Day 14 in the NICU- September 12, 2012

Avery is having a good day so far. She went from 1 pound 5 oz to 1 pound 8 oz. They are going to start giving more breast milk every two hours. Her breathing has been good today as well. I don't have much to update, which is a good thing!

 

Hi everyone, thanks for reading about me!

 

Thanks Natalie for my new room decoration! The stuffed dog will have to do until I can go home and meet my brother, Chewie and sister, Scarlett.

 

Day 13 in the NICU- September 11, 2012

Avery is still on the nasal cannula. I wouldn't say she likes it but is tolerating it. She has pulled it out of her nose a few times. She is feisty like her mommy. She has lost weight and is now 1 pound 5 oz. They said that she is using a lot more energy/calories being on the cannula than on the ventilator because she has to do the breathing on her own. They increased her feeding to 1cc every 2 hours so hopefully she will start gaining some weight.

I got to do kangaroo care (skin to skin) yesterday and today. It was a little scary because she is so small (she weighs less than a kitten). They told me that she likes to move around a lot and to hold on to her tight. She calmed down as soon as they put her on me and it was like she knew she was with her mommy. Her stats were really good when she was on me so we hung out for about an hour and a half each time.

Avery says that she can't wait to have kangaroo care with daddy hopefully tomorrow!

 

 

This is my first time laying on mommy. I really enjoyed it. I wish I didn't have velcro stuck to my head so the picture would be better but that's what keeps my sunglasses on

Day 12 in the NICU- September 10, 2012

Avery is still on the nasal cannula though she doesn't like it too much. We are hoping they aren't going to reintubate her. They have been feeding her 1mL every 6 hours. I might get to kangaroo care with her today (where she lays on my chest and we are skin to skin).

I'm a big girl and am sleeping on my belly today. (ignore the fact that my diaper is falling off). I need to be strapped in because I also moved all the way over to the side of the incubator.

What an exciting day!

We got to hold Avery last night when they were changing her isolette (incubator). We were both really excited and nervous. She is so much smaller when she is out of the isolette. It was an amazing feeling to finally be holding our girl. Here are a few pics from last night.

Day 11 in the NICU- September 9, 2012

A lot has changed since yesterday. Avery is now 710 grams so she is slowly gaining her weight back. They removed the UAC (umbilical artery catheter) line from her belly and also started feeding her 1mL of breast milk every 6 hours. She was extubated today and is now on a nasal cannula.

This is a pic of me when I still had my breathing tube in. Hmmm, I hope I am not going to have knobby knees like my mommy.

 

This is the huge machine that is helping me breathe.

 

Our most recent family portrait. I am glowing!

 

I am holding daddy's finger and showing off my neon green nasal cannula.

 

This is going to be my new house for the next week. We get new incubators every week.

 

 

 

Day 10 in the NICU- September 8, 2012

Good news! The medicine and prayers seemed to work. The PDA (hole in blood vessel in heart) has closed up! We are hoping it doesn't reopen, but so far, so good. No more Oscillator for now either. She is on a different ventilator. They are going to see how she does and might extubate her tomorrow or the next day. I am hoping they won't extubate her prematurely again because it's hard on her.

Check out my little (or should I say big) feet with the blood pressure cuff

 

 

Here is a picture from my "Hands On" today where they check my temp, change my diaper and make me look all neat and pretty.

 

 

Grandma and Grandpa bought me a decoration for my room. One day I hope to be that big.

  

Day 9 in the NICU- September 7, 2012

Avery must be like daddy and want to wear sunglasses all the time. She had to be put back under the light because her bilirubin was high, which is to be expected because she just had a blood transfusion yesterday. Otherwise, she is doing really well today. Her breathing is good and they are thinking about placing her on a different ventilator or possibly even extubating her and putting her on cpap in the next few days. This makes me a little nervous because the last time she was extubated, she had to be intubated the next day. She is hard to intubate because of her cleft palate so I would prefer they wait until they really think she is ready before taking the tube out again. We are waiting on the results of the Echo from today to see how the hole in the blood vessel of her heart is doing.

Here is one with the shades off

 

Here is one showing off her hair, it looks like its turning strawberry blond.