Day 32 in the NICU- September 30, 2012

Avery is one month old today!

 

We received a call last night from 440-312-3202 and I got freaked out. I knew that was Hillcrest's phone number and no one has ever called us from there before. I answered and the doctor said not to be alarmed, he was just calling because he thinks Avery had an infection and was going to start on antibiotics. She gets the medicine through a line in her arm.

 

They changed Avery's feeding schedule. She is now going to get continuous feedings, instead of 10ml every two hours. She will get 5ml over a one hour time span but it will be slow and constant and then when it's gone, they will start all over again. Tonight she weighed 810 grams or 1 pound 12 oz!

This is the new line in my arm that I get my antibiotics from

 

I was kangarooing with Mommy today and had my eyes open for a little bit.

 

Here is a picture of my pretty hair and the line in my arm

 

 



Day 31 in the NICU- September 29, 2012

Avery seems to be having a better day today. She had a few Brady's during hands on but Tim still got to kangaroo with her. The nurse warned us that she will probably have some during kangaroo because she was feeding her. She gets reflux when getting fed which causes her to brady sometimes. She did end up having a bunch while kangarooing and had to be put back after about a half hour.

I have lots of pictures to post today.

 

This is basically Mommy and Daddy's second home. This is where they wash their hands before they come see me. (That's my daddy, Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt in the picture)

 

Kangarooing with Daddy

 

Playing peek-a-boo with Daddy

 

I was showing off breathing on my own for a little bit after they suctioned me.

 

My cousin Kaitlin colored this picture for me.

 She even colored the dogs to look like Chewie and Scarlett

 

 

 

 

 

Day 30 in the NICU- September 28, 2012

Avery is still not having a great day. I went to visit during lunch and she had 3 B's during hands on. She also had a couple aspirates. Tim visited her after work and kangarooed for about 10 minutes before they put her back because she had another brady. On a good note, she did weigh 800 grams which is about one pound 12 oz.

This was when they were suctioning out my nose and mouth. I don't like when they do this!

 

This was after I was suctioned. I hate getting suctioned but I feel so much better afterwards.

Day 29 in the NICU- September 27, 2012

Avery had another rough day with a lot of Brady's so Tim was unable to kangaroo with her today. She did not receive a blood transfusion. They are going to continue EPO injections on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to try to increase her red blood cell count. They also started her on vitamin D.

When I gave birth, they said my placenta looked weird so they sent it away for testing. I finally received the results today. They said I had a tear in my placenta, most likely caused by a placenta abruption. A placenta abruption happens when the placenta tears away and becomes unattached from the uterus.

 

I forgot to tell you that I got moved to a new room a few weeks ago due to some construction that was going on near my old room. I didn't like the noise and I am glad I complained because look at the view I have now..though I can't see it yet. Mommy tells me the view is much better now.

 

 

See the bandaids on my thighs, that's where I get the EPO shots. Also, notice I don't have what's left of my umbilical cord. It fell off sometime between last night and this morning. Mommy and I were kangarooing yesterday and she was worried it was going to get stuck to her. I'm glad I didn't weird mom out by having that happen.

 

Day 28 in the NICU- September 26, 2012

Avery had a rough night with a couple of Bradys and she threw up once. After she threw up, she did very well the rest of the night and morning. Throughout the day, she had about six Brady's. Her red blood cell count has been dropping so they have been giving her EPO (erythropoietin) injections in her thigh. This medication is supposed to aid in production of red blood cells. If it doesn't work, she will need another blood transfusion.

I am so excited that we finally got to kangaroo tonight. She had one Brady right when they put her on me and then two more 10 minutes later. She then did great for the rest of the time we hung out.

Mommy and Daddy both told me that I look bigger today

 

Mommy was so happy she got to hold me..and I was happy about it too

 

I look a little bit like an elephant in the cpap mask

Day 27 in the NICU- September 25, 2012

Avery didn't have the greatest morning or afternoon. I went to hang out with her on my lunch break. They said she was having a lot of Desats so she was unable to kangaroo. We called this evening and said she only had one brady while they were performing hands on. Her weight is back up to 740 grams.

 

My eyes are open in this picture!

 

 

Who knew I would be so popular? Mommy started writing the blog so she could remember things that have been happening on this long journey.

She never imagined the blog would get over 5000 views!

 

 

Day 26 in the NICU- September 24, 2012

Avery had a bit of a rough morning but seems to be doing better this evening. She is now getting 10mL of breast milk. She hasn't had any bradys for the past two hours which is really good for her. Her weight is back to 730 grams which is ok. She is currently on room air right now. Hopefully we will be able to kangaroo tomorrow.

 

This is Mommy's hand by me.

 I feel sad that I was unable to kangaroo with her and Daddy the past few days.

 

This was a picture of me from last week. I had my eyes open. This is how I normally look during hands on.

 

 

This is my sister, Scarelett and brother, Chewie. They are sad because they haven't had the chance to meet me yet.

 

 

Day 25 in the NICU- September 23, 2012

Avery is having another rough day so far. The nurse said she had a lot of B's today. They said they aren't making any changes to feeds, etc because they wanted to give her a chance to relax and not upset her. She is still on 9ml of breast milk. The doctor said all the B's could be the sign of an infection but every time they take her temp or draw blood, it's normal. He said they aren't planning on intubating her because that won't necessarily help the Brady's so they are holding off on that. No kangarooing again today. I don't know why because she always does so well during kangaroo care. She hardly ever has any brady's and she Sats high (pulse ox levels good) when Tim and I kangaroo with her. Her weight last night was 730 grams so at least that is remaining steady.

 

This is me doing what I do best...besides pooping.

 

This is a breast pump and is not Mommy's friend.

 I know she is only doing it because it is so good for me .

Day 24 in the NICU- September 22, 2012

Avery is still not having a great day. They decided to take the nasal cannula/nava vent off and put her on a special cpap machine called a SiPap. It will be easier to breathe out for her because air isn't being forced in all the time. They put the cpap on her about an hour ago and she seems to be doing much better. No bradys while we were here since they put the cpap on. She is also up to 9mL of breast milk now. No kangarooing today :-(

 

This is a picture of me and my new mask.

 So far I seem to like it even though it makes me look funny.

 

This is a picture of the cpap/sipap machine I am hooked up to

Day 23 in the NICU- September 21, 2012

Avery is not having a good day. They said it would be a roller coaster ride and there would be good days and bad. This is definitely a bad one. She has had 20 or so bradycardia's today She is also on more oxygen. They said if the night continues like this, they will most likely put the breathing tube back in. I am really hoping they don't have to do that. They always have a hard time intubating her because of her cleft palate.

What? So I have a piece of tape on my face, who cares?
Mommy thinks I look just like Daddy in this pic

(this pic was from yesterday)

 

I am now on Mommy's health benefits which is a good thing. She would definitely not want my bill once I am discharged. Mommy didn't enroll me in the dental plan because I don't have teeth.

Wow, this sounds a lot like Tim and I

This is a story about a woman who gave birth at 25 weeks. There are so many similarities between her story and ours that I wanted to share. Please click on the below link.

http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20110308/ISLAND01/703089997/0/FRONTPAGE

Day 22 in the NICU- September 20, 2012

Avery is 3 weeks old today!

 

Avery had her picc line removed today. She looks really good and seems much more comfortable without it. Now, if they need to draw blood, they prick her foot. She is getting 7.5 mL food every two hours and they will increase it by .5mL every 12 hours. She was on 27% oxygen and had a few Brady's and lots of desats when I first got here but after doing kangaroo care, she is back down to 21% oxygen (room air) and doing well. I'm sad to say that the nurse is not going to weigh her until later tonight so we won't know until tomorrow if she gained or lost weight. I would put money on losing weight. If you saw the couple of diapers she dirtied when I was here, you would think the same thing.

 

Kangarooing with Mommy

 

See this right here, I was misbehaving and kept pulling the cannula out of my nose so they had to put this tape on it. (Look at my arm..no picc line!!)

 

Day 21 in the NICU- September 19, 2012

Tim and I went up to the hospital this morning to visit Avery but weren't able to go this evening. We ended up calling up to the hospital for an update. She is still on 7ml of milk every two hours and she hasn't had any aspirates. Aspirates are when they withdraw milk from her stomach that she hasn't digested. The process is usually aided by use of a syringe or a suction device. A few days ago they gave Avery 3 ml of milk and two hours later pulled back 2.5 ml from her stomach which means she was having trouble digesting it. She has been handling 7ml like a champ. She is now up to 730 grams which is about 1 pound, 10 oz.

 

I did not want anyone touching my Picc line today so I was holding it.

 

I like to sleep in weird positions. I typically have my hands on my shoulders for some reason.

 

Yep, I'm weird! :-)

 

Day 20 in the NICU- September 18, 2012

Avery is now getting 7mL of breast milk every 2 hours. I am sad that they didn't weigh her when we were there tonight. She needed to get suctioned out because she had a lot of junk in her throat. They probably spent about 15 minutes suctioning and retaping all of her tubes/wires. The nurse said they will weigh her at 2am so I will have an update on her weight tomorrow.

I did not want my picture taken this morning when mommy came to visit me

This is a picture of the PICC line in my arm.

Percutaneously inserted central catheters (PICC lines), are long, thin, plastic tubes that travel from a vein in an arm or leg into one of the large veins near the heart. In premature infants, they are used to deliver fluids or medications. I used to have lines in my belly button but now that I am older, I have this instead.

Day 19 in the NICU- September 17, 2012

Today was my first day back at work and it was very tough. I had a breakdown but eventually realized it will all be worth it once Avery comes home at the end of November or beginning of December. Avery was measured yesterday and she was 13.5 inches. She grew an inch in two weeks! She is FINALLY starting to gain weight (if the nurses weighed her correctly). She was 730 grams today which is about 1 pound 10 oz! She is still on 6mL of milk every 2 hours.

 

This pic was from a few days ago when I was holding onto daddy's finger

 

If you hold your hand over my nose and cannula, I look exactly like my daddy!

 

I am starting to really like my pacifier

 

Hanging out with daddy tonight :)

 

Check out my hair color!!!

 

 

 

 

Day 18 in the NICU- September 16, 2012

They tried changing the settings on the NAVA ventilator and Avery didn't like it so she is back to the same settings she was at. She is still on room air at 21% oxygen so I am happy about that. Her weight last night was 650 grams (1 pound 6oz). They increased her feeding again. Now she is getting 6mL every two hours.

I love to kangaroo with Mommy (..and Daddy)

They gave me a pretty pink hat and a pacifier this time..both of which are too big for me but I liked them anyway

Here I am, dreaming about gaining weight.

Day 17 in the NICU- September 15, 2012

Avery needs to start packing on those pounds..ounces would be nice too. Her weight dropped again to 590 grams which is about 1 pound 4 oz. It could be that the nurses aren't super consistent when weighing her, some pick up certain cords, some do not. They are thinking about increasing her breast milk feedings to 5mL every two hours. The neonatologist came in today and said that Avery is doing great for how early she is so I am happy the hear that. She has been having more good days than bad days lately so we are thankful for that.

This picture shows off my pretty hair color that everyone comments about. I was nicknamed "Penny" by Uncle George because he said my hair is the color of a penny.

 

This is the monitor that is in my room. It shows my heart rate (in green). When my heart rate drops below 80, that is considered a "Brady" or bradycardia. It's not good to have too many of those. The number in yellow is my respiratory rate and the number in blue is my pulse ox. We don't want it to fall below 88 because that is counted as a "desat" or desaturation.

Day 16 in the NICU- September 14, 2012

They have now increased her feedings to 4mL every two hours and she seems to be doing okay so far. She has also put on a little weight. Yesterday she was 650 grams and today she is 683 (which is about 1 pound 8 oz).

I have to post what Tim wrote on facebook today because it was so cute. "..it is funny how hopes and dreams change over time. I hoped and dreamed of being a rock star as a teen. Today i hope Avery has a good day so that i can hold her later tonight. As far as dreams go, they now are what she dreams of."

Daddy's dream came true. I was good today so he got to hold me for over two hours!

This is how much milk they are giving me every two hours (4mL). It doesn't look like much but it fills my little belly.

Day 15 in the NICU- September 13, 2012

Avery is two weeks old today!!

Not much has changed since yesterday. Hopefully her weight will increase. Her weight yesterday was 1 pound 6 oz. Today they increased the breast milk to 3 mL every two hours. We got to kangaroo for an hour today. Her breathing has been pretty stable on the nasal cannula with NAVA vent. You can read more about the NAVA vent by clicking on the link. It works with the tube that is down her stomach. It's pretty incredible what modern science can do. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurally_Adjusted_Ventilatory_Assist

Mommy and I spending time together today

 

This is the NAVA vent that my nasal cannula is hooked up to 

 

Kangarooing

Tim was so excited to kangaroo with Avery that he had trouble sleeping last night. Avery cooperated and he was able to kangaroo with her today!

I'm so excited daddy got to hold me today :)