Showing posts with label NICU. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NICU. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Leaving the NICU...
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...Coming Home.
...Coming Home.
Here are some pictures from our last couple of days in the NICU, and then of Monday afternoon coming home.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Added Pictures
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This album has some older pictures of Aleli, but I added about 15 new pictures at the end. Some are very recent, showing our new room, Aleli's new bed, and pictures from this afternoon. Enjoy!
This album has some older pictures of Aleli, but I added about 15 new pictures at the end. Some are very recent, showing our new room, Aleli's new bed, and pictures from this afternoon. Enjoy!
Saturday, October 8, 2011
One Month
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As we move forward, the reality is that at any given point, Aleli is only 5 days away from being able to go home. However, during those five days, she must eat all of her food by bottle (on her own, without her feeding tube), maintain her body temperature, and have no "spells" (heart rate drop or oxygen level decrease). Right now, Aleli eats from a bottle about every other time she feeds, and sometimes she takes the whole bottle. Other times she only takes about half. The nurses and doctors continue to say they are looking for her to do more, but Kellye and I think they don't always take into account her age and her journey.
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| 1 month! |
Today marks a full month that Aleli has been with us and in the NICU at Riverside hospital. It is still difficult for Kellye and I to comprehend that we are truly parents and that this miracle has happened much sooner and much faster than we expected. But when we step back, we see how truly blessed we are, and we continue to marvel that we really have a daughter.
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| 2 days old |
One month ago, Aleli weighed less than 3 pounds, had dry, red skin, struggled to breathe, and needed the assistance of an I.V., a breathing machine, and phototherapy. Today, she weighs over 4 pounds, needs no externals assistance to breathe, no phototherapy, no I.V., and her skin is a beautiful pink color. She has really come a long way in just a few weeks.
To celebrate her one month anniversary, Aleli decided she wanted a new kind of crib. Actually, her doctor's finally decided she was ready for a standard newborn crib. But regardless, today she will transition out of her isolette into a standard crib (I'll get pictures later this afternoon and update this blog).
As we move forward, the reality is that at any given point, Aleli is only 5 days away from being able to go home. However, during those five days, she must eat all of her food by bottle (on her own, without her feeding tube), maintain her body temperature, and have no "spells" (heart rate drop or oxygen level decrease). Right now, Aleli eats from a bottle about every other time she feeds, and sometimes she takes the whole bottle. Other times she only takes about half. The nurses and doctors continue to say they are looking for her to do more, but Kellye and I think they don't always take into account her age and her journey.
Regardless, we would ask each of you to pray that she begins to eat really well. She needs to be awake, showing signs she is ready for a bottle, and she needs to take her entire bottle during the feeding. If she begins to do this consistently, then we will really be on our way out the door!
Thank you again to everyone for your support. Your love, prayers and gifts are appreciated beyond what we can communicate through words. We know that in God's economy, he will give back to all of you in a way even more abundant than what you have given us.
Friday, October 7, 2011
A New Room
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Very early this morning, Aleli was moved to the "C Room" at the Riverside NICU. This is actually the room that was the original nursery but is currently only used as "overflow" or an "as needed" basis. The NICU has been very busy with new babies arriving, and so there was a need to shift some of the babies around. The staff chooses the babies that go to the "C Room" based upon those who seem to be the closest to going home. So, for Aleli to be chosen is a huge compliment! That means the staff thinks she is one of the healthiest babies and will be going home soon (which could still mean several weeks, but still).
Very early this morning, Aleli was moved to the "C Room" at the Riverside NICU. This is actually the room that was the original nursery but is currently only used as "overflow" or an "as needed" basis. The NICU has been very busy with new babies arriving, and so there was a need to shift some of the babies around. The staff chooses the babies that go to the "C Room" based upon those who seem to be the closest to going home. So, for Aleli to be chosen is a huge compliment! That means the staff thinks she is one of the healthiest babies and will be going home soon (which could still mean several weeks, but still).
The down side about going the the "C Room" is that it is very small. The spaces for the babies are about half the size of our previous space, and for those of you have have visited or looked closely at the pictures you know we didn't have much room before! There are no curtains, very little privacy, and just not as much space to relax and be with Aleli. However, there is an outside window so Aleli is getting some direct sunlight.
We are trying to look on the positive side, knowing that for Aleli to be in this smaller room means that she is one step closer to coming home. However, because the space is so small, we think this is really going to limit the number of visitors we can have.
I will post some new pictures soon, perhaps this evening.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Aleli is Growing!
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Aleli has now been with us for three weeks, and she is really making strides. As you can see from the pictures above, she is looking better every day. This week, she started to drink from a bottle, which makes her care time much more exciting. If she is awake and seems to show that she is interested, we give her a bottle and let her drink as much as she can until she gets too tired. Usually it is between 1/3 and 1/2 of her full amount.
She is also wearing clothes! Its fun to pick out "onesies" for her, and of course even though they are preemie size, they are still way to big. But she looks cut in flowers and in purple. The reason that she is wearing clothes now is because the nurses have progressively lowered the temperature in her isolate. Her bed is now only a few degrees warmer than normal room temperature, so she is learning to regulate her own body temperature.
At this point, many people are asking about when she might be able to come home. The nurses and doctors refrain from addressing this because, truthfully, anything could happen at any day (infections, not eating as well, etc.) However, we have picked up on a few important milestones. First, of course, is weight. A "ballpark" number is 3,500 grams, or about 7.5 pounds. Right now, Aleli is 3 pounds 6 ounces, or about 1575 grams. So clearly, she needs a few more wrinkles and layers of baby fat!
The other important factor is eating. Aleli needs to be able to take a full feeding by bottle or by nursing, consistently showing that she doesn't need a feeding tube to receive the nutrients she needs. That is why we try bottle feeding with her whenever she is ready. However, she is still only about 34 weeks gestational age, which is still very young to be eating on her own.
Therefore, we do not expect Aleli to come home before the end of October. Our impression is that the doctors and nurses in the NICU take it one day at a time, evaluating her progress and keeping her on track. For example, today a nutritionist examined her weight, deciding whether or not to increase her calorie intake. All of these numbers are closely calculated and decisions are made each day, even every hour, as to what the best care is for Aleli. When she is big enough, and eating on her own, the nurses will tell us to get ready for her to go home. At that point, it is only a few days, and things move very quickly. But for now, we just watch her grow.
Ironically, there is a lot to do when you are just watching a preemie grow! Every day at the hospital we are meeting with nurses, doctors, consultants and therapists. Each person has a certain speciality, and each person has another important area they want to discuss with Kellye and I. Meanwhile, we try to hold Aleli between 3 and 6 hours a day, skin to skin. In between holdings, we are working on bottle feeding, nursing, and of course changing her diaper and clothes as needed, just like we would with any baby.
We are so thankful for her continued growth, for the wonderful support at the hospital, and for the prayers and gifts from friends and family. We have truly been blessed these past three weeks. More than anything, we are blessed with a new little baby girl who is growing more every day!
Aleli has now been with us for three weeks, and she is really making strides. As you can see from the pictures above, she is looking better every day. This week, she started to drink from a bottle, which makes her care time much more exciting. If she is awake and seems to show that she is interested, we give her a bottle and let her drink as much as she can until she gets too tired. Usually it is between 1/3 and 1/2 of her full amount.
She is also wearing clothes! Its fun to pick out "onesies" for her, and of course even though they are preemie size, they are still way to big. But she looks cut in flowers and in purple. The reason that she is wearing clothes now is because the nurses have progressively lowered the temperature in her isolate. Her bed is now only a few degrees warmer than normal room temperature, so she is learning to regulate her own body temperature.At this point, many people are asking about when she might be able to come home. The nurses and doctors refrain from addressing this because, truthfully, anything could happen at any day (infections, not eating as well, etc.) However, we have picked up on a few important milestones. First, of course, is weight. A "ballpark" number is 3,500 grams, or about 7.5 pounds. Right now, Aleli is 3 pounds 6 ounces, or about 1575 grams. So clearly, she needs a few more wrinkles and layers of baby fat!
The other important factor is eating. Aleli needs to be able to take a full feeding by bottle or by nursing, consistently showing that she doesn't need a feeding tube to receive the nutrients she needs. That is why we try bottle feeding with her whenever she is ready. However, she is still only about 34 weeks gestational age, which is still very young to be eating on her own.
Therefore, we do not expect Aleli to come home before the end of October. Our impression is that the doctors and nurses in the NICU take it one day at a time, evaluating her progress and keeping her on track. For example, today a nutritionist examined her weight, deciding whether or not to increase her calorie intake. All of these numbers are closely calculated and decisions are made each day, even every hour, as to what the best care is for Aleli. When she is big enough, and eating on her own, the nurses will tell us to get ready for her to go home. At that point, it is only a few days, and things move very quickly. But for now, we just watch her grow.
Ironically, there is a lot to do when you are just watching a preemie grow! Every day at the hospital we are meeting with nurses, doctors, consultants and therapists. Each person has a certain speciality, and each person has another important area they want to discuss with Kellye and I. Meanwhile, we try to hold Aleli between 3 and 6 hours a day, skin to skin. In between holdings, we are working on bottle feeding, nursing, and of course changing her diaper and clothes as needed, just like we would with any baby.
We are so thankful for her continued growth, for the wonderful support at the hospital, and for the prayers and gifts from friends and family. We have truly been blessed these past three weeks. More than anything, we are blessed with a new little baby girl who is growing more every day!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Feed Me!
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Aleli was tugging on her feeding tube today, as if to say to her nurse, "Hey! Come on! Feed me!" Our sweet little girl gained about 40 grams today, or about an ounce. Putting her at 2 lbs, 14 oz., still an ounce below her birth weight, but getting into the growing game pretty quickly!
"Feed me!"
Friday, September 16, 2011
When boring is good
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Aleli has had several large milestones in the past week: Seeing her assisted oxygen levels go down, taking off her CPAP breathing mask, slowing increasing her feed amounts, taking out her IV, no more tape on her face, and her first bath!
Aleli has had several large milestones in the past week: Seeing her assisted oxygen levels go down, taking off her CPAP breathing mask, slowing increasing her feed amounts, taking out her IV, no more tape on her face, and her first bath!
But now, we are moving into time when there won't be very many milestones. Every day the nurses will check her weight, and the hope is that pretty soon she will gain about 30 grams, or an ounce a day. They are continuing to give her any milk that Kellye is able to offer, and make up the difference with donor milk. In addition, they are mixing in a powder supplement that adds a few calories and extra calcium.
That's about all the excitement we are hoping for. Eat, sleep, pee, poop, repeat.
When you are watching a preemie baby grow, sometimes boring is good.
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