FIVE POUNDS!

Katie has officially hit 5 pounds!

She is still at 36ml every 3 hours, but they have reduced the duration of the feed to over the course of 1 hour. They have been coming every so often to try her on a bottle, but she doesn't quite know what to do with it yet. Once she masters the bottle, then there is no time until she is at home. Terrifying.

She is still maintaining her temperature in the crib.

When I visited her yesterday, she was satting around 95.. with the cannula on top of her nose :

12.26.12

I held her for a little bit yesterday, until she got fussy, turned red, and pooped. I unswaddled her, changed her diaper, and tried swaddling her back up.. and she yelled at me. So I just let her lay unswaddled for a bit. I turned on her mobile, and she was transfixed:

Katie got a visit from SANTA! Not the most flattering picture of Katie, but it's still a great memory :). 



12.24.12

Quite possibly my new favorite thing ever.


12.23.12

The Grandmas got to get some snuggle time in, too!


Grandma King holding Katie
12.22.12

Grandma Stowe holding Katie
12.25.12





Merry Christmas!

She is so much bigger than this now! Hoping everyone has a great holiday :).

Quadrupled!

Katie has officially quadrupled her birth weight! She weighed-in at 4 pounds, 12 ounces last night. Yay!!

She had a handful of desats today, so they bumped her flow back up to 2 liters. She must have gotten too excited about her new crib!

When we visited this evening, we got to bathe her for the first time. After her bath Dad got to put her clothes on! I think he did a good job :).

Crib! Clothes!

In a crib! In clothes! 4 pounds, 11 ounces. Giving her some breastmilk on her pacifier probably tomorrow!

Update, with Pics and Video :)

Katie is up to 4 pounds, 9 ounces! She is tolerating her 36ml feeds well. They increased the duration of her feeds from 2 hours to 1.5 hours. They are still every 3 hours.

They are also weaning her from her isolette! She is all bundled up like a baby burrito. I got lots of snuggle time today.

Due to her prematurity and having to be on oxygen, Katie has developed ROP. I'll let you google it for more details. Basically, it causes the blood vessels in her retinas to grow erratically. They gave her a shot of medicine Sunday that is supposed to fix it. Her next follow up is Thursday.

She also got her first round of vaccinations yesterday! She has a little chubby sore leg.

Also yesterday was her follow up head ultrasound. They reported that her IVH had resolved and there was no new bleeding!

Overall, she is doing FANTASTIC! She has a portable CD player in her room that is playing Beatles Rock-a-Bye songs :).

Here's another video of her enjoying her pacifier:

Staring at Daddy..

11 Weeks Old! (ring pic, too!)

Katie is doing great! She is up to 1850 grams (a little over FOUR POUNDS!). She is still at room air (21%), is at 1.5 liters on her flow, and is eating 30 milliliters (1 ounce) every 3 hours. They are fortifying her milk up to 27 calories (breastmilk is 20 calories).

She has continued to enjoy her pacifier, and has decided that she prefers sleeping on her belly (uh-oh!). She has had a couple of diaper blowouts.. One of which I was present for, and it also included projectile poop! I got to hold her while the nurses cleaned up her bed, which I believe was her plan all along.

And here is another pic of her wearing Daddy's ring!

Pics and Small Update

Katie is doing great! She is back on feeds-only (no more IV fluids/nutrition/fats), 27ml every 3 hours. She has lost some fluid weight since they stopped her feeds, but she is sure to gain it all back!

Her next milestone is to get moved from the isolette to an open bed! That means not having to reach through ports to change a diaper or hold her pacifier in her mouth :). Hopefully she'll reach that point by next weekend!

Update (with pics.. and video!)

Katie is doing great! She is up to 1640 grams (3 pounds, 9 ounces). She has TRIPLED her birth weight!!

She is currently sitting at anywhere from 21-23% oxygen. Her nasal cannula is set at 3.5 liters (the amount of air that is being pushed through the prongs).


11.30.12
Wearing one of the hats Miss Julie made her!

Over the weekend, the NICU had a small outbreak of the flu. Knowing that Ron and I had been sick, they had put her on isolation and raised her liters back to 4 (she had just been at 3.5) so, if she was sick, she wouldn't have to struggle to breathe and could concentrate on healing. All her tests came back clean for any kind of sickness.. no flu or RSV, so they removed the isolation and lowered her settings back down.
 

12.03.12
Snuggling with her "frog"

In addition to that situation, she had a small fever, elevated heart rate, and a slightly distended belly on Saturday. They started an IV and gave her some antibiotics, some anti-flu medicines (just in case!), stopped her feeds and started TPN & lipids. They watched her for a day to make sure that the distension went down and she didn't have any residuals in her belly from her intestines not working correctly. Everything was fine, so they started her feeds back up yesterday. They have to wean her off the TPN & lipids (can't just quit cold turkey!), so she's only at 10ml/3hrs of milk right now. That'll go up every day until she gets back where she was.

12.03.12
Big yawn!

 Here's a video of her enjoying her pacifier:

 

Growing Baby!

Katie is doing great! As of this morning, she is up to 3 pounds, 4.2 ounces!

That is great news.. but even better news? On Monday, they switched her off the CPAP and is now on the high-flow nasal cannula. This is a HUGE STEP! She is doing well on 21-25% oxygen.

Ron and I have both been sick for the last few days, so neither of us had seen her since Sunday. Ron was finally feeling better enough today to go see her. There will be more pictures to come this weekend!

11.28.12

Kangaroo Care.. for Dad!

Katie is doing great! She now weighs 1350 grams (2 pounds, 14 ounces). She has been on around 21-30% oxygen. She is up to 25ml every 3 hours.

She had her follow-up head ultrasound on Monday, and the report came back as "resolving". That is great news! Hopefully she won't have any more brain bleeds.

In other news.. Ron got his turn at Kangaroo care today! It was his first time holding Katie:

11.21.12

Our first family photo!

11.21.12

And, per request, another picture of her wearing Daddy's wedding band. It was a little tight to get it around her fingers, and I didn't want to force it. I guess that means she's growing out of using it as a bracelet.

11.21.12

Kangaroo!

Katie is doing great! She is up to 2 pounds, 10 ounces. She is eating 22ml every 3 hours. That's nearly 6 ounces a day! It doesn't sound like much, but she is very tiny. She is tolerating the CPAP very well, and usually is on around 24-28% oxygen.

So far I've changed 3 diapers. Ron has changed none. Yes, I'm keeping count.

Oh, yeah, and today I got to hold her for the first time:

11.18.12

11.18.12

Hiccups! (video)

I forgot to mention.. with her being off the vent, air is actually reaching her larynx, and therefore.. she makes noise! Her cries are just little wheezes right now, but as you can hear in the video below, her hiccups are definite squeaks!

Update! (lots of pics)

Katie is up to 2 pounds, 9 ounces!

She is up to 16ml every 3 hours. That's about 4 ounces every day! Friday night, after we left the hospital, they called us to let us know that they barely had enough milk to get them through the night. They were definitely surprised when we showed up with nearly 50 bottles (not all full, I'm not THAT good).

The head ultrasound report came in and there is no change in her bleed from the last ultrasound. The followup is scheduled for November 19.

In other news.. she is off the ventilator! This is huge news! That means that she's breathing on her own! That means no more tube down her throat! Well, not a big tube that makes her look like she is snarling. They moved her feeding tube from her nose to her mouth (it's very tiny), and put a CPAP mask over her nose. It delivers oxygen and constant pressure, keeping the sacs in her lungs open so she can breathe on her own without having spells when she stops breathing, or apnea. They still happen, but not as much/bad as they would if she was only receiving oxygen and not pressure. They're currently watching her carefully to make sure she can tolerate it without her heart rate dropping. They even mentioned maybe starting Kangaroo Care soon!

Here's a bunch of pictures of Katie over the last few days:

11.08.12

11.10.12

11.10.12

11.10.12

11.10.12

11.11.12

11.11.12

11.12.12

11.12.12

11.13.12

11.13.12

Pics and Small Update

Katie is doing well today. As of last night, she is up to 1060 grams (2 pounds, 5 ounces). She is eating 5ml every 3 hours. They haven't given us the report from yesterday's head ultrasound.

They did have a quarantine on the floor because of an instance of pink eye. We had been required to wear gloves, masks, and robes. They have now lifted the restrictions. It was so nice to actually touch her again.. I had forgotten how soft she is!

Now we can give everyone another picture of her wearing Ron's wedding band:

11.06.12

And, of course, the foot shot for Grandma!

11.06.12

Waving "Hi"!

11.03.12

Smiling Baby!!

Katie was doing really good when we came to visit. She hasn't gained any weight since last time. They have moved her feedings up to 2.5 ml/cc every three hours. The doctors are going to reevaluate her daily and hopefully start feeding her larger amounts! I'm definitely ready to start taking her milk up there every day.

To make up for such a tiny update, here is a video of her smiling! Be sure to change the quality to 1080 HD, otherwise it's a little blurry.

Screenshot from the video:

11.01.12

Roller Coaster Ride

Katie is up to 970 grams (2 pounds, 2 ounces)!

Everyone who has been on this journey have told us that being in the NICU, she will have her good days and her bad days. I believed them, but until recently, it was hard to really understand the intensity of these ups and downs.

Sunday they were able to re-intubate her with a larger breathing tube. Shortly after, they pulled some green residual from her feeding tube, and stopped her feedings. They think her body stopped digesting due to the stress of getting the new breathing tube.

She stayed off feedings for 24 hours. They started her back at 1.2cc/ml every 3 hours earlier this afternoon. We're hoping she can quickly work her way back up to where she stopped.

On October 15, they did a head ultrasound and found a grade 1 bleed on the right side of her brain. This is common in babies of her size, and the doctors weren't too worried. They did a repeat ultrasound yesterday evening and it had gotten slightly larger. The doctor says it is now a grade 2 bleed. Grades 1 & 2 will usually go away on their own, unless they progress further. The next ultrasound is scheduled for Monday.

There's no immediate emergency, but please, keep praying for her. We appreciate everyone's thoughts!

Here's a picture of her sleeping nice and comfortable:

And another of her toes!

Just Visited Katie and..

They're increasing her to 4cc/ml :).

She's also up to 930 grams.. That's TWO POUNDS!

She also has an air leak which is causing the oxygen they're giving her to not be as effective (because its not making it all the way to her lungs). They're going to monitor her and most likely change her tubes sometime soon. The nurse says its common that once the babies start growing, they grow out of the tubes.

Oh, and here's a pic of her foot, for mom :P.

Nom Nom Nom..

As of last night, Katie is up to 900 grams (1 pound, 15 ounces).

They started with a tiny feeding (1cc/ml) on Friday at 2:00pm. When they checked what was left in her belly at 5:00pm.. It was gone! They continued the 1cc/ml (every 3 hours) feedings until yesterday afternoon, when they doubled her dosage. She seems to be tolerating the feelings very well!

Katie really prefers to be on her stomach. That position helps her breathe better. It looks much more comfortable, don't you think?

Small update.. With a pic :)

The barium test went well yesterday! They were able to place the feeding tube with no problems. That means they'll most likely try to feed her today! As long as the remnant barium moves on her x-rays, they'll start with another tiny feed to test if her system is ready to start digesting. Yay!!

I don't usually like to Instagram photos, but this one looks really good:

Quick Update!

As of this morning, Katie is up to 820 grams (1 pound, 13 ounces). They have moved her off the oscillator and back to the ventilator. Our last update today (around 1pm), she was down to 28% oxygen (normal air we all breathe is 21%).

10.22.12

They're taking her down to get a barium x-ray so they can see what is going on in her esophagus. As long as everything is where it's supposed to be, they'll attempt to put her feeding tube back in, and presumably start feedings shortly afterwards. It's been a little over a week since their last attempt, so we're hoping that her digestive system is ready for food now!


10.23.12

She was having some problems keeping her urine output regulated, but over the last two days, she has been peeing like normal. We have a theory that she saves it up just to keep us on our toes!

Twenty-Two Days!

As of 10.19.12 (her last weigh-in), Katie is up to 770 grams (about 1 pound, 11 ounces). Again, no idea how much of that is just fluid, but I'll take it either way!

I can't believe it's already been three weeks. I started back to work on Tuesday. It's hard to wake up in the morning, and to not get that 2pm nap I had gotten used to! That and going straight to the hospital after work to visit Katie, going home to eat, clean, and shower.. I'm exhausted. I did get to rest this weekend, which was very nice.

10.16.12

They attempted a trophic feeding on Tuesday, but her stomach wasn't ready to digest yet. The doctors said they were going to wait a few days and try again, but her NG tube (her feeding tube) came out Friday night, and they are waiting a few days before they try to put it back in.

10.16.12

She was moved from the ventilator back to the oscillator also on Tuesday, and is doing well on it. Until of course, the doctors/nurses do their exams, then she throws a fit and makes her oxygen saturation drop, which causes the nurses to have to raise her oxygen concentration. She recovers quickly and gets weaned back down, though. She really doesn't like people messing with her!

The nurses noticed a bit of blood when they suctioned her breathing tube, which means she has some blood in her lungs. It sounds much worse than it is. What happens is the small capillaries in her lungs get overworked, and burst. It's very common in babies her size. They're monitoring her to see if it gets any worse, and to see what action they need to take.

10.20.12

She has had a couple of episodes where her urine output has decreased to nearly nothing. They gave her fluids and diuretics, which fixed that issue. She's also pooped (meconium) a few more times, once when I was in the room. The nurse had just put a new diaper under her butt, and was getting a wipe, when she dirtied the new diaper.. she's already a little brat!

10.21.12

That's all of an update we have for y'all now. Sorry there was such a delay between posts.. I've been pretty busy lately!