Day 43 in NICU-6 Weeks Old

November 2nd 2015

Day 43 in NICU

6 Weeks Old

Happy 6 weeks old to my tiny dancer! Cant believe how well you are doing, you are such a strong and beautiful little girl.

We got some good lab results back today. Looks like Abby has started to make her own red blood cells and her hemoglobin and hematocrit have all come up. She remains in 3L NC and is doing well with the switch. Unfortunately she isn't gaining the weight the doctors would like so we have added fat to her diet. Praying she tolerates the new added fat well.

Got to meet with physical therapy today. They are so nice and informative. Learned about stress cues and ways to help Abby grow developmentally. Cant wait to work with her.

Day 42 in NICU

November 1st 2015

Day 42 in NICU

Amazing News!!

Today was the day Dr. Su decided to put Abby on nasal cannula! Never thought she would be off of CPAP this early and breathing like a big girl. She is doing amazing and I can't stop staring at her! He started her on 3 L and she loves having the mask off her face. Her face is a little bruised still from the CPAP but that should go down quickly. I literally didn't want to give her up today and leave her at the hospital. Today was the first day that I felt like she was my baby girl and that we would be taking her home soon. I know that probably sounds weird but not being able to see your babies face and hold her like a baby just didn't feel right until today. Many happy tears today...

Daddy didn't get to visit today as we were dealing with our basement being flooded. Dad had to rip up all the carpet....But I sent him lots of pictures. 

Trying to open her eyes!

yawning

Day 41 in NICU

October 31 2015

Day 41 in NICU

Abby's 1st Halloween!

I got to spend some quality time with Abby today and made up for lost time yesterday during the bad weather. Baby girl looked so good. She remained on CPAP at 21% with little events. Feedings have been increased to 25 ml every 3 hours with minimal residuals. Soft tummy with good bowel movements. Her skin looks great with no break down. Her weight was 1240 grams (2lbs 12 oz). Grow Abby Grow!

Little Strawberry!

Kitty Cat

Cute puppy

milking cow ;)

Day 40 in NICU

October 30th 2015

Day 40 in NICU

31 Gestation Weeks Today

Today I woke up to lighting and thunder and a phone call from Bill saying there was a tornado coming. Me and the kids headed to the basement. The weather remained nasty all day causing flooding in the area. Are basement flooding and we discovered we had a leak in our rough. 

There was no way up to see Abby today but got report from the nurse that her energy was back. Her weight was 2 lbs 11 oz and she had an eye exam today for the first time. The eye exam came back good. It doesn't appear that she has any damage or abnormalities to her retina. They will continue to monitor her eyes every 2 weeks while she is in the NICU. 

Trying to have some fun on this rainy day

backyard flooding

over flow

flooding our backyard

Day 39 in NICU

October 29th 2015

Day 39 in NICU

Baby girl got a lot of blood taken this morning-4ml which Dr. Su said is about 4% of her body weight. You could definitely tell it took a lot out of Abby today as she was lethargic when I visited today at noon, she also looked more pale. I stayed with her a long time and held her for over 2 1/2 hours. She really needed her mommy today. She had a really bad episode while we were visiting as well. Overall, I didn't feel good about leaving her so Bill and I decided to visit again in the evening. When we arrived I could already tell her skin color looked better. Daddy got to hold his baby girl and all was better.

Abby's weight was 2lbs and 13oz (1270 grams). Seems like a big jump so we will see if it's accurate tomorrow.

The kids had a Halloween party at school. Trey was so excited to wear his costume. 

Day 38 in NICU

October 28 2015

Day 38 in NICU

2 pounds 11 ounces & Brain Scan

The protein seems to be helping as today Abby weighed in at 2 pounds and 11 ounces (1230grams)! She is definitely starting to look bigger to me. Her belly is getting bigger and after she eats it's big and round but remains soft. Abby has lots of blood work to be done tomorrow so please pray for her.

Abby's scan of her brain also looked really good. Wasn't aware that they were repeating this test but glad we got good results.  They are looking for cell death from lack of oxygen or blood in and on her brain and her scan came back negative. This is great news and she gets older to continue have good brain scans. 

Trey watching the dogs 

Day 37 in NICU

October 27th 2015

Day 37 in NICU

Abby has remained stable today. She is digesting her food well and belly remains soft. She hasn't appeared to have any problems with my breastmilk which is great as I know some moms have to change their diets for their babies. I feel pretty blessed that my diet and milk production hasn't been an issue. Although, they have added protein to her diet she did not gain any weight, she remains at 1190 grams. I'm guessing this will take a few days before we really see a difference but she seems to be tolerating it well. Grandpa Foisy visited with Abby today as well.