Big Steps

Well Lily graduated to a different bed today.  Which is really AWESOME.  From what I can gather of my short time in the NICU is that they go from the closed incubator, to this rounded top bed then open crib.  So we just have to hope that everything keeps going in the right direction.  She is now at 2lbs 15oz. And they have upped her to 25 calorie feeds. So that will help her to gain weight a lot faster.  She is also really trying to suck when ever I do her cares on her and hold her.  We are trying to associate a binky with her tube feedings.  So that when she is able to start breastfeeding she will get the suck and swallow down. She also wears clothes now, as you can see from the pictures some of them that I have are way to big for her so they look like a big t-shirt.  But she is so cute all dressed.    Lillian is such an amazing little girl  I am so lucky to have her in my life.

Lily Updates

We haven't fallen off the grid.  But between moving to the Ronald McDonald house and adjusting to all of that, and no Internet access.  Lily is doing fantastic.  She is gaining weight as of today she is 2lbs 14oz.  She is on full feeds and they have upped her calories in the breast milk.  She is wearing clothes now which is really fun, but she is so tiny it is kind of scary to dress her.  But she does look so cute. Also she has graduated up to the bigger preemie diapers (which are still too big for her, but the smaller preemie diapers are way to small.) And she is not longer on the nasal cannula.  So she has adjusted to the room air perfectly fine. And also her pick line was removed.  So the only wires on her are to monitor her vitals.  She is such a fantastic little girl.  I am so lucky to have her in my life.

1 Week Down

Talked with the doctor this morning and she updated us on Lily's progress.  She still doesn't need the light therapy and they have upped her feedings to 1ml more every 9hrs.  So by tom she will be receiving 1tsp of food.  She will also have an ultrasound tomorrow on her head to make sure the brain bleed is still level 1 or if the blood is starting to just reabsorb back into her brain. She is still opening her eyes a lot more which is fantastic and she really loves it when Aaron and I are both there to care for her.  It seems like she really puts on a show for us.  I think we are going to have our hands full with her when she gets older. 

Day 6

Well today was a really big day for Lily.  She got to meet her Great Grandma and Great Grandpa.  She also met her Great Aunt and Uncle x 2.  So lots of visitors.  She also was taken off the Light Therapy, and they upped her feedings from 1ml to 2ml.  So since she is not doing the Light Therapy she doesn't have her groovy shades on, so we can actually see all of her pretty face and eyes.  Which she showed us a lot today.  She is making a lot of good steps in the right direction.  Thanks to all the family for making the trip up here to see us, and the wonderful lunch together. 

For a Tiny Thing She is a Stinker

So this morning when my mom and I went to go do the cares on Lily.  I looked in her incubator and thought something looked off about her diaper.  Well my daughter is a nudist. She had unhooked the right side of her diaper and was trying to hide it with her hand.  For almost 32 weeks old she is a stinker.  I told Aaron today when he got up here to Spokane like father like daughter. 

Surprise!!!!

  As some of you may know our daughter Lillian Olivia was born on Sunday September 26 at 2:44pm and weighing in at 2lbs 7oz, and 15 inches long.  This was because her placenta was not providing her with enough blood to help her keep growing at the rate of my pregnancy.  We all expected her arrival around the 27th of November and no sooner.  But on Saturday the 25th of September  Aaron and I had gone to the fair and come home and relaxed.  But the whole day I was thinking to myself, " I really haven't felt my daughter move today?"  So by 10:30 pm. I was in bed trying to see if she would move for me.   I tried everything laying on my back and rubbing my belly in a circular motion, nothing, I laid on my left side,nothing, had my husband come up and talk to her and rub my belly and even played music for her, and still nothing.  So  at about 10:45 pm. Aaron and I where at the hospital and I was hooked to a baby monitor and they where monitoring her movements.  We were there all night into the next morning.  Aaron had to leave to go home and sleep for him to work at 10 on Sunday but by 7 or 8 o'clock  Dr.Berg the attending OB had seen enough to say that Lily had decreased her movements and they where unsure as to why she was doing so.  It was then she told me I was going to have to be Life Flighted with Medstar to Spokane to have a C-Section to get her out and able to get more of what she needed.    It was the scariest most life changing  4 hours in my entire life.  And what can I thank for all of this???   My 2nd ever Lamaze class.  The instructor Amber  who is a labor and delivery nurse at St. Joe's had told us to make sure and watch for babies movements and if we ever felt that they were not the same as there normal to go to the hospital and have it checked out.  So, I have Amber to thank for my daughter's life.  She actually happened to be the morning nurse at St. Joe's the morning all of this happened.  It was nice to have her there to explain all of what was going to happen to me and Lily.

    But for all that this is worth we are now approaching day 5 of Lillian Olivia's life in the outside world.    She is doing really well.  They don't have her on any oxygen, she has a pic-line in her that delivers all of her needed medicines right into her little body without the need for them to poke her with a new IV.  She is gaining weight and feeding on my breast milk.  She has started to have little bowel movements which are definitely due to the photo-therapy she receives to help with her liver function.  She does have a level 1 brain bleed but the Doctors here have assured us that they are monitoring it very carefully and it is very common with babies that are born this premature.  She is a little fighter and such a blessing for Aaron and I.