We will see tonight if she made it! If not, that's okay, but it will be exciting when that happens. I feel like that will be a big milestone, to get out of the 2 pound range.
The doctor is going to wait one more day to drop her oxygen level, because they are going to suspend her breathing treatments and see if she can handle the .4 flow without the breathing treatments. I don't think I've mentioned her breathing treatments yet, but she has been on them for a couple of weeks now. It's just like using an inhaler, using a drug called Xopenex. They use an oxygen mask and blow the medicine in her nose. It's supposed to help dialate her lungs, just like an inhaler does with people who have asthma. They started these when a chest X-ray a couple weeks ago looked hazy.
She gained 24 grams yesterday so she's up to 1351 grams (2 lbs. 15.6 pounds), 10 more grams and she will be 3 pounds!!!! We will see tonight if she made it! If not, that's okay, but it will be exciting when that happens. I feel like that will be a big milestone, to get out of the 2 pound range.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
12.14.10
Little one is 4 weeks old today!! She actually has quite the birthday week - Today she is 4 weeks old, tomorrow she is 33 gestational weeks, and Thursday is her 1 month birthday!
Here's my poop story for today - The little stinker is a great pooper, we are told and, of course, we are so proud. She has a tendency to ruin several diapers while Matt is changing her, but yesterday she pooed on 3 diapers before I could get a clean one on her. Then, right before her bath, while the nurse was doing her assesment (mind you, no diaper on), she pooped on the nurse and then during the bath, she peed all over herself. Oh, what a little goof.
Anyway, medically speaking she's doing very well. She's up to 2 lbs. 14.5 oz. or 1327 grams. Only 31 more grams and she will be 3 pounds!! She is down to .4 liter flow on her oxygen and her labs from yesterday, including another follow-up chest X-ray came back great. Doing good!
My first day back at work was pretty good (aside from the madness of pumping at work - I did not plan well), I work with such awesome people. I was a little sensitive all day, but I think it actually helped that I got to talk about her all day. My students had lots of questions and I had lots of pictures to show! My only minor meltdown came when we got to the hospital and it looked like the nurse had already fed Harper. I was so upset, but I kept the tears away. Thankfully, she just hadn't cleaned up from her last feed, so I did get to hold her! Boy, she sure is amazing and holding her is just my favorite part of the day.
Here's my poop story for today - The little stinker is a great pooper, we are told and, of course, we are so proud. She has a tendency to ruin several diapers while Matt is changing her, but yesterday she pooed on 3 diapers before I could get a clean one on her. Then, right before her bath, while the nurse was doing her assesment (mind you, no diaper on), she pooped on the nurse and then during the bath, she peed all over herself. Oh, what a little goof.
Anyway, medically speaking she's doing very well. She's up to 2 lbs. 14.5 oz. or 1327 grams. Only 31 more grams and she will be 3 pounds!! She is down to .4 liter flow on her oxygen and her labs from yesterday, including another follow-up chest X-ray came back great. Doing good!
My first day back at work was pretty good (aside from the madness of pumping at work - I did not plan well), I work with such awesome people. I was a little sensitive all day, but I think it actually helped that I got to talk about her all day. My students had lots of questions and I had lots of pictures to show! My only minor meltdown came when we got to the hospital and it looked like the nurse had already fed Harper. I was so upset, but I kept the tears away. Thankfully, she just hadn't cleaned up from her last feed, so I did get to hold her! Boy, she sure is amazing and holding her is just my favorite part of the day.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
12.12.10
Not much new today. Sunday is measurement day, so we know that she is 15 inches now, she was 14 1/2 at birth.
She weighed 2 lbs. 14 oz., she's getting up there! Grow, baby, grow!
Making some progress with breastfeeding, she got a little today, but not much. She usually just sits there and stares at me like "what do you expect me to do with this gigantic thing that you have stuck in my mouth?" Poor little girl, she has such a little mouth, that's a lot to fit in there.
I'm going back to work this week, for just one week before Christmas break. This will be different. I have a feeling I will be quite exhausted by the end of this week.
She weighed 2 lbs. 14 oz., she's getting up there! Grow, baby, grow!
Making some progress with breastfeeding, she got a little today, but not much. She usually just sits there and stares at me like "what do you expect me to do with this gigantic thing that you have stuck in my mouth?" Poor little girl, she has such a little mouth, that's a lot to fit in there.
I'm going back to work this week, for just one week before Christmas break. This will be different. I have a feeling I will be quite exhausted by the end of this week.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
12.11.10
Not much new today...oh wait....yes, there is! We got to experiment with breastfeeding today. Just a little, she doesn't quite get it yet, but she at least got to nuzzle and may have gotten a few drops. We will get there. They said it may take a couple of weeks before she really latches on. We get to do this once a day for now. It was fun!
She is up to 2 lbs. 11 oz. now. So we are growing, just slowly.
She is up to 2 lbs. 11 oz. now. So we are growing, just slowly.
Friday, December 10, 2010
12.10.10
Several things for today -
First of all!!! My little niece has made her appearance!! Baylie Marie Nickerson was born this morning and is totally perfect. I skyped with Brian and Heather this morning, and got to see Baylie. She's adorable. Bright eyed and beautiful. Full head of BLACK hair. Wonderful! I struggled (translation - bawled my eyes out numerous times) quite a bit yesterday, knowing that I couldn't be there and knowing that I won't get to meet her in person for quite a while, but I know I need and want to be here with Harper. And, I know Brian and Heather understand, as they haven't met Harper yet either.
Next, some fun things - I may have gotten projectile spit up the other day, but she topped herself last night while Matt was changing her diaper....yeah, use your imagination folks. He did very well, and was able to actually catch it all in the diaper (the new one that he was trying to put on her). I was too busy laughing and trying not to barf (yeah, I know, I'm going to have to get over that).
We got to give her a bath in a tub for the first time. Up until now she has only had sponge baths. Matt did most of the work, since I have given her a bath already and he hadn't. I helped just keep her up in the tub, she kept wanting to slide down the tub. She actually liked it, I think it was because she was so snuggly and warm. She didn't fuss at all.
Now, on to the morning report. They are increasing her calorie intake to 26 but keeping the amount of milk she is getting to 23 cc's.
They have dropped her down to .5 liter flow on the oxygen. I'm a little surprised by this, because she still seems inconsistent on the .8 liter flow, but they are really wanting to get her weaned off the oxygen, so if they feel she can handle it, I will trust them.
Her CBC this morning showed that her red blood cell count was still lower than they want, but it is still increasing, so no transfusion as of right now. This surprised me too, I was sure that she was going to need one, I'm not sure why I thought that, I guess I was just trying to not keep my hopes up. They will repeat the CBC on Monday and see where she is sitting.
First of all!!! My little niece has made her appearance!! Baylie Marie Nickerson was born this morning and is totally perfect. I skyped with Brian and Heather this morning, and got to see Baylie. She's adorable. Bright eyed and beautiful. Full head of BLACK hair. Wonderful! I struggled (translation - bawled my eyes out numerous times) quite a bit yesterday, knowing that I couldn't be there and knowing that I won't get to meet her in person for quite a while, but I know I need and want to be here with Harper. And, I know Brian and Heather understand, as they haven't met Harper yet either.
Next, some fun things - I may have gotten projectile spit up the other day, but she topped herself last night while Matt was changing her diaper....yeah, use your imagination folks. He did very well, and was able to actually catch it all in the diaper (the new one that he was trying to put on her). I was too busy laughing and trying not to barf (yeah, I know, I'm going to have to get over that).
We got to give her a bath in a tub for the first time. Up until now she has only had sponge baths. Matt did most of the work, since I have given her a bath already and he hadn't. I helped just keep her up in the tub, she kept wanting to slide down the tub. She actually liked it, I think it was because she was so snuggly and warm. She didn't fuss at all.
Now, on to the morning report. They are increasing her calorie intake to 26 but keeping the amount of milk she is getting to 23 cc's.
They have dropped her down to .5 liter flow on the oxygen. I'm a little surprised by this, because she still seems inconsistent on the .8 liter flow, but they are really wanting to get her weaned off the oxygen, so if they feel she can handle it, I will trust them.
Her CBC this morning showed that her red blood cell count was still lower than they want, but it is still increasing, so no transfusion as of right now. This surprised me too, I was sure that she was going to need one, I'm not sure why I thought that, I guess I was just trying to not keep my hopes up. They will repeat the CBC on Monday and see where she is sitting.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
12.8.10
Today would have been my 32 week doctor appointment......clearly, that's not happening :)
They have increased her feedings to 23 cc's, hopefully this means she will start gaining some more weight. She is currently 2 lbs 10.6 ozs. She had lost a bit after the infection, but is back to gaining, just very slowly, so that's why they are increasing the feedings.
Our reports will probably be a little lighter since they are only going to do labs about once a week. Since she is more stable now, they don't want to keep poking her if they don't have to.
On a different note, Matt starts his new job tomorrow, so whatever schedule we had been used to, will now be changing. Not to mention that I go back to work next week (only for 1 week though). We had become pretty comfortable with our schedule (it's weird to actually get used to going to the hospital...), so this will be a different world for us. It's been so comforting to go through this together for the past 3 weeks, and it seems like now there will be more time where only one of us will be up there at a time.... Just breathe, Beth....we can do this.
They have increased her feedings to 23 cc's, hopefully this means she will start gaining some more weight. She is currently 2 lbs 10.6 ozs. She had lost a bit after the infection, but is back to gaining, just very slowly, so that's why they are increasing the feedings.
Our reports will probably be a little lighter since they are only going to do labs about once a week. Since she is more stable now, they don't want to keep poking her if they don't have to.
On a different note, Matt starts his new job tomorrow, so whatever schedule we had been used to, will now be changing. Not to mention that I go back to work next week (only for 1 week though). We had become pretty comfortable with our schedule (it's weird to actually get used to going to the hospital...), so this will be a different world for us. It's been so comforting to go through this together for the past 3 weeks, and it seems like now there will be more time where only one of us will be up there at a time.... Just breathe, Beth....we can do this.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
12.7.10
I'm loving the quick updates!
Yesterday, they had dropped her down to .8 liter flow on her oxygen, but they bumped it back up to 1 liter over night. She was just having too much fluctuation in the amount she needed. They were having to come in and bump it up and bump it down all the time, so she just wasn't consistent enough to stay at the .8 liter. That's okay, we will get there little girl.
They did a follow-up chest X-ray this morning, but the doctor hasn't been in yet, so our nurse didn't know what how it turned out. She did say, though, that if looked bad, somebody would have already come in and written orders, so she thought it was a good sign that no one had been in yet.
Yesterday, they had dropped her down to .8 liter flow on her oxygen, but they bumped it back up to 1 liter over night. She was just having too much fluctuation in the amount she needed. They were having to come in and bump it up and bump it down all the time, so she just wasn't consistent enough to stay at the .8 liter. That's okay, we will get there little girl.
They did a follow-up chest X-ray this morning, but the doctor hasn't been in yet, so our nurse didn't know what how it turned out. She did say, though, that if looked bad, somebody would have already come in and written orders, so she thought it was a good sign that no one had been in yet.
Monday, December 6, 2010
12.6.10
Another uneventful morning report - I really like these, but I try to not get too used to them, that way if we get a less than stellar report, I won't be too disappointed.
Her morning labs were all good. They just did her blood sugar and tested her electrolytes. She had a little too much potassium, but only by like .06 over where they want her to be, so they probably won't do anything for that, just keep an eye on it.
Only one bloody stool overnight, but it was just like the other ones, so just the fissure. The diapers we changed yesterday didn't have any in them, so it is slowly getting better.
That's all for now!
Her morning labs were all good. They just did her blood sugar and tested her electrolytes. She had a little too much potassium, but only by like .06 over where they want her to be, so they probably won't do anything for that, just keep an eye on it.
Only one bloody stool overnight, but it was just like the other ones, so just the fissure. The diapers we changed yesterday didn't have any in them, so it is slowly getting better.
That's all for now!
Sunday, December 5, 2010
12.5.10
Pretty uneventful morning report - love those!!
They are increasing the calories they are adding to my milk, and are going to give her some vitamin D. That's about it.
They are increasing the calories they are adding to my milk, and are going to give her some vitamin D. That's about it.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
12.4.10 Part II
All the labs came back fine - or rather, improved. Her immature white blood cells are decreasing, not as low as they would like still, but they are moving in the right direction. The doctor is holding off on the blood transfusion for now. Still doing well with the feeding and so they still just think the bloody stool was a fissure.
12.4.10
Sorry for the lack of post yesterday. I usually post after our morning report, but yesterday morning was a pretty light morning for a report. She was on full feedings and her oxygen was still the 4 liter CPAP. They didn't do any labs because they were giving her that lab holiday I mentioned.
That was pretty much all he news until we got to the hospital and learned they were going to take out her CPAP!! YAY!!! Not only did they take her off the that, they dropped her all the way down to 1 liter oxygen! Now, I will say, as they were switching her over, I was surprised to realize how safe I felt with her on the CPAP and now that security was gone. But, after a little while she settled down and got used to the little nose cannula and the 1 liter flow and was doing great. The have to keep her at about 40-50% on it, but I have to remind myself that it is just a 1 liter flow...
Everything was going well yesterday, I got to hold her, she was handling her feedings well, and she was off the CPAP. When we went to do her 8:30 hands-on and feeding, she had a REALLY poopy diaper, like the nurse had to change out the linens, because she blew out the sides. Then about 2 minutes later as the nurse was about to let Matt hold her, she noticed that she pooped again, so she changed her and noticed some blood in her stool. Well, the nurse practitioner came in and examined her, said her bowel sounds were great, her tummy was nice and soft, and she was fussy (a sign that she's feeling good and feisty). So, they ordered an X-ray, which after about an hour (Harper was not happy they were delaying her feeding) came back completely clear. Then they ordered labs, which took another hour to come back. They decided that it must just be a fissure (a sore up her little bum), so they would go ahead and resume feedings. But, her CBC did still show that her immature white blood cells were still a little high, they are coming down from where they were, I just don't think they are coming down as fast as they would like. And her red blood cell count was down, darn it, looks like another transfusion might be in our future. But, they did start giving her iron so that might help a little. They always start preemies on iron once they get to full feedings.
They were going to repeat the labs this morning and we are heading up there early today so we will wait to get the morning report when we get there. We are getting up there early because Santa is coming to the NICU and Harper will be getting her picture taken with him!! YAY!! I will try and update later with the morning lab information.
That was pretty much all he news until we got to the hospital and learned they were going to take out her CPAP!! YAY!!! Not only did they take her off the that, they dropped her all the way down to 1 liter oxygen! Now, I will say, as they were switching her over, I was surprised to realize how safe I felt with her on the CPAP and now that security was gone. But, after a little while she settled down and got used to the little nose cannula and the 1 liter flow and was doing great. The have to keep her at about 40-50% on it, but I have to remind myself that it is just a 1 liter flow...
Everything was going well yesterday, I got to hold her, she was handling her feedings well, and she was off the CPAP. When we went to do her 8:30 hands-on and feeding, she had a REALLY poopy diaper, like the nurse had to change out the linens, because she blew out the sides. Then about 2 minutes later as the nurse was about to let Matt hold her, she noticed that she pooped again, so she changed her and noticed some blood in her stool. Well, the nurse practitioner came in and examined her, said her bowel sounds were great, her tummy was nice and soft, and she was fussy (a sign that she's feeling good and feisty). So, they ordered an X-ray, which after about an hour (Harper was not happy they were delaying her feeding) came back completely clear. Then they ordered labs, which took another hour to come back. They decided that it must just be a fissure (a sore up her little bum), so they would go ahead and resume feedings. But, her CBC did still show that her immature white blood cells were still a little high, they are coming down from where they were, I just don't think they are coming down as fast as they would like. And her red blood cell count was down, darn it, looks like another transfusion might be in our future. But, they did start giving her iron so that might help a little. They always start preemies on iron once they get to full feedings.
They were going to repeat the labs this morning and we are heading up there early today so we will wait to get the morning report when we get there. We are getting up there early because Santa is coming to the NICU and Harper will be getting her picture taken with him!! YAY!! I will try and update later with the morning lab information.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
12.2.10
2 months from today was supposed to be Little Miss Harper's birthdate - she fooled us all. Little pill.
Anywhoo - today's update.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, I had a truly bonding experience with my daughter this evening. As I was holding the little chunky monkey, she spit up on me. We are not talking a little drool just happened to dribble out of her teeny tiny little mouth, nope, it shot out of her mouth like the pea soup in The Exorcist movie. And, as an added special touch, because I was sitting up with her, after it shot out, it slowly started to roll down my chest and into my bra. Thank you, my dear little lovely.
Speaking of feedings, she is currently on 17 cc's, although she will go up to 18 later tonight. By tomorrow, she will be up to "full" feedings for her which will be 20 cc's. I think that means shortly we will get to explore the world of breastfeeding.
They were able to drop down her CPAP from 5 liters to 4 liters, which just means they are having to use less of it, which is good. Our nurse said today, that he (yes, he - makes for some awkward moments, when I'm trying to pump in the room) thought that either tomorrow or Saturday, they might take her back off the CPAP. Yay!!! Cross your fingers, knock on wood!!
Her week long round of antibiotics is done and because she is close to full feedings and won't need additional supplements, they will be taking out her IV tonight! SUPER DUPER!!
They are giving her a "lab holiday" tomorrow, so no needle pricks! They are actually doing this, because they want to wait a good full day before the take any more labs to then be able to see if the antibiotics did their job and the "infection" is gone.
Speaking of the "infection" - our nurse practitioner is thinking that it may have been a slight case of pneumonia, and that's why her lung X-rays kept coming back hazy. Thankfully, when she said that, she said "may have been" as in the past tense, because if I had known about that while it was going on, there may have been many sleepless nights. My poor little girl had pneumonia?!?!? AHHHH!!! Of course, we will never know for sure, since it has all started to clear up now, but still a little freaky.
All in all, pretty good day - except for the spit up thing, although I'm not dumb enough to think that won't ever happen again :)
Anywhoo - today's update.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, I had a truly bonding experience with my daughter this evening. As I was holding the little chunky monkey, she spit up on me. We are not talking a little drool just happened to dribble out of her teeny tiny little mouth, nope, it shot out of her mouth like the pea soup in The Exorcist movie. And, as an added special touch, because I was sitting up with her, after it shot out, it slowly started to roll down my chest and into my bra. Thank you, my dear little lovely.
Speaking of feedings, she is currently on 17 cc's, although she will go up to 18 later tonight. By tomorrow, she will be up to "full" feedings for her which will be 20 cc's. I think that means shortly we will get to explore the world of breastfeeding.
They were able to drop down her CPAP from 5 liters to 4 liters, which just means they are having to use less of it, which is good. Our nurse said today, that he (yes, he - makes for some awkward moments, when I'm trying to pump in the room) thought that either tomorrow or Saturday, they might take her back off the CPAP. Yay!!! Cross your fingers, knock on wood!!
Her week long round of antibiotics is done and because she is close to full feedings and won't need additional supplements, they will be taking out her IV tonight! SUPER DUPER!!
They are giving her a "lab holiday" tomorrow, so no needle pricks! They are actually doing this, because they want to wait a good full day before the take any more labs to then be able to see if the antibiotics did their job and the "infection" is gone.
Speaking of the "infection" - our nurse practitioner is thinking that it may have been a slight case of pneumonia, and that's why her lung X-rays kept coming back hazy. Thankfully, when she said that, she said "may have been" as in the past tense, because if I had known about that while it was going on, there may have been many sleepless nights. My poor little girl had pneumonia?!?!? AHHHH!!! Of course, we will never know for sure, since it has all started to clear up now, but still a little freaky.
All in all, pretty good day - except for the spit up thing, although I'm not dumb enough to think that won't ever happen again :)
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
12.1.10
See, all the girl needed was some rest.
All her labs came back better this morning, including her chest X-ray, which looked better. Not cleared up totally, but much less hazy.
She is up to 13 cc's for the next 2 feedings, then little miss piggy goes up to 14. As they up her feedings, they decrease the amount of lipids (fats) she gets. She's weighing in at 2 lb.s 10 1/2 ounces now.
She is still on the CPAP for now (ranging anywhere from 27-35 %), but I am okay with this. Other than the fact that she has to wear this ugly mask thing while she has it on, it's what's best for her right now. The doctor yesterday said that it is a little bit of a setback to go back to the CPAP, but sometimes babies her size just get tuckered out and need a little break, especially since she has been battling an infection and having the blood transfusion.
I think she looks great today, not puffy and just the perfect baby color. So far, it's a good day.
All her labs came back better this morning, including her chest X-ray, which looked better. Not cleared up totally, but much less hazy.
She is up to 13 cc's for the next 2 feedings, then little miss piggy goes up to 14. As they up her feedings, they decrease the amount of lipids (fats) she gets. She's weighing in at 2 lb.s 10 1/2 ounces now.
She is still on the CPAP for now (ranging anywhere from 27-35 %), but I am okay with this. Other than the fact that she has to wear this ugly mask thing while she has it on, it's what's best for her right now. The doctor yesterday said that it is a little bit of a setback to go back to the CPAP, but sometimes babies her size just get tuckered out and need a little break, especially since she has been battling an infection and having the blood transfusion.
I think she looks great today, not puffy and just the perfect baby color. So far, it's a good day.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
11.30.10
First of all - Happy 2 week birthday baby girl!
It's been a busy day today. We got a call at 6:00 a.m. (when NICU flashes on your phone at 6 a.m, that'll freak you out) saying that they needed to put her back on the CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure). Translation - she takes every breath by herself, but a steady flow of air comes into her airway under pressure, even when she exhales, holds the air sacs open and keeps them from collapsing after each breath. She was on the CPAP right when she was born, then went off of it, then back on a couple days later, and has been off of it for about a week. But, today, back on she went. The reasoning - her chest X-ray came back even hazier than yesterday's, and her CO2 level was elevated. The low-flow oxygen they had her on was making it hard for her to exhale the CO2 out. This could all have been being caused by the fact that she wasn't able to sleep on her belly (which I've mentioned before). On a bright note (I guess), they had to take the IV out of her foot because it was old and was leaking, and had to put it in her arm, so she can now lay on her belly!! She is much happier, I can tell!! Since I have been here they have turned down the CPAP to 30% though, and her monitor keeps dinging that even that's too high, so we shall see how things turn out with that. I was bummed that we had to go back to this, but I know that I would prefer to have her spend her energy getting bigger and stronger, not spending it trying to breath if there is a way they can help her out with that.
She doesn't look as puffy to me today, so that's a good thing. And she's doing okay with her feedings. She had about half of her 7:30 feeding left in residual at her 10:30 feeding, so they gave her that back and then just gave her half of a feeding. But at the 1:30 feeding, she had digested it all, so they went back to her full feeding (7 cc's).
When I arrived to hold her for her 1:30 feeding they had just gotten done taking a bunch of labs and poking and proding her, so the nurse kind of hinted that she didn't know if getting her out and holding her would be a good idea. This bummed me out, but Matt and I have said all along that it's what's best for Harper, so the second she started hinting at that, I immediately told her I agreed and that we were not going to be selfish about holding her. She's had a stressful morning, so let her rest.
Hopefully, she can have a bit more peaceful of an evening.
It's been a busy day today. We got a call at 6:00 a.m. (when NICU flashes on your phone at 6 a.m, that'll freak you out) saying that they needed to put her back on the CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure). Translation - she takes every breath by herself, but a steady flow of air comes into her airway under pressure, even when she exhales, holds the air sacs open and keeps them from collapsing after each breath. She was on the CPAP right when she was born, then went off of it, then back on a couple days later, and has been off of it for about a week. But, today, back on she went. The reasoning - her chest X-ray came back even hazier than yesterday's, and her CO2 level was elevated. The low-flow oxygen they had her on was making it hard for her to exhale the CO2 out. This could all have been being caused by the fact that she wasn't able to sleep on her belly (which I've mentioned before). On a bright note (I guess), they had to take the IV out of her foot because it was old and was leaking, and had to put it in her arm, so she can now lay on her belly!! She is much happier, I can tell!! Since I have been here they have turned down the CPAP to 30% though, and her monitor keeps dinging that even that's too high, so we shall see how things turn out with that. I was bummed that we had to go back to this, but I know that I would prefer to have her spend her energy getting bigger and stronger, not spending it trying to breath if there is a way they can help her out with that.
She doesn't look as puffy to me today, so that's a good thing. And she's doing okay with her feedings. She had about half of her 7:30 feeding left in residual at her 10:30 feeding, so they gave her that back and then just gave her half of a feeding. But at the 1:30 feeding, she had digested it all, so they went back to her full feeding (7 cc's).
When I arrived to hold her for her 1:30 feeding they had just gotten done taking a bunch of labs and poking and proding her, so the nurse kind of hinted that she didn't know if getting her out and holding her would be a good idea. This bummed me out, but Matt and I have said all along that it's what's best for Harper, so the second she started hinting at that, I immediately told her I agreed and that we were not going to be selfish about holding her. She's had a stressful morning, so let her rest.
Hopefully, she can have a bit more peaceful of an evening.
Monday, November 29, 2010
11.29.10 Part II
Well, today's challenge is the fact that Harper's breathing seems to be more labored. There are a couple of reasons for this - could just be that she's not laying on her tummy. I think I may have mentioned before that it's easier for preemies to breathe on their tummies, so that could be it. They have to do this because she still has that IV in her right foot.
Her breathing hasn't been an issue for her, so the doctor thought something might be up, so they took an X-ray and it showed that her lungs looked a little hazy, so they are 3 courses of action for this. She's still a little puffy all over, so the haziness could be from that, so they are giving her another dose of the diuretic to see if that helps. Then they will do their normal labs in the morning to see if that helped. If it didn't they will give her another medicine that will dilate her lungs which will help open them up. If that doesn't work then they will up her flow from a 1.5 tube to a 2.0 tube. Bottom line - it's just something to keep an eye on. It seems like they say that a lot, but that's really all they can do at this point.
Good news though - they may not put the PICC line back in. Basically, the line has been providing her nutrients when she couldn't have the my milk, and it's been delivering her antibiotics. Well, she will only be on the antibiotics until Wednesday and if she can handle the feedings, they won't need to keep supplying her with extra nutrients. They have increased her feedings to every 3 hours (instead of 4), so we should be able to see if she can tolerate more milk. So, the reasons for the PICC line seem to be disappearing. If they would need to give her antibiotics or nutrients down the road for something and they don't need it for an extended period of time, they will just put an IV in. UGH!! Mommy would HATE that option, but it doesn't seem to bother her to get poked with needles. Keep that up little girl!!
Her breathing hasn't been an issue for her, so the doctor thought something might be up, so they took an X-ray and it showed that her lungs looked a little hazy, so they are 3 courses of action for this. She's still a little puffy all over, so the haziness could be from that, so they are giving her another dose of the diuretic to see if that helps. Then they will do their normal labs in the morning to see if that helped. If it didn't they will give her another medicine that will dilate her lungs which will help open them up. If that doesn't work then they will up her flow from a 1.5 tube to a 2.0 tube. Bottom line - it's just something to keep an eye on. It seems like they say that a lot, but that's really all they can do at this point.
Good news though - they may not put the PICC line back in. Basically, the line has been providing her nutrients when she couldn't have the my milk, and it's been delivering her antibiotics. Well, she will only be on the antibiotics until Wednesday and if she can handle the feedings, they won't need to keep supplying her with extra nutrients. They have increased her feedings to every 3 hours (instead of 4), so we should be able to see if she can tolerate more milk. So, the reasons for the PICC line seem to be disappearing. If they would need to give her antibiotics or nutrients down the road for something and they don't need it for an extended period of time, they will just put an IV in. UGH!! Mommy would HATE that option, but it doesn't seem to bother her to get poked with needles. Keep that up little girl!!
11.29.10
Pretty good morning update today!
The blood transfusion went great and her red blood cell count looked fantastic this morning, so that really seemed to do the trick. Because of the transfusion, her oxygen level has become more stable, which is to be expected now that her blood is back to normal. It wasn't ever bad, but her little monitor kept going off, because she couldn't maintain a consistant flow, it would drop below the standard number by one or two points then raise back up, then drop, etc.....
She is doing great with feedings and is up to 4 cc's. She will be going up to 5 today, so let's hope she can handle it, this is where we got to the last time before the infection kicked in and we had to stop for a few days.
Only bummer was that they had to take the PICC line out late last night. The PICC line is like a better option for a long-term IV. It's less likely to clot than a regular IV, that's why it lasts longer. She had it put in her left leg a couple days after she was born. Last night, it started leaking, so to avoid any infection, they took it out. Thankfully (odd that I'm saying this, since I was so stressed out about the transfusion), they had another IV put in for the transfusion, they are just using that until they decide when and where to put the new PICC line. She has really great veins (unlike her mother), so they got the first one in on the first try, so the nurse said they shouldn't have any problems getting another one put in. They will probably put it in one of her arms.
As for the swollen knee issue from yesterday - The nurse practitioner said that she thought Harper looked a little puffy all over yesterday, not just in her knee, probably because of all the fluids they had been giving her and the extra sodium. So, they gave her a little diuretic basically, so she could pee off some of the excess fluid. Her knee was a little extra swollen because she sleeps on her tummy with her legs all bent up and her knees are where the fluid pools up, she just must have been tipped more to her left side the night before. But, the swelling has gone down and she looks great today! The same nurse has had her for the last 3 days, so she would know. I love when we get repeat nurses, so comforting when they know her so well.
Very pleased with the morning report - but, as we have learned, the day is still young, more challenges may await us and we will face them. She's a little fighter and she faces each problem head on.....her mother on the other hand.....well, hey, I made a big leap today - usually, I have Matt call in for the updates because I didn't think I could handle it if they told me something bad, but today I called in! So, yay for me! Good thing it was a good report, otherwise, Matt would be doomed to call in for the remainder of her stay. :)
Another day older, another day closer to coming home.
The blood transfusion went great and her red blood cell count looked fantastic this morning, so that really seemed to do the trick. Because of the transfusion, her oxygen level has become more stable, which is to be expected now that her blood is back to normal. It wasn't ever bad, but her little monitor kept going off, because she couldn't maintain a consistant flow, it would drop below the standard number by one or two points then raise back up, then drop, etc.....
She is doing great with feedings and is up to 4 cc's. She will be going up to 5 today, so let's hope she can handle it, this is where we got to the last time before the infection kicked in and we had to stop for a few days.
Only bummer was that they had to take the PICC line out late last night. The PICC line is like a better option for a long-term IV. It's less likely to clot than a regular IV, that's why it lasts longer. She had it put in her left leg a couple days after she was born. Last night, it started leaking, so to avoid any infection, they took it out. Thankfully (odd that I'm saying this, since I was so stressed out about the transfusion), they had another IV put in for the transfusion, they are just using that until they decide when and where to put the new PICC line. She has really great veins (unlike her mother), so they got the first one in on the first try, so the nurse said they shouldn't have any problems getting another one put in. They will probably put it in one of her arms.
As for the swollen knee issue from yesterday - The nurse practitioner said that she thought Harper looked a little puffy all over yesterday, not just in her knee, probably because of all the fluids they had been giving her and the extra sodium. So, they gave her a little diuretic basically, so she could pee off some of the excess fluid. Her knee was a little extra swollen because she sleeps on her tummy with her legs all bent up and her knees are where the fluid pools up, she just must have been tipped more to her left side the night before. But, the swelling has gone down and she looks great today! The same nurse has had her for the last 3 days, so she would know. I love when we get repeat nurses, so comforting when they know her so well.
Very pleased with the morning report - but, as we have learned, the day is still young, more challenges may await us and we will face them. She's a little fighter and she faces each problem head on.....her mother on the other hand.....well, hey, I made a big leap today - usually, I have Matt call in for the updates because I didn't think I could handle it if they told me something bad, but today I called in! So, yay for me! Good thing it was a good report, otherwise, Matt would be doomed to call in for the remainder of her stay. :)
Another day older, another day closer to coming home.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
11.28.10 Part II
She did have to have the blood transfusion. Every time they have to do something that requires "parental consent", I get pretty anxious. They said they will know within the first 15 minutes if her body won't handle it, and we are about an hour or more into it, so she seems to be doing well. The doctor said that she has actually made it farther than most preemies do without needing a transfusion. With all the blood tests they have to do on preemies, their little bodies can't quite keep up, so it's very rare for a preemie to leave the NICU without having to have at least one transfusion.
The nurse noticed her left knee looked swollen this morning, so they have done some X-rays. This afternoon the nurse said it looks better, so the doctor wonders if she just slept on it funny. We will know more when the X-ray's come back though. Unfortunately, because of the swelling, they want to keep her leg pretty straight, so they have a little foam board taped on it. So, she has a board taped on one leg and the IV for the blood transfusion on the other leg. Because of this, she has to lay on her back, which she does NOT like one bit. Plus, preemies breathe better when they are on their tummies, so she's having to work a little harder to breathe. Ick!
The nurse noticed her left knee looked swollen this morning, so they have done some X-rays. This afternoon the nurse said it looks better, so the doctor wonders if she just slept on it funny. We will know more when the X-ray's come back though. Unfortunately, because of the swelling, they want to keep her leg pretty straight, so they have a little foam board taped on it. So, she has a board taped on one leg and the IV for the blood transfusion on the other leg. Because of this, she has to lay on her back, which she does NOT like one bit. Plus, preemies breathe better when they are on their tummies, so she's having to work a little harder to breathe. Ick!
11.28.10
Just called for an update -
She only had one Brady episode last night, but the nurse went in there and she had her chin bent all the way down into her chest, so that cuts off her air which can cause the episode. Little girl just needs to learn to not bury her chin in her chest.
Really good news!! Infection seems to be cleared up!! Her CBC showed that her white blood cell count is normal! But, on the flip side....her red blood cell count is low, basically because she just had an infection and they were attacked and haven't recovered. She is right on the border line of having to have a little transfusion in order to fix that count, so the nurse said don't be surprised if they call and ask if it is alright to do that later. We still don't know what the infection was, since the blood and urine cultures have not grown anything.
Her feedings are going well, still on the 2 cc's every 4 hours. Her electrolytes came back normal so they don't have to give her any supplements, just normal IV fluids.
Last night, when we called before bed to get her weight, the little porker is up to 2 lbs. 8 oz. Now, yes, when she was born they recorded her at 2 lbs. 9 oz., but it has since been established that there is no way she weighed that much. They think she was more around 2 lbs. 4-5 oz. Then, as most babies do, she dropped some weight in the first few days. Her lightest weight was 1 lb. 15 oz., so we are very excited that she has gained so much back!
That's all for right now....all in all, pretty good update!
She only had one Brady episode last night, but the nurse went in there and she had her chin bent all the way down into her chest, so that cuts off her air which can cause the episode. Little girl just needs to learn to not bury her chin in her chest.
Really good news!! Infection seems to be cleared up!! Her CBC showed that her white blood cell count is normal! But, on the flip side....her red blood cell count is low, basically because she just had an infection and they were attacked and haven't recovered. She is right on the border line of having to have a little transfusion in order to fix that count, so the nurse said don't be surprised if they call and ask if it is alright to do that later. We still don't know what the infection was, since the blood and urine cultures have not grown anything.
Her feedings are going well, still on the 2 cc's every 4 hours. Her electrolytes came back normal so they don't have to give her any supplements, just normal IV fluids.
Last night, when we called before bed to get her weight, the little porker is up to 2 lbs. 8 oz. Now, yes, when she was born they recorded her at 2 lbs. 9 oz., but it has since been established that there is no way she weighed that much. They think she was more around 2 lbs. 4-5 oz. Then, as most babies do, she dropped some weight in the first few days. Her lightest weight was 1 lb. 15 oz., so we are very excited that she has gained so much back!
That's all for right now....all in all, pretty good update!
Saturday, November 27, 2010
11.27.10
Thank you for the great comments!! I'm kind of excited about doing this. Other, than the fact that I think I will be able to keep all of this information straight (pregnancy significantly destroyed my brain cells :) ), but it will be a great way to keep everyone updated.
Yesterday, we spent a good chunk of the afternoon/early evening up with our little pumpkin, and Matt got to hold her FOR 2 HOURS!!!! The nurse got tied up with another baby, so he got a pretty extended session with her....I'm so jealous! But I guess I've held her more times, so it all evens out. Mom got some amazing pictures before they left us to have our little family time.
Even with her infection, the doctor came in and told us that Harper had a very good day yesterday. Yay!!
This morning, we called for an update and here is what we got -
They upped her oxygen just a little, so when she has her "Brady" episodes, she won't have to work so hard to get her respiratory rate back up. "Beth - when you say "Brady" episode, are you referring to an episode of the Brady Bunch?" Excellent question, no, I am not. A "Brady" episode is defined as the slowing of a baby's heart rate from its usual range of 120-160 per minute to a rate of less than 100 beats per minute. This sound very frightening, but is really is EXTREMELY common with preemies. It's almost like they forget to keep their heart rate up. Sometimes, when a baby has an episode, you have to stimulate him/her in some way to "startle" them, so they "wake" up. It only takes a couple seconds for their heart rate to return to normal.
Harper (who has about 5-6 Bradys a day) has always been able to bring her heart rate back up on her own though, she's never had to have any additional stimulation. So, the reason for the oxygen support is when her heart rate drops, so does her oxygen. It has not been a problem for her, but why make her work harder to get her heart rate AND respiratory rate back up? They didn't up it very much though, just a little.
They did a test on her blood to see the level of antibiotic saturation and it was a little low, so they will give her a little more. It's okay that it was a little low, that just means they weren't over medicating her. Nothing has shown up yet on the blood or urine culture, so we are still not sure what type of infection it is, but they are doing another CBC tomorrow to check her immature blood cell level to see if the antibiotics have helped. She still doesn't act like she's sick, so that's always a positive.
Her sodium level has returned to normal, so they will take her off the additional sodium support today.
They will resume her feedings today at noon, but with only 2 cc's. Start her off slow and then check after 2 hours to see if she has digested anything, if she has - great. If not, we will reassess at that time. In the future, I will mention something called "residuals". She's being fed through a feeding tube, so they hang a syringe (minus the plunger) from the top of her bed and then add the milk to it and it slowly drops into her feeding tube and into her belly. Typically, after 4 hours, they put the plunger back into the syringe and suck out anything that is still left in her stomach to see how much she was able to digest - that is the "residual". We always hope for no residuals, that means she digested everything. That's how we knew something was up the other day, because after a feeding of 5 cc's, she had a residual of 5 cc's. They gave the residual back to her, but it took her almost 12 hours to digest it. That's why they stopped the feedings to do some investigating. Hopefully, whatever was keeping her from digesting the other day (infection or just giving her too much) will have worked itself out, because her bowels looked good on X-ray. I want her to eat! Good grief, our freezer is quickly filling up with milk, she needs to get going!
That's all for now. Off to see her shortly.
Yesterday, we spent a good chunk of the afternoon/early evening up with our little pumpkin, and Matt got to hold her FOR 2 HOURS!!!! The nurse got tied up with another baby, so he got a pretty extended session with her....I'm so jealous! But I guess I've held her more times, so it all evens out. Mom got some amazing pictures before they left us to have our little family time.
Even with her infection, the doctor came in and told us that Harper had a very good day yesterday. Yay!!
This morning, we called for an update and here is what we got -
They upped her oxygen just a little, so when she has her "Brady" episodes, she won't have to work so hard to get her respiratory rate back up. "Beth - when you say "Brady" episode, are you referring to an episode of the Brady Bunch?" Excellent question, no, I am not. A "Brady" episode is defined as the slowing of a baby's heart rate from its usual range of 120-160 per minute to a rate of less than 100 beats per minute. This sound very frightening, but is really is EXTREMELY common with preemies. It's almost like they forget to keep their heart rate up. Sometimes, when a baby has an episode, you have to stimulate him/her in some way to "startle" them, so they "wake" up. It only takes a couple seconds for their heart rate to return to normal.
Harper (who has about 5-6 Bradys a day) has always been able to bring her heart rate back up on her own though, she's never had to have any additional stimulation. So, the reason for the oxygen support is when her heart rate drops, so does her oxygen. It has not been a problem for her, but why make her work harder to get her heart rate AND respiratory rate back up? They didn't up it very much though, just a little.
They did a test on her blood to see the level of antibiotic saturation and it was a little low, so they will give her a little more. It's okay that it was a little low, that just means they weren't over medicating her. Nothing has shown up yet on the blood or urine culture, so we are still not sure what type of infection it is, but they are doing another CBC tomorrow to check her immature blood cell level to see if the antibiotics have helped. She still doesn't act like she's sick, so that's always a positive.
Her sodium level has returned to normal, so they will take her off the additional sodium support today.
They will resume her feedings today at noon, but with only 2 cc's. Start her off slow and then check after 2 hours to see if she has digested anything, if she has - great. If not, we will reassess at that time. In the future, I will mention something called "residuals". She's being fed through a feeding tube, so they hang a syringe (minus the plunger) from the top of her bed and then add the milk to it and it slowly drops into her feeding tube and into her belly. Typically, after 4 hours, they put the plunger back into the syringe and suck out anything that is still left in her stomach to see how much she was able to digest - that is the "residual". We always hope for no residuals, that means she digested everything. That's how we knew something was up the other day, because after a feeding of 5 cc's, she had a residual of 5 cc's. They gave the residual back to her, but it took her almost 12 hours to digest it. That's why they stopped the feedings to do some investigating. Hopefully, whatever was keeping her from digesting the other day (infection or just giving her too much) will have worked itself out, because her bowels looked good on X-ray. I want her to eat! Good grief, our freezer is quickly filling up with milk, she needs to get going!
That's all for now. Off to see her shortly.
Friday, November 26, 2010
11.26.10
We wanted to start this blog so people could follow Harper's progression through her stay in the NICU at Overland Park Regional.
So, here goes....
Okay, this first blog will be longer because I will try and update you as to where we are so far -
She has been doing pretty well for as little as she is, but we are told to expect ups and downs, and I think you will see that as you read on that is very much the case.
Her respiratory system has always been very impressive, and she really has had very few problems with this. She has been on 1.5 liter low flow for quite some time now, which is a great thing. She's breathing room air, but still has a nose cannula in with, basically a humidfier blowing air into her lungs just to make sure they never completely deflate. A nurse the other day said she wouldn't be surprised if they don't start weaning her off that soon.
They did a brain scan the other day, which Matt failed to tell me came back clear. So, no brain bleeds, which is a great thing for a preemie! I've been worried about this since she was born and never knew that they had done the scan, so I was a little surprised when she told me "Oh, and you knew her brain scan came back clear, right?" Matt received a stern look from me, poor guy, he's had to try and remember so much while I was stuck down in my hospital room waiting to see my own doctors.
A couple days ago we learned her sodium level was down, so they have been giving her sodium supplements ever since.
That same day, she had another spell of not digesting her feeding like they would want. So, she's back off of feeding. I'm bummed about this because I want that little girl to eat so she can grow! She was up to 5 cc's every 4 hours, which was great.
Yesterday we found out that Harper's CBC was shifted. What does that mean? Well, I shall tell you. Your bone marrow shoots out white blood cells, but when you have an infection, it will shoot out immature white blood cells as well (kind of like, rookie blood cells, they aren't quite ready for battle) . When your body has an infection, your CBC will show that you have a higher level of immature white blood cells. So, we know she has some sort of infection. We aren't sure where the infection is though. They are growing a blood culture and a urine culture, to see what type of an infection it is. But, it takes days to grow the cultures (although, they will check them every day). They put her on 3 types of antibiotics, which will hopefully kill whatever infection she has, maybe even before we know for sure what it was. One of the antibiotics will kill any infection in her bowels and the other 2 will wipe anything else out. They are being very proactive by giving her all these, trying to wipe out absolutely anything they think it could be. Their two best guesses right now are something related to her bowels since she has had a couple of spells now where her bowels haven't been able to handle her feedings. Or a urinary tract infection because when she was 2 days old she had a little rash in her groin area (which they cleared up right away with an ointment), and that was awfully close to her urethra so it could have gotten up in there and caused a UTI.
It sounds worriesome to me that my little girl has an infection, but the bright spot is that Harper must not know she has an infection because she doesn't act like she's sick. The nurses still say she is feisty and cries when she's supposed to and is playful with them. I just want to be able to hold her and make her all better.
Okay - with all that said, this is what we know from today so far.
Today - her red blood cells that carry hemoglobin count is low, which is yet another sign she has an infecion. Just another thing to keep an eye on. They did a X-ray on her bowels this morning to see if there was something going on in her bowels but we don't know those results yet. Hopefully, they will be clear and they can resume feedings. She's had several poopy diapers (of which Matt has been changing), so you would think that things are moving down there.
Her sodium levels have increased, but they will still keep her on supplements for awhile. The sodium level may have something to do with the infection, but it could also not be related at all. We shall see.
Well, there you have it. Medically, that's a pretty good update for you. I'm sure these will be shorter updates from here on out. :)
Non-medically speaking, Matt and I do get to take her temperature and change her diapers. And we have been able to hold her several times. We get to do skin-to-skin holding for an hour at a time. I've held her 4 times and Matt just once. As much as I would like that to be more even, they prefer mommy to hold more. I still hate leaving her at the end of the evening, but I know that she is in EXCELLENT care and we can call in for an update whenever we want.
Looking forward to seeing mom and dad today, they will be here in a little while and then we will head up to the hospital.
More to come....
So, here goes....
Okay, this first blog will be longer because I will try and update you as to where we are so far -
She has been doing pretty well for as little as she is, but we are told to expect ups and downs, and I think you will see that as you read on that is very much the case.
Her respiratory system has always been very impressive, and she really has had very few problems with this. She has been on 1.5 liter low flow for quite some time now, which is a great thing. She's breathing room air, but still has a nose cannula in with, basically a humidfier blowing air into her lungs just to make sure they never completely deflate. A nurse the other day said she wouldn't be surprised if they don't start weaning her off that soon.
They did a brain scan the other day, which Matt failed to tell me came back clear. So, no brain bleeds, which is a great thing for a preemie! I've been worried about this since she was born and never knew that they had done the scan, so I was a little surprised when she told me "Oh, and you knew her brain scan came back clear, right?" Matt received a stern look from me, poor guy, he's had to try and remember so much while I was stuck down in my hospital room waiting to see my own doctors.
A couple days ago we learned her sodium level was down, so they have been giving her sodium supplements ever since.
That same day, she had another spell of not digesting her feeding like they would want. So, she's back off of feeding. I'm bummed about this because I want that little girl to eat so she can grow! She was up to 5 cc's every 4 hours, which was great.
Yesterday we found out that Harper's CBC was shifted. What does that mean? Well, I shall tell you. Your bone marrow shoots out white blood cells, but when you have an infection, it will shoot out immature white blood cells as well (kind of like, rookie blood cells, they aren't quite ready for battle) . When your body has an infection, your CBC will show that you have a higher level of immature white blood cells. So, we know she has some sort of infection. We aren't sure where the infection is though. They are growing a blood culture and a urine culture, to see what type of an infection it is. But, it takes days to grow the cultures (although, they will check them every day). They put her on 3 types of antibiotics, which will hopefully kill whatever infection she has, maybe even before we know for sure what it was. One of the antibiotics will kill any infection in her bowels and the other 2 will wipe anything else out. They are being very proactive by giving her all these, trying to wipe out absolutely anything they think it could be. Their two best guesses right now are something related to her bowels since she has had a couple of spells now where her bowels haven't been able to handle her feedings. Or a urinary tract infection because when she was 2 days old she had a little rash in her groin area (which they cleared up right away with an ointment), and that was awfully close to her urethra so it could have gotten up in there and caused a UTI.
It sounds worriesome to me that my little girl has an infection, but the bright spot is that Harper must not know she has an infection because she doesn't act like she's sick. The nurses still say she is feisty and cries when she's supposed to and is playful with them. I just want to be able to hold her and make her all better.
Okay - with all that said, this is what we know from today so far.
Today - her red blood cells that carry hemoglobin count is low, which is yet another sign she has an infecion. Just another thing to keep an eye on. They did a X-ray on her bowels this morning to see if there was something going on in her bowels but we don't know those results yet. Hopefully, they will be clear and they can resume feedings. She's had several poopy diapers (of which Matt has been changing), so you would think that things are moving down there.
Her sodium levels have increased, but they will still keep her on supplements for awhile. The sodium level may have something to do with the infection, but it could also not be related at all. We shall see.
Well, there you have it. Medically, that's a pretty good update for you. I'm sure these will be shorter updates from here on out. :)
Non-medically speaking, Matt and I do get to take her temperature and change her diapers. And we have been able to hold her several times. We get to do skin-to-skin holding for an hour at a time. I've held her 4 times and Matt just once. As much as I would like that to be more even, they prefer mommy to hold more. I still hate leaving her at the end of the evening, but I know that she is in EXCELLENT care and we can call in for an update whenever we want.
Looking forward to seeing mom and dad today, they will be here in a little while and then we will head up to the hospital.
More to come....
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