Hello everyone
This is my very first post and this will be my only one for a while until I come home from the hospital. Since I was born at 31 weeks I have to stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Levine Childrens Hosptial until I am strong enough to come home. I was 4 lbs 2 oz and 17 1/4 inches long when I was born on August 7th at 4:39PM. I came out crying which Momma and Daddy were glad to hear.
Here is a recap of my activities up to today:
8.8.08 I am breathing on my own with out the need of the oxygen any more. I had one major miconium poop.
8.9.08 I am still doing well breathing on my own. I had my first taste of breast milk through my feeding tube to my stomach and I took to that quite well. Daddy got to hold me while I was eating my first meal. They inserted a PCVC* tube into my leg to near my heart to give me fluids and nutrients, this way it gets where it needs to be faster. My weight is now 3 lbs 15 ozs.
8.10.08 I am doing well. I have been having some trouble digesting Momma's milk but they are watching me very close. I have had a couple of episodes of apnea.** I am under the bili lights becuase my bilirubin level is 14. My weight is now 3 lbs 12 ozs.
8.11.08 I am having some problems with digestion, I have too much bile*** in my system that is not getting out fast enough. I had an X-ray of my stomach today to make sure there were no blockages and it came back clear! I had one big poop just after I was born and now I am holding out. I have been taken off of breast milk and they have increased my nutrion through my PCVC.
8.12.08 Thank you for all the prayers for POOP! For they were answered. I had 3 poops today and I even had one for Momma and Daddy to change. I also had NO aspers****. Momma and Daddy gave me a bath together. My daddy says, "S#!* Happens" isn't always a bad thing! My weight is still at 3 lbs 12 ozs.
8.13.08 Today was a big day! They finally took that bright bili light off of me, because my jaundice has gotten better. I also was able to spend some time in a regular but I got cold, so they put me back in the incubator. I also had good poops, and the nurses increased my breast milk. Momma and Daddy noticed that my right collarbone looked a little different and the doctors decided to take an x-ray of it. We will find out more about it tomorrow, but the doctors think that it did not form correctly because the as the bone was developing it probably lost blood flow and some of the cells died. When it healed, it grew into the shape of an "S" with a mass of cartledge to connect the two pieces of bone. There is nothing that they can do now, but will probably require surgery and a bone graft after I am a toddler, but before I go to school. It doesn't hurt me, and I think that I can move my right arm just like my left one, so that is good news!
*PCVC: Percutaneous Central Venous Catheter is a tube placed inside a large vein. A PCVC is made of flexible plastic and is 2 to 8 inches long and is used for to give IV medicines, frequent blood testing, IV Nutrition or continuous monitoring of vital signs.
**Apnea: a prolonged pause in breathing, making the breathing pattern irregular. The heart rate drops.
***Bile: Yellowish-brown or green fluid secreted by the liver and discharged into the duodenum (small intestine), where it aids in the emulsification (digestion) of fats, increases peristalsis (contraction of smooth muscles to propel contents through the digestive tract), and retards putrefaction (decomposition of animal proteins).
****Aspers: When they suck out the breast milk he has been fed through the feeding tube through his mouth to make sure that he has digested the previous feeding.
Momma and Daddy continue to visit me everyday which is my favorite parts of the day! They are getting really good with doing my 'cares'. My cares are: taking my temperature, changing my diaper, getting me undressed to be weighed and feeding me. It is much more fun to have them there for my cares instead of my nurses. Alot of time that is the only time they get to hear my voice because I am so mellow the rest of the time. I really do not like getting my diaper changed so I make sure I scream and cry really loud so they hurry up with that part of my cares. My big sister Isabella loves to make sure her hands are clean with the 'lotion' also known as hand sanitiser in my room. It is a source of entertainment for her along with the heart also known as a stethoscope. Boy am I going to have my hands full with her!
8.19.08 Today my resident Melissa told Momma that I would get to go to the Progressive Care Nursery in a few days but Momma thought she said tomorrow. I got to have my PCVC removed so now I am exclusively on breast milk. Tonight when Melissa made her rounds and we asked about Progressive Nursery she said no I said in a few days. Momma just got so excited about the words Progressive Care Nursery that she said oh that is tomorrow! So I was all excited all day for nothing. Nurse Betty took care of me tonight she was my very first nurse here in the NICU and I really like her. 
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On 8.15.08 I finally was able to see Isabella again and to hear her sweet little voice. I really miss hearing her sing songs to me everyday. She even comforted me when I got a little fussy. Aunt Christilynn came for another visit too. She really has been helping Momma and Daddy alot with Isabella so they can come visit every night which is nice because they have been able to give me baths.
On 8.16.08 I had a setback by not keeping my temperature in the right range so I have been placed back in an isolette. This has been really hard on Momma and Daddy because they have not been able to hold me at all today. I have also had some trouble with my feedings because I have had more aspirates, so we are back to praying for poop, just in case this is part of the problem.
