Week #7

At this time 7 weeks ago, I was finally numb, laying on the operating table, and getting ready to receive this wonderful blessing:

We knew it would be scary and hard, but had no clue what an emotionally, mentally, physically, and even socially hard time this would be. Many minutes were spent waiting for 'that' call (and hoping we'd never get it), many tears were shed, many miles were driven, & many prayers were offered up over and over and over. Everything that we have been through in the past 7 weeks is momentarily forgotten, and we remember how very blessed we are to have sweet Lucy when you get to do this-->

Recent weights:
Friday-4 pounds 6 1/2 ounces
Saturday-4 pounds 7 1/4 ounces
Sunday-4 pouncs 8 3/4 ounces
Monday- 4 pounds 9 1/2 ounces

A few random pictures.

Brushing his teeth before bed.

Some of Lucy's room.



The wall above her changing table.


He will carry me

Inwan | Myspace Video

Day 46ish

Luke is at work, Landon is in bed, Lucy is in the NICU, and I'm laying in bed typing when I should be sleeping. Tonight didn't work out as planned: rooming in with Lucy in the NICU to be able to bring her home tomorrow. She had another spell last night while she was sleeping, and the nurses had to stimulate her to get her heart rate back up. We were JUST at the end of the count, but it is better it happened at the hospital and not at home while we are asleep and have no clue. She has had spells on me before so I know what the color change looks like, or what to look for, but it is still scary! She had one today also, but she brought herself back very quickly like she normally has been.

Her blood as been close to the transfusion mark for the past little bit, so they will check it again Monday. The Dr wanted just to let me know now, that if it is still borderline they might go ahead and do a transfusion to get it up. She was over 10 weeks early, and is still little, so it is a little rare that she hasn't had one yet. No, I haven't donated yet. It is just so hard to find time to do that and go to the hospital at a time when I can. I know many people have offered to help watch Landon, BUT fitting it around when Landon needs to be in bed for the night, times the NICU is closed, and getting there when she is eating is hard to get all scheduled together, not to mention around when I need to pump, and when Luke isn't at work.BUT tomorrow I am planning on getting to the hospital at 8am for her feeding ( which if you care to know includes me taking her temp., changing her diaper, trying to nurse, feeding a bottle, and then pumping ). I will call in the morning also to see if I can go donate tomorrow AM, and if it will be ready in time on Monday if needed for Lucy ( Luke swears we are both A+).Hopefully I can get all that done BEFORE Luke needs to leave for work at 11:30.

So, Lucy will HOPEFULLY come home in a few more days. The count started over again, but since before this one it was over a week since the last spell, and a few weeks before that, she might come home with an apnea monitor mid week. We will see after her blood work on Monday.

At this point the apnea is connected to just prematurity. It is not thought to be connected at all to the holes in her heart. It is just another hurdle for preemies to overcome, and the closer to her due date, the better it will get!

I left the camera in the Nitro, so I will just add one from my phone from today. She was starting to fall asleep today with her paci while I was leaving.

Lucy is coming home!

Last night the nurse said, " So you all are planning on rooming in on Friday night?". And we both looked at each other, and then back at her and said ," Well, we don't know. We hadn't been told yet. Are you telling us?". Then she got a  little hesitant, and said she would check again, looked at the charts and said that Lucy is coming home Saturday, and if we want to room in we can Friday night.
And while this is THE BIGGEST PRAISE, and the answer to our prayers, and the most exciting day that we have been looking forward to for 45 days now, you still feel as though the devil is throwing worries at you by the minute.
Luke had off of work today, and we were going to head to the hospital and stay for 2 feedings. I was going to try to nurse Lucy for the 1st time, drop some milk off, andwe had a list of questions to ask the Dr. that have we had thought of overnight. We also had to go get some diapers and wipes. YES, we need those soon, and hadn't bought any!  Of course I wake up today feeling nauseated again, and by 1:00 pm had been throwing up 3 or 4 times already. So I used some of the medicine the Dr gave me a few weeks ago, which means pump and dump for 24 hours JUST TO BE SAFE. (It's OK, we have tons in the freezer there and here.) I also will not be going up there today, I feel fine now just tired. I would be fine around Lucy, she has my milk & most likely won't get sick. But I can't spread my germs to anyone else, as well as Luke and Landon in case they will be getting sick too ( please pray that they won't). So, I was quite a bit sad about not nursing her at all so far. I will get to tomorrow night and Friday night before she comes home.Most nurses had told me that most babies just go home with 1 feeding being nursed anyways. I'm worried about how and when to switch feedings from bottles, I'm worried about pumping, nursing, and making bottles , I'm worried about her getting sick when she comes home, and I'm worried about who/when/how often to have visitors once she gets here. BUT, I'm trying to not worry and know that we will have a Dr to ask those questions to tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday still. We will have lactation people to talk to at the hospital, call, or that can come here. I will have Luke to help me carry this load. I will have everyone that is praying for us as well. I'm trying to stay so positive and remember the special little blessing we will FINALLY be bringing home Saturday!
Her nurse today said she has been great all day! The Dr. has ordered that she needs her minimum amount of 38ml from her bottle, but she can eat until she is full. When we talked to the nurse at 11 AM, she had taken 46 ml, and when we talked to her juts now at 5:30 she had taken 58! I think I remember that 30 is 1 ounce,  so she almost had 2 ounces at one feeding!
Luke and Landon are off to Target to get a big box of wipes with some of a gift card I have left, and since we are out of Tide and have a coupon, they're getting some more Free and Clear. We don't usually get behind on laundry or ever have big stacks that need washing or putting away, but I will go ahead and get done all that we have tonight and tomorrow. I have a feeling that next week will be crazy, even though we've had 7 weeks by that point to get ready =) Landon and I will work on getting some diapers tomorrow, and  I need to go get my DTaP booster shot. I didn't get it in the hospital, and  am going to before she comes home. Luke has a big day at work tomorrow--there are some important people walking the store. They will also be in NC when he goes back in 2 weeks, so he wants to make sure his store ( and he) make a good impression. Then we will be off to visit sweet Lucy tomorrow night!
We will keep updating for the next few days, but I can't guarantee how often once she comes home =) We will see how the transition goes from the NICU to home, as well as 1 kid to 2. Please keep praying for us as we start the next step of this journey now. We already have appointments to make :hearing, cardiologist, pediatrician, and everything else that goes along with being born at 29 weeks and 5 days & spending almost 7 weeks in the NICU. Please pray that she continues to grow as she should, and that her health & development won't be hindered from this early birth. We love you, and are so thankful to have friends and family who have cared during this long wait!

Yay for 2 things in this photo:
1) a bottle
2) no feeding tube
The tube is staying out unless she needs a tube feed. She had been pulling it out every time it went back in last week. So far today, she has done all bottles, in under the time she needs to, and with no problems. A face without tape looks SO good to me!
Lucy passed her car seat test, her oxygen didn't drop below 98 the whole 45 minutes her nurse said. I was worried about that to be honest. I didn't want to start her 6 day count over--just in case that would put us back any. If she does all bottles for 24 hours, then I'll ask the time frame for having to drink all bottles. I hate asking all the time, because it makes you feel a little let down. We did start the check-off process so we aren't bombarded with things the night we room in. (I hope she comes home before Luke goes to NC, or I'll be up there by myself--not really a big deal though, I guess.) We are taking an infant CPR class on the 5th of Feb. and watching the preemie care dvd Wednesday. She passed her hearing test & we gave them her pediatrician's name. I think that was all that we did/signed up for last night.

She did have a low temp. last night, so we didn't giver her a soap bath. She also had lost about half an ounce. So she got bundled up with a nice warm blanket and hat before we left. After she takes a bottle for 24 hours, I have been told I can attempt to nurse once a day. I think her 8 PM feeding tonight will be 24 hours.
Things are looking to be progressing , hopefully it will be SOON!

The big Question!

Q: When will Lucy come home?!?!

A: We don't know.

Lucy had a few milestones she had to hit in order to be able to come home with us. She still has not yet mastered taking every feeding from a bottle. Today she did 3 in a row. Her 8PM feeding was from her tube, and the nurse was attempting the next 3 by bottle after that. That makes 6 out of 8 by mouth today--if she does OK tonight. She has to be able to do this for a certain amount of days before she can come home ( I think maybe 5 ?) .

She also has to go 6 days with no spells. They did have to count a spell on the 21st, which would put her at least at the 27th before coming home. Her oxygen was staying very low while I was with her, and they had to end up doing blow by oxygen to get her stats back up later on.

Her red blood count is also borderline too low right now. They are testing it again in the morning, I'm assuming to see if she needs a blood transfusion. She is my blood type, so now I wish I had gone and given blood in case she needed some. So weird thinking someone elses blood will go in her. but I know it's all safe, and many preemies have to have them. At the time we talked about me going to donate in case she needed it, I had low platelette counts and had so much blood taken myself, I never wanted to talk about drawing blood again. We just hadn't thought of it since then. If her count is ok tomorrow, I might go ahead and donate for her.

I'm not sure what other milestone she has to hit. Actually, we got tired of asking about that a while ago. It's always been that ''every baby is different and just when she is ready, then she will be able to go but it's still a while down the road.But she is doing great for how little she still is. "

I'm sure some of this is wrong, but I'm remembering what I can. =) I'm trying not to get discouraged. Tomorrow is 6 weeks since I had sweet Lucy, and it is also my 6 week check-up.

I'm taking a 30 minute nap before I have to wake back up at midnight, then if I can fall right back asleep, I'll have about 5 more to sleep before I need to get up again. Keep baby Lucy in your prayers. Pray for us not to get discouraged when it seems to keep draggin on, pray for anxiety when we do get to bring her home and she isn't hooked up to monitors, being evaluated every 3 hours and multiple nurses and doctors nearby, pray for germs to stay AWAY when she does come home, and mostly pray for several families/families of friends we know who are dealing with the death of a baby.We know/know of 3 right now who are dealing with this issue, so it is in our faces. It is something we have thought about daily. We know God will help provide comfort and peace and the ablility to move forward for these families, but we know the road is tough and long, and they can use all the prayers they can get.

Landon is always

hopping like a frog or rabbit. ALWAYS. I'm not sure when he started doing it, sometime after I had Lucy. and we're not sure if he is being a frog or a rabbit at all.He is so crazy.He is starting to ask if he can play every time we drive up around Same Ridley--the way to the Y. I feel bad for canceling the membership. He played there 5 days a week for at least an hour, and now he is just stuck at home with me. I was just thinking today that Monday is my 6 week checkup, and hopefully after that I can get back to the Y. Then I remembered we can't. Hopefully in a few months. I want to for sure get through RSV season before I take Landon into such a germy place, I don't want him bringing anything home to her. And Even if I need to get back into workouts before April, I can always join back and just go when Luke is home from work.

Landon in the NICU waiting room with Daddy

Lucy got moved into a regular bed Thursday. She kept her temperature up and gained weight, so they have quit adding the extra calories into her milk. She is up to 35 ml per feeding, and the Dr ordered by mouth or tube at every feeding( not just try whenever to see who she will do). Right now we are at every other feeding by bottle. And is is just SO worn out after that bottle until it's time for the next. She is also wearing clothes now =) Tomorrow they will try 2/3 feedings by bottle. We will see how it goes!

Her 1st outfit

It's late, and the nights are very short. Keep her little body in your prayers still. And keep our minds and heart in them too. 40 days is along time. We know it's one day closer to having her home though!