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| First Kangaroo Care |
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| After the first one it became a little less awkward getting him there! |
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| Just staring at the miracle that our son is! |
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| Family photo! |
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| Much more comfy without the CPAP! |
Showing posts with label kangaroo care. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kangaroo care. Show all posts
16 February 2012
Kangaroo Time Photos
15 February 2012
Tuesday, Valentine's Day 2012
Yesterday might not have been a very mushy Valentine's Day for Ben and myself, but that's ok! He had a very busy day at work and we had a somewhat busy day in the NICU. That is a somewhat GOOD busy day!
So lately Samuel has been protesting the CPAP rather vehemently. As in any time we had to readjust something on it he would start crying a little and we had to readjust things often! Why? Because Samuel wouldn't keep his hands off it! He would constantly be grabbing the head gear, undoing the straps, pulling on the mask or prongs (I don't know how many times over the weekend and on Monday we would find the prongs were in his mouth and not his nose, not helpful at all in his mouth!). So we were constantly going into his isolette to get the CPAP functioning again!
Well, to doctors and nurses had been talking about moving him off of the CPAP and onto something called Vapotherm. Vapotherm is not as high level of oxygen intervention as CPAP, which means they only move babies off of CPAP and onto Vapotherm if it seems like they will be able to handle it. Considering he's had a lot few A/B spells and when he does he brings his own heart rate and oxygen back up with no help, they decided to give it a go.
Overall he's been doing fine on it. He has been having more A/B spells again, but most of the time he gets himself out still. He has needed some extra stimulation a few times. They are going to keep monitoring this and if they feel he needs stimulation too much, Sam's beloved CPAP will be coming back. So please pray that his "device of torture" does not have to be replaced! I call it that because that's what he acts like it is... A device of torture...
This morning they took an X-Ray to make sure that the Vapotherm is keeping his lungs expanded just right. Well, it turns out they are slightly under expanded, but the doctor didn't seem too concerned about this. He wants to keep monitoring his spells and if things are work, back comes the torturous CPAP.
Kangaroo time was a little different yesterday. He kept lifting his head and moving it down my breast... We are thinking he smelled the milk, if that is the case, way to make that association! The other thing that made it interesting is we forgot to put the call button by me... The nurse and I both forgot. So I am sitting there kangarooing and by the point we'd been cuddling for about an hour and a half, I started thinking that I need to pump soon, I'm hungry and soon I'll need to make a run for the restroom...
So I texted my husband to ask him how he thought I should get out of this situation. His ideas were look for the call button and see if I could reach it and/or try to call out verbally and see if they hear me. Well, I had been looking for the call button, but I finally found it after he texted me back. Unfortunately it was on the floor and the cord was most definitely out of my reach. So I tried to say our nurses name out loud to see if she'd hear, the only problem is I didn't want to actually yell, as Sam's ears are still sensitive... No luck there....
So I texted Ben to call the NICU and tell them I'm ready to put Sam back. Which he did. My next step, if he was unwilling to call for me, was to unplug a cord. I was already quietly debating which cord I could unplug briefly to get the nurses attention, but not cause too much trouble. When our nurse came in she was extremely apologetic. I didn't blame her, because I could have easily said something too. With these little guys there is so much to be thinking about, that at times something like the call button slips your mind. The important thing was that I had other resources at my fingertips, so if there was a real problem, I could have gotten help. Our nurse yesterday was very good and I think she did a great job with Sam. So instead of getting angry about the one slip up, we laughed about it. :-)
Some notes to leave you with:
So lately Samuel has been protesting the CPAP rather vehemently. As in any time we had to readjust something on it he would start crying a little and we had to readjust things often! Why? Because Samuel wouldn't keep his hands off it! He would constantly be grabbing the head gear, undoing the straps, pulling on the mask or prongs (I don't know how many times over the weekend and on Monday we would find the prongs were in his mouth and not his nose, not helpful at all in his mouth!). So we were constantly going into his isolette to get the CPAP functioning again!
Well, to doctors and nurses had been talking about moving him off of the CPAP and onto something called Vapotherm. Vapotherm is not as high level of oxygen intervention as CPAP, which means they only move babies off of CPAP and onto Vapotherm if it seems like they will be able to handle it. Considering he's had a lot few A/B spells and when he does he brings his own heart rate and oxygen back up with no help, they decided to give it a go.
Overall he's been doing fine on it. He has been having more A/B spells again, but most of the time he gets himself out still. He has needed some extra stimulation a few times. They are going to keep monitoring this and if they feel he needs stimulation too much, Sam's beloved CPAP will be coming back. So please pray that his "device of torture" does not have to be replaced! I call it that because that's what he acts like it is... A device of torture...
This morning they took an X-Ray to make sure that the Vapotherm is keeping his lungs expanded just right. Well, it turns out they are slightly under expanded, but the doctor didn't seem too concerned about this. He wants to keep monitoring his spells and if things are work, back comes the torturous CPAP.
Kangaroo time was a little different yesterday. He kept lifting his head and moving it down my breast... We are thinking he smelled the milk, if that is the case, way to make that association! The other thing that made it interesting is we forgot to put the call button by me... The nurse and I both forgot. So I am sitting there kangarooing and by the point we'd been cuddling for about an hour and a half, I started thinking that I need to pump soon, I'm hungry and soon I'll need to make a run for the restroom...
So I texted my husband to ask him how he thought I should get out of this situation. His ideas were look for the call button and see if I could reach it and/or try to call out verbally and see if they hear me. Well, I had been looking for the call button, but I finally found it after he texted me back. Unfortunately it was on the floor and the cord was most definitely out of my reach. So I tried to say our nurses name out loud to see if she'd hear, the only problem is I didn't want to actually yell, as Sam's ears are still sensitive... No luck there....
So I texted Ben to call the NICU and tell them I'm ready to put Sam back. Which he did. My next step, if he was unwilling to call for me, was to unplug a cord. I was already quietly debating which cord I could unplug briefly to get the nurses attention, but not cause too much trouble. When our nurse came in she was extremely apologetic. I didn't blame her, because I could have easily said something too. With these little guys there is so much to be thinking about, that at times something like the call button slips your mind. The important thing was that I had other resources at my fingertips, so if there was a real problem, I could have gotten help. Our nurse yesterday was very good and I think she did a great job with Sam. So instead of getting angry about the one slip up, we laughed about it. :-)
Some notes to leave you with:
- Sam is a strong little boy! When on his belly he sometimes tries to lift up his body, I like to think he's practicing his push-ups. He can also lift his head for short periods of time. Not sure when most babies start lifting their heads, but he's ahead of the game I think!
- Sam does not like people messing with him and definitely does not like diaper changes! He hasn't realized that bending and stretching his legs CAN help it go faster, but not when he's doing the opposite of what is needed right then... When wiping his butt, stretching the legs is much more helpful than bending them! I've had to wipe off his little feet because of that....
- Sam knows when it's time to eat and will let you know that he knows. He's got a schedule and by golly, he wants to keep to it! Time to eat, give him food! Time to change position, move him before he gets completely tangled and himself completely out of alignment!
- Sam detests his food line while goes through his mouth down to his stomach. I wish our little boy would realize that pulling it out, just means he has to go through that awful process of having it shoved back down his throat again... He can sure get upset when it is put back in!
14 February 2012
Saturday - Monday February 11-13 - Life Has a Routine
So there really isn't a whole lot to talk about for the weekend and Monday. Which is a great thing! Life is starting have it's own new kind of routine. This routine is what life in the NICU means for me. Basically it includes activities such as pumping all the time, eating as much as I can (I just can never seem to get full!), helping with the cares that Samuel goes through (changing diapers, containing him while they take his vitals or change his CPAP from mask to prongs or vice versa), kangarooing with Samuel for at least an hour, sleeping at home, and doing it all over again the next day.
I think the hardest part of this new routine is the part that it is split in between being home and being at the NICU. When I am home and sleeping for the night I still have to wake up to pump and I don't even have Sam home with me! So I definitely feel like a typical tired new mother, I just don't have the baby to tote around with me... I do take naps at the NICU, if I have time (between helping with cares, pumping, eating and having visitors my time is quite short, oh and don't forget I am trying to go walking on occasion for some exercise too!).
Some positives over the last few days:
I think the hardest part of this new routine is the part that it is split in between being home and being at the NICU. When I am home and sleeping for the night I still have to wake up to pump and I don't even have Sam home with me! So I definitely feel like a typical tired new mother, I just don't have the baby to tote around with me... I do take naps at the NICU, if I have time (between helping with cares, pumping, eating and having visitors my time is quite short, oh and don't forget I am trying to go walking on occasion for some exercise too!).
Some positives over the last few days:
- Samuel is taking his feedings of 24mL of milk fortified with calories very well.
- He has had fewer A/B spells (apnea-breaks in breathing, bradycardia-drops in heartrate).
- He had another head ultrasound today which is looking even better! It will be repeated in a few weeks to make sure the ventricles are the correct size still (they sometimes have swelling when there had been bleeding).
- They are talking about changing him from the CPAP (which he's been trying to wiggle out of lately) to a vapo..... which is less intrusive to babies. We'll see if this happens this week or not, life in the NICU goes day by day!
- He continues to be a very good pooper! Well, he's just doing great overall!
09 February 2012
Thursday, February 9 - No More IV!!!
So today was really an extremely uneventful day when it comes to Samuel (praise God for that!), last night however was slightly more eventful (but only in good ways). As I mentioned yesterday his peripheral IV went bad and they replaced it with a new one. Well, that happened again last night! Only this time they decided not to replace it.
Yesterday I wrote about how that peripheral IV was really just replaced to keep it open while they made sure that he was taking the feedings well. Last night when the IV went bad, they decided that since he had been taking his feedings so well there was no real need to replace it, just keep going forward without it.
So today they starting fortifying my milk. Instead of just giving it as is they added calories. This means instead of 20 calories per ounce he is getting 24 calories per ounce. So far he has been taking to his feedings really well. We continue to be amazed and thankful that everything has been going so well!
This morning Samuel was being slightly fussy. I kangarooed with him during his noon feeding and he was just so cozy and loving it! We hardly heard him the rest of the day!
Today I got out and went the the ymca for a little while. I did a half hour walk using the fancy new gps/activity tracker my brother gave me for my birthday. It's really cool and I can't wait to get out and take advantage of more of the features, but all in good time I suppose. For now I just want to get over to the ymca and do some walking several times a week. Then if that goes well, walk longer and more frequently!
I decided after Samuel was born that it makes no sense for me to stop everything I am doing just because he is in the NICU. This school year I have been tutoring two students once a week, so after going to the ymca, I came home, did some chores and tutored for an hour. It was good to concentrate on something else!
This evening I have just been tired, Samuel seemed to be doing quite well, so I called it an early night and went home before 9pm!! Not that that helped too much as I still need to pump before going to bed and it is already almost 10:20. Alas, I am a slave to the pump! At least I am giving Samuel the nutrition he needs and that is all that matters. :-)
Yesterday I wrote about how that peripheral IV was really just replaced to keep it open while they made sure that he was taking the feedings well. Last night when the IV went bad, they decided that since he had been taking his feedings so well there was no real need to replace it, just keep going forward without it.
So today they starting fortifying my milk. Instead of just giving it as is they added calories. This means instead of 20 calories per ounce he is getting 24 calories per ounce. So far he has been taking to his feedings really well. We continue to be amazed and thankful that everything has been going so well!
This morning Samuel was being slightly fussy. I kangarooed with him during his noon feeding and he was just so cozy and loving it! We hardly heard him the rest of the day!
Today I got out and went the the ymca for a little while. I did a half hour walk using the fancy new gps/activity tracker my brother gave me for my birthday. It's really cool and I can't wait to get out and take advantage of more of the features, but all in good time I suppose. For now I just want to get over to the ymca and do some walking several times a week. Then if that goes well, walk longer and more frequently!
I decided after Samuel was born that it makes no sense for me to stop everything I am doing just because he is in the NICU. This school year I have been tutoring two students once a week, so after going to the ymca, I came home, did some chores and tutored for an hour. It was good to concentrate on something else!
This evening I have just been tired, Samuel seemed to be doing quite well, so I called it an early night and went home before 9pm!! Not that that helped too much as I still need to pump before going to bed and it is already almost 10:20. Alas, I am a slave to the pump! At least I am giving Samuel the nutrition he needs and that is all that matters. :-)
08 February 2012
Wednesday, February 8 - Kangaroo Care is AMAZING!!
So today has thankfully been yet another uneventful day. Last night I guess was a little bit more eventful (though not in the concerning kind of way). They have been checking and rechecking that peripheral IV with some surprise that it has been holding up. Well, last night, it finally went bad (as it doesn't work anymore). So they had to establish a new location, which worked and he's been doing great on the new site.
Which the new site is needed more as back up rather than out of necessity for Samuel's nutrition. Today they upped the milk intake to 18, which means (based on some elaborate formula that includes body weight and other things) he no longer needs the supplemental nutrition through the IV. However, they don't want to rely solely on the IV yet until they make sure he is taking the milk consistently well for a little while. Until then they are running what is basically sugar water through the IV to keep the spot live, until they can take it out. According to the staff here, hopefully tomorrow they can take out the IV and remove another piece of equipment from the room. Praise God for giving Sam the strength and health he needs to make all these "baby" steps. :-)
This morning and early afternoon Sam's been a little bit fussy, but then we kangarooed for his 3pm feeding. We kangarooed for almost 2 whole hours. It was amazing. Every time we kangaroo I just sit there with amazement. He sleeps real deep during our kangaroo care, but every once in a while he'll shift position and I can feel his little arms, legs, hands and feet move around a little bit. I sometimes look at him when he does that and just marvel at how he is a complete person despite being born so early. He has all the body parts we do and he can move them around, he just needs some time to make them stronger. This is truly amazing.
The other thing that amazes me about kangaroo care is how he immediately calms down and falls asleep as soon as I get him positioned on me. He was being somewhat fussy just before I picked him up and while I was picking him up. Then right when I get him positioned on me (before I even sit down, while I am standing by his incubator about to move to sit down) it's like the switch gets flipped and he's asleep. Now if it stays that easy to calm him from here forward that would probably be a miracle, but I am just loving it right now!
Really nothing else has happened, since kangarooing I've had a very peaceful baby all evening so far and hoping that this evening continues being peaceful. :-)
Which the new site is needed more as back up rather than out of necessity for Samuel's nutrition. Today they upped the milk intake to 18, which means (based on some elaborate formula that includes body weight and other things) he no longer needs the supplemental nutrition through the IV. However, they don't want to rely solely on the IV yet until they make sure he is taking the milk consistently well for a little while. Until then they are running what is basically sugar water through the IV to keep the spot live, until they can take it out. According to the staff here, hopefully tomorrow they can take out the IV and remove another piece of equipment from the room. Praise God for giving Sam the strength and health he needs to make all these "baby" steps. :-)
This morning and early afternoon Sam's been a little bit fussy, but then we kangarooed for his 3pm feeding. We kangarooed for almost 2 whole hours. It was amazing. Every time we kangaroo I just sit there with amazement. He sleeps real deep during our kangaroo care, but every once in a while he'll shift position and I can feel his little arms, legs, hands and feet move around a little bit. I sometimes look at him when he does that and just marvel at how he is a complete person despite being born so early. He has all the body parts we do and he can move them around, he just needs some time to make them stronger. This is truly amazing.
The other thing that amazes me about kangaroo care is how he immediately calms down and falls asleep as soon as I get him positioned on me. He was being somewhat fussy just before I picked him up and while I was picking him up. Then right when I get him positioned on me (before I even sit down, while I am standing by his incubator about to move to sit down) it's like the switch gets flipped and he's asleep. Now if it stays that easy to calm him from here forward that would probably be a miracle, but I am just loving it right now!
Really nothing else has happened, since kangarooing I've had a very peaceful baby all evening so far and hoping that this evening continues being peaceful. :-)
06 February 2012
Monday, February 6 - Fussy Baby and Good News
Today has been a fairly uneventful day. Samuel's been kind of fussy off and on all day. They had switched his tube for my milk to a larger size, but as he kept fussing they switched him back and finally managed to tape it down in a way that he isn't spitting it right back out! But he was start crying a little for every little thing today it seemed.
Then I got to kangaroo hold him. After that he finally settled down. We also turned him on a different side, so it could be that too, but I'd rather think he settled down because of his cuddle time with his Momma. :-)
The exciting thing today was another head ultrasound. I know I said they weren't going to do it until Friday, but when I came in this morning they had changed their minds about when to do it. Apparently this morning was when they met with the neuro doctor and discuss all the babies in the NICU, when discussing Samuel they decided to run another ultrasound today just because of the big discrepancy between the first two. They wanted to hopefully confirm the second one. So they ordered the ultrasound to happen today after all.
They came in before lunch and did the ultrasound and as I mentioned Samuel has been a fussy baby today, so he fussed all the way through the ultrasound. I don't blame him, they were chasing his heartbeat down with that goop they use for ultrasounds on my belly all night, I don't think I would want anyone smearing that all over my head!
Later that day the doctor who's on today came to talk to me briefly. He said that the initial look of the ultrasound looked the same or possibly even better than the Friday ultrasound. He said I could come and look at the ultrasound pictures with him when I want, I told him I wanted to when I was done pumping. I got to see the pictures from last Monday and today and it is amazing the difference! Such a miracle! There was a doctor there that made a comment on how the blood vessels sometimes get in the way with these premies and are easily read incorrectly. So according to him there might have never been any bleeding problems. At any rate I consider how strong and well Sam's been doing as a miracle, regardless if that can be explained logically!
The peripheral IV they put in him has been holding up really well. Which is great because those kinds of IV's tend to not last very long and this one has lasted since Friday. We ask your prayers that it continues to do well!
Then I got to kangaroo hold him. After that he finally settled down. We also turned him on a different side, so it could be that too, but I'd rather think he settled down because of his cuddle time with his Momma. :-)
The exciting thing today was another head ultrasound. I know I said they weren't going to do it until Friday, but when I came in this morning they had changed their minds about when to do it. Apparently this morning was when they met with the neuro doctor and discuss all the babies in the NICU, when discussing Samuel they decided to run another ultrasound today just because of the big discrepancy between the first two. They wanted to hopefully confirm the second one. So they ordered the ultrasound to happen today after all.
They came in before lunch and did the ultrasound and as I mentioned Samuel has been a fussy baby today, so he fussed all the way through the ultrasound. I don't blame him, they were chasing his heartbeat down with that goop they use for ultrasounds on my belly all night, I don't think I would want anyone smearing that all over my head!
Later that day the doctor who's on today came to talk to me briefly. He said that the initial look of the ultrasound looked the same or possibly even better than the Friday ultrasound. He said I could come and look at the ultrasound pictures with him when I want, I told him I wanted to when I was done pumping. I got to see the pictures from last Monday and today and it is amazing the difference! Such a miracle! There was a doctor there that made a comment on how the blood vessels sometimes get in the way with these premies and are easily read incorrectly. So according to him there might have never been any bleeding problems. At any rate I consider how strong and well Sam's been doing as a miracle, regardless if that can be explained logically!
The peripheral IV they put in him has been holding up really well. Which is great because those kinds of IV's tend to not last very long and this one has lasted since Friday. We ask your prayers that it continues to do well!
Sunday, February 5 - I Know What I Need!
So pretty much since day one we have known that Samuel knows what he wants and he is determined to get it. As was evident when he pulled all the stuff off of his head because he was tired of it on him. Or his determination to take the tube out of his mouth constantly.
Today he showed a new determination. It start with him making the nurse run back and forth because he would drop his heart rate or stop breathing, just to bring it back up or start again right before the nurse reached the room. Occasionally we would have to encourage him some, but generally he figured out on his own that he needed to bring his heart rate up or start breathing again.
This afternoon he decided that enough was enough and he did not want to be on his belly anymore! I was grabbing my gear for pumping when I heard him cry. We weren't doing anything to him (normally he has just cried when he's tired of people messing with him), so I investigated. I looked in to see him squirming all over the place trying to (what seemed to me) get off of his belly and in some other position. So I went to go grab a nurse. I would turn him myself, but I don't think I should until he has less wired and tubes attached to him!
When the nurse came in we were laughing because he sure knew what he wanted and made sure we know it! Ben and I are sure going to have our hands full with this determined and strong willed child! :-)
Other exciting happenings included Ben's Dad, Dale, stopping by after going to the early service to say goodbye. It was good to have him here and he sure seemed to enjoy seeing little Sam (despite me often kicking the guys out to pump...).
I went to the late service at Church (my first time there since Sam was born) and got to talk to a lot of people. I was just sad I couldn't have Sam with me to show him off, but alas, that must wait for a while longer...
When I am out and about and I see new Moms with their babies I can't help but feel a little jealous that they get to have their babies home with them and I have to visit mine in the NICU. I know that's the best place for him right now, but that doesn't make it any easier that we didn't get the typical picture perfect have the baby then take him home a few days later when you are all discharged at the same time.
That evening we went over to a friend's house for some supper and to watch the Super Bowl. At half time I returned to the NICU to pump and to hold my little son. Ahh, that kangaroo care sure does us both good!
Today he showed a new determination. It start with him making the nurse run back and forth because he would drop his heart rate or stop breathing, just to bring it back up or start again right before the nurse reached the room. Occasionally we would have to encourage him some, but generally he figured out on his own that he needed to bring his heart rate up or start breathing again.
This afternoon he decided that enough was enough and he did not want to be on his belly anymore! I was grabbing my gear for pumping when I heard him cry. We weren't doing anything to him (normally he has just cried when he's tired of people messing with him), so I investigated. I looked in to see him squirming all over the place trying to (what seemed to me) get off of his belly and in some other position. So I went to go grab a nurse. I would turn him myself, but I don't think I should until he has less wired and tubes attached to him!
When the nurse came in we were laughing because he sure knew what he wanted and made sure we know it! Ben and I are sure going to have our hands full with this determined and strong willed child! :-)
Other exciting happenings included Ben's Dad, Dale, stopping by after going to the early service to say goodbye. It was good to have him here and he sure seemed to enjoy seeing little Sam (despite me often kicking the guys out to pump...).
I went to the late service at Church (my first time there since Sam was born) and got to talk to a lot of people. I was just sad I couldn't have Sam with me to show him off, but alas, that must wait for a while longer...
When I am out and about and I see new Moms with their babies I can't help but feel a little jealous that they get to have their babies home with them and I have to visit mine in the NICU. I know that's the best place for him right now, but that doesn't make it any easier that we didn't get the typical picture perfect have the baby then take him home a few days later when you are all discharged at the same time.
That evening we went over to a friend's house for some supper and to watch the Super Bowl. At half time I returned to the NICU to pump and to hold my little son. Ahh, that kangaroo care sure does us both good!
Saturday, February 4 - Breathing is Hard Work!
This morning I woke up early to pump and decided to just get ready and head over to the hospital. I needed more sleep and figured with all the people staying at our house, I would have a better chance of sleeping more in Samuel's room than at home. So I left the quiet house full of sleepers that were sure to soon wake up.
I got to the hospital and grabbed some more breakfast, pumped and laid down. Sleep overtook me quickly. I woke up to talk to the doctor and hear more about the results of the head ultrasound. Yesterday they gave us some preliminary results and what the doctor told me was also not an official reading, but I think we can go with it pretty well. What he told us is that this ultrasound looked like there really wasn't much for bleeding. In fact the grade 3 now looks like a grade 1 and the grade 2 looks like a 0. The doctor said they might have been simply over zealous in the diagnosis the first time or they might have misread it too. He found it hard to believe that it would have gone down that much in so short a time. They will do another head ultrasound in another week and we are hopeful that it will match or be better than the one they did today!
The doctor also said that we would probably start giving Sam more of my milk at each feeding starting today. He has been getting 3 milliliters every 3 hours and now he should get 6 every 3 hours. They then starting doing this too with the 12:30 feeding I believe. He has been tolerating the upped amount great too!
This morning Samuel must have decided that breathing is just hard work! He would stop breathing enough, which would set off an alarm that would call a nurse over to check and help him. After doing this several times and not getting his oxygen level back up the nurse decided to give him a little bit more oxygen. He is doing great on the amount of oxygen he is given and actually only receives a little more than what we get breathing regular air.
Ben, AJ, Dale (Ben's Dad) and Anna all started showing up a bit before noon. A few of them were surprised that I was at the hospital they had thought I was at home sleeping until it was commented on while eating breakfast.
During the afternoon everyone decided they were finally ready for lunch (I had eaten the food at the hospital already) so we took a break and went to Jimmy John's. Then after finding out that Ben's Dad had never been to Cold Stone, we stopped there too.
This evening has been really uneventful. I got to kangaroo with him again, which I just always find absolutely wonderful. They have me pick him up and put him back and I am getting much more graceful at it, which means Sam gets less fussy during transition.
Now we are just kind of relaxing and getting ready to go home. Samuel's still doing great! He is gaining weight back now too, he is practically back to his birth weight!
I got to the hospital and grabbed some more breakfast, pumped and laid down. Sleep overtook me quickly. I woke up to talk to the doctor and hear more about the results of the head ultrasound. Yesterday they gave us some preliminary results and what the doctor told me was also not an official reading, but I think we can go with it pretty well. What he told us is that this ultrasound looked like there really wasn't much for bleeding. In fact the grade 3 now looks like a grade 1 and the grade 2 looks like a 0. The doctor said they might have been simply over zealous in the diagnosis the first time or they might have misread it too. He found it hard to believe that it would have gone down that much in so short a time. They will do another head ultrasound in another week and we are hopeful that it will match or be better than the one they did today!
The doctor also said that we would probably start giving Sam more of my milk at each feeding starting today. He has been getting 3 milliliters every 3 hours and now he should get 6 every 3 hours. They then starting doing this too with the 12:30 feeding I believe. He has been tolerating the upped amount great too!
This morning Samuel must have decided that breathing is just hard work! He would stop breathing enough, which would set off an alarm that would call a nurse over to check and help him. After doing this several times and not getting his oxygen level back up the nurse decided to give him a little bit more oxygen. He is doing great on the amount of oxygen he is given and actually only receives a little more than what we get breathing regular air.
Ben, AJ, Dale (Ben's Dad) and Anna all started showing up a bit before noon. A few of them were surprised that I was at the hospital they had thought I was at home sleeping until it was commented on while eating breakfast.
During the afternoon everyone decided they were finally ready for lunch (I had eaten the food at the hospital already) so we took a break and went to Jimmy John's. Then after finding out that Ben's Dad had never been to Cold Stone, we stopped there too.
This evening has been really uneventful. I got to kangaroo with him again, which I just always find absolutely wonderful. They have me pick him up and put him back and I am getting much more graceful at it, which means Sam gets less fussy during transition.
Now we are just kind of relaxing and getting ready to go home. Samuel's still doing great! He is gaining weight back now too, he is practically back to his birth weight!
Thursday, February 2 - Pokes Hurt
The big thing that happened on Thursday was trying to establish a Peripheral IV. The goal is to eventually get the IV out of his umbilical line. The problem with peripherals is that they tend to go bad quickly and can be hard to establish. Today was showing the hard to establish part of it.
They came in and tried their best, but it just wasn't working, as soon as they found a good line, stuck in the needle it went bad... Poor Samuel went through at least 4 if not 5 of those pokes. He laid quietly through most of the pokes, in fact he just kind of laid there like, alright you can play with my arm or my leg or whatever, I know crying isn't going to stop you.
Well at either the last poke or second to last poke he decided he had sat there quietly enough for long enough and just let out a nice long cry. He cried so hard, loud and long that he exhausted his little body and fell asleep. Ben and I sat there amazed at how loud he could cry. He's not loud in the grand scheme of things, and I know babies can cry much louder than he did, but he still had quite the volume!
With talking about the peripheral IV and not know when that was going to happen, and I think they were playing with the CPAP mask to find the best fit, I didn't hold him during the day, by the time everything settled down, it was getting late and I was exhausted! So Ben got to Kangaroo with him. :-) We took our first ever family photo that evening!
They came in and tried their best, but it just wasn't working, as soon as they found a good line, stuck in the needle it went bad... Poor Samuel went through at least 4 if not 5 of those pokes. He laid quietly through most of the pokes, in fact he just kind of laid there like, alright you can play with my arm or my leg or whatever, I know crying isn't going to stop you.
Well at either the last poke or second to last poke he decided he had sat there quietly enough for long enough and just let out a nice long cry. He cried so hard, loud and long that he exhausted his little body and fell asleep. Ben and I sat there amazed at how loud he could cry. He's not loud in the grand scheme of things, and I know babies can cry much louder than he did, but he still had quite the volume!
With talking about the peripheral IV and not know when that was going to happen, and I think they were playing with the CPAP mask to find the best fit, I didn't hold him during the day, by the time everything settled down, it was getting late and I was exhausted! So Ben got to Kangaroo with him. :-) We took our first ever family photo that evening!
Wednesday, February 1 - No More Bili Lights!
Wednesday was a fairly uneventful day. The big news is that they took his bili light away. The bili lights are used to treat jaundice if you remember from my Saturday post. Every day they took a count of how much jaundice was still in his skin. When the number gets low enough they no longer use the bili lights. Well, the count Wednesday morning was low enough, therefore no more bili lights for Samuel!
That was good because that meant they were now able to snuggle him in better in his little incubator. That snuggling is god for him because it gives him something to push against. In my womb, he had all sorts of boundaries to kick (which he did kick quite regularly), under the bili lights he had almost nothing to kick and punch, which meant he was constantly squirming!
Now that he doesn't have the bili lights anymore and they wrap him in better he has been much more calm and relaxed overall. It's good to see that, I always wanted to do something to help him calm down, but didn't really know what I should do!
The other exciting thing was that he pooped for the first time! So before he just had wet diapers, now he is working on pooping out that gross meconium stuff that comes in a baby's first diaper (but for him it will take him a little longer to get it pushed out). That means the milk is doing well with him and he is doing well at pushing it through his system. So proud of my little man being able to poop!
I got to kangaroo with him again on Wednesday. Those are such special moments for me with my son. It becomes easier and easier to think of him as my son, my little child that I get to care for and love with all the joys and frustrations that go with that!
Now I can't remember if this happened on Wednesday or Tuesday, but since I had less to write about for Wednesday, I'm going to say it happened Wednesday, even though I think it might have happened Tuesday instead. I think I have mentioned that Sam is stubborn. If I hadn't yet, well, he is. He is stubborn and determined to get what he wants when he wants something it seems. Ever since birth, one thing he has wanted was none of these tubes and lines stuck to him anymore. Just let me free!
Well one evening, while under the bili lights, he really managed to free himself from a lot of his "bondage." Ben and I were sitting in the room and I saw him really squirming quite a bit, so I went to check on him. I get over there to find out he had undone the velcro on his bubble CPAP hat that holds the CPAP in place, he had pulled out his eye mask that he needed to protect his eyes from the bili lights AND he had pulled the tube that goes down to his stomach almost completely out! So I wash my hands quick and I get in there and I am doing my best to put things back where they needed to be (but I didn't trust myself shoving a tube back down his throat) so while I am trying to put things back I told Ben that we needed to get a nurse to get things back to place right!
I was very impressed with Sam's ability to get all that stuff off. He is a smart and strong little boy!
And that is the thought I will leave off at with this post. :-)
That was good because that meant they were now able to snuggle him in better in his little incubator. That snuggling is god for him because it gives him something to push against. In my womb, he had all sorts of boundaries to kick (which he did kick quite regularly), under the bili lights he had almost nothing to kick and punch, which meant he was constantly squirming!
Now that he doesn't have the bili lights anymore and they wrap him in better he has been much more calm and relaxed overall. It's good to see that, I always wanted to do something to help him calm down, but didn't really know what I should do!
The other exciting thing was that he pooped for the first time! So before he just had wet diapers, now he is working on pooping out that gross meconium stuff that comes in a baby's first diaper (but for him it will take him a little longer to get it pushed out). That means the milk is doing well with him and he is doing well at pushing it through his system. So proud of my little man being able to poop!
I got to kangaroo with him again on Wednesday. Those are such special moments for me with my son. It becomes easier and easier to think of him as my son, my little child that I get to care for and love with all the joys and frustrations that go with that!
Now I can't remember if this happened on Wednesday or Tuesday, but since I had less to write about for Wednesday, I'm going to say it happened Wednesday, even though I think it might have happened Tuesday instead. I think I have mentioned that Sam is stubborn. If I hadn't yet, well, he is. He is stubborn and determined to get what he wants when he wants something it seems. Ever since birth, one thing he has wanted was none of these tubes and lines stuck to him anymore. Just let me free!
Well one evening, while under the bili lights, he really managed to free himself from a lot of his "bondage." Ben and I were sitting in the room and I saw him really squirming quite a bit, so I went to check on him. I get over there to find out he had undone the velcro on his bubble CPAP hat that holds the CPAP in place, he had pulled out his eye mask that he needed to protect his eyes from the bili lights AND he had pulled the tube that goes down to his stomach almost completely out! So I wash my hands quick and I get in there and I am doing my best to put things back where they needed to be (but I didn't trust myself shoving a tube back down his throat) so while I am trying to put things back I told Ben that we needed to get a nurse to get things back to place right!
I was very impressed with Sam's ability to get all that stuff off. He is a smart and strong little boy!
And that is the thought I will leave off at with this post. :-)
05 February 2012
Tuesday, January 31 - Mother's Milk
As of Tuesday our little Samuel had only been receiving nutrition through IV fluids. He had dropped some weight (pretty much every baby drops some weight, regardless if they are term or premature), but the doctor said when he starts getting my milk he will start gaining it back. The other "fun" thing he will get to start doing is pooping!
So Tuesday, because things seemed to be going well, they decided to start Sam on my milk. I had produced a bit of supply by now, so I was excited that all this time I have been spending pumping and kicking people out of Sam's room so I could pump was finally going to be put to use. Besides that, by him taking my milk, I feel like I am contributing more!
Some clarification on what it means for Sam to take my milk... He has a line that is run through his mouth into his stomach. The milk he receives will go into this line and directly to his stomach. That means he doesn't actually drink it and he does not need to be on the breast to get it, he simply receives it passively in his stomach.
Also by starting him on milk that does not mean he will no longer get IV fluids. They start these premies on such a small amount and only slightly reduce the fluids. Most of his nutrition will still come from the fluids until they up his amount of milk. Tuesday they started out by giving him 3mL of milk a feeding (which happens every 3 hours). Eventually 3mL will go up, but they have to make sure he is taking to the feedings well. They do that by checking and seeing how much of the last feeding is left over before giving him a fresh one. As long as less than half of it is in there, then he is taking them just fine.
So I got to excitedly watch an unexciting event of him taking my milk (kind of anticlimactic, because all he did was lay there while they ran the milk through a line). Yet it still made me happy nonetheless.
Tuesday I also got to kangaroo with him again and yet again I just stared at him in amazement that he is my son and he is already here!
All the families in the NICU do something called family rounds once a week. Our day is Tuesday for family rounds. What this means is the whole team of people that are working together to get Samuel strong meet and discuss his progress over the previous week and the goals for the next week. The parents are invited and encouraged to join in on the rounds as much as possible. So Ben and I were there and ready for our first set of family rounds.
The team that is working on Samuel is quite large actually, it includes the following people: doctor, nurse, dietician, lactation consultant, family liaison, social worker, physical therapist and I think I got everyone??? Basically the outcome of the first set of rounds was pretty much what we expected.
Goals: keep an eye on the ventricular hemorrhage, slowly up his dosage of milk. And I am sure they were more, but most of the goals just dealt with keep an eye on how he is doing with different things and just get him through his first week of life safely. They say he is the most fragile during the first week.
So Tuesday, because things seemed to be going well, they decided to start Sam on my milk. I had produced a bit of supply by now, so I was excited that all this time I have been spending pumping and kicking people out of Sam's room so I could pump was finally going to be put to use. Besides that, by him taking my milk, I feel like I am contributing more!
Some clarification on what it means for Sam to take my milk... He has a line that is run through his mouth into his stomach. The milk he receives will go into this line and directly to his stomach. That means he doesn't actually drink it and he does not need to be on the breast to get it, he simply receives it passively in his stomach.
Also by starting him on milk that does not mean he will no longer get IV fluids. They start these premies on such a small amount and only slightly reduce the fluids. Most of his nutrition will still come from the fluids until they up his amount of milk. Tuesday they started out by giving him 3mL of milk a feeding (which happens every 3 hours). Eventually 3mL will go up, but they have to make sure he is taking to the feedings well. They do that by checking and seeing how much of the last feeding is left over before giving him a fresh one. As long as less than half of it is in there, then he is taking them just fine.
So I got to excitedly watch an unexciting event of him taking my milk (kind of anticlimactic, because all he did was lay there while they ran the milk through a line). Yet it still made me happy nonetheless.
Tuesday I also got to kangaroo with him again and yet again I just stared at him in amazement that he is my son and he is already here!
All the families in the NICU do something called family rounds once a week. Our day is Tuesday for family rounds. What this means is the whole team of people that are working together to get Samuel strong meet and discuss his progress over the previous week and the goals for the next week. The parents are invited and encouraged to join in on the rounds as much as possible. So Ben and I were there and ready for our first set of family rounds.
The team that is working on Samuel is quite large actually, it includes the following people: doctor, nurse, dietician, lactation consultant, family liaison, social worker, physical therapist and I think I got everyone??? Basically the outcome of the first set of rounds was pretty much what we expected.
Goals: keep an eye on the ventricular hemorrhage, slowly up his dosage of milk. And I am sure they were more, but most of the goals just dealt with keep an eye on how he is doing with different things and just get him through his first week of life safely. They say he is the most fragile during the first week.
Monday, January 30 - Tears and Joy
Monday has been my most emotional day so far. I came to the NICU as soon as I could get moving in the morning. I was clearly very tired though, as I didn't arrive until almost 11am. Ben started reading the Psalms to Samuel that morning. He left to go to work shortly after I arrived.
Then the doctor came in to talk to me early that afternoon. They had run a head ultrasound on Samuel because premies tend to have some problems with bleeding in the brain. The doctor came in and explained (very kindly and gently) that they did see some bleeding in his brain. This is called intraventricular hemorrhage. Read the explanation from the link for a better explanation that what I would give. Basically though you have 2 ventricles in the brain and with premies like Samuel the blood vessels close to these can leak blood. The lower the grade rating the more minor it is, rated from 1-4. Samuel had a grade 2 on the right and a grade 3 on the left. The doctor described grades 1 and 2 like a bruise. It will take some time to heal, but leaves no lasting impact on development. Grade 3 and 4 however can possibly leave some lasting impact on development (mainly physical development, but in some cases mental as well). His grade 2 was a very minor grade 2 and his grade 3 was a more major grade 3.
Let's just say, the doctor told me this and put tons of emphasis on how it might impact future development, but many babies develop normally. Based on his activity level it was surprising that he even had such a high grade on the one side. Despite his strong emphasis on how this could mean absolutely nothing I started bawling. I hadn't let a single bit of emotion out the entire time (from going into labor on my birthday through that point. All the positive news pushed me forward, the moment I was given a slight negative the tear ducts were ripped open and I let it out.
There was some positive news the doctor had given me at the same time however. There is a valve in our hearts that is open when we are in the womb, but after we are born it naturally closes. This doesn't just naturally occur in premies however. Therefore they had given him a three day dose of medicine that is supposed to cause it to close. It had worked!! YAY!! His heart is now good to go with that valve now closed!
Then I got to kangaroo hold Samuel for the first time. That pretty much dried all my tears and gave me lots of joy. The doctor said there wasn't much we could do for him at this point until we give him another head ultrasound in a week to see if it had worsened or not. Most bleeding like this ceases within the first 7 days of life.
Kangaroo Care is something common to NICUs. Basically what it is is holding Samuel to my skin on my chest. This is something very calming to babies because they know their mother's heartbeat and rhythms of breathing and speaking. It also helps them maintain body warmth, regulate heart and breathing rates, gain weight, spend more time in deep sleep, spend more time quiet and alert with less time crying, have a better chance at breast feeding. For me doing kangaroo care has really helped me mentally and emotionally process the fact that he is here, he is my son, and I love him very much.
At St. Luke's they like you to hold your child for at least an hour. There are lots of tubes and such hooked into him, this way you make the process of getting him out and moving him more worthwhile with the extended holding period. I had them take a few photos of us, they gave me a mirror and I spent the next hour and a half gawking at him laying there on my chest. The mirror helped me gawk, otherwise I couldn't see him so close to my chin! It gave me just soo much joy to hold and love on him. Ok, I'm not really supposed to move at all, so the loving was more just by way of the holding. :-) Best feeling ever!
When they put him back in his incubator, I just wanted to pull him out again and hold him and carry him. But alas, that is for another day!
That night Ben went home before me because I stayed to pump one more time before heading home. When I was walking to the elevator to leave I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. By the time I arrived home I was all out crying. Ben asked me what was wrong and I answered, "I had to leave him there..." I know I had to leave him there and he is better off at the NICU than at home right now, but it sure didn't make it any easier to leave him there that night. I felt so helpless, Samuel's my baby and I felt like I could do nothing for him...
Then the doctor came in to talk to me early that afternoon. They had run a head ultrasound on Samuel because premies tend to have some problems with bleeding in the brain. The doctor came in and explained (very kindly and gently) that they did see some bleeding in his brain. This is called intraventricular hemorrhage. Read the explanation from the link for a better explanation that what I would give. Basically though you have 2 ventricles in the brain and with premies like Samuel the blood vessels close to these can leak blood. The lower the grade rating the more minor it is, rated from 1-4. Samuel had a grade 2 on the right and a grade 3 on the left. The doctor described grades 1 and 2 like a bruise. It will take some time to heal, but leaves no lasting impact on development. Grade 3 and 4 however can possibly leave some lasting impact on development (mainly physical development, but in some cases mental as well). His grade 2 was a very minor grade 2 and his grade 3 was a more major grade 3.
Let's just say, the doctor told me this and put tons of emphasis on how it might impact future development, but many babies develop normally. Based on his activity level it was surprising that he even had such a high grade on the one side. Despite his strong emphasis on how this could mean absolutely nothing I started bawling. I hadn't let a single bit of emotion out the entire time (from going into labor on my birthday through that point. All the positive news pushed me forward, the moment I was given a slight negative the tear ducts were ripped open and I let it out.
There was some positive news the doctor had given me at the same time however. There is a valve in our hearts that is open when we are in the womb, but after we are born it naturally closes. This doesn't just naturally occur in premies however. Therefore they had given him a three day dose of medicine that is supposed to cause it to close. It had worked!! YAY!! His heart is now good to go with that valve now closed!
Then I got to kangaroo hold Samuel for the first time. That pretty much dried all my tears and gave me lots of joy. The doctor said there wasn't much we could do for him at this point until we give him another head ultrasound in a week to see if it had worsened or not. Most bleeding like this ceases within the first 7 days of life.
Kangaroo Care is something common to NICUs. Basically what it is is holding Samuel to my skin on my chest. This is something very calming to babies because they know their mother's heartbeat and rhythms of breathing and speaking. It also helps them maintain body warmth, regulate heart and breathing rates, gain weight, spend more time in deep sleep, spend more time quiet and alert with less time crying, have a better chance at breast feeding. For me doing kangaroo care has really helped me mentally and emotionally process the fact that he is here, he is my son, and I love him very much.
At St. Luke's they like you to hold your child for at least an hour. There are lots of tubes and such hooked into him, this way you make the process of getting him out and moving him more worthwhile with the extended holding period. I had them take a few photos of us, they gave me a mirror and I spent the next hour and a half gawking at him laying there on my chest. The mirror helped me gawk, otherwise I couldn't see him so close to my chin! It gave me just soo much joy to hold and love on him. Ok, I'm not really supposed to move at all, so the loving was more just by way of the holding. :-) Best feeling ever!
When they put him back in his incubator, I just wanted to pull him out again and hold him and carry him. But alas, that is for another day!
That night Ben went home before me because I stayed to pump one more time before heading home. When I was walking to the elevator to leave I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. By the time I arrived home I was all out crying. Ben asked me what was wrong and I answered, "I had to leave him there..." I know I had to leave him there and he is better off at the NICU than at home right now, but it sure didn't make it any easier to leave him there that night. I felt so helpless, Samuel's my baby and I felt like I could do nothing for him...
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