F is for Family

Family, home, travel, life

Archives for January 2014

One Weekaversary for Jackson

I can’t believe it’s been a full week since little Jackson made his appearance. He’s been through so much and has made so many strides in the last seven days. We are so proud of him.

Yesterday he moved to the level 2 side of the NICU which is a great step forward. He also got rid of his nasal cannula and has done awesome without the oxygen support. He’s still in the isolette because he’s had a difficult time holding his temps  but he’s made great strides taking his bottles. Just a few small hurdles to cross before we get to bring our little man home!

One Weekaversary for Jackson

I can’t believe it’s been a full week since little Jackson made his appearance. He’s been through so much and has made so many strides in the last seven days. We are so proud of him.

Yesterday he moved to the level 2 side of the NICU which is a great step forward. He also got rid of his nasal cannula and has done awesome without the oxygen support. He’s still in the isolette because he’s had a difficult time holding his temps  but he’s made great strides taking his bottles. Just a few small hurdles to cross before we get to bring our little man home!

One Weekaversary for Jackson

I can’t believe it’s been a full week since little Jackson made his appearance. He’s been through so much and has made so many strides in the last seven days. We are so proud of him.

Yesterday he moved to the level 2 side of the NICU which is a great step forward. He also got rid of his nasal cannula and has done awesome without the oxygen support. He’s still in the isolette because he’s had a difficult time holding his temps  but he’s made great strides taking his bottles. Just a few small hurdles to cross before we get to bring our little man home!

The Great Balancing Act: 2 kids, 2 locations

I started this post yesterday morning even before I knew where the day would lead. Anticipation of juggling an energetic toddler at home while making sure to spend time at the bedside of a brand new baby in intensive care weighed heavily on me from the moment I woke up. 

We started our Saturday with breakfast as a family as usual. Jonathan and I set a game plan for the day. He’d take the ball full of energy to burn off steam at the local play place and bring her back for lunch and nap while went to the NICU with our little boy. We’d meet up at the hospital in the afternoon and be home for an early evening after visiting baby Jackson as a family.
I should know by now that the best laid plans are really just ticking time bombs. My Mom drove me to the hospital and while in route I felt a little off. My thought was I may not have taken my pain medication and vitamins with enough food. I don’t typically do well with iron multivitamins unless I’ve had plenty to eat. I figured it would pass. 
I arrived at Jackson’s bedside and still felt a little strange. We had our first attempt at breast feeding with the lactation consultant and he did great! It was such a fantastic milestone. I held him for the next little bit and we finished his full feed by bottle.
This is when the day took a turn for the worst. I began feeling flush and nauseous. Next thing I know, I end up in triage because I’ve somehow picked up a stomach bug. By the time we get home, I’m running 101.6 temp, I’m in bed and now Jonathan is trying to take care of me and Sofia.
She, at this point, just wants to play with Mommy since she hasn’t seen me all day and doesn’t understand why she has to stay away. This has already been a bit of a confusing transition for her and this added to her stress. What is normally a few minutes for bedtime turned into an hour and 45 minutes of screaming at the top of her lungs despite attempts to soothe her and put her back in bed or letting her scream. 
There’s no other time when I wish I could be in two different places at the same time, or honestly three different places. One sick in bed, one playing with my toddler and bedside with my newborn son. It will be at least 24 hours until I’m allowed back to the NICU, it breaks my heart to be away that long but it would kill me to pass something on to him. 
This adds a new dimension to the great NICU/home balancing act. 

The Great Balancing Act: 2 kids, 2 locations

I started this post yesterday morning even before I knew where the day would lead. Anticipation of juggling an energetic toddler at home while making sure to spend time at the bedside of a brand new baby in intensive care weighed heavily on me from the moment I woke up. 

We started our Saturday with breakfast as a family as usual. Jonathan and I set a game plan for the day. He’d take the ball full of energy to burn off steam at the local play place and bring her back for lunch and nap while went to the NICU with our little boy. We’d meet up at the hospital in the afternoon and be home for an early evening after visiting baby Jackson as a family.
I should know by now that the best laid plans are really just ticking time bombs. My Mom drove me to the hospital and while in route I felt a little off. My thought was I may not have taken my pain medication and vitamins with enough food. I don’t typically do well with iron multivitamins unless I’ve had plenty to eat. I figured it would pass. 
I arrived at Jackson’s bedside and still felt a little strange. We had our first attempt at breast feeding with the lactation consultant and he did great! It was such a fantastic milestone. I held him for the next little bit and we finished his full feed by bottle.
This is when the day took a turn for the worst. I began feeling flush and nauseous. Next thing I know, I end up in triage because I’ve somehow picked up a stomach bug. By the time we get home, I’m running 101.6 temp, I’m in bed and now Jonathan is trying to take care of me and Sofia.
She, at this point, just wants to play with Mommy since she hasn’t seen me all day and doesn’t understand why she has to stay away. This has already been a bit of a confusing transition for her and this added to her stress. What is normally a few minutes for bedtime turned into an hour and 45 minutes of screaming at the top of her lungs despite attempts to soothe her and put her back in bed or letting her scream. 
There’s no other time when I wish I could be in two different places at the same time, or honestly three different places. One sick in bed, one playing with my toddler and bedside with my newborn son. It will be at least 24 hours until I’m allowed back to the NICU, it breaks my heart to be away that long but it would kill me to pass something on to him. 
This adds a new dimension to the great NICU/home balancing act. 

The Great Balancing Act: 2 kids, 2 locations

I started this post yesterday morning even before I knew where the day would lead. Anticipation of juggling an energetic toddler at home while making sure to spend time at the bedside of a brand new baby in intensive care weighed heavily on me from the moment I woke up. 

We started our Saturday with breakfast as a family as usual. Jonathan and I set a game plan for the day. He’d take the ball full of energy to burn off steam at the local play place and bring her back for lunch and nap while went to the NICU with our little boy. We’d meet up at the hospital in the afternoon and be home for an early evening after visiting baby Jackson as a family.
I should know by now that the best laid plans are really just ticking time bombs. My Mom drove me to the hospital and while in route I felt a little off. My thought was I may not have taken my pain medication and vitamins with enough food. I don’t typically do well with iron multivitamins unless I’ve had plenty to eat. I figured it would pass. 
I arrived at Jackson’s bedside and still felt a little strange. We had our first attempt at breast feeding with the lactation consultant and he did great! It was such a fantastic milestone. I held him for the next little bit and we finished his full feed by bottle.
This is when the day took a turn for the worst. I began feeling flush and nauseous. Next thing I know, I end up in triage because I’ve somehow picked up a stomach bug. By the time we get home, I’m running 101.6 temp, I’m in bed and now Jonathan is trying to take care of me and Sofia.
She, at this point, just wants to play with Mommy since she hasn’t seen me all day and doesn’t understand why she has to stay away. This has already been a bit of a confusing transition for her and this added to her stress. What is normally a few minutes for bedtime turned into an hour and 45 minutes of screaming at the top of her lungs despite attempts to soothe her and put her back in bed or letting her scream. 
There’s no other time when I wish I could be in two different places at the same time, or honestly three different places. One sick in bed, one playing with my toddler and bedside with my newborn son. It will be at least 24 hours until I’m allowed back to the NICU, it breaks my heart to be away that long but it would kill me to pass something on to him. 
This adds a new dimension to the great NICU/home balancing act. 

Day 6: Poppin’ Bottles!!!

Jackson has been doing a great the last few days. Our little champ has been eating up a storm ad doing much better with breathing. Yesterday (day 6 in the NICU) we were given the thumbs up to try bottle feeds at least 2 times a day. The nurse gave him his first bottle and he finished it like a pro! Mommy gave him his 2nd bottle and although he finished it, we were struggling to get a burp.

Feeding have been done while he’s still in the isolette which is a bit awkward and this Mama just couldn’t get a good angle for burping. Our nurse saved the day and got a good one out of him. He’s still having a hard time maintaining his temperature but we’ve seen some progress here too. He’s just on the line when it comes to an “acceptably” low temperature.
We did have the IV that was in his scalped removed which I’m thrilled about. One less wire! 
Today our goal is to get one breast feeding session in and hopefully move to an open air crib. The only other thing besides temps standing in our way of the open air crib, bilirubin levels! His coloring was a bit orange yesterday and we arewaiting  for the results this morning on whether he’ll need light treatment or not. Fingers crossed we are in the clear!!!

Day 6: Poppin’ Bottles!!!

Jackson has been doing a great the last few days. Our little champ has been eating up a storm ad doing much better with breathing. Yesterday (day 6 in the NICU) we were given the thumbs up to try bottle feeds at least 2 times a day. The nurse gave him his first bottle and he finished it like a pro! Mommy gave him his 2nd bottle and although he finished it, we were struggling to get a burp.

Feeding have been done while he’s still in the isolette which is a bit awkward and this Mama just couldn’t get a good angle for burping. Our nurse saved the day and got a good one out of him. He’s still having a hard time maintaining his temperature but we’ve seen some progress here too. He’s just on the line when it comes to an “acceptably” low temperature.
We did have the IV that was in his scalped removed which I’m thrilled about. One less wire! 
Today our goal is to get one breast feeding session in and hopefully move to an open air crib. The only other thing besides temps standing in our way of the open air crib, bilirubin levels! His coloring was a bit orange yesterday and we arewaiting  for the results this morning on whether he’ll need light treatment or not. Fingers crossed we are in the clear!!!

Day 6: Poppin’ Bottles!!!

Jackson has been doing a great the last few days. Our little champ has been eating up a storm ad doing much better with breathing. Yesterday (day 6 in the NICU) we were given the thumbs up to try bottle feeds at least 2 times a day. The nurse gave him his first bottle and he finished it like a pro! Mommy gave him his 2nd bottle and although he finished it, we were struggling to get a burp.

Feeding have been done while he’s still in the isolette which is a bit awkward and this Mama just couldn’t get a good angle for burping. Our nurse saved the day and got a good one out of him. He’s still having a hard time maintaining his temperature but we’ve seen some progress here too. He’s just on the line when it comes to an “acceptably” low temperature.
We did have the IV that was in his scalped removed which I’m thrilled about. One less wire! 
Today our goal is to get one breast feeding session in and hopefully move to an open air crib. The only other thing besides temps standing in our way of the open air crib, bilirubin levels! His coloring was a bit orange yesterday and we arewaiting  for the results this morning on whether he’ll need light treatment or not. Fingers crossed we are in the clear!!!

My Breakout Day and Day 5

Day 4 was discharge day and was by the afternoon had turned fairly chaotic. There have been some members of the family who haven’t been feeling 100% and this Mama was concerned that some post op aches and pains may be a sign of more than just surgery side effects. The OB agreed that because the flu was making it’s rounds through the hospital it was important to run a swab just in case. 

This small decision held the fate of my discharge in it’s hands and took over 5hrs for the results to be returned. The it was a hustle to get everything together when the results came back negative. Oh, how could I forget we hadn’t quite come to a 100% decision on a name and had to turn our Birth Certificate in before discharge.
We sat down, finally made a decision and turned in our sheet officially naming baby boy…Jackson! 
As we were tiring up loose ends and getting everything ready for the car, we made one more visit to our little guy before heading out. He had made such huge strides but did get moved back into an isolette because he was struggling to hold his temps but was still looking great on his oxygen levels and was being very consistent with tolerating his feeds. It was a good day in the NICU! Now it was time to get home to Big Sister and it was already close to 6pm.
We got in the car and pulled off. This is where I lost my composure. I had been focusing on the excitement of getting home to my baby girl but the reality that this meant I had to leave my baby boy behind was overwhelming. Deep down I know this won’t be the marathon NICU stay we’ve experienced in the past but leaving the hospital with things and leaving behind such an important part of you, in the hands of strangers…highly skilled strangers but strangers nonetheless…is devastating.

We came home to balloons and flowers, homemade food and lactation cookies and the most heartfelt NICU care package. It’s so helpful to be surrounded by the support of family and friends on such a difficult day. Our care package from a fellow NICU mama  (Jackie from The Cronin Connection  http://croninconnectionblog.blogspot.com/) included a personalized box with Jackson’s name, a tee shirt for the little guy and big sister, hand sanitizer and lotion, a camera to leave at the bedside in the NICU for nurses to take pictures while we are gone and a framed picture of the first time Jackson and I did “kangaroo” care together. It was exactly what I needed in that moment and I’m so grateful for those simple little items and most importantly the thought that went into them. 


Day 5 we oke up and went into our first return day to the NICU and got some great news about progress! They lowered the oxygen levels to 2L of flow on the cannula and raised his feeds to “full feeds” which is 30mls (1ounce) every 3 hours. The meant the were able to cap off and discontinue the lipids and vitamins being administered via IV. This makes us very happy because his most recent IV spot is in his scalp which we are more than ready to see that be removed. If he tolerates his feeds we may be able to start bottle feeding by tomorrow which is a huge step closer to going home! We also need this little guy to start holding his temperature on his own. He’s currently down to 4lbs9oz after a 1/2 ounce gain on day 4. We need to see that number start climbing as well. 

But all in all, fantastic news for our little champ!

Michael’s AD