Friday January 10th, 2003
Hailey has moved her weight to 3 lbs. 11.7 oz. They are feeding her 38
mL every 3 hours. Sanna got to hold Hailey today for the first time
and she cried. My mom is still a little too scared to hold her.
Brianna is feeling real motherly now, she gets Hailey out of the
incubator without any help from the nurses. She also remakes the bed
and and changes the diapers, and repositions Hailey’s head. The last
one doesn’t sound like a big deal, but Hailey is really small so
anytime you have to move her head you think your going to snap it
right off.
Pictures of Day 17 in the gallery.
Thursday January 9th, 2003
Hailey must have heard that it was ‘Feed and Grow’ time. She is up to
3 lbs. 10.7 oz. They have started her on Iron and increased the
feedings to 36 mL every 3 hours.
Most of Hailey’s umbilical cord fell off this morning.
Wednesday January 8th, 2003
Today could be called poopy day. Hailey has had bowel movements after
every other feeding. The nurse practitioner wanted Hailey to have one
every eight hours. If she doesn’t she gets a little help, but Hailey
has been doing them all on her own. I timed things just right to be in
the waiting room while the changing was going on so Brianna had to
change a really dirty diaper. Brianna is catching up now, the score is
8 to 3, Dusty.
Elsey the milk cow has some medications now to help with
production. One is a nasal spray that is used to stop pre-term
contractions. A side effect of the nasal spray is increased milk
production, go figure. Increased milk will be beneficial now because
one of the nurses said Hailey is in the ‘feed and grow’ stage. Hailey
has plateaued on weight gain at about 1600 grams and they want to push
over the edge so she will continue to grow. If Hailey doesn’t start
gaining weight more rapidly they will begin introducing formula in
place of the additional “Donor Breast Milk” so they have more control
and consistency on the number of calories she receives with each
feeding. Right now they fortify Brianna’s breast milk to increase its
calories.
Hailey has started spitting up after feedings so they will begin using
a syringe pump to space her feedings over 1 hour. So she gets feed
every 3 hours, but it takes 1 hour to complete the feeding.
Tuesday January 7th, 2003
It’s the end of week two and Hailey is being moved from her open air
crib to an incubator. The incubator is totally closed in and the
doctors hope this will allow Hailey to put on weight faster. The
incubator looks much scarier than the open air crib, even though it
doesn’t have all the tubes and gages. Hailey looks like she is in a
fish aquarium. This change is for the better and they wouldn’t put
Hailey in the incubator unless she was stable. It is harder to use the
breathing aids and IVs when the baby is in the incubator, that is why
she hasn’t been in one sooner.
Day 14 pictures in the gallery.
Hailey spit up on me following the 2:30 p.m. feeding today. She got
two good gulps onto her blanked and body while I was holding her. The
nurse quickly came over and explained the use of a bulb syringe. The
idea is to quickly suction all fluids from the mouth and then the nose
to prevent any breathing problems associated with the spit up.
Saturday January 4th, 2003
Thursday January 2nd, 2003
A.M.
Little Miss Hailey decided to pull out her nasal cannula (a
small tube that attaches to her nose to help her with her oxygen
needs). She is a very strong little girl. The nurse practitioner
decided to let Hailey go on without it. She was doing very well
without it for all of the morning.
P.M.
Hailey had about three apnea episodes so they had to put the
nasal cannula back in. They had to glue to two cheek pads to her face
so they could tape the cannula tubes to her. Hailey doesn’t like the
skin glue. Hailey weighs 3 lbs. 7 oz. and is eating 20 mL per
feeding. I have changed five diapers to Brianna’s one.
Wednesday January 1st, 2003
We rang in the new year with most of the other parents at the
NICU. One of the nurses commented on how busy it was. The nurses
passed out cider and grape juice to the parents but it was mostly a
quiet affair with each parent holding their child.
One of the babies in our bay has RSV, a respiratory virus that doesn’t
affect full term babies or adults. It can be spread by not properly
scrubbing before entering NICU. The baby is now in isolation and the
parent must wear a mask and paper gown before interacting with her
child. As a precaution all the babies in our bay must be given
treatment to prevent infection.
When we went back to the NICU in the daylight hours Hailey had a new
IV in her head. They couldn’t find a suitable vein in her feet or
hands. They have simply all been used up. It looks really bad, but the
nurses say it is sometimes better because the babies can’t pull the
IVs out. They had a hard time getting the IV started. They had to
shave part of Hailey’s head. They got blood on her hat and blanket so
we took those home to wash them. They saved Hailey’s hair in a small
syringe tube. They must have really wore Hailey out while changing the
IV. She didn’t scream as she normally does when we got there and the
took her temperature and blood pressure.
Hailey is eating 13 mL per feeding and they hope to raise it to 15 mL
(1 tablespoon). They want Hailey to start having three bowel movements
a day.
