Archives for December 2011

So it’s official we take our FIVE POUND and ONE OUNCE bouncing baby girl, home in the morning!

I woke up bright and early this morning in a rather uncomfortable state as I inadvertently slept through a pump. I got a 7 hour stretch of sleep, probably the last I’ll see for a while. I started the laundry up and clicked on the TV which was playing Sleepless in Seattle. All I could think was, if Sofia had a good night, with no Brady’s and passed her car seat test, this would be the last morning I would wake up without her. I only had to wait 1hr and 15 minutes for the verdict. I thought I was going to be sick. I then thought, this is my last opportunity to sleep…so, I went back to bed.

Low and behold when I called to check on everything we got the big thumbs up! She passed the car seat test with flying colors, we would be discharged on Thursday and be doing our “rooming in” night at the NICU today.

Jonathan and I were in a mad dash all day to make sure everything was together for her, pulling together the loose ends and of course, buying our plane tickets home! All the chaos had me full of nervous energy and still with a queasy stomach. After all, any Brady during the day meant no go on the homecoming.

Now I’m sitting on the very uncomfortable pull out sofa in the NICU room watching my husband feed our tiny baby girl who is unattached to any machine for the first time in 81 days. No more butterflies, no more nervousness and finally feeling complete. The icing on the cake…flying in to be with family on Christmas Eve. So, happy and incredibly grateful for my Christmas miracle.

(Sofia and Daddy; the Christmas tree Sofie donated to a Newly admitted NICU resident)

So it’s official we take our FIVE POUND and ONE OUNCE bouncing baby girl, home in the morning!

I woke up bright and early this morning in a rather uncomfortable state as I inadvertently slept through a pump. I got a 7 hour stretch of sleep, probably the last I’ll see for a while. I started the laundry up and clicked on the TV which was playing Sleepless in Seattle. All I could think was, if Sofia had a good night, with no Brady’s and passed her car seat test, this would be the last morning I would wake up without her. I only had to wait 1hr and 15 minutes for the verdict. I thought I was going to be sick. I then thought, this is my last opportunity to sleep…so, I went back to bed.

Low and behold when I called to check on everything we got the big thumbs up! She passed the car seat test with flying colors, we would be discharged on Thursday and be doing our “rooming in” night at the NICU today.

Jonathan and I were in a mad dash all day to make sure everything was together for her, pulling together the loose ends and of course, buying our plane tickets home! All the chaos had me full of nervous energy and still with a queasy stomach. After all, any Brady during the day meant no go on the homecoming.

Now I’m sitting on the very uncomfortable pull out sofa in the NICU room watching my husband feed our tiny baby girl who is unattached to any machine for the first time in 81 days. No more butterflies, no more nervousness and finally feeling complete. The icing on the cake…flying in to be with family on Christmas Eve. So, happy and incredibly grateful for my Christmas miracle.

(Sofia and Daddy; the Christmas tree Sofie donated to a Newly admitted NICU resident)

So it’s official we take our FIVE POUND and ONE OUNCE bouncing baby girl, home in the morning!

I woke up bright and early this morning in a rather uncomfortable state as I inadvertently slept through a pump. I got a 7 hour stretch of sleep, probably the last I’ll see for a while. I started the laundry up and clicked on the TV which was playing Sleepless in Seattle. All I could think was, if Sofia had a good night, with no Brady’s and passed her car seat test, this would be the last morning I would wake up without her. I only had to wait 1hr and 15 minutes for the verdict. I thought I was going to be sick. I then thought, this is my last opportunity to sleep…so, I went back to bed.

Low and behold when I called to check on everything we got the big thumbs up! She passed the car seat test with flying colors, we would be discharged on Thursday and be doing our “rooming in” night at the NICU today.

Jonathan and I were in a mad dash all day to make sure everything was together for her, pulling together the loose ends and of course, buying our plane tickets home! All the chaos had me full of nervous energy and still with a queasy stomach. After all, any Brady during the day meant no go on the homecoming.

Now I’m sitting on the very uncomfortable pull out sofa in the NICU room watching my husband feed our tiny baby girl who is unattached to any machine for the first time in 81 days. No more butterflies, no more nervousness and finally feeling complete. The icing on the cake…flying in to be with family on Christmas Eve. So, happy and incredibly grateful for my Christmas miracle.

(Sofia and Daddy; the Christmas tree Sofie donated to a Newly admitted NICU resident)

So as of yesterday morning we have been given the official thumbs up that the clock has begun on “Brady watch”. Basically, we are holding our breath that Sofia goes 5 days straight with no dips in her heart rate (bradycardia) that would occur during sleep and require stimulation. If she does we could be released by the 22nd. This is amazing because just last week all indicators were showing that we would most likely be spending the holidays in the NICU and most likely through the new year. But that’s the thing about the NICU shuffle, as soon as you take two steps back…you could be taking one big twirl forward!

Here’s how the story went. Last week Sofie was struggling with consistency on taking her feeds by bottle. She would have a great day where she would take 5 out of 8 full bottles one day and the next day would require the majority of her feeds be placed by tube. Here is the frustrating part with how feeds work…
First of all, the nurses work on a “cue based” feeding initiative. They wait to see if baby shows signs of interest in feeding such as crying and rooting. Our issue is that Sofia rarely cries when not in pain or for extreme frustration. She would wake up early (about 15-20 min) for her assigned feeding time and just lay patiently waiting to be fed, if the window of opportunity was not noticed for too long, she put herself to sleep, at which time, a nurse would check on her and she would be asleep and deemed “uninterested”. She’s not the squeaky wheel and with 2-3 other babies on the same feeding schedule, she needs to be sometimes. So, I became her squeaky wheel.
I spoke with the nurses manager and she made sure to speak to our nurses. Friday afternoon Sofia took the liberty of removing her own feeding tube. The nurses took the liberty of replacing it when she refused to take more than 15mls at her next feed. On Saturday, Sofia made the executive decision to remove it again. I tried to unwrap her one hand as she pulled it and she lifted her other hand up and yanked it out completely! She meant business. The nurse practitioner decided to give her one more chance to prove herself and she stepped up to the challenge! As of today she’s taken every feed and has not had any Brady’s. We are hoping and praying with all of our might!!! All prayers are welcome…we need a Christmas miracle to be home with family for the holidays.

Look Mom, no tubes!

So as of yesterday morning we have been given the official thumbs up that the clock has begun on “Brady watch”. Basically, we are holding our breath that Sofia goes 5 days straight with no dips in her heart rate (bradycardia) that would occur during sleep and require stimulation. If she does we could be released by the 22nd. This is amazing because just last week all indicators were showing that we would most likely be spending the holidays in the NICU and most likely through the new year. But that’s the thing about the NICU shuffle, as soon as you take two steps back…you could be taking one big twirl forward!

Here’s how the story went. Last week Sofie was struggling with consistency on taking her feeds by bottle. She would have a great day where she would take 5 out of 8 full bottles one day and the next day would require the majority of her feeds be placed by tube. Here is the frustrating part with how feeds work…
First of all, the nurses work on a “cue based” feeding initiative. They wait to see if baby shows signs of interest in feeding such as crying and rooting. Our issue is that Sofia rarely cries when not in pain or for extreme frustration. She would wake up early (about 15-20 min) for her assigned feeding time and just lay patiently waiting to be fed, if the window of opportunity was not noticed for too long, she put herself to sleep, at which time, a nurse would check on her and she would be asleep and deemed “uninterested”. She’s not the squeaky wheel and with 2-3 other babies on the same feeding schedule, she needs to be sometimes. So, I became her squeaky wheel.
I spoke with the nurses manager and she made sure to speak to our nurses. Friday afternoon Sofia took the liberty of removing her own feeding tube. The nurses took the liberty of replacing it when she refused to take more than 15mls at her next feed. On Saturday, Sofia made the executive decision to remove it again. I tried to unwrap her one hand as she pulled it and she lifted her other hand up and yanked it out completely! She meant business. The nurse practitioner decided to give her one more chance to prove herself and she stepped up to the challenge! As of today she’s taken every feed and has not had any Brady’s. We are hoping and praying with all of our might!!! All prayers are welcome…we need a Christmas miracle to be home with family for the holidays.

Look Mom, no tubes!

So as of yesterday morning we have been given the official thumbs up that the clock has begun on “Brady watch”. Basically, we are holding our breath that Sofia goes 5 days straight with no dips in her heart rate (bradycardia) that would occur during sleep and require stimulation. If she does we could be released by the 22nd. This is amazing because just last week all indicators were showing that we would most likely be spending the holidays in the NICU and most likely through the new year. But that’s the thing about the NICU shuffle, as soon as you take two steps back…you could be taking one big twirl forward!

Here’s how the story went. Last week Sofie was struggling with consistency on taking her feeds by bottle. She would have a great day where she would take 5 out of 8 full bottles one day and the next day would require the majority of her feeds be placed by tube. Here is the frustrating part with how feeds work…
First of all, the nurses work on a “cue based” feeding initiative. They wait to see if baby shows signs of interest in feeding such as crying and rooting. Our issue is that Sofia rarely cries when not in pain or for extreme frustration. She would wake up early (about 15-20 min) for her assigned feeding time and just lay patiently waiting to be fed, if the window of opportunity was not noticed for too long, she put herself to sleep, at which time, a nurse would check on her and she would be asleep and deemed “uninterested”. She’s not the squeaky wheel and with 2-3 other babies on the same feeding schedule, she needs to be sometimes. So, I became her squeaky wheel.
I spoke with the nurses manager and she made sure to speak to our nurses. Friday afternoon Sofia took the liberty of removing her own feeding tube. The nurses took the liberty of replacing it when she refused to take more than 15mls at her next feed. On Saturday, Sofia made the executive decision to remove it again. I tried to unwrap her one hand as she pulled it and she lifted her other hand up and yanked it out completely! She meant business. The nurse practitioner decided to give her one more chance to prove herself and she stepped up to the challenge! As of today she’s taken every feed and has not had any Brady’s. We are hoping and praying with all of our might!!! All prayers are welcome…we need a Christmas miracle to be home with family for the holidays.

Look Mom, no tubes!

Here’s the thing about the NICU experience, it was never in the plan. It doesn’t matter if you were 33 weeks and almost to the full term mark or 25 weeks and just shy of the third trimester…not a single NICU parent was prepared for this journey. With all the time we have spent watching this little angel grow bigger an stronger it’s just natural to spend most of that time over thinking the whole pregnancy/post partum situation. So since we’ve been in the “business” of helping Sofia grow, I figured I would use a little business strategy to recap the last 75 days.

•Losses: Missed the 3rd trimester, missed my maternity pictures, missed my baby shower (funny point here; she was born on the RSVP date!). Never made it to the nesting phase, haven’t decorated a nursery and hadn’t even picked out a pediatrician!

•Gains: Didn’t have to deal with the 3rd trimester! (can we say blessing and a curse?!) That’s right, no swollen ankles, no stretch marks, no sleepless nights (unless you count the middle of the night pumping sessions for the last 75 days). Extended newborn phase, we get 15 extra weeks of having a little one at every stage till the 2 year mark. An appreciation for every new stage she reaches and every breath I watch her take.

•Takeaways: I hope I always remember how amazingly lucky we were to be put on hospital bed rest. I hope I’m always amazed and appreciative of every moment I have with this strong little girl. I feel like she makes me a better person, a more glass-half-full-person, a smile for the road we’re on not mourning the path we missed taking person. I hope to pass this on to Sofia as she gets older.

I’d never wish this experience on anyone but I for those that ever find themselves faced with this challenge, just know that your fear will eventually be your strength.

Here’s the thing about the NICU experience, it was never in the plan. It doesn’t matter if you were 33 weeks and almost to the full term mark or 25 weeks and just shy of the third trimester…not a single NICU parent was prepared for this journey. With all the time we have spent watching this little angel grow bigger an stronger it’s just natural to spend most of that time over thinking the whole pregnancy/post partum situation. So since we’ve been in the “business” of helping Sofia grow, I figured I would use a little business strategy to recap the last 75 days.

•Losses: Missed the 3rd trimester, missed my maternity pictures, missed my baby shower (funny point here; she was born on the RSVP date!). Never made it to the nesting phase, haven’t decorated a nursery and hadn’t even picked out a pediatrician!

•Gains: Didn’t have to deal with the 3rd trimester! (can we say blessing and a curse?!) That’s right, no swollen ankles, no stretch marks, no sleepless nights (unless you count the middle of the night pumping sessions for the last 75 days). Extended newborn phase, we get 15 extra weeks of having a little one at every stage till the 2 year mark. An appreciation for every new stage she reaches and every breath I watch her take.

•Takeaways: I hope I always remember how amazingly lucky we were to be put on hospital bed rest. I hope I’m always amazed and appreciative of every moment I have with this strong little girl. I feel like she makes me a better person, a more glass-half-full-person, a smile for the road we’re on not mourning the path we missed taking person. I hope to pass this on to Sofia as she gets older.

I’d never wish this experience on anyone but I for those that ever find themselves faced with this challenge, just know that your fear will eventually be your strength.

Here’s the thing about the NICU experience, it was never in the plan. It doesn’t matter if you were 33 weeks and almost to the full term mark or 25 weeks and just shy of the third trimester…not a single NICU parent was prepared for this journey. With all the time we have spent watching this little angel grow bigger an stronger it’s just natural to spend most of that time over thinking the whole pregnancy/post partum situation. So since we’ve been in the “business” of helping Sofia grow, I figured I would use a little business strategy to recap the last 75 days.

•Losses: Missed the 3rd trimester, missed my maternity pictures, missed my baby shower (funny point here; she was born on the RSVP date!). Never made it to the nesting phase, haven’t decorated a nursery and hadn’t even picked out a pediatrician!

•Gains: Didn’t have to deal with the 3rd trimester! (can we say blessing and a curse?!) That’s right, no swollen ankles, no stretch marks, no sleepless nights (unless you count the middle of the night pumping sessions for the last 75 days). Extended newborn phase, we get 15 extra weeks of having a little one at every stage till the 2 year mark. An appreciation for every new stage she reaches and every breath I watch her take.

•Takeaways: I hope I always remember how amazingly lucky we were to be put on hospital bed rest. I hope I’m always amazed and appreciative of every moment I have with this strong little girl. I feel like she makes me a better person, a more glass-half-full-person, a smile for the road we’re on not mourning the path we missed taking person. I hope to pass this on to Sofia as she gets older.

I’d never wish this experience on anyone but I for those that ever find themselves faced with this challenge, just know that your fear will eventually be your strength.

Today, Dec 9th, Sofia and I worked on our 2nd attempt at breastfeeding. Both times she latched great but she’s having trouble transferring milk. She’s trying her hardest though. She’s also been doing well with the bottle she took 3 full bottles during 3 of her feeds and then kind of stalled out the rest of the day. I took some pic today of her in some silly poses…so today is Silly Sofia day. I guess she’s showing off for her 10 Weekaversary.