Home Sweet Home

We all slept under the same roof for the first time last night (monday) and boy was it a long time coming! 67 days we have been separated. In some ways it seems like it's been a lifetime and in others it seems like only yesterday that we were all swept onto this ride. I remember my first time seeing Veda in the hospital. My visit was a short one because all I could do was cry. It was the hardest thing I had ever experienced, seeing my little girl like that. I was so scared for her, and at that moment I felt utterly helpless to her. I'm so glad that I was able to return to the hospital that next day ready to stay by her side as she had the fight for her life ahead. Don't get me wrong, there were many times that I wanted to go bury my head in the sand until this whole thing was over. Not knowing up front what the ramifications of her early delivery would have, we were on the edge. We realize just how fortunate we are to have our strong willed little girl healthy and happy at home.

Back to our first night... long first night. Yes, I felt an urge to keep one eye open at all times to monitor her breathing. As it turned out, there was no need. She let me know all night long that she was doing fine. Veda loves to make all kinds of little noises while she sleeps. She even wiggled her way out of three diapers and poopied three sets of jammies. Until she's able to pack a little junk in that trunk, we'll need to stick with a onesie to hold those diapers in place at night.

The doctor warned us that Veda may experience a little lag in her feeding due to being in a new environment. She disagrees with the doctor. Veda's been eating more than ever. She's eating every 3-4 hours and taking about 2.5 ounces a time, which exceeds her hospital intake.

Veda will miss all the great nurses and doctors at the NICU. She'll now be moving on to her new entourage of care - so far I have the Pediatrician tomorrow, the mother baby appt next week, the physical therapist later this month and a phone consult with a nutritionist in a couple of weeks. We're going to be busy!!!

What a week...

Veda's ready for the challenge...

Watching the monitors...

Well done!!!

Week in rewind:

It's been a crazy week for Veda. She had her immunizations on Monday and Tuesday. By Tuesday afternoon she was not herself and we could tell she wasn't feeling so hot. I called around 10 pm to check in on her. The nurse told me that Veda had a terrible spell right after we left that night. Apparently she was lying quietly in her crib when her heart rate alarm started going off. Her heart rate went pretty low before the nurse decided to intervene (they like to first make sure they can't pull themselves out of it). It was during shift change so our day nurse and night nurse were in there together trying to stimulate her back. That wasn't working so they had to bring out the oxygen mask. She has never had a spell so bad that the oxygen mask had to be pulled out, so hearing this on the phone had Andy and I really concerned. The nurse told us not to worry and it seemed that she was doing much much better. She had even just finished a huge bottle with no problems. Needless to say, we were very anxious to get back to the hospital that next morning to see for ourselves that Veda was well. To our relief Veda was like a new baby, she was great! I could tell she was feeling so much better.

When I talked to the doctor that next morning I asked him if he felt that this spell was a reaction to the immunizations. He said one can only speculate. What ever the cause, the spell bought her another 5-7 days in the NICU - not what I wanted to hear! Although, it's the random heart rate drops while she's in her crib that really scare me when thinking about bringing her home. I chose not to argue when the doctor ordered us another week.

Veda had her eye exam on Thursday and the report was music to my ears... no follow up needed for two years!!! This means her eyes have been maturing as they should. Yeah!

Lastly, she had her car seat challenge on Saturday. Yep, they finally had us bring in that dusty old car seat. That was the longest hour ever, our eyes were glued to the monitors.

That was the final hurdle, so we now are at the mercy of the 5-7 day waiting period. The doctor's final word was to have her discharged TOMORROW!!!! I can't believe it's finally here!

I'm sure it's going to be a pretty stressful couple of days or weeks. What ever will I do without those monitors telling me how she's doing! Wish us luck!

She'll be home soon - I mean it this time!

We have a very busy week ahead of us. Veda just needs to stick to what she's been doing and she'll be home by the end of the week.


Getting all her feedings from the bottle - CHECK


No more heart rate drops - CHECK (last one documented is from the 9th)


6lbs 5oz - CHECK


No more heart murmur - CHECK! (she had her final ecco today and it verified that the murmur is gone! What a huge relief!)


She had her first immunization today and will have the final one tomorrow. It's hard to believe that they give these while they're still so small and vulnerable, but I guess it's all about the age, and she is 2 months old! To be honest, I'm relieved that she's still under the care of the hospital for these shots as it can sometimes cause a set back. This way she'll be well monitored.


She has her final eye exam on Thursday. This will result in a follow up appointment a couple of weeks down the road, or an appointment 1-2 years from now. It will all depend on how mature the vessels appear in her eyes.


I'm currently driving around with an empty car seat, I just need a baby to go in it. I may look crazy, but at least I have it accessible for when they ask for it. Her final test is going to be the car seat test, which will require her to sit in it for an hour while being monitored. They want to make sure her saturation rates don't drop while in it. Hurry up and ask for it already!


It's so weird being in this place right now. All of the nurses kept telling me that when Veda was ready it would start to happen fast, and I feel like that's exactly what's happening. For me to see the end of this very long and scary journey is surreal. It just always seemed so out of reach, but it's not, it's here. This will be the beginning to a new kind of worry, for what would I be without worry?

I think Veda likes this new skill of eating

Feed Me!

Juicy burps for daddy

look at that hungry appetite!

I think we've found our answer!

I was able to find the special preemie nipples for the Dr. Brown's bottles and they have been working perfectly! She's not loosing any out of the sides of her mouth and it seems like a much more pleasant experience for her. We were able to use them all day yesterday and I just heard that her evening with them went really well too! Molly, I owe you huge!

She's up to 6 lbs 4 oz! We'll get the car seat dusted of because I know they'll be asking us to bring it in soon!

You can read her like a book!

Hungry!

Sleepy

Good morning!

Grumpy

She's moving forward

The last few days have been all about getting Veda to consistently take her feedings. Two days ago she seemed to have turned a corner. She's hungry for those bottles! It's still quite a workout for her to get through a whole one, but she's doing it. Yesterday we had the feeding tube out and she was bottle fed all day. Last night all of her feedings were with the bottle except one tube feed (she's fed every 3 hours).



We are experimenting with different bottles to see what's going to be the best fit for her. Upon my good friend Molly's recommendation we tried the Dr. Brown's bottle a couple of days ago, and that was the easiest bottle feed I had ever done with her. Previously she would create a vacuum effect from her strong sucking power, and not enough air was making it's way in causing the milk not to flow. The Dr. Brown's bottle has it's own venting system that helps eliminate this. I fed her in 15 minutes with this bottle, including a burp session. It comes out a little too quickly though, and it can be a bit sloppy. They do have a preemie size nipple out there that I'm going to pick up today to try. The night nurse tried her on one of the hospitals standard bottles, to see how she would do now that it appeared she had the hang of it. She said that Veda did seem to loose less milk through the sides of her mouth and she was able to take the whole thing. The jury is still out on which one is going to be best for her right now. But once she's a little bigger and stronger the Dr. Brown's will be a no brainer for us. Thanks Molly!


I brought in a new musical toy for Veda to enjoy during her awake times. She's been waking up about a half hour before each of her feedings, and is very wide eyed and bushy tailed. I thought it would be a good time for her to enjoy the sweet sounds of Beethoven as she prepairs for her meal. It's nice to be able to drown out the white noise of the NICU as well.

Veda is up to 6lbs 2oz. She lost almost an ounce from yesterday. I think it was due to the amount of milk she was loosing through the sides of her mouth. We're going to weigh the wash cloth that I use around her mouth before and after her next few feedings to see how much she is missing out on. The scales we use are down to the gram so they're very accurate. From the looks of her wash cloths yesterday I wouldn't be surprised if they all totaled a full feeding lost.




We're not there yet, but we're close, so close I can taste it. As the doctor would say, about a week (he's been saying this for the past 3 weeks now!). I think he likes to keep us excited :)