January 4, 2009: Sam and I went to see Sophia around 5:30 tonight and it was so unbelievably hard. They had to shave part of her head to put the IV in because they couldn't get it started anywhere else. The nurse said her blood levels were really, really low and that's why it was so difficult to get the IV in place. She told us that Sophia fought and cried the entire time. That was heart wrenching to hear. It's so hard to know that she is feeling miserable - no food, IV in her head, and we didn't get to hold her, or even touch her. Today was the hardest day for me out of the entire time she's been in the hospital.
Tomorrow Sophia will get a new resident and attending. There are so many questions to be asked and hopefully answered. What caused her to start throwing up green again? Why did her blood level drop so drastically from her last lab on Thursday? Is this something that can happen again later after she gets home? What is the plan of action for her care? When she gets to start eating again, what amount will she start at? (she was at 65cc and the nurse tonight said she thought they'd probably only start her off at 10-15cc) Will she need a blood transfusion? If part of her bowel is supposedly not working, then how is she still having bowel movements?
I just feel so unbelievably stressed, worried, sad, and anxious. It hurts to know that I can only stand by and watch. I just wish I could make her better, or comfort her at the very least. She's a little fighter and I hope she can really bounce back from this. I pray that the doctors tomorrow will be able to shed some light on the situation and help to comfort Sam and myself. Everyone, please keep our family in your prayers, but mostly pray for Sophia - that she can be healed quickly.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
FYI...
For all of you who knew that Sophia might be coming home today, just wanted to let you know that she didn't break out yet. Early this morning she started throwing up a lot and it was turning light greenish. Soo, they took her off her feeds completely for at least today. She's not getting any nutritional suppliment - just clear fluids. They put an IV in her head because they had a lot of trouble getting one in. I guess it took them about an hour. They xrayed her belly this morning and said it looked like part of her bowel wasn't moving/working - hopefully she just needs a little time to get it going. I'm very upset and worried so please keep Sophia in your prayers. I'll try to keep this updated for the time being and let you know how she's doing.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Sophia Updates: 1/1 - 1/3
January 1, 2009: Sophia's weight went back up to 2810 grams. The scab on her belly button has fallen off completely and now we can see there's still one stitch that hasn't dissolved yet. Unfortunately she threw up quite a bit at her 8:00 feeding. Maybe her Protonix medicine hasn't kicked in yet. They are no longer using the HMF to add calories to her milk. Apparently she's older and needs to use Similac neo-sure formula.
January 2, 2009: Well, she threw up over night and so they've made some changes. I won't be able to breast feed for a while. They are trying something new - thickening her milk. They started by adding a little bit of rice cereal to her milk to thicken it, but apparently the breast milk digests the rice cereal pretty quickly. So, they've changed to "Simply Thick" milk thickener. April fed her at her 8:00 feed and said she only had one small spit up. Sam fed her at 11:30 and she didn't have ANY spit ups! I hope this milk thickener works. Soooo, she's getting the Similac and thickener in her milk and she eats about 2oz every 3 hours. April also said the Protonix can take a week or two to start working. That means Sophia will go home on Protonix, arithromycin, multi-vitamins with iron, simethicone (gas med), and then with her formula and milk thickener. That's a lot of crap to remember and keep straight.
We still plan on rooming in tonight, so I hope that goes well. The actual doctor even came in today and told us that it looks like she might be able to come home next week if she keeps her milk down and her weight starts going up again. yay!!!! Sophia gained 40 grams today!
January 3, 2009: The "sleepover" went as I had figured. No sleep. Lol. Sophia was really, really gassy. We're talking like teenage boy farts - so loud, so stinky. Man, oh man. I wonder if part of it has to do with them adding formula to her milk. She has never been as gassy as she was last night. Sam got about an hour of sleep while I was up and I probably got a couple minutes of sleep. The pull out chairs we slept on were rock hard and Sophia was being so fussy that we couldn't really fall asleep. We came home and slept for almost 4 hours straight. We had planned to stay at the hospital til 7:30 this morning when shift change was over - because our favorite nurse April was supposed to be working. However, we asked our nurse from overnight if April was working the morning shift or night shift and she told us that April had off today...so we just went home. Well this nurse was consistently clueless during the night, and continued her streak when she told us April wasn't working. Arg. She was in fact working. April called me at about 2:00 this afternoon to ask if we were coming back before her shift was over. She said a little birdy put it in her ear that Sophia would be coming home TOMORROW! YAY! She said we needed to get all her prescriptions filled tonight so that there weren't any hiccups tomorrow if Sophia was in fact being discharged. I feel like we have a million and one things to try to get done before tomorrow. We need to clean the house up more so it's not so chaotic after we bring her home, we need to put her letters up on the nursery wall, install the car seat into the car, and I have some little gifts that I wanted to make for our 3 primary nurses. I planned to make them some cards (doing some stamping and embossing like I did for our wedding invitations). I bought the cards and materials today, so hopefully I can get them all done in time to take with us to the hospital tomorrow morning! We are also giving them a gift card to Borjo, our favorite coffee house in Norfolk. I can't believe the day is finally here! ...maybe :)
January 2, 2009: Well, she threw up over night and so they've made some changes. I won't be able to breast feed for a while. They are trying something new - thickening her milk. They started by adding a little bit of rice cereal to her milk to thicken it, but apparently the breast milk digests the rice cereal pretty quickly. So, they've changed to "Simply Thick" milk thickener. April fed her at her 8:00 feed and said she only had one small spit up. Sam fed her at 11:30 and she didn't have ANY spit ups! I hope this milk thickener works. Soooo, she's getting the Similac and thickener in her milk and she eats about 2oz every 3 hours. April also said the Protonix can take a week or two to start working. That means Sophia will go home on Protonix, arithromycin, multi-vitamins with iron, simethicone (gas med), and then with her formula and milk thickener. That's a lot of crap to remember and keep straight.
We still plan on rooming in tonight, so I hope that goes well. The actual doctor even came in today and told us that it looks like she might be able to come home next week if she keeps her milk down and her weight starts going up again. yay!!!! Sophia gained 40 grams today!
January 3, 2009: The "sleepover" went as I had figured. No sleep. Lol. Sophia was really, really gassy. We're talking like teenage boy farts - so loud, so stinky. Man, oh man. I wonder if part of it has to do with them adding formula to her milk. She has never been as gassy as she was last night. Sam got about an hour of sleep while I was up and I probably got a couple minutes of sleep. The pull out chairs we slept on were rock hard and Sophia was being so fussy that we couldn't really fall asleep. We came home and slept for almost 4 hours straight. We had planned to stay at the hospital til 7:30 this morning when shift change was over - because our favorite nurse April was supposed to be working. However, we asked our nurse from overnight if April was working the morning shift or night shift and she told us that April had off today...so we just went home. Well this nurse was consistently clueless during the night, and continued her streak when she told us April wasn't working. Arg. She was in fact working. April called me at about 2:00 this afternoon to ask if we were coming back before her shift was over. She said a little birdy put it in her ear that Sophia would be coming home TOMORROW! YAY! She said we needed to get all her prescriptions filled tonight so that there weren't any hiccups tomorrow if Sophia was in fact being discharged. I feel like we have a million and one things to try to get done before tomorrow. We need to clean the house up more so it's not so chaotic after we bring her home, we need to put her letters up on the nursery wall, install the car seat into the car, and I have some little gifts that I wanted to make for our 3 primary nurses. I planned to make them some cards (doing some stamping and embossing like I did for our wedding invitations). I bought the cards and materials today, so hopefully I can get them all done in time to take with us to the hospital tomorrow morning! We are also giving them a gift card to Borjo, our favorite coffee house in Norfolk. I can't believe the day is finally here! ...maybe :)
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Sophia Updates: December 26, 2008 - January 1, 2009
December 26, 2008: Mark and Kristin went up to see Sophia this morning. The nurse took off her oxymeter (measures the oxygen that is getting all the way out to Sophia's feet). Today I started trying to breastfeed. Sophia didn't really get what was going on and decided that it was a nice place to take a nap. When she's getting a bottle, she's getting 39cc of milk now. She weighs almost 6 lbs 6oz! She's starting to really pork up. 
December 27, 2008: Breastfeeding went much more smoothly today. The nurse expected her to be off the TPN and intralipids tonight, but she wasn't. She weighs 6 lbs 7oz (2920 grams). When we were giving the bath, Sophia was kicking around and jerked on her PICC line a little bit. Blood got into it and the nurse had to flush it. Her umbilical cord scab fell off today!
December 28, 2008: We came in this morning and Christy said that some blood had gotten onto Sophia's blankets from her PICC line. She didn't really ever explain how it got on there though. Christy wants me to come in all day tomorrow and breastfeed so that we can see how Sophia does. That's going to be a LONG day of sitting at the hospital, but I'll do whatever it takes. It'll be good practice for both Sophia and me. At her 8 pm feed, Sophia threw up a ton. She kept wanting to eat after she threw up, but then she'd just throw up more. I'm a little nervous about trying to breastfeed her all day tomorrow after that episode. Tonight she weighed 2900 - down 20 grams from yesterday.
December 29, 2008: Today I went to the hospital for 9 hours straight. I nursed for 3 feedings in a row. Sophia did alright - still throwing up though and it's hard to tell if she's getting enough food. I talked to our nurse, April, about the blood on the blankets and she said that Christy (another one of our primaries) told her all about it. Basically something wasn't screwed on tight for her PICC line and so air was getting inside and creating a back flow of blood...and it just leaked out all over. Right away I knew who was responsible for this. Two nights ago our nurse Antoinette had to unscrew something to flush the PICC line...she must not have gotten it screwed back in tightly. I was sooooo mad. Sophia lost quite a bit of blood and we're lucky she didn't need to have a blood transfusion or anything like that.
Sam and I went back up to the hospital at night and Sophia did much better for her 8:00 feeding. However, she was fussy tonight and her weight was down to 2810 grams. That's not good. That makes me really worried. I'm worried that they'll tell me to stop breastfeeding so that they can monitor exactly how much food she's getting. I'm also stressed because I don't know why she's throwing up or what to do about it. What happens if she's throwing up like this after we get her home? Sophia has been started on multivitamins with iron. It smells horrible and I'm sure it tastes even worse. She seems to be throwing up after she gets them.
December 30, 2008: Sophia is up to 53cc now. I came in and breastfed for the 11:00 and 2:00 feeds, then went home at about 4:00. She didn't seem to throw up quite as much as she had been. She is now on Simethicone (gas medicine). Perhaps this will help her be a little less fussy as she eats. Since she's been losing weight, they also decided to put HMF in her milk when she gets a bottle. HMF is human milk fortifier and it's just a powder they put in. It adds 24 calories per ounce of milk that she gets. Her clear fluids are down to a rate of 1.2 mL/hour. She may get her PICC out tomorrow and maybe will get some meds for reflux. Her weight tonight was 2800...another loss of 10 grams.
December 31, 2008: Exciting news today! Sophia's PICC line came out. Hooray! She no longer is receiving anything except oral meds. She also is on ad-lib feeds. That means every three hours she can eat as much as she wants - up to 65cc. Sophia did well with her feeds today and her weight went back up another 10 grams. At least we're moving in the right direction again! We brought her car seat in tonight. Sophia has to sit in her car seat for twice as long as it takes us to drive her home from the hospital. They do this to ensure that her airway can stay open that long while she sits in the car seat.
January 1, 2009: Happy New Year! Sophia passed the car seat test. Sophia now has a prescription for Protonix - a reflux medicine. Hopefully this will help her keep her food down and start packing her weight back on. Tomorrow night Sam and I will be "rooming in." We get to stay in a small room in the NICU and take care of Sophia from 8pm to 8am. We do all the feeds, give all the medicine, and the nurses only come in if her alarms go off or if we page them for help. This will be our first real trial at taking care of her! :) We're starting to really get excited that we could be bringing her home this weekend - but I'm not going to hold my breath. I don't want to be disappointed.
December 27, 2008: Breastfeeding went much more smoothly today. The nurse expected her to be off the TPN and intralipids tonight, but she wasn't. She weighs 6 lbs 7oz (2920 grams). When we were giving the bath, Sophia was kicking around and jerked on her PICC line a little bit. Blood got into it and the nurse had to flush it. Her umbilical cord scab fell off today!
December 28, 2008: We came in this morning and Christy said that some blood had gotten onto Sophia's blankets from her PICC line. She didn't really ever explain how it got on there though. Christy wants me to come in all day tomorrow and breastfeed so that we can see how Sophia does. That's going to be a LONG day of sitting at the hospital, but I'll do whatever it takes. It'll be good practice for both Sophia and me. At her 8 pm feed, Sophia threw up a ton. She kept wanting to eat after she threw up, but then she'd just throw up more. I'm a little nervous about trying to breastfeed her all day tomorrow after that episode. Tonight she weighed 2900 - down 20 grams from yesterday.
December 29, 2008: Today I went to the hospital for 9 hours straight. I nursed for 3 feedings in a row. Sophia did alright - still throwing up though and it's hard to tell if she's getting enough food. I talked to our nurse, April, about the blood on the blankets and she said that Christy (another one of our primaries) told her all about it. Basically something wasn't screwed on tight for her PICC line and so air was getting inside and creating a back flow of blood...and it just leaked out all over. Right away I knew who was responsible for this. Two nights ago our nurse Antoinette had to unscrew something to flush the PICC line...she must not have gotten it screwed back in tightly. I was sooooo mad. Sophia lost quite a bit of blood and we're lucky she didn't need to have a blood transfusion or anything like that.
Sam and I went back up to the hospital at night and Sophia did much better for her 8:00 feeding. However, she was fussy tonight and her weight was down to 2810 grams. That's not good. That makes me really worried. I'm worried that they'll tell me to stop breastfeeding so that they can monitor exactly how much food she's getting. I'm also stressed because I don't know why she's throwing up or what to do about it. What happens if she's throwing up like this after we get her home? Sophia has been started on multivitamins with iron. It smells horrible and I'm sure it tastes even worse. She seems to be throwing up after she gets them.
December 30, 2008: Sophia is up to 53cc now. I came in and breastfed for the 11:00 and 2:00 feeds, then went home at about 4:00. She didn't seem to throw up quite as much as she had been. She is now on Simethicone (gas medicine). Perhaps this will help her be a little less fussy as she eats. Since she's been losing weight, they also decided to put HMF in her milk when she gets a bottle. HMF is human milk fortifier and it's just a powder they put in. It adds 24 calories per ounce of milk that she gets. Her clear fluids are down to a rate of 1.2 mL/hour. She may get her PICC out tomorrow and maybe will get some meds for reflux. Her weight tonight was 2800...another loss of 10 grams.
December 31, 2008: Exciting news today! Sophia's PICC line came out. Hooray! She no longer is receiving anything except oral meds. She also is on ad-lib feeds. That means every three hours she can eat as much as she wants - up to 65cc. Sophia did well with her feeds today and her weight went back up another 10 grams. At least we're moving in the right direction again! We brought her car seat in tonight. Sophia has to sit in her car seat for twice as long as it takes us to drive her home from the hospital. They do this to ensure that her airway can stay open that long while she sits in the car seat.
January 1, 2009: Happy New Year! Sophia passed the car seat test. Sophia now has a prescription for Protonix - a reflux medicine. Hopefully this will help her keep her food down and start packing her weight back on. Tomorrow night Sam and I will be "rooming in." We get to stay in a small room in the NICU and take care of Sophia from 8pm to 8am. We do all the feeds, give all the medicine, and the nurses only come in if her alarms go off or if we page them for help. This will be our first real trial at taking care of her! :) We're starting to really get excited that we could be bringing her home this weekend - but I'm not going to hold my breath. I don't want to be disappointed.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Sophia Updates: December 18 - December 25, 2008
I'm sure by now you've realized that I haven't written any updates in 2 weeks. I know, I suck. Life has been so busy - going to the hospita to visit Sophia, Christmas, Sue's birthday, etc. Sure you're thinking: "How can she be that busy? She's on maternity leave and Sophia isn't even home yet." I assure you that I haven't had time to barely even cook dinner, much less go to the grocery store to get food to cook. I haven't seen one Grey's Anatomy episode or The Hills episode since Sophia was born - and I think I've maybe turned the TV on a few times since then. Most nights I get maybe 5-6 hours of sleep by the time I have to get up, pump, get the bottles ready to freeze, and then wash the pump parts. I never feel very rested because I sleep in 2 hour increments. I know you're thinking "Get used to it. That's how it will be when Sophia's home." Yes, I know. I'm just saying, it's not like I get to sleep through the night and sleep in til noon. I get up in the morning usually to make Sam's lunch and then start getting ready to go to the hospital to visit Sophia. The last few days I've been spending between 8 and 12 hours in the NICU. I was able to start breastfeeding the day after Christmas, so I've been trying to be there as many feedings as I can. I'll do a quick run-down of how Sophia has been doing day by day.
December 18, 2008: Sophia was 2580 today. That's 5lbs 11oz! She is on 8cc of breast milk every 3 hours.
December 19, 2008: She's up to 2600 grams (5lbs 12 oz) and 12 cc of milk.
December 20, 2008: Sophia is 4 weeks old today! She is taking 16cc of milk and weighs 2680 grams (5lbs 14 1/2 oz). The doctors have started her on an antibiotic called arithromycin. It usually gives babies the runs - so they use it for motility - so Sophia won't get stopped up.
December 21, 2008: The doctors have increased her feeds again. Sophia is up to 20 cc and weighs almost 6lbs 1 oz (2740 grams).
December 22, 2008: Sophia is one month old. Geez Louise. She weighs exactly 6lbs 1 oz now and is on 24cc of milk.
December 23, 2008: Sophia weighs 6lbs 2oz and is on 28cc.
December 24, 2008: Grandma Barrett bought a Care Bears mobile for Sophia's crib so that she's going something else to keep her preoccupied. Tonight a nurse came around with a bunch of little knit Christmas caps...and Sophia is so big for the NICU that hers barely fit on her head. Lol. She continues to gain weight and comes in right at 6lbs 4oz. Her feeds were increased by another 4cc today.
December 25, 2008: Sophia's first Christmas! Sam and I went up to see Sophia early in the morning before heading over to Sam's parents' house for a late lunch and to open presents. We went back up to the hospital later that night - expecting to be able to take a picture with our normal clothes on, but our primary nurse wasn't there...so we didn't ask to do it. After we fed Sophia, the nurse told us that I could start trying to breastfeed! How exciting :) The lactation consultant doesn't work again though until the 27th, so I'm not sure if I'll try to breastfeed before then.
December 18, 2008: Sophia was 2580 today. That's 5lbs 11oz! She is on 8cc of breast milk every 3 hours.
December 19, 2008: She's up to 2600 grams (5lbs 12 oz) and 12 cc of milk.
December 20, 2008: Sophia is 4 weeks old today! She is taking 16cc of milk and weighs 2680 grams (5lbs 14 1/2 oz). The doctors have started her on an antibiotic called arithromycin. It usually gives babies the runs - so they use it for motility - so Sophia won't get stopped up.December 21, 2008: The doctors have increased her feeds again. Sophia is up to 20 cc and weighs almost 6lbs 1 oz (2740 grams).December 22, 2008: Sophia is one month old. Geez Louise. She weighs exactly 6lbs 1 oz now and is on 24cc of milk.
December 23, 2008: Sophia weighs 6lbs 2oz and is on 28cc.
December 24, 2008: Grandma Barrett bought a Care Bears mobile for Sophia's crib so that she's going something else to keep her preoccupied. Tonight a nurse came around with a bunch of little knit Christmas caps...and Sophia is so big for the NICU that hers barely fit on her head. Lol. She continues to gain weight and comes in right at 6lbs 4oz. Her feeds were increased by another 4cc today.
December 25, 2008: Sophia's first Christmas! Sam and I went up to see Sophia early in the morning before heading over to Sam's parents' house for a late lunch and to open presents. We went back up to the hospital later that night - expecting to be able to take a picture with our normal clothes on, but our primary nurse wasn't there...so we didn't ask to do it. After we fed Sophia, the nurse told us that I could start trying to breastfeed! How exciting :) The lactation consultant doesn't work again though until the 27th, so I'm not sure if I'll try to breastfeed before then.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Sophia updates 12/10 - 12/17/08
Day 26, December 17, 2008: Well, Sophia started throwing up again around 1am today. It wasn't dark green - more of a medium green, so I guess that's a little better. They put her sump back in to gravity and decided that the 10cc was too much for her to handle right away. They took her sump out around 10:45 this morning and started her back on 5 cc of breast milk. They said they'll plan to keep her on the 5 cc for a few days - even if she's not throwing up. Sophia pooped on her own this morning - without the enema! I hope she keeps up the good work.
Sam and I will not be going back to see Sophia tonight like we normally do. I feel so awful about it. You have no idea. I feel guilty and anxious about it. Sam's got plans to take me out to dinner and then some other surprise. I'm excited to spend some time with him - outside of the NICU, but at the same time hate that I won't get to see Sophia tonight. I might make him stop after we're done tonight so we can at least give her a kiss goodnight.
Day 25, December 16, 2008: Sophia pooped after her enema this morning - well actually the nurse said she pooped OUT the enema! They took Sophia's sump out and we got to feed her today! Auntie Kristin came to the hospital with me in the morning and held Sophia for over an hour. I got to feed Sophia 5 cc and she inhaled it. She was starving. After the bottle she was looking for more, she kept turning her head to the side and trying to eat the blanket. Poor thing. Since she did soooo well, the nurse asked for permission to double her intake if the first 2 feedings went well. They did go well, and Sam got to feed Sophia for her 7:30 feeding - a whopping 10 cc! It was his first time feeding her :D She must have been really wiped out because we could NOT get her to wake up. Lol. Finally we just got the nipple in her mouth and she ate the bottle and kept on sleeping. She spit up a bit after the bottle, but it wasn't dark green like the other times they had started trying to feed her. I guess they've decided to stop the rectal irrigation (enema). Sophia is ecstatic about that I'm sure, but I'm worried that she's going to stop pooping and then we'll have trouble with her throwing up again. There are 9 more days til Christmas and our nurse said if she keeps up the good work - she may be able to come home in time!
Day 24, December 15, 2008: This morning they did a gastro graph on Sophia to make sure there were no strictures or blockages in her bowel to allow for stool to pass. It's basically like doing an enema with contrast dye and they take a lot of xrays as the dye travels up the intestine. The results were good - nothing wrong there. So they'll continue the enemas and probably talk about taking her sump out and starting feeds again. They also started her on an intraveneous drug called Reglan. They said this would also help get things moving. Her weight was 2340 today! That's 5 lbs 2.5 oz!
Day 23, December 14, 2008: Sophia pooped today after her enema! Our nurse Nat was so excited that she saved the poopy diaper for us in a plastic bag. Lol. She even called one of other nurses who had already worked the morning shift. Haha. The nurses all love our little baby! Sophia's weight tonight was 2300 - a little over 5 lbs 1 oz.
Day 22, December 13, 2008: Today Sophia was extremely fussy. Poor little girl. She must not be feeling well. Her weight today was 2280 - about 5 lbs 1/2 oz!
Day 21, December 12, 2008: They put the sump back to vacuum now to help get more stuff out. Her weight continues to go up, thankfully. She's at 2260 grams - almost 4 lbs 16 oz! I can't believe she's already 3 weeks old!
Day 20, December 11, 2008: It's Connor's 8th birthday! They took her sump back out this morning already because the fluid that they were getting out with the sump was much clearer and not as thick as the night before. They started her feeds again and the morning nurse said she sucked it down quickly. I'm glad she's getting the hang of this "eating" thing haha. She made it through 3 feeds before she started throwing up the dark green bile again. Darn it! Sooo they put her sump back in, this time only to gravity. She's still gaining some weight - we're up to 2240 grams - which is 4 lbs and 15 oz!
Day 19, December 10, 2008: They decided to start feeding Sophia today! They took her sump out and I got to feed her the very first bottle of breast milk in the morning. They're starting her slowly - only 5 cc every 3 hours. I fed her at 10:30 and the nurse fed her at 1:30. She didn't really know what was going on when I fed her. She kept looking at me like, "uh Mom? This pacifier is leaking stuff into my mouth. Somethin's not right here!" lol. After her 1:30 feeding they discontinued the feeds because she was throwing up lots of bile - the dark green stuff. Sooo they put her sump back in and put it to vacuum. Tons of stuff came out. She's gaining weight - we're up to 2210 grams - that's 4 lbs and almost 14 ounces! 
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Sophia updates!
Day 18, December 9, 2008: Sophia has not thrown up since yesterday - HOORAY! No feeds were scheduled for today, but the nurses feel that perhaps they will start feeding her tomorrow. Initially, we thought she was going to get her first breast milk through an IV, but the nurses told me this morning that she's probably going to start right off on a bottle! Awesome. I'm really excited about this. Maybe she'll even start pooping soon after they start her on breast milk. I held Sophia for almost 2 hours and she slept pretty much the entire time. I could just hold her and look at her all day. It's amazing how much love you can have for one person!
This morning I also went to a meeting on discharge. It's held once a month for parents of babies who will most likely be going home within the next month. It covered topics like choosing pediatricians, follow up programs, car seats, other classes we can take (infant massage, cpr, home safety, etc), day care, etc. I had never thought about how horrible day care is for a premature baby. Preemies are much more susceptible to germs and sicknesses. For example, most kids or adults who get RSV simply have cold like symptoms, but when a premature baby gets RSV, it usually means the baby ends up back in the hospital with pneumonia. They recommend that NICU babies don't go into a day care program for a year, or 6 months minimum. Oy. Another thing they covered that I had no clue about was smoking. I know obviously you should never smoke around a baby, but I didn't know that just the smoke on someone's clothing can make a preemie baby so sick. They said that if a smoker is coming over to visit the baby, they need to have their last cigarette before they get in their car and come over - they also need to then wash their face, neck, hands, etc and put on a clean shirt. Term babies aren't usually affected by this as severely as preemies are.
Day 17, December 8, 2008: Sophia got her sump out this morning after I got to the hospital. Yay! They haven't decided when they'll start feedings, and I'm worried that she'll start throwing up again like last time they took the sump out. We had an intern as a nurse today - so it's a good thing that Sophia doesn't have a whole lot going on. The only time she ever really cries is when she has a wet diaper, wants her pacifier, or wants to cuddle. She's been doing a great job sleeping through the nights - I hope this continues after she comes home! :) She is currently only on the TPN and lipids - no medications.
Sam and I gave her a bath tonight, like we always do. She didn't seem like she was feeling very well and didn't really want her pacifier either. Hopefully she'll be feeling better tomorrow! She weighed 2.08 kg tonight...which is 4.6 lbs. Sam and I finally remembered to take her swing in to the hospital so that she can sit in it when she gets tired of her view from her crib.
I've lost most of my pregnancy weight - just over 10 lbs to go...and then I hope to lose some more and get back down to the size I was when I moved to VA.
Day 16, December 7, 2008: Sophia is gaining her weight back! She weighed 2065 grams (4 lbs 9 oz) tonight and is almost 18" long! They are no longer giving her glycerin (sepositories) since she just wasn't producing any poopy diapers. The sump came off vacuum and is now working on just gravity. There's not a whole lot coming out, so I'm guessing they'll probably try to take her off the sump again soon.
This picture cracks me up. She looks sooo happy!
Big yawn!
Day 15, December 6, 2008: Sam and I got our Christmas tree today and then went up to see Sophia. I went to pump as soon as we got there and Sam started holding Sophia. When I got into her NICU pod, Sam said she would just not stop crying and her sump was making strange sucking noises. He asked the nurse about it and she basically dismissed it as an issue. I really did not like this nurse. She's just not a people person and doesn't seem empathetic. Her sump continued to make weird noises and Sophia continued to cry. I asked the nurse to please come over and check on the sump because it has NEVER made noise, and it's not supposed to. She basically said "I don't know why it would be making noises" and then walked away. ARG. I was soooo mad. Something was wrong with the sump and she wouldn't even try to figure out what it was. Sam's mom went up later today to see Sophia (after we told her about the issues with the sump) and listened for the sump to make noise. She said it never did and that Sophia slept the entire time she held her. Well....we went back up later tonight and surprise, surprise - someone completely changed the sump out. There was a brand new tube in her nose and brand new tape holding the NG tube to her face. I wonder when someone finally checked on it and figured out what was wrong.
Day 14, December 5, 2008: Sam had to work tonight from 3-11 doing DUI stuff, so I went up to the hospital at night by myself. I met Greg and Robin Jones (from our church) at CHKD and they got to each hold Sophia :) I gave her a bath on my own and she was soooo squirmy lol. She looks so cute in this new preemie onesie we got from the church baby shower!
Day 13, December 4, 2008: Sophia's sump was put back in this morning because she was throwing up so much. She seems to be feeling much better now that everything is being pumped out of her belly. I think it was too early for the tube to come out yesterday.
Day 12, December 3, 2008: The surgeon gave the go ahead to take our Sophia's NG tube - what I refer to as the sump. She's been having less fluid come out, and it's much lighter in color. I went to visit just after lunch and the nurse said she hadn't thrown up at all since they took the tube out. However, while I was holding her, she projectile vomited bile all over me and herself. Poor little sweetheart :( Sam and I went back at night and she was still throwing up. We gave her a bath like usual and she was pretty calm. The nurse gave her a sepository after her bath and about 10 minutes later Sophia was grunting and trying to push so hard. I feel so badly for her. She seemed to feel much better when she was laying on Daddy's chest instead of being cradled in his arms.
Day 11, December 2, 2008: The church held a baby shower for us tonight. We received tons of beautiful gifts! We got lots of cute clothes, a hamper, diaper bag, blankets, etc.
This morning I also went to a meeting on discharge. It's held once a month for parents of babies who will most likely be going home within the next month. It covered topics like choosing pediatricians, follow up programs, car seats, other classes we can take (infant massage, cpr, home safety, etc), day care, etc. I had never thought about how horrible day care is for a premature baby. Preemies are much more susceptible to germs and sicknesses. For example, most kids or adults who get RSV simply have cold like symptoms, but when a premature baby gets RSV, it usually means the baby ends up back in the hospital with pneumonia. They recommend that NICU babies don't go into a day care program for a year, or 6 months minimum. Oy. Another thing they covered that I had no clue about was smoking. I know obviously you should never smoke around a baby, but I didn't know that just the smoke on someone's clothing can make a preemie baby so sick. They said that if a smoker is coming over to visit the baby, they need to have their last cigarette before they get in their car and come over - they also need to then wash their face, neck, hands, etc and put on a clean shirt. Term babies aren't usually affected by this as severely as preemies are.
Day 17, December 8, 2008: Sophia got her sump out this morning after I got to the hospital. Yay! They haven't decided when they'll start feedings, and I'm worried that she'll start throwing up again like last time they took the sump out. We had an intern as a nurse today - so it's a good thing that Sophia doesn't have a whole lot going on. The only time she ever really cries is when she has a wet diaper, wants her pacifier, or wants to cuddle. She's been doing a great job sleeping through the nights - I hope this continues after she comes home! :) She is currently only on the TPN and lipids - no medications.
Sam and I gave her a bath tonight, like we always do. She didn't seem like she was feeling very well and didn't really want her pacifier either. Hopefully she'll be feeling better tomorrow! She weighed 2.08 kg tonight...which is 4.6 lbs. Sam and I finally remembered to take her swing in to the hospital so that she can sit in it when she gets tired of her view from her crib.
I've lost most of my pregnancy weight - just over 10 lbs to go...and then I hope to lose some more and get back down to the size I was when I moved to VA.
Day 16, December 7, 2008: Sophia is gaining her weight back! She weighed 2065 grams (4 lbs 9 oz) tonight and is almost 18" long! They are no longer giving her glycerin (sepositories) since she just wasn't producing any poopy diapers. The sump came off vacuum and is now working on just gravity. There's not a whole lot coming out, so I'm guessing they'll probably try to take her off the sump again soon.
This picture cracks me up. She looks sooo happy!
Big yawn!
Day 15, December 6, 2008: Sam and I got our Christmas tree today and then went up to see Sophia. I went to pump as soon as we got there and Sam started holding Sophia. When I got into her NICU pod, Sam said she would just not stop crying and her sump was making strange sucking noises. He asked the nurse about it and she basically dismissed it as an issue. I really did not like this nurse. She's just not a people person and doesn't seem empathetic. Her sump continued to make weird noises and Sophia continued to cry. I asked the nurse to please come over and check on the sump because it has NEVER made noise, and it's not supposed to. She basically said "I don't know why it would be making noises" and then walked away. ARG. I was soooo mad. Something was wrong with the sump and she wouldn't even try to figure out what it was. Sam's mom went up later today to see Sophia (after we told her about the issues with the sump) and listened for the sump to make noise. She said it never did and that Sophia slept the entire time she held her. Well....we went back up later tonight and surprise, surprise - someone completely changed the sump out. There was a brand new tube in her nose and brand new tape holding the NG tube to her face. I wonder when someone finally checked on it and figured out what was wrong.
Day 14, December 5, 2008: Sam had to work tonight from 3-11 doing DUI stuff, so I went up to the hospital at night by myself. I met Greg and Robin Jones (from our church) at CHKD and they got to each hold Sophia :) I gave her a bath on my own and she was soooo squirmy lol. She looks so cute in this new preemie onesie we got from the church baby shower!
Day 13, December 4, 2008: Sophia's sump was put back in this morning because she was throwing up so much. She seems to be feeling much better now that everything is being pumped out of her belly. I think it was too early for the tube to come out yesterday.
Day 12, December 3, 2008: The surgeon gave the go ahead to take our Sophia's NG tube - what I refer to as the sump. She's been having less fluid come out, and it's much lighter in color. I went to visit just after lunch and the nurse said she hadn't thrown up at all since they took the tube out. However, while I was holding her, she projectile vomited bile all over me and herself. Poor little sweetheart :( Sam and I went back at night and she was still throwing up. We gave her a bath like usual and she was pretty calm. The nurse gave her a sepository after her bath and about 10 minutes later Sophia was grunting and trying to push so hard. I feel so badly for her. She seemed to feel much better when she was laying on Daddy's chest instead of being cradled in his arms.
Day 11, December 2, 2008: The church held a baby shower for us tonight. We received tons of beautiful gifts! We got lots of cute clothes, a hamper, diaper bag, blankets, etc.
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