Baby J- Day 64- New advances!

Last night baby girl weighed 4lb 2 oz, length 17inch (that's a 1.5 inch gain from last week) and her head was 29.5cm, about 1.5 cm bigger than last week.

We are growing.   Yesterday we got a crib!!!!  And she has been holding her temp very well.  Granted she has a onesie, a sleeper, and the halo wrap and sometimes a hat...so she better be warm.

 

Today we got our hearing test and both ears passed!!!  I have also been told that in rounds today they decided not to do another head ultra sound, instead tomorrow they are doing her MRI.   This may not sound like a big deal to the rest of the world...but this is a very big deal.   All NICU babies get an MRI before they go home!!!!  No I don't have a date yet, but things are moving quickly towards it.   The hearing test and the MRI are both things that happen as they are getting a baby ready to leave.   While the doctor suggested two weeks last week, I don't think she will be out by the end of this week because she isn't eating everything from a bottle yet.  HOWEVER I can't possibly imagine that she will not be getting out within two weeks from today.  I'm so confident about this that the car seat is now in the hospital room.   I know she has to do a car seat test and I would hate for her not to be able to get out because I couldn't get the car seat here when they were ready.  So now it will stay here.   So glad I bought it this last week (though of course the price dropped $50 after I did).  I sure hope her insurance shows up soon.....especially glad I didn't immediately try to put her on mine, cause I will not have insurance for the month of September....It's a little odd.   I'm not sure why my jobs don't go back to back.  Oh well.

Today I asked if I could bring  a mobile or something for her crib and was told they had some.  So our nurse went and found one and now we have a different crib with a mobile.  She likes the music.  Hasn't quite noticed the movement above her.


She actually is listening in these two pictures.

Yesterday Baby J took 80+% of her food by bottle.   It was a big increase from the day before...course I was there to feed her yesterday. Baby J finished 3 bottles completely for me this weekend and most of a couple others.  One time she refused to eat for even me.  that was sad.   We also had a bath this weekend.  She really likes her bath.  

This week is going to be a long week with so much going on and not being able to be in Topeka with baby girl.  ON the plus side of non baby world....after a really long thought process and almost crying several times today over the decision, my cat is going to a home with another cat so she will have a friend.  I never ever thought I would be a person that had to find a new home for a pet.  I am a big believer that once you take them in they are part of the family, your responsibility.  This has been rough but I think she will be happy with another cat to live with...she brings enough of them home.   And deep down with her shedding, I'm not sure she should be around Baby J and her weakened immune system she will have....she likes to curl up next to kids and in the baby bed.  

It's hard to believe that me...the person who doesn't really always do well with big changes, is moving, starting a new job, and now has a little one coming home soon.   While the house selling has come to be extremely stressful, life is 5000% better than it was just a few short months ago.   It's amazing how life changes in just a short time.   I hope everyone who is involved in school systems has a great first couple weeks back.  

Baby J- Day 62- 2 months old!!

Two months ago a teeny tiny little miracle came into the world at 1lb 15oz.   After battling so many obstacles we have arrived to a totally new baby at 2months old.   She now weighs 4lb 1oz (yea she waited till I could be back for it) and not only has she overcome health issues she now can hold her head up some and turn it different directions on her own, she can wiggle her way up an inclined bed, and she smiles often.    Tonight she finished her entire bottle for the first time for me (I know she has done it a couple of

one Week old here.   She's changed alot!

times this week while I've been away).  



I love my new job so far, but it's been very hard being away from her this week.   I'm ok with the working part- it's the not being able to see her at all during the week.

I am very thankful for a wonderful staff at the hospital, but it's frustrating me that they aren't giving her the bottle more often.   Today I was informed they were only doing every other one.  Yet I fed her two bottles in a row and the first she ate 2/3 of it and the next one she ate all of it.  And honestly tonight she could have eaten more.  I guess I'm mostly frustrated because there is absolutely nothing else keeping her at the hospital...especially now that she is over 4lb.  How is she supposed to improve if they refuse to feed her.   She doesn't even set off alarms when I'm feeding her.  I was very impressed tonight as she was awake for over 90min and ate all the bottle without burping...Instead of burping, she practiced holding her head up....don't worry it came out the other end.

I can't believe how lucky we have been with her and how well she is doing.    I did find out that both eyes do have stage 2 ROP, but again not really something to worry about at this point...and as you can tell right now she sees just fine.    It was a lot of fun interacting with her for such a long time tonight.   The nurse made it clear that since she was awake for so long...she will be to tired next time and she'll probably just gavage feed her.  WHAT!?!?!    I told her she should try.
When I got to the Ronald McDonald house I found out they changed the passcode and thought I would have to go find a hotel...thankfully they have a night staff person who let me in.  

I'm very very excited to start my job with kids next week.  So far I love the mentality of the administration, the staff I've met, and the few kids I've interacted with.   They have been great and I'm very excited.   I do wish it was another couple weeks so I could get baby girl home, but I will figure out how to make it work (with the help of family).    Sorry I must be a little tired as I realize this post seems a little on teh downer side when in reality so many things are going well.   My house was shown again tonight (sadly it was not in perfect organization since I have been living there).  Please please keep your fingers crossed it will sell soon.  

While I don't get the fun of taking those fun monthly pics I did get several today so enjoy this beautiful little girl's 2 month pics.  

  

These are all after she ate and was still wide awake.

 

Baby J- Day 57- 8 weeks old!

Baby J is 8 weeks old today so we are at 35 weeks gestational age.  
Today she weighed 3lb 12 oz
And because I was there all of her feeding times started with the bottle.  She ate at least half of every feeding and some she ate much more.  Two of them she ate 24/25 ml of 32ml from a bottle.   I know they are all professionals but every baby is different and she doesn't necessarily show the 'correct' signs to give her the bottle but she always takes it willingly and sometimes won't let me take it out.   Sometimes today she had a hard time keeping her stats up...but for the most part she did very well.  Two of the times- I decided we were done with the bottle before she did because she couldn't get her Oxygen back up high enough to keep it from setting off alarms consistantly.   I'm so proud of her.

BTW - while this is not the actual say so...the doctor said if she continues to do well, she could probably be going home in two weeks.  YEA!!!  Of course she has to hold her body temp and get all the food by bottle.  He said it all depended on her at this point.  It could even be shorter...or longer.  I was very clear tonight to our night nurse that I want him to try the bottle and that she didn't necessarily show the same signs they are looking for.   She eats with her eyes closed most of the time...but isn't asleep.  I hope he will try.   (PS- I am actually very grateful for the nurses- this one thing just bugs me)

It's hard to believe that tomorrow is my last weekday that I can be there.  i'm very sad about it and having a hard time adjusting to that.   I hope they will feed her with the bottle and she will continue to gain like she has been....sadly though thus far those two things only happen when I'm here.   Thankfully my mom and aunt are going to help out while i'm in school and try to be up here when I can't.    I am going to make this new baby, new job thing work.  Enjoy some of our 8 week pics.  Someday I will go back and edit some of them.
 

Baby J. Day 53- Bottle time!!!

Josephine is finally putting on weight.   Last night she jumped 50grams to 3 lb 7 oz and tonight she put on 30 more grams bringing our weight up to 3 lb 8 oz.   That's 3 big gains in 3 nights.   YEA!!!!

Sadly yesterday the eye doctor came and diagnosed her with some Stage 2 ROP....eye problems.   BUT it's still correctable on it's own at this stage and she will be back next week to check again.

The speech pathologist came back today in the afternoon to try a bottle again. (well actually it's not a real bottle- it's a special bottle like contraption).   It took Baby J a few seconds to remember what she should be doing....but then she started sucking on it.   Her heart rate did not drop this time like on Monday, however her oxygen dipped a lot into the mid 80's.   So the speech pathologist went to talk to the doctor about trying feeding with oxygen because she is ready to start practicing some with the bottle.  The doctor said since it wasn't real bad that we could start trying feeding, but not to use oxygen unless we continue to see it happen.   At this point Baby J had fallen asleep- however she had upped her intake from 7ml to 10 ml (which is 1/3 her serving of food).  

So at the next feeding the nurse (whom was the first one we've had that I am NOT impressed with) almost didn't let me try because it takes Josephine a while to wake up.   But I did get to and not only did Baby J increase her total amount to 12ml, she only dipped once below 90 and it was quick and bounced right back up.  Baby J paced herself and I only stopped her once because I didn't want her tummy getting to much at once and thought she should have a break.   And she didn't fall asleep on me.   She just stopped showing interest in it.  She might have tried after a couple minutes break but the nurse was kind of impatient and so she got the rest by her tube----however she did stay awake the entire feeding.   The pictures above are after this feeding while the rest is coming in her by her feeding tube.    I love that the last 3 days I've gotten to hold her a lot more and I think it's making a difference on her weight gain.    Tonight at her 9pm feeding- the nurse didn't feel like she was showing enough interest or awake enough to try.  She felt she was to tired. Of course after the feeding tube was started Baby J started sucking away gladly on the pacifier and even woke up.   Oh well.  We don't want to overwhelm her.  The nurse said that it's unusual she did two feedings in a row and did so well.  Apparently they also have a grading system when the babies eat and if they don't do very well or score low they can't try again for 12 hrs.  That seems extreme, but is part of the reason why she decided it would be better to feed her via her tube.   So I think tonight she is only going to try the bottle at the middle of the night one and not the early morning one so I can feed her at the first one I'm there for tomorrow.

I'm so excited to get to this stage.   Partially because I get to hold her more.  She loves being held.   Today was  a busy day for her with all of this going on- plus it was bath day.   Grandma and grandpa came and saw her again today and we had a visitor from KCSL.   They have been so helpful and supportive during all of this.   I'm glad they are the ones I chose to work with.

Tomorrow I'm going to a huge kids consignment sale and for the first time am shopping for a kid of my own.  I've shopped for relatives and foster kids...but this time it's for my baby.  I'm so excited.....though I will have to limit myself cause of funds.  that's ok.

Thanks for the continued support from everyone.  I'm so glad that Baby J has so many people praying and thinking good thoughts for her.  We are going to get this bottle thing down quickly and be one step closer to coming home.

Baby J- Day 51

Weight 3 lb 4.2 oz - we are really starting to get bigger.  :-)  Tonight she is finally big enough to start having an entire ounce of food at each feeding which is awesome, especially since she's thinking we are starving her by the time it is meal time.

Today a student nurse was in and out of the room, and she helped me get Josephine's footprints and handprints.  I had not asked yet because she has been sick and then I just keep forgetting.  I'm so excited I got them, even if it is after 7 weeks.        

 

 Yes that's a quarter.  Her handprints are almost the same size as her feet.

Last night since Baby J was at 34 weeks they removed the cover over her isolate and just put a blanket on top.  Now we can see her all the time.  It's kept her awake a lot more as well.  They assured me it wouldn't bother her eyes. (which get checked again tomorrow- hopefully they have not gotten worse)

  

Today the speech language pathologist came in to see if Baby J was ready for a bottle  She ate 7ml of her 29ml.   Unfortunately she had some drops in heart beat and oxygen, so she will try again later this week.  The speech pathologist said that she was very impressed with Baby J and that she did really really good.   I was a little sad that we couldn't start giving her a little bit each feeding, but she's going to rock it the next time.   Baby J was doing everything she should be doing.  The rest of the day every time I gave her the pacifier, she would suck for a second and then give me this funny look.   She's  a fast learner.  She's also getting really good at holding onto things.   The OT says I am where I am supposed to be for my age as well.   

This is her snuggly.   It's something I can hold onto for awhile to put my 'smell' on it.   She was holding it so well for awhile.   She's had this since birth and actually has a second one because we thought we lost this one.    

Baby J- 7 weeks old (34 weeks gestational)

Baby J now weighs 3lb 2.4oz.  We are slowly putting on weight.  Her length last night was
39 cm (or almost 15 1/2 inches)
This means she has grown almost 1 1/4 inches longer.  She's starting to have a double chin and little chubby legs.
Today she is 7 weeks and would be 34 weeks gestational age.   It's hard to believe she is almost 2 months old.   Today was her last dose of caffeine. They haven't upped it since she's been gaining weight so it shouldn't make any difference and I would be very happy not to go home on that.  

Cone head??  Nah it's her hat sliding off!

Most exciting news though is that they have put in the order for the speech pathologist to come and examine her- that is the person who decides if she is ready to try a bottle.   She is ready.   She is showing all the signs the hospital is saying should be there.  She is awake around feeding time, she looks for something to suck on, and she is definately showing signs of hunger.   About 1/2 hour before feeding time, she believes she's starving.   Today she sucked on my finger.  It was cute and kept her calm for a little bit.  She spends a lot of time sucking on her pacifier - we moved up a size the other day.    

Today she has spent a lot of time awake, most of a two hour period.  So I've taken to making faces with her and watching her smile.  Of course she stops or pretends to be asleep every time I get the camera.   We are still having some problems with temperature, but I wonder if she's being dealt an unfair judgement since they have kept her in only a onesie.    Today she got another bath.  She LOVES bath time.   This time we got a bigger container with a bed type thing that slanted upward.  She was able to lay on that with a lot of supervision and she really enjoyed that.                                                                            BTW- I can't thank everyone again for the support they are showing me through prayers, love, donations, and watching my pets and house.   Tomorrow I'm paying a huge chunk of money to Ronald McDonald house and thankfully it's from donations.  I could never have been able to stay up here as much as I have without everyone's help.    And honestly I think it's made a huge difference for Baby J to have someone here.  Many of the nurses and doctors tell me she's a miracle baby (I think I would agree, but I've become a little biased)   :-)   You may not think you are a part of that, but just by reading my blog I know that people are supporting us and it's hard for me to ask for help, but I'm learning.  AND I absolutely am very blessed and appreciative of it.    

So that's about all for tonight.  I hope I have some really good news tomorrow about bottle feeding.  Enjoy these pictures I took while she was wide awake today for such a long time.   

Happy 7week Baby J.

Tried to take a picture of her holding her pacifier in her mouth with her hand, but she threw the pacifier at me as I took the picture.   Silly girl.  And as you can tell she is very amused by it.









 Currently plotting how to get out of the cuddled position the nurse put Baby J in.  

Hi everyone!

 Mom stop taking my picture!!

 Little feet, little fingers

Totally faking her sleep here.  




And just for fun.....last night I got to see my puppies.  They were VERY HAPPY!