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Archives for January 2014

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!

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!

Tag Team, Back Again

It’s been quite awhile since my last entry, but I’ve been coaxed out of early retirement and hope to post somewhat more regularly moving forward. Man oh man…where to begin? I’ll leave the updates to Mommy and give you my perspective on this our second pre-term birth and NICU experience….

As I sit here and stare at my lovely wife holding our 4 day old son, I’m reminded of how amazingly precious life is. When JT was born, he looked fantastic: color, temp, sugars, breathing, etc.  Quintessential c-section birth with fantastic results. However, over the course of the next few hrs, it became clear that little man would struggle. I say that with the caviat of being here 4 days later with very positive signs, so I have the benefit of looking back now while being in a good place. In all the confusion, craziness, and chaos, one thing is crystal clear; my kids are fighters. I am incredibly fortunate and grateful to have a wife who has such patience, strength and resolve to make it through any challenging situation. Of course I had hoped that we would never have to endure this type of experience again, but here we are. I’m a firm believer in God giving you what He thinks you can handle  and if that’s true, then He’s got quite a bit of faith in this little family. Chenoa and I have been the best of friends for 10+ yrs now and we’re only brought closer together when we are put to the test. Now, we’ve added our little Sofie to the mix and she’s helping us cope at home in a major way. She may not realize it, but her hugs and kisses are so comforting to us after having to leave our second child at the hospital while we drive home. I’ll admit that’s when it first hit me and I realized that we would probably never have the typical birth and leave with your baby experience. But that’s alright, this is our story, our experience, our lives and I wouldn’t change it for the world. -JF

Tag Team, Back Again

It’s been quite awhile since my last entry, but I’ve been coaxed out of early retirement and hope to post somewhat more regularly moving forward. Man oh man…where to begin? I’ll leave the updates to Mommy and give you my perspective on this our second pre-term birth and NICU experience….

As I sit here and stare at my lovely wife holding our 4 day old son, I’m reminded of how amazingly precious life is. When JT was born, he looked fantastic: color, temp, sugars, breathing, etc.  Quintessential c-section birth with fantastic results. However, over the course of the next few hrs, it became clear that little man would struggle. I say that with the caviat of being here 4 days later with very positive signs, so I have the benefit of looking back now while being in a good place. In all the confusion, craziness, and chaos, one thing is crystal clear; my kids are fighters. I am incredibly fortunate and grateful to have a wife who has such patience, strength and resolve to make it through any challenging situation. Of course I had hoped that we would never have to endure this type of experience again, but here we are. I’m a firm believer in God giving you what He thinks you can handle  and if that’s true, then He’s got quite a bit of faith in this little family. Chenoa and I have been the best of friends for 10+ yrs now and we’re only brought closer together when we are put to the test. Now, we’ve added our little Sofie to the mix and she’s helping us cope at home in a major way. She may not realize it, but her hugs and kisses are so comforting to us after having to leave our second child at the hospital while we drive home. I’ll admit that’s when it first hit me and I realized that we would probably never have the typical birth and leave with your baby experience. But that’s alright, this is our story, our experience, our lives and I wouldn’t change it for the world. -JF

Tag Team, Back Again

It’s been quite awhile since my last entry, but I’ve been coaxed out of early retirement and hope to post somewhat more regularly moving forward. Man oh man…where to begin? I’ll leave the updates to Mommy and give you my perspective on this our second pre-term birth and NICU experience….

As I sit here and stare at my lovely wife holding our 4 day old son, I’m reminded of how amazingly precious life is. When JT was born, he looked fantastic: color, temp, sugars, breathing, etc.  Quintessential c-section birth with fantastic results. However, over the course of the next few hrs, it became clear that little man would struggle. I say that with the caviat of being here 4 days later with very positive signs, so I have the benefit of looking back now while being in a good place. In all the confusion, craziness, and chaos, one thing is crystal clear; my kids are fighters. I am incredibly fortunate and grateful to have a wife who has such patience, strength and resolve to make it through any challenging situation. Of course I had hoped that we would never have to endure this type of experience again, but here we are. I’m a firm believer in God giving you what He thinks you can handle  and if that’s true, then He’s got quite a bit of faith in this little family. Chenoa and I have been the best of friends for 10+ yrs now and we’re only brought closer together when we are put to the test. Now, we’ve added our little Sofie to the mix and she’s helping us cope at home in a major way. She may not realize it, but her hugs and kisses are so comforting to us after having to leave our second child at the hospital while we drive home. I’ll admit that’s when it first hit me and I realized that we would probably never have the typical birth and leave with your baby experience. But that’s alright, this is our story, our experience, our lives and I wouldn’t change it for the world. -JF

Birthday to Day 3: Little Man’s Update

This little guy took us by surprise coming a couple weeks early but we were prepared for having the fact that he would be making his arrival via c-section. My biggest concern was having and opportunity to have skin-to-skin contact immediately. Of course, with him being early I knew this may be one detail that was taken off the table. 

During delivery, I could hear that amazing sound of heating him cry for the 1st time and all I could do was lay there an pray that he was doing well enough that they would bring him over for more than just a quick glance.
He did amazing and they were able to bring him over and I held him from the OR into recovery and got a few minutes there until he started showing some signs of distressed breathing. They took him to the nursery where he continued having issue to the point that he “forgot” to breath and it became pretty clear that he was going to be a NICU resident after all.
The nurses mentioned trying to get a bottle immediately and because I had them write-in that I did not want him to have formula, I was given a little bit of a hard time about him being too premature to latch and us not having any breast milk yet. I asked for lactation to be sent over. They couldn’t get me a pump fast enough but I was able to hand express 10mls, just enough for a single feed. He wasn’t able to take the feeding because of being placed on oxygen but I was happy I had put my foot down about the formula bottle.
Since then, we have really focused on getting his breathing and eating under control.

Day 1: Little man was placed on a high flow nasal cannula and was having quite a few apnea episodes. He was given an IV and just a little glucose water but no milk was offered day 1. He gave the nurses a run for their money being a little feisty and having a difficult time settling himself. We were told he had quite the “temper”. No surprise that my child would come out feisty…again! 

Day 2: He maintained 5 liters of flow in the nasal cannula and was bouncing between 23-27% oxygen and still had some apnea episodes but definitely a marked improvement. They started tube feeding him 5mls of breast milk. The 1st feed he tolerated great with no residuals (no undigested milk left over before the next feed). The 2nd and 3rd feed he didn’t digest much of anything. They attempted a 4th feed and he did great and never looked back!

Day 3: little guy had a fantastic day! His high flow was dropped from 5L to 3L and dropped from 27% to 21% (the % of oxygen we get from breathing normal, room air). He had no apnea episodes for the day. His feeds were bumped from 5mls to 10mls in the afternoon and is giving Mama quite the challenge to keep up with his feeding needs but I’ve been staying on pace. They attempted to turn his heater down and see if he could maintain his temperatures on his own but he struggled a bit so he’s back under the heat. I’m so proud of how well he’s done the last few days. Big steps makes me a happy Mommy!

Birthday to Day 3: Little Man’s Update

This little guy took us by surprise coming a couple weeks early but we were prepared for having the fact that he would be making his arrival via c-section. My biggest concern was having and opportunity to have skin-to-skin contact immediately. Of course, with him being early I knew this may be one detail that was taken off the table. 

During delivery, I could hear that amazing sound of heating him cry for the 1st time and all I could do was lay there an pray that he was doing well enough that they would bring him over for more than just a quick glance.
He did amazing and they were able to bring him over and I held him from the OR into recovery and got a few minutes there until he started showing some signs of distressed breathing. They took him to the nursery where he continued having issue to the point that he “forgot” to breath and it became pretty clear that he was going to be a NICU resident after all.
The nurses mentioned trying to get a bottle immediately and because I had them write-in that I did not want him to have formula, I was given a little bit of a hard time about him being too premature to latch and us not having any breast milk yet. I asked for lactation to be sent over. They couldn’t get me a pump fast enough but I was able to hand express 10mls, just enough for a single feed. He wasn’t able to take the feeding because of being placed on oxygen but I was happy I had put my foot down about the formula bottle.
Since then, we have really focused on getting his breathing and eating under control.

Day 1: Little man was placed on a high flow nasal cannula and was having quite a few apnea episodes. He was given an IV and just a little glucose water but no milk was offered day 1. He gave the nurses a run for their money being a little feisty and having a difficult time settling himself. We were told he had quite the “temper”. No surprise that my child would come out feisty…again! 

Day 2: He maintained 5 liters of flow in the nasal cannula and was bouncing between 23-27% oxygen and still had some apnea episodes but definitely a marked improvement. They started tube feeding him 5mls of breast milk. The 1st feed he tolerated great with no residuals (no undigested milk left over before the next feed). The 2nd and 3rd feed he didn’t digest much of anything. They attempted a 4th feed and he did great and never looked back!

Day 3: little guy had a fantastic day! His high flow was dropped from 5L to 3L and dropped from 27% to 21% (the % of oxygen we get from breathing normal, room air). He had no apnea episodes for the day. His feeds were bumped from 5mls to 10mls in the afternoon and is giving Mama quite the challenge to keep up with his feeding needs but I’ve been staying on pace. They attempted to turn his heater down and see if he could maintain his temperatures on his own but he struggled a bit so he’s back under the heat. I’m so proud of how well he’s done the last few days. Big steps makes me a happy Mommy!

Birthday to Day 3: Little Man’s Update

This little guy took us by surprise coming a couple weeks early but we were prepared for having the fact that he would be making his arrival via c-section. My biggest concern was having and opportunity to have skin-to-skin contact immediately. Of course, with him being early I knew this may be one detail that was taken off the table. 

During delivery, I could hear that amazing sound of heating him cry for the 1st time and all I could do was lay there an pray that he was doing well enough that they would bring him over for more than just a quick glance.
He did amazing and they were able to bring him over and I held him from the OR into recovery and got a few minutes there until he started showing some signs of distressed breathing. They took him to the nursery where he continued having issue to the point that he “forgot” to breath and it became pretty clear that he was going to be a NICU resident after all.
The nurses mentioned trying to get a bottle immediately and because I had them write-in that I did not want him to have formula, I was given a little bit of a hard time about him being too premature to latch and us not having any breast milk yet. I asked for lactation to be sent over. They couldn’t get me a pump fast enough but I was able to hand express 10mls, just enough for a single feed. He wasn’t able to take the feeding because of being placed on oxygen but I was happy I had put my foot down about the formula bottle.
Since then, we have really focused on getting his breathing and eating under control.

Day 1: Little man was placed on a high flow nasal cannula and was having quite a few apnea episodes. He was given an IV and just a little glucose water but no milk was offered day 1. He gave the nurses a run for their money being a little feisty and having a difficult time settling himself. We were told he had quite the “temper”. No surprise that my child would come out feisty…again! 

Day 2: He maintained 5 liters of flow in the nasal cannula and was bouncing between 23-27% oxygen and still had some apnea episodes but definitely a marked improvement. They started tube feeding him 5mls of breast milk. The 1st feed he tolerated great with no residuals (no undigested milk left over before the next feed). The 2nd and 3rd feed he didn’t digest much of anything. They attempted a 4th feed and he did great and never looked back!

Day 3: little guy had a fantastic day! His high flow was dropped from 5L to 3L and dropped from 27% to 21% (the % of oxygen we get from breathing normal, room air). He had no apnea episodes for the day. His feeds were bumped from 5mls to 10mls in the afternoon and is giving Mama quite the challenge to keep up with his feeding needs but I’ve been staying on pace. They attempted to turn his heater down and see if he could maintain his temperatures on his own but he struggled a bit so he’s back under the heat. I’m so proud of how well he’s done the last few days. Big steps makes me a happy Mommy!

Baby Boys Wild Ride: The Birth Story

Well, it’s official, my children like making surprise appearances for their births! Little man wanted to make sure he had a story to tell about his birthday and he sure has one. 

Friday was the beginning of this weekends festivities, it was the first day my best high school friend and her daughter, who’s 3, were arriving in town for my baby shower and my Moms best friend arrived as well. The girls spent the day hanging out and playing and having a blast and all of us grown ups spent time catching up and laughing at the kids being silk. Saturday my best friend from college and her 3 year old came into town. The level was raised exponentially. 

That night, after dinner I started to feel a little strange. Back ache started but it was the middle of my back so I didn’t think much of it. Then I started getting some abdominal cramping but not contractions. This was enough to make me need to lay down. I put my feet up, drank some water and finally the cramping let up but Braxton Hicks started. 
It was about 8:30pm so we decided to leave my parents’s house to get the girls in bed. After bedtime routine and Sofia was down, I realized the Braxton Hicks where getting a little stronger than normal. Around 9pm I started timing them. After an hour, I realized that they were about every 6.5min and fairly strong but not enough to be unbearable. I called in to the OB and waited for a call back. When the intensity was getting a little too strong and I hadn’t received a call back. I told my husband, we needed to go to triage. 
We were monitored in triage for a couple hours and the contractions weren’t stopping but since I was only 35
Weeks 1day, they wanted to try anything they could to avoid a cesarean if at all possible. 
I was given a single shot of Terbutaline which made me feel like my heart would best out of my chest, all while making my hands shake and giving me a massive headache and making my poor little guy go insanely busy with the effects too. They monitored me for a bit, contractions slowed but not enough for my OB to feel comfortable letting me go home.
We decided the best bet was overnight monitoring. Jonathan went home to be with Sofia and get some sleep. I think we were all fairly convinced that sleeping it off would make the contractions finally stop. Nope!
By 7:30am rounds the OB called it as the contractions were increasing in intensity and he didn’t want to risk it against my previous surgery scar or the cerclage. My c-section was scheduled for between 8-8:30am. 
Let the craziness begin! Mind you this was the morning of my shower and now we were making phone calls for coverage for Sofia and trying to put up posts canceling the shower, trying to get my husband back to the hospital in time. Panic was ensuing. Oh right and we hadn’t picked a name!
At 9:13 am our precious baby boy was born at 4lbs13oz and 18in long. We are so in love with our little guy. Now, to figure out this name issue!!! 

***promise, we ARE
working on the name*** 

Baby Boys Wild Ride: The Birth Story

Well, it’s official, my children like making surprise appearances for their births! Little man wanted to make sure he had a story to tell about his birthday and he sure has one. 

Friday was the beginning of this weekends festivities, it was the first day my best high school friend and her daughter, who’s 3, were arriving in town for my baby shower and my Moms best friend arrived as well. The girls spent the day hanging out and playing and having a blast and all of us grown ups spent time catching up and laughing at the kids being silk. Saturday my best friend from college and her 3 year old came into town. The level was raised exponentially. 

That night, after dinner I started to feel a little strange. Back ache started but it was the middle of my back so I didn’t think much of it. Then I started getting some abdominal cramping but not contractions. This was enough to make me need to lay down. I put my feet up, drank some water and finally the cramping let up but Braxton Hicks started. 
It was about 8:30pm so we decided to leave my parents’s house to get the girls in bed. After bedtime routine and Sofia was down, I realized the Braxton Hicks where getting a little stronger than normal. Around 9pm I started timing them. After an hour, I realized that they were about every 6.5min and fairly strong but not enough to be unbearable. I called in to the OB and waited for a call back. When the intensity was getting a little too strong and I hadn’t received a call back. I told my husband, we needed to go to triage. 
We were monitored in triage for a couple hours and the contractions weren’t stopping but since I was only 35
Weeks 1day, they wanted to try anything they could to avoid a cesarean if at all possible. 
I was given a single shot of Terbutaline which made me feel like my heart would best out of my chest, all while making my hands shake and giving me a massive headache and making my poor little guy go insanely busy with the effects too. They monitored me for a bit, contractions slowed but not enough for my OB to feel comfortable letting me go home.
We decided the best bet was overnight monitoring. Jonathan went home to be with Sofia and get some sleep. I think we were all fairly convinced that sleeping it off would make the contractions finally stop. Nope!
By 7:30am rounds the OB called it as the contractions were increasing in intensity and he didn’t want to risk it against my previous surgery scar or the cerclage. My c-section was scheduled for between 8-8:30am. 
Let the craziness begin! Mind you this was the morning of my shower and now we were making phone calls for coverage for Sofia and trying to put up posts canceling the shower, trying to get my husband back to the hospital in time. Panic was ensuing. Oh right and we hadn’t picked a name!
At 9:13 am our precious baby boy was born at 4lbs13oz and 18in long. We are so in love with our little guy. Now, to figure out this name issue!!! 

***promise, we ARE
working on the name*** 

Michael’s AD