Quinn's Room

While I was busy dashing to and from the NICU for a month, my wonderful family got Quinn's nursery put together! We had already purchased the bedding, and Todd had put the crib together (just the week before she was born), but my plan had been to work on the room during the summer. I know that Quinn doesn't technically need her own room right now, but it is nice to have a place to put her stuff....and now she actually really does LOVE her room.

The pictures aren't the best - but it really IS cute! Right now she loves to lay in her crib and look at her mobile and her toys. It's like a luxury suite compared to her NICU bed space!

Coming Home

Clearly, I haven't written in a while, but I literally have a page long list of things I am planning to write about. Not that I think anyone really cares at this point, but I do want to remember this experience and be able to share it with Quinn - so may as well!

My last post was the same week Quinn was discharged. It happened so fast. The main things babies have to do to leave the NICU are have no events for 7 days (Quinn was good in this area), and take all feeds orally (no goiing home with the feeding tune). The nurses kept saying that babies learn to eat and one day a switch just flips...I didn't really believe them, but they were right!

On Wednesday July 10th her feeding tube was scheduled to be changed. Quinn had been doing so well with breast and bottle feeding that instead of putting a new tube in, they left it out. The doctor said we would see how she did...and she did just fine. She needed to take at least 80% of her feed each time, and she did this! They told me to bring her car seat in for the "carseat challenge." This was so exciting and such a whirlwind! I had really tried to focus on the NICU one day at a time. I didn't want to get wrapped up in thinking about when she would come home - so it crept up on us! The nurse started doing tons of discharge teaching with me that day, and a huge carseat debacle was about to ensue :)

Carseats
Quinn weighed under five pounds - so we needed a car seat that would fit her - OBVIOUSLY. The infant seat that we had from Harper was still good, but it had a five pound minimum - becasue I NEVER thought I would bring a baby smaller than five pounds home from the hospital! Again - this whole experience has taught me SO much! So, no problem, we decided to buy another one.

We got the Chicco Keyfit 30 - which is on the recommended list for small birth weight babies. And - because I am a ridiculous girly shopper, I wanted the purple one - which Babies R Us ONLY carries with the travel system...oh I am good at wasting money. We got it - a new stroller and everything. But it was SO cute! We got it, the car seat tech came to the hospital installed it and checked Quinn in it. It all looked good. Now, for the carseat challenge. She had to sit in it for one hour and keep her oxygen saturation levels above 90. Look how tiny she looks in this!

Well - she didn't pass the carseat challenge. Remember that she has had only one event on June 15th...apparantly while in this seat her SO2 dipped to 88....needs to be above 90. The nurse didn't think the seat fit her right...which was frustrating because the carseat tech thought it fit her great! So...no problem - we decided to get a different one!!

Back to Babies R Us - this time the Britax B safe....here she is in this one:

Seems about the same to me....and she still didn't pass. Well, not to worry - this was on Thursday July 11th - we were determined to get home the next day.

Friday morning when we arrived at the hospital, we were thrilled that our FAVORITE NICU nurse, Pam, was working. This picture was taken a few days earlier.

And, when we arrived that morning we saw this!!

She already had Quinn in the B-safe car seat - she had readjusted the straps and said that she had never seen a baby fail the car seat test in these seats...and she passed with flying colors....since she passed in the B-safe seat we took the CUTE purple Chicco one back...oh well - I really am over it:) And really, we didn't need another stroller.

Pam turned the monitor off. It was crazy - for four weeks I had looked up to that monitor constantly - even though the nurses tell you to look at the baby. But when they were switched off - we knew it was for real!

We got to pack up all of our stuff - you would be surprised how much you can fit in a NICU bed space...

Here are Quinn and I getting ready to go!

Lots of smiles and tears when you leave the NICU. What a sense of relief, yet there is so much apprehension and anxiety about the unknown. Having a preemie is a game changer. Everything you had planned goes out the window. But for today - we were just happy. 

A Little Fun for the Fourth

If you have to spend your first holiday in the hospital you have to make the most of it. Thanks to grandma (my mom is seriously the best mom and grandma ever) Quinn and Harper were both pretty decked out!

Grandma bought a whole pack of boy blankets just so we could use the star one for our picture! I'm not sure Quinn was super impressed:) 

Harper got to enjoy the 4th of July parade with grandma and grandpa before we headed to a barbecue later- she had two different 4th of July outfits- also courtesy of grandma! And- I took her to get her nails done the night before- she is starting to love manis and pedis!

And, we got a picture of the girls together- sort of!

Harper loved her first year of fireworks at City Park and she was worried that they might scare baby Quinn. But, she reminded me that the doctors and nurses were there with her to keep her safe. What a sweet girl and a great big sister she is!

We also brought some 4th of July treats for the NICU nurses and staff. They have been SO wonderful to us and there seems to be no way to show our appreciation- a snack when you have to work a holiday was the least we could do. Aunt Carly made sure we brought some for the day shift AND the night shift- she says that the nignt nurses always get shorted!

It's still hard to to leave Harper at home, and it is still hard to leave Quinn in the evenings. I can't wait to have both of my girls home together. My friend Rianne, who had a baby that spent time in the NICU and has been SO SUPPORTIVE, gave me some great advice. I'm trying to remember that Quinn is still supposed to be in me- I'm not supposed to be able to hold her and feed her just yet...I'm trying to think of this NICU stay as another part of my pregnancy. AND, I still can't wait until we are home. Getting closer.

With that said, if ANY of you reading this EVER know someone whose baby has to spend time in the NICU, please feel FREE to give them my phone number, email, whatever- I will support other parents who have to go through this in any way that I can. I am still so blown away by all the love and kindness that has been shown to Quinn and our whole family. Thank you all so very much!

We Have a FOUR Pounder!

Quinn has continued to do great! There really is nothing "exciting" happening and the doctors say this is great! This is how we want it to be! Quinn gets weighed every night around midnight- and last night she surpassed the four pound mark! As of today she is 4 lbs .6 ounces!! She is still small, but I can tell she is growing!

                                 

She is up to getting 37 ml of milk every three hours- here is some exciting news- she is breastfeeding twice a day and taking a bottle once a day. She doesn't get her whole feeding yet- it is hard work for a little baby to suck that much! So, whatever she doesn't get they give her through her NG tube. When we started breastfeeding she was getting about 5 ml. Today she took 15!! I'm so happy about this! Todd has been giving her the bottle at night and she has been taking about 15 ml too! The bottle is a little easier, but we are thrilled that she is doing so well breastfeeding too!

                                   

She is starting to be much more alert- especially around her care times. She is growing and learning to eat....exactly what she needs to be doing. Her breathing remains great- we are so thankful for this, and she is staying healthy! 

Speaking of healthy- they offer what are called "lunch and learns" every Thursday for NICU families. These have been great and I have made some news friends! Last week we talked about infection risk. Preemies have immature immune systems just like everything else about them. This means I have to be a little crazy about germs for the first year of her life at least! She shouldn't be in the grocery store, at Target, around anyone with any symptoms of respiratory illness, and in general she can't be passed around like a new term baby.  We have to wash our hands ALL the time, make sure our clothes are clean, and wear masks if we get sick. Harper is going to have to become a little OCD about the hand washing, but better safe than sorry! 

We know a lot of you want to meet her and hold her, so please don't be offended if we say no, or ask you to wash your hands, or ask if you are sick, or ask if you have had the TDAP vaccination. We only want to keep her safe and prevent her from ending up in the hospital again. You can call me crazy, but I will do whatever I can to keep her safe and healthy!

Thank you SO much for all of the continued thoughts and prayers- and meals!! We are so very blessed with great people in our lives!

Up to Speed

Alright, before I get even MORE behind on this, I need to catch up. The last 11 days have been hopeful. While Quinn is very small and has a lot of growing to do, she has been doing exceptionally well in the NICU.

Every day they have continued to up her feeds. By yesterday - Saturday June 22nd - she was at her max feed of 31 ml every three hours. They use a ratio of ml per KG to decide how much food a baby's stomach can handle - as she gains more weight they will continue to increase her feeds. 

On Wednesday June 19th Quinn had been on the CPAP, but with no oxygen - just room air, for about two days, so they decided to put her on high flow oxygen. This is a much smaller nasal cannula and it meant that her feeding tube could be in her nose and not in her mouth. She was much more comfortable and stopped trying to pull it out. The high flow oxygen was two liters of pressure, but again was just room air.

On Thursday June 20th she was doing so well that they took her oxygen out all together. Also, they decided that since her feeds were up to about 24 ml every feeding they would take her TPN away - this meant that she she had no more umbilical IV and no more oxygen cannula - yay! She got a new isolette, and also, we got to move from the level 3 NICU area down to the level 2. Basically, Quinn doesn't need as much attention as when she was first born. All good news for us.

She looks so much more comfortable and holding her is much easier without so many cords! She still has leads on her chest to monitor her heart rate, the pulse oxymeter to measure her oxygen level, and the feeding tube - but STILL less than before!

About this same day they started fortifying her milk with something called Human Milk Fortifier. Apparently breast milk has a range of calories per ml - hopefully mine is on the higher end:) But the fortifier adds more calories to it. 

Quinn has also been getting caffeine. This is a pretty standard thing for preemies. We were warned that Quinn may have what the NICU calls "events." This is when a preemie "forgets" to breath due to an immature brain. The nurses let the babies self-resolve these if the baby is able to. After 10-20 seconds the nurses intervene and stimulate the baby to breathe if needed. Super scary - even though they are normal and expected. Caffeine can stimulate the brain and help avoid these events. Quinn had one self-resolved event on June 15th - THANKFULLY I didn't see it. But that is it! She is breathing like a champ and her oxygen levels remain high! The caffeine could have helped with this...but either way I am glad she hasn't had any.

Today, June 23rd, the Nurse Practitioner came by to say how pleased they are with Quinn's progress. She is up to 3 pounds 9 ounces - she had gotten down to 3 pounds 2 ounces after birth. They are stopping the caffeine because it hasn't been shown in research to be effective after 34 weeks (Quinn is considered 34 weeks and 2 days today). They did warn me that when she starts to nurse for feedings, or even take a bottle she might start having these events because it is hard for a preemie's brain to organize the breathing and eating at the same time. But, she said by the time babies are term they usually have outgrown this.

Yesterday Quinn also started having protein added into her milk, and today, June 23rd, she started getting vitamin D and iron. Tomorrow (or rather the middle of the night tonight), is when they will do her weekly weight and length check and plot her growth curve - they want her to stay on her growth curve or jump up even higher. 

Quinn has been spending her days and nights  sleeping and growing! At her care times we hold her while she gets her feedings, and she tries to nurse twice a day - she is showing tons of interest in this and even had some good sucking and swallowing patterns yesterday. This just takes time and lots of energy for a small baby!

Lots of people have asked about coming to see her or sit with me while I am there, but the NICU has very strict rules about who and how many people are permitted to come and go. I actually appreciate the rules because it reduces the possible infection rate. 

Grandma and Grandpa are able to visit and hold her:)

Todd just got back from the NICU and told me that Quinn is continuing to be feisty and strong. After he put her in her bed on her stomach (yes this is allowed in the NICU because of all the monitors :) and we have to rotate how she lays), she picked her head up and looked around to try and find her pacifier. That's my girl :) She is so sweet, we love her so much, and we know she is where she needs to be for now. 

While this experience is nothing like I planned, I have to remind myself that I still have my baby. I will get to bring her home some day, she is doing well, and for all of that, I am so thankful.

Friday June 14, 2013

I started getting nervous about leaving today. I wouldn't be discharged until Sunday- but it was hard enough not having my baby in my room with me let alone knowing that I had to leave her here at the hospital when I went home.

Quinn was still on the IV TPN, but today (Friday)  she started getting 3 ml of my milk every three hours. She had a feeding tube ( a very small one) down her throat. Until the CPAP comes out they couldn't put it down her  nose. She did not like this tube and pulled it out several times.

They start the feeds so small to make sure the babies can handle digesting the milk- Quinn has done great. Before every feed they check for residual in the stomach. Only one time did she have any residual- they gave it back to her with the next feed and it was gone! Today(June 22) she is up to 31 ml every 3 hours- that is a huge increase!!!

This was exciting for us, and it made me feel like I could do something for my baby. If you knew me when Harper was born, you know that I am a huge advocate of breastfeeding- I love it and I think it is such a special thing to do for your baby.  I know that it will take longer this time- but I am determined to get Quinn exclusively breastfeeding (unless I am away/at work). I am pumping every three hours around the clock. This involves a lot of washing and sterilizing of pump parts and bottles. Thankfully we were able to rent a hospital grade pump. Todd has been a HUGE help with this- it is WAY easier to just nurse the baby- no cleaning or sterilizing involved!! I told Todd I can't imagine how hard and overwhelming the whole pumping situation would be for a first time mom who didn't have experience breastfeeding and or pumping. It is a lot of work. I just set my alarm and think of it as nursing the baby. I am so glad I had a positive experience with breastfeeding before. I don't mean that to sound judgemental in any way toward moms who didn't or don't breastfeed- I believe everyone does the best they can for their child- but for me it was so important and I am determined to make it work again! The NICU is very PRO breastfeeding. In fact, if there are moms who don't want to breastfeed or can't for some reason, they use donor breast milk unless a parent declines. It is just SO good for babies- especially preemies. I will definitely be donating to the human milk bank this time around.... Let's just say that one nurse said I was producing enough for the whole NICU :)

Adding the feeds was big news for us- and they continued to decrease the amount of oxygen she was getting- but she did still have the CPAP for the pressure.  We continued to get to hold her which is the best thing ever- when we are outta here I'm not sure I will ever out her down!!

Harper is so excited to be a big sister! Todd and I think that she thinks it is normal for babies to be in the hospital when they are born. But, she is starting to ask when baby Quinn can come home. I wish I knew the answer too.

Slo tiny and sweet!

She really is longer than the Sophie! Her legs are just swaddled up!

Tiny feet!