Okay, again so sorry for the lack of posts lately.
What has happened since Saturday........
Matt and I did not do our room in on Sunday, because she was still having problems with Brady episodes. 6 in a 24 hour period. She has never had that many in such a short period of time. They didn't feel she was quite ready for a room in just yet. But, they decided to raise her bed back to the inclined position. They felt that her reflux was causing her to choke up, thus causing her heart rate to drop. Well, what do you know, it worked! But....because she had so many episodes, they wanted to rule out anything else that could be causing it, which could be some sort of infection, which led them to do all sorts of bloodwork. Everything looked normal, except for her CRP (number that shows inflammation or distress). It was slightly elevated, which they didn't think much of because the elevation was slight enough that it could have just meant that at the time the blood was taken, she was uncomfortable in some way. They took it again the next day and it increased a point, but the CBC was perfectly normal, so they really didn't think it was an infection. They were leaning towards an intolerance of the new formula they put her on (they just add a little to my milk to fortify it with extra vitamins). So, maybe her tummy just wasn't feeling quite right. The 3rd day, her CRP only went up .1, so pretty much the same as the day before. Sunday and Monday she seemed kinda lazy with her feedings, and wasn't quite finishing them, which was another indication that her body was in some sort of distress. They thought about maybe putting her back on oxygen to give her a little boost, but nothing ever came of that. At the end of all this, they decided that she may have had a little stomach bug, but nothing big enough to affect her CBC. Personally, I just think she was worn out, we really threw a lot of new stuff at her on Friday and then she had the 6 Bradys, which I imagine are pretty traumatic on her little body. But, since I'm missin that doctor's degree, what do I know? :) They will do another CRP on Friday in hopes that it has corrected itself, and whatever was wrong is no longer a problem.
On Tuesday, they decided to put her on Prilosec for her acid reflux (thank goodness), which seems to help her out a bit. You can tell she's still bothered with it some, but it is better. The doctor said she will grow out of this problem. Let's hope she grows out of it soon, it kills mama to see her tense up so bad when that acid starts coming back up. Since she's on the Prilosec, they have started trying to wean her off the inclined bed. So, they let her eat, then they wait a bit to lower the bed, letting her have a little time to digest before the lower it. She does not like it one bit when they lower it, but she's slowly getting better with it.
Today, they increased her feeds to 58 from 46, which shocked me a bit at first, but what they are going to do is let her eat what she wants, if she finishes all 58, great, if not, that's okay. Then they will wait for her to wake up to feed her within a 3-4 hour period, so if after 3 1/2 hours, she wakes up wanting to eat, feed her. This will be more of the schedule they want her on when she comes home, so they are getting her prepared.
Speaking of going home.......she has passed all the "tests" they give her in order for her to be able to come home. They only thing left is for us to do a room in, an MRI (which they do the day she goes home) and she has to get some pictures taken (for security purposes). They are looking at us doing our room in on Saturday and hopefully, home on Sunday or Monday. Nobody will say that officially just yet though. I think they feel bad that we got all excited last weekend and then were disappointed. It's alright though, we know she wasn't quite ready, and when she is, she will be home with us!! But it does seem like it's getting closer!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
1.26.11
I'm sorry for the lack of recent posts. I promise I will type you a book tomorrow, but I'm exhausted, so I'm headed to bed early. Harper is doing great and so close to going home!
Saturday, January 22, 2011
1.22.11
False alarm!
Harper decided she liked her friends in the NICU too much to leave them just yet. She had a couple Bradys today. Technically, she has to go "spellless" for 5 days before they will send her home.
Here's what's happening. Once they took the NG tube out, they lower her bed (she has been at a slight incline this whole time). The problem is, that incline has been helping with her reflux. Now that it's lowered, she has lost that reflux help. Plus, she's been quite gassy today, so when she bears down to deal with that, some of what's in her stomach comes back up (yummy). The reflux causes a drop in her heart rate. While the increased reflux is a preemie thing, most babies heart rate drops when they spit up, so that's not a totally an uncommon occurrence for babies.
So, where does this leave us? Well, Dr. Stapley said that the spells they really worry about are Apnea spells when she forgets to breathe while sleeping. They definitely want those to be gone when babies go home. Thankfully, Harper doesn't have a problem with those. Bradys are a little different. They aren't as worried about them, especially when they think they are being caused by something like reflux. But, they want to make sure that if she is having Bradys, that they are indeed being caused by reflux and not something else. At this point, if she continues having them, they will incline her bed again and tell us to go buy a wedge for her crib at home. Let's hope this is the case.
Matt and I will most likely still do our "room in" tomorrow night. This is where we will stay the night at the hospital and take care of her all night while the monitors are still on, so the NICU staff can see that we can take good care of her. If they don't feel we can take care of her on our own, we will have to spend more "alone" time with her there (boy, I can think of some parents of some of my students that should have had to do that before taking their babies home).
It doesn't sound like we will have to necessarily wait the standard 5 days spell free because of the types of spells she's having, but I'm all for making sure that we go home feeling as comfortable as possible taking care of her. Back to the waiting game.....yup, a 2 month old child is in control of the situation....hard concept for control freak mommy to deal with. :)
Harper decided she liked her friends in the NICU too much to leave them just yet. She had a couple Bradys today. Technically, she has to go "spellless" for 5 days before they will send her home.
Here's what's happening. Once they took the NG tube out, they lower her bed (she has been at a slight incline this whole time). The problem is, that incline has been helping with her reflux. Now that it's lowered, she has lost that reflux help. Plus, she's been quite gassy today, so when she bears down to deal with that, some of what's in her stomach comes back up (yummy). The reflux causes a drop in her heart rate. While the increased reflux is a preemie thing, most babies heart rate drops when they spit up, so that's not a totally an uncommon occurrence for babies.
So, where does this leave us? Well, Dr. Stapley said that the spells they really worry about are Apnea spells when she forgets to breathe while sleeping. They definitely want those to be gone when babies go home. Thankfully, Harper doesn't have a problem with those. Bradys are a little different. They aren't as worried about them, especially when they think they are being caused by something like reflux. But, they want to make sure that if she is having Bradys, that they are indeed being caused by reflux and not something else. At this point, if she continues having them, they will incline her bed again and tell us to go buy a wedge for her crib at home. Let's hope this is the case.
Matt and I will most likely still do our "room in" tomorrow night. This is where we will stay the night at the hospital and take care of her all night while the monitors are still on, so the NICU staff can see that we can take good care of her. If they don't feel we can take care of her on our own, we will have to spend more "alone" time with her there (boy, I can think of some parents of some of my students that should have had to do that before taking their babies home).
It doesn't sound like we will have to necessarily wait the standard 5 days spell free because of the types of spells she's having, but I'm all for making sure that we go home feeling as comfortable as possible taking care of her. Back to the waiting game.....yup, a 2 month old child is in control of the situation....hard concept for control freak mommy to deal with. :)
1.22.11
When Matt called yesterday to give me the afternoon update he said that the nurse was making it sound like they were looking at sending Harper home at the end of this coming week. Very exciting news, right?
Well, by the time I arrived, orders were being written to pull the NG tube, and various other "getting ready to go home" stuff. After the nurse practitioner wrote all those orders, she called the doctor and I heard her say "I will let mom know and she will be thrilled to hear that". She gets off the phone and says "How about you guys room in Sunday night, and home on Monday. Sound good?" If I hadn't been holding Harper at the moment, I might have fallen out of the chair.
So, things are in motion now. Matt took the car seat with him this morning for the car seat test (she has to sit in it for an hour and not have any spells), we are finishing up stuff here at home, and I will be working on getting stuff organized at work. It seems so weird to say that this is all happening so fast, since its been 9 1/2 weeks, but it is. While we are totally ecstatic, we are trying to remain reasonable and know that anything could happen between now and then. She may decide that she wants to stay there longer and have a spell and then we are set back 5 days or she may not pass the car seat test. This is a true test of patience, because I simply have no control over the situation. :) Some of you know, that may be somewhat difficult for me. :)
Wow, words just cannot describe the feelings that we are experiencing right now.
Well, by the time I arrived, orders were being written to pull the NG tube, and various other "getting ready to go home" stuff. After the nurse practitioner wrote all those orders, she called the doctor and I heard her say "I will let mom know and she will be thrilled to hear that". She gets off the phone and says "How about you guys room in Sunday night, and home on Monday. Sound good?" If I hadn't been holding Harper at the moment, I might have fallen out of the chair.
So, things are in motion now. Matt took the car seat with him this morning for the car seat test (she has to sit in it for an hour and not have any spells), we are finishing up stuff here at home, and I will be working on getting stuff organized at work. It seems so weird to say that this is all happening so fast, since its been 9 1/2 weeks, but it is. While we are totally ecstatic, we are trying to remain reasonable and know that anything could happen between now and then. She may decide that she wants to stay there longer and have a spell and then we are set back 5 days or she may not pass the car seat test. This is a true test of patience, because I simply have no control over the situation. :) Some of you know, that may be somewhat difficult for me. :)
Wow, words just cannot describe the feelings that we are experiencing right now.
Friday, January 21, 2011
1.21.11
Things are going very well. She has been able to maintain her oxygen level very well by herself. It has slowed down how many feeds she can take, because she tires easier, but that's getting better. I think we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
1.19.11
No amount of snow can keep me from seeing my baby!! Okay, so that's probably not true, but it would seriously have to snow like 10 feet for me to not at least try!!
Little missy is now missing something that she has had since she was born - OXYGEN SUPPORT!! They may still have to put the cannula back on her if she has trouble keeping her oxygen saturation level up during feedings, but it's out for now!! She has had 3 feedings so far without any help, so YAY!!
She may decrease the amount of feedings she is able to do on her own for a few days because she will tire out a little easier with no oxygen support, but she will just have to work up her stamina.
Taking her home seems like it's really getting closer and closer!!
Little missy is now missing something that she has had since she was born - OXYGEN SUPPORT!! They may still have to put the cannula back on her if she has trouble keeping her oxygen saturation level up during feedings, but it's out for now!! She has had 3 feedings so far without any help, so YAY!!
She may decrease the amount of feedings she is able to do on her own for a few days because she will tire out a little easier with no oxygen support, but she will just have to work up her stamina.
Taking her home seems like it's really getting closer and closer!!
Monday, January 17, 2011
1.17.11
All is well. The nurse practitioner wanted to write orders to do away with the nasal canula! But..... then he realized that she needed her 2-month immunizations and thought she could use the extra oxygen support while dealing with the pain from those. So, maybe tomorrow?!
Still taking 6 feedings by herself, so we need to get those other 2 down and she will be so much closer to coming home!
Her crit (red blood cells) is still lower than they would like, but her retic count (shows how well her body is making red blood cells) is high, so it just has to do a little more catching up so that her crit can come up. They don't want to give her any more blood right now because that will tell her body that she doesn't need to make any red blood cells, so it will go on a little vacation. It's just one big cycle.
Still taking 6 feedings by herself, so we need to get those other 2 down and she will be so much closer to coming home!
Her crit (red blood cells) is still lower than they would like, but her retic count (shows how well her body is making red blood cells) is high, so it just has to do a little more catching up so that her crit can come up. They don't want to give her any more blood right now because that will tell her body that she doesn't need to make any red blood cells, so it will go on a little vacation. It's just one big cycle.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
1.13.11
Pretty much status quo here. Not much new.
She's taking about 5-6 (out of 8) of her feedings by either bottle or with me. That's really what we are working on right now, since she can't go home until we can get the feeding tube out.
She's almost 5 pounds!!!! 4 lbs. 14 oz. right now, so hopefully in the next couple of days!!
She's taking about 5-6 (out of 8) of her feedings by either bottle or with me. That's really what we are working on right now, since she can't go home until we can get the feeding tube out.
She's almost 5 pounds!!!! 4 lbs. 14 oz. right now, so hopefully in the next couple of days!!
Monday, January 10, 2011
1.10.11
Do you know what a snow day means? It means I get to spend my day with Harper!!!!
She's doing really well. Taking 2 full bottles a day, and breastfeeding 2 times a day. She's doing so well with breastfeeding that we are no longer giving her a supplement after she gets done with me. We are just going with the assumption that if she does really well that it means she got enough from me. It takes her awhile to eat, but she paces herself really well.
Things are moving along quite nicely.
She's doing really well. Taking 2 full bottles a day, and breastfeeding 2 times a day. She's doing so well with breastfeeding that we are no longer giving her a supplement after she gets done with me. We are just going with the assumption that if she does really well that it means she got enough from me. It takes her awhile to eat, but she paces herself really well.
Things are moving along quite nicely.
Friday, January 7, 2011
1.7.11
Oh my goodness, little porky is going up to 42 cc's. AHHH!! They are going to do it slowly, only adding 1 cc per feeding.
That's pretty much all that's new here. She's doing great with breastfeeding and with bottles. Still only taking about 2 of them a day and feeds with me about twice, but she's doing great!
That's pretty much all that's new here. She's doing great with breastfeeding and with bottles. Still only taking about 2 of them a day and feeds with me about twice, but she's doing great!
Thursday, January 6, 2011
1.6.11 Part II
YAY!! Her eye exam went really well. The doctor said that she is progressing nicely and that the next time he sees her, in 4 weeks, he's pretty certain that her eyes will be fully matured (like a full term baby's would be). Praise God!!
I'm so glad they don't have to do these eye exams often because they are pretty torturous on our poor little girl. Matt said they wouldn't let him stay in the room because the doctor said Matt wouldn't want to see what they have to do to her to complete the eye exam. I won't go into any more details...it makes me cry. She's a rockstar though!
I'm so glad they don't have to do these eye exams often because they are pretty torturous on our poor little girl. Matt said they wouldn't let him stay in the room because the doctor said Matt wouldn't want to see what they have to do to her to complete the eye exam. I won't go into any more details...it makes me cry. She's a rockstar though!
1.6.11
There really hasn't been much development in the past few days.
Her highest weight was 2045 grams (4 lbs. 8 oz.), but she has lost 23 grams in the past few days. They said that was being caused by her burning up a lot of calories when she is fed by bottle or by me. Once she gets a little stronger, she won't burn off as many calories. I think she was also peeing off the last little bit of water retention from her infection. Hopefully, she will start gaining again soon.
She is taking about 2-3 bottles a day, sometimes all of the bottle, sometimes only about half. Then she has at least one feeding with me. These feeding tire her out, so we only try to do it about every other time. A couple days ago they gave her 4 bottles in a row and she was exhausted!
That's about all for now, she has a follow up eye exam today, so we shall see how that goes.
Her highest weight was 2045 grams (4 lbs. 8 oz.), but she has lost 23 grams in the past few days. They said that was being caused by her burning up a lot of calories when she is fed by bottle or by me. Once she gets a little stronger, she won't burn off as many calories. I think she was also peeing off the last little bit of water retention from her infection. Hopefully, she will start gaining again soon.
She is taking about 2-3 bottles a day, sometimes all of the bottle, sometimes only about half. Then she has at least one feeding with me. These feeding tire her out, so we only try to do it about every other time. A couple days ago they gave her 4 bottles in a row and she was exhausted!
That's about all for now, she has a follow up eye exam today, so we shall see how that goes.
Monday, January 3, 2011
1.3.11
Not much new with Harper today. I realized I haven't mentioned weight lately, but she is currently about 4 lbs. 7 oz. Thankfully, her infection really didn't slow down her weight gain too much.
Had to return to work today and Matt went to working 3-11:30 p.m., so our schedule will shift yet again. He comes up for the 11:00 a.m feeding and stays till about 2:30 p.m. and then I get here by about 4:00 p.m. and stay till 9. I think Matt and I won't see much of each other until she comes home, when I will take about 6 weeks off. Just a new challenge for us, but we will be fine.
Had to return to work today and Matt went to working 3-11:30 p.m., so our schedule will shift yet again. He comes up for the 11:00 a.m feeding and stays till about 2:30 p.m. and then I get here by about 4:00 p.m. and stay till 9. I think Matt and I won't see much of each other until she comes home, when I will take about 6 weeks off. Just a new challenge for us, but we will be fine.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
1.2.10
Good News!! Her CRP is down to .8! The CRP is the level that shows inflammation in your body. At it's highest during this infection, it was 6.4 (Monday), and they like it lower than .5. So, .8 is certainly going in the correct direction.
The rest of her blood work came back normal, so it looks like she is almost back to 100 percent.
The rest of her blood work came back normal, so it looks like she is almost back to 100 percent.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
1.1.11
Happy New Year!! Just don't tell Harper it's a holiday. She has a tendency to come down with infections on them, so we won't be telling her about today. Matt and I made sure we were at the hospital last night to kiss her at midnight, but we just told her that mommy and daddy couldn't sleep so we decided to come visit her.
Well, she may not be completely better yet, but she is certainly feeling better. She took 2 full bottles yesterday and really went to work during a breastfeeding session. Maybe going without feedings for a full day has made her realize that she needs to jump at the chance to get her food, no matter how she has to get it! :)
The other loveliness of yesterday was that we asked if other people could touch her, so mom, dad, Morgan, Pam, Veronica and Tammy got to touch her soft little skin. We still don't want to overdo it for her, and everyone was very respectful of that.
Hopefully, she will come off he antibiotics today, so no more IV. I imagine they will be doing some labs either today or tomorrow to check on her, to see if she is better. We get to hold her a lot more now, since she is in her bed. When she was in the isolette, they were worried about her keeping her temperature up while we were holding her, but now that she is in a crib they clearly aren't worried about that anymore. I love every second of it, she's such a cutie!
Well, she may not be completely better yet, but she is certainly feeling better. She took 2 full bottles yesterday and really went to work during a breastfeeding session. Maybe going without feedings for a full day has made her realize that she needs to jump at the chance to get her food, no matter how she has to get it! :)
The other loveliness of yesterday was that we asked if other people could touch her, so mom, dad, Morgan, Pam, Veronica and Tammy got to touch her soft little skin. We still don't want to overdo it for her, and everyone was very respectful of that.
Hopefully, she will come off he antibiotics today, so no more IV. I imagine they will be doing some labs either today or tomorrow to check on her, to see if she is better. We get to hold her a lot more now, since she is in her bed. When she was in the isolette, they were worried about her keeping her temperature up while we were holding her, but now that she is in a crib they clearly aren't worried about that anymore. I love every second of it, she's such a cutie!
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