12-30-10 Brooks's Big Day!!

Well, today I got to bring another one of my tiny, perfect babies home--and when I say tiny, I mean TINY!  MD called us yesterday and said that Brooks was doing great and we could "pick him up tomorrow".  I knew he had been doing really good and would be home soon, but I had no idea it would be this soon.  I am so happy to have two of my three babies at home with us.  My mom came today and will be staying with us indefinitely now to help.  I am so lucky to have such great help from my mom and mother in law!
Quick update on Kate--She is doing well today.  Poor little girl has had a rough time, but is such a sweet baby.  MD's decided yesterday to try her on a soy formula, thinking she may have a food allergy that is causing her abdominal distension and gas.  She has tolerated the soy formula well so far, however is only receiving a very small amount right now.  I just hope this works and she is able to come home soon!

The latest baby news...

Kate is at Vandy.  MD called me Christmas Eve morning and told me she wanted to t/f her to Vandy due to her belly issues.  The MD was convinced that Kate had a "mechanical" problem (bowel obstruction) causing her belly distension and abnormally high amounts of air in her belly--the confusing part is that Kate still eats great and has bowel movements--which she typically would not do if there was an obstruction.  The "fix" for this type of problem is surgery, which they do not do on newborns at Baptist, so...we went to Vandy.  I was really upset bc 30 min earlier-the nurse had called and said she was probably coming home that day.  Anyways, once she got to Vandy, they did a barium contrast study to look at her large intestines to see if they could find some obstruction or narrowing anywhere.  At this point, I was really hoping they would find something very minor that would be an easy fix bc I was tired of the mystery of her large belly.  They found NOTHING abnormal and said they did not see anything that would be causing her problems and require surgery.  I was glad she does not have to undergo surgery, but so frustrated no one seemed to know what was going on.  Yesterday morning, they started Kate on Pregestimil--a special formula for babies with allergies to breast milk-- to see if this would help.  To me, this totally makes sense bc my neices both have this "rare" allergy to breastmilk.  Again, I was kind of frustrated bc I have mentioned this to at least 3 doctors over the past 2 weeks who all said that her belly issues were not caused by my milk.  As of today, she is only allowed to take a very little amount of formula to make sure this does not aggravate her belly and cause her to begin building up air again, but so far so good.  I hate that this poor baby has had to go through so many tests and sticks for blood work over something that could be so simple as intolerance/allergy to breastmilk.
Brooks is still at Baptist and continues to do great.  As of last night, he weighed 3lbs 11.8oz.  He is growing so quickly now and may actually beat Kate home!  If all continues to go well with him, I expect him home within the next 2 weeks.  It is amazing to me how well he has done over the past few weeks.
Braden is doing good at home.  We go back to MD on Tuesday for 1 mo check up--even though he is actually 5 weeks old.  I am anxious to see how much wt he has gained.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!  Although mine was NOTHING like I expected, we are so blessed.  Walking around Vandy's Children Hospital, seeing very sick young kids, really puts things in perspective!
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December 22,2010

Well...as you can tell from  my lack of updates, I have been a little busy lately.  I know you all are thinking "if you think you are busy with one, just wait till all 3 get home!".  One of the reasons I have stayed so busy is the daily commutes back and forth to the hospital to see Kate and Brooks.  Thankfully, I have a wonderful mother and mother in law who have kept Braden for us to allow us to see the other 2, but it sure has been tiring.
Braden is doing great at home and slowly adjusting to his life outside of the NICU.  I have been overly cautious with him, so he has not left the house except for one trip to MD and one trip to his Pops and Losi's house (about 1 mile down the road).  He is a very sweet baby, who thankfully really only cries if something is wrong (hungry, dirty, etc).  He has had his days and nights confused, but we are working on keeping him up more during the day to help him sleep better at night.  I am so thankful to have this sweet baby at home with me!
Brooks is also doing great and gaining wt like a champ!  As of last night, he weighed 3lbs 4 oz and has been gaining 0.5-1 ounce almost everyday for the past week.  As we have said all along he is a fighter and I truly believe will be able to come home soon.  He is taking bottles at every feeding now and is regulating his body temp in incubator.  He will have to be able to regulate his body temp in an open crib (which he will be able to go to when he reaches 4lbs) prior to coming home.  He is finally starting to fill out and actually looks a lot more like Braden than I ever realized.
Sweet Kate has had a rough week.  As you know, I was planning to bring her home with Braden last week, however due to high bilirubin levels, MD decided to keep her a few more days.  Well, that "few days" has turned into 1.5 weeks.  They were able to get her bilirubin levels down, but noticed that her blood count was low.  MD said they wanted to watch it for a few days and if it continued to to drop, they were going to transfuse her (it is normal for premie babies to need blood transfusions).  While they were watching her blood levels, we began noticing her belly appeared to be distended.  It had actually been distended for a few days, but we kept brushing it off as gas.  We got another new MD this week (they change every week in NICU) who really did not like the appearance of her belly.  This MD decided to go through with the transfusion and put her on Pedialyte for a couple of days to see if this helped her belly.  Kate finished the transfusion last night and her blood work this morning was good.  Her bilirubin levels have come up a little again, but this MD does not seem concerned with them at this time.  MD told me this morning that if her belly remains soft and her blood count/bili levels are good in a couple of days, she could come home.  So....I am still hoping to have her home for Christmas.
All this being said, we have been so blessed this year and are so lucky to have 3 beautiful healthy babies.  I did not get around to sending out Christmas cards this year, but I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!

Braden is HOME!

We are so blessed to have one of our sons home with us tonight.  Unfortunately, Kate and Brooks are still at the hospital, but thankfully are doing well and will hopefully join Braden at home soon.  We had an interesting night last night when we "roomed in" at Baptist Hospital.  The NICU likes for parents to room in with their babies before they take them home to ensure parents feel comfortable taking care of a premature baby.  Braden was such a good baby who really only became upset with me when we had to change his clothes.  He has had a great day at home and was able to meet some of his aunts and uncles when he got home.  I am so happy to have him home and can only imagine how much better I will feel when I have all of my precious babies at home.
Kate is doing well and was actually supposed to come home with Braden today, however, due to higher than desired bilirubin levels (causes jaundice), she had to stay.  Hopefully they will be able to get this controlled soon and she will be home later this week.  Brooks is also doing very well.  He has began to really put on some wt this week (weighing in at a whopping 2lbs 8.75oz!) and has been tolerating all feedings well. 
With a baby in my home, I am finally starting to feel like a real mommy!--looking forward to the adventures ahead!

All Good News this Week!

Well, it has been a good week so far.  All babies are doing well and progressing good at this time.  Braden and Kate both reached the 4lbs milestone this week and have been moved to open cribs.  They have done well with this transition and have kept their body temps up as hoped.  They have also gotten the feeding tube taken out and are taking bottles at all feeding times!  It is so nice to see them in real baby clothes looking like real babies.  Brooks is also doing much better.  Since his set back last week, MD's allowed him to gradually resume eating.  He is currently receiving max amount he can for his weight with increased calories to aid in his wt gain.  Following his set back, he had dropped down to 2lbs 2oz, but is now up to almost 2lbs 5oz.  The small little guy is still the fiestiest of the three and such a fighter!  I also received more good news today that if Kate and Braden continue to keep their temps up and take bottles well, they will be coming home on Sunday or Monday!  I was so excited to hear this news and now am kind of freaking about all that needs to be done before their arrival--you would think that having babies in NICU for 3 weeks would give me ample time to get everything ready, but with running back and forth to see them, the day is over before I know it.  Again, I can not say enough how truly blessed we have been!

Ups and Downs of the NICU

The past week has had its share of ups and downs in the NICU.  Thankfully, Kate and Braden have done wonderfully and as of tonight have surpassed their birthweights.  Kate and Braden both currently weigh 3lbs 14oz.  Their weight gain has taken off in the past couple of days, so I am hoping they will reach 4lbs soon and be able to move to an open crib.  They are both taking at least 2 bottles a day and tolerating the transition well.  Brooks has had a harder week than the other two.  He finished the meds for his heart murmur and was able to resume eating shortly thereafter.  For a few days, there was no sign of heart murmur, however nurse and MD heard murmur again on Tuesday of this week.  He also had some bowel issues on Tuesday, with a lot of "air" in his belly.  MD was unsure of cause of the increased amount of air in his belly, so ordered him to begin IV fluids again and made him NPO ( no food).  This was hard for me to hear for numerous reasons.  #1- He had a great morning on Tuesday and actually took his first bottle that morning prior to this downfall--that day was literally filled with emotional highs and lows for me! #2 He had just started to gain weight when they had to stop his feedings--it is awful to look at your tiny baby and know he is not going to get to ear for a couple of days. #3- I was terrified of the underlying cause of this "air" in his belly, especially since MD tried to prepare me for the worst (I know she was just doing her job, but it was hard to hear nonetheless).
     Once again, God has provided and answered my prayers.  Brooks is doing much better today and was able to resume eating (taking milk through feeding tube for now).  They are starting him out slow and gradually increasing the amount of food he receives at each scheduled feeding.  He had gained up to 2lbs 4oz, but after this set back has lost back down to 2lbs 2oz.  I pray he will tolerate his return to eating well with no bowel/stomach problems and begin putting on weight.
    Another "high point" of the week occured today when 3 sweet girls from Springfield High School came to NICU to deliver Baby Bundles that were donated from students in her class at school.  What a kind and thoughtful thing to do for mothers who are going through the stresses of having a baby in the NICU.
    I am still unsure of when the babies will be able to come home, but if Kate and Braden continue to progress well, I feel like they will be home pretty soon.  Thank you for you prayers--please continue them for now.