Day 16 in NICU

October 6th 2015

Day 16 in NICU

Abby is doing well today and we feel so blessed that she is here with us! I went to see Abby at a different care time today to see if I could spend more time with her. I arrived a little bit before her care time so I could pump at her bedside. What a difference it makes pumping next to your baby in a calm environment.

Abby is doing well today and she looks so cute in all the little preemie clothes they are putting her in. They told me I could bring in my own clothes if I wanted too. Abby's apnea spells haven't gotten much better so they have decided to cut her caffeine dose into two, once in the am and once in the evening. Hopefully this will help remind her to breath. She is still not 2 lbs yet but we are cheering for her!

Tiny feet

Snuggle time

"I blame it on the sugar"

Day 15 in NICU-2 Weeks Old Today!

October 5th, 2015

Day 15 in NICU

Abby is 2 Weeks Old Today!

Today Abby is 2 weeks old and 27 weeks and 3 days gestational age. It is also my 2 week follow-up for my c-section. 

Everything looked great at my check-up and it was good to see Dr. Fay. It's still very hard for me to talk about everything and how Abby is doing without crying so I was truly holding back tears during my appointment. Since I had my appointment in the middle of the day Bill and I had planned to go see Abby this evening.

We got there a little early to do her 9 pm care time.  The nurse let us do her weight this evening as they typically weigh babies in the evening. Her weight was 1 lb 14 oz and then when we rechecked she was 1lb 15 oz! Almost at the 2 lb milestone.  Abby's apnea events have increased so there is talk about giving her some caffeine in the evenings to help remind her to breath. They did a caffeine test to make sure she was a a therapeutic level and she was. The blood test took only 0.1ml of blood-SO TINY.

Daddy got to do Kangaroo care with Abby this evening. She truly loves being on her daddy's warm chest. Her little left hand was rubbing his chest and you could see how calm she became.

Family Photo!

She gets to wear preemie clothes now! She is getting so big!

Abby gets to be swaddled now too!

Day 14 in NICU

October 4th 2015

Day 14 in NICU

Before Abby turns 2 weeks old we decided that Sunday Funday would be a good day to introduce Abby to the kids. Emma was ready to "try again" and Trey was so excited to be a big brother.

On the way up to see Abby today Dr. Su, Abby's neonatologist called to notify us about increasing her feeds as her weight increases. So about every 3 days her food intake will be increased to meet the demands of her growing body. She currently is getting 18ml every 3 hours with a fortifier.

Abby has been doing so well that getting today's news of high platelet count (almost 1 million) was not surprising as it can be a pretty bumpy road having a NICU baby. Any parent that has been in our shoes can testify to that. Abby's blood work showed Epogen (Epo) (Erythropoietin) is working. Epogen is a hormone that regulates red blood cell production and in the premature infant it can help treat low blood cell count and help prevent the need for a blood transfusion. It was given as a shot 3 times a week. We were excited about not having to give her a blood transfusion, which we were under the impression most micro preemies end up getting one at some point. We thought "WOW"Abby is truly a little rock star! As she is still our little rock star the Epogen increased her platelet count to a dangerous level after only one week of Epogen shots. Dr. Su insured us that he is %100 sure that the high platelet count is from the Epogen and not something more concerning such as a liver or bone marrow problem. We will re-test next Sunday. Please pray that the platelet levels come down.

Abby's weight was 1 lb 14 oz today and we are hoping to celebrate the 2 pound milestone soon! She is starting to have more and more apnea events but this is okay and just showing us that she needs her CPAP. She remains on CPAP of 21% PEEP of 5. Abby's Isolate no longer has any humidity and will start swaddling her this evening. Once she starts regulating her body temperature more and being swaddled we will get to do kangaroo care longer. Actually saw Dr. Su today while I was doing skin-to-skin and he was showing me Abby's growth chart -she is in the 20th percentile. Good job Abby!

By the time we got to the hospital the kids were asleep so I went up and did some kangaroo care with her while Bill drove the kids around for a nap. I got to hold her for about 1 hour before I got the text from Bill the kids were ready.

Kids got to see Abby for the first time today. It was such a special moment watching the kids scrub in for the first time. After scrubbing their hands they held them together (prayer hands) and waiting so patiently to get their temperature taken. Only two people allowed to go back at a time so Bill took Emma first as he can pick the kids up to look into her isolate. Emma was so curiously about all the lines and tubes. Bill came back and took Trey who was waiting so very patiently (very hard for him to do). Bill said Trey asked why Abby was in a Kennel and when the nurse asked what your baby sister's name was he proudly said-Abby SPARKLE Rose. When he was done he told me she was "so cute" and that he wanted to take her home....

 

Kids scrubbing in with Daddy. You can see the timer in the left corner. You have to scrub in for 3 minutes. Trey had fun playing in the water. 

Trey's new haircut he got before seeing Abby. 

She already has a SOC #

Important of Kangaroo care

Day 13 in NICU

October 3rd 2015

Day 13 in NICU

Happy Saturday in the Abide house hold today. Emma scored two goals in her soccer game. One was an own goal but we aren't counting that ;). While Aunt Bonda and I took the kids to the soccer game dad went to go see Abby.

Abby's weight was 1 lb and 13 oz and everything else has remained the same as Friday. She is happiest on her belly and daddy's chest. He got to spend some good quality time with her during care time. He changed her diaper, took her temp and did kangaroo care.

Trey wanted to play too

Celebration snow cones

Day 12 in NICU

October 2nd, 2015

Day 12 in NICU

27 Weeks Old Today!!!

My precious baby girl is 27 weeks old today and she is a whopping 1lb 14 oz. According to Dr. Su this is probably her birth weight and it's amazing she has gained it all back. They have increased her feedings again to 16ml every three hours with 2 packets of milk fortifier to increase her calories even more. 

When I showed up this morning baby girl was screaming and when I looked in her isolate I noticed she had pulled her CPAP with prongs down into her mouth. She was very worked up and when I put her CPAP prongs back into her nose she got even more angry. She continued to cry and get more worked up until the nurse switched her back to the CPAP mask. Once she put the CPAP mask back on she immediately relaxed-and she relaxed so much she stopped breathing. It took a lot of stimulation to get her to take a breath and even though I know it's normal it's really difficult to watch your baby girl turn from a nice pink healthy oxygenated color to gray....

Abby's CPAP remains at 21% PEEP of 5, isolate humidity has decreased to 30%, her temp before I got to hold her today was 98.1, she had no residuals after increased feeding dose. When I was holding her today she was very alert and had her eyes open. I held her for over an hour. Amazing...

Abby's room: Room #21

Abby's isolete

Abby's feeding tube pump

Abby's vitamins

CPAP machine

hospital breast pump I get to use at the bedside

Holding Baby  girl

Abby's CPAP

Day 11 in NICU

October 1st, 2015

Day 11 in NICU

Abby's Brain Scan was Negative!

I can't believe that it is October 1st already. It is also the first time driving a car since August 28th, the day my water broke. My C-section is healing well and I'm no longer needing pain medication.

I drove up to see Abby by myself this morning and got the chance to hold her but again for only a short period of time. Miss Abby kept dropping her heart rate every time she was working on a poop.  We let her finish and then her little feisty self pulled out her feeding tube. She is so active for being only 26 weeks old. All the nurses say she seems older than she really is because she is so active and alert. Once she finally got her feeding tube out she was so proud of herself!

Abby weight today was 1 lb and 13 oz, and her PICC line came out making it so much easier to move her as she is no longer hooked up to TPN and lipids. Her feedings have increased to 14ml every 3 hours with an added human fortifier that helps increase her calories. I can't remember if they told me the fortifier increased her calorie intake by 22 calories per ml or oz. Abby's bottom still remains red but is getting better. She got a bath last night as well-she will get a bath every 3 days during the night. I hope next mouth when they switch to baths during the day I will get the chance to give her a bath as well.

Thank you all for all the prayers and positive thoughts. God truly is working miracles as Abby's brain scan came back negative today for any hemorrhage. Dr. Su informed us that her little brain looks great! Another brain scan most likely won't be done unless there are concerns.

She is getting bigger each time we see her. 

Aunt Bonda got her very own carseats today as well. The kids were excited especially Trey as he got to face forward. I didn't have the strength or energy to get his seat in rear facing....

Day 10 in NICU

September 30th 2015

Day 10 in NICU

26 weeks and 5 days

I was not able to see Abby today but she had a good report from her nurses. I was scared to call in the am as today was supposed to be the day she had her BIG head ultrasound to look for any problems. Bill called and it turns out it's tomorrow. So I got all worried and stressed out for nothing....

Tube feeds were increased to 14ml every 3 hours and she is tolerating them well. She finished her bag of TPN and lipids and doctor gave the orders to remove her PICC line. This is a HUGE milestone. This doesn't mean she won't have to get another one at some time but we can continue to pray that she doesn't have to get another one. She continues to have the apnea events so she will continue to remain on CPAP and caffeine for a while.

Aunt Bonda having fun with the kids!