Whimsical Wednesday

Annie weighed 2 lbs. 3.6 oz again yesterday, so no gain from Tuesday. As long as she didn't lose any more weight, I am fine with her putting it on slowly but surely. When I got there, she was wearing this adorable yellow and pink hat! She is ready for spring! I just thought it was the cutest thing and had to get a picture. She had kangaroo time with Daddy and me today. She snoozed while I held her and Gramary and Granddaddy came up to snap some pictures. I am usually there by myself when I hold her and don't get to take any. She was really alert when Daddy held her and gazed at me, so I snapped a few pictures of her with her eyes open. You can only see one because of the CPAP, but it's amazing how alert she is at such a young age.

I ran into Dr. McIntyre again today, and she asked me how I thought Annie was doing. Of course I said that we were very happy with her progress. She agrees, saying that "she is doing great." We love to hear good things about her, especially when you consider the source. She has been doing really well, 10 ml/3 hrs for feeding and CPAP of 6 still as of yesterday. The swelling/fluid retention in her right leg has gone down and she is lifting her head and turning it. I think she's trying to get that CPAP off of her face. They have to retape or readjust that thing almost every day!

Today is a big day for Annie. They may do her scan to see if the Grade 1 brain bleed is resolving on its own and they will probably decrease her to 4 on her CPAP. The doctor said she would possibly be off by today, but I think they need to get her to 4 on the CPAP before they take her off.

Please pray for Annie that she does well today!

Thanks,

Andrea

Up to 10 CC's

They increased Annie's feedings up to 10 ml every three hours today! YAY!! Feed our bunny!

Weight Update

Annie weighs 2 lbs. 3.6 oz., so she lost 0.6 oz from Monday to Tuesday. That is okay since the other night she gained 1.6 oz; she still was up an ounce from the last two days! It is also to be expected that she will gain and lose weight.

Please pray for Annie. Tomorrow they are going to be scanning her again to check and see if her Grade 1 Brain Bleed is resolving on its own.

Thanks and love,
Andrea

Our Angelina Ballerina

Annie did well tonight with her kangaroo care with Daddy. Daddy was worried about how comfortable she was, but all of her vitals were looking fine and our nurse Sarah told him she was doing well!

We kept wanting to bring her a book to read from home. We really liked the book from the NICU called The Gift of an Angel, but we wanted to read her one of the Angelina books. We finally remembered tonight to bring one of her Angelina Ballerina books that Aunt Monique gave us, it was called The Rose Fairy Princess (for our little Angelina Rose Fairy Princess :) While Daddy was kangaroo'ing, Mommy read the book. Daddy said that Annie seemed to enjoy being read to.

Today, Annie has begun lifting/turning her head. She also has been squirming around a lot to try reposition herself. Our nurse, Ruth, thought it was so cute that she snapped some pictures for Mommy and Daddy and left them. Mommy saw her lift her head and turn it earlier today, but forgot to mention that in the earlier update.

Thanks so much for all of your prayers through this journey. It truly makes a daily difference for our little miracle.

Love,
Andrea

The Right Direction

So today Annie was doing well. We talked to another one of the docs, Dr. McIntyre. She decreased Annie on the CPAP down to 6 and said that they might take her off of it by Thursday!! Wow! Then we could see her pretty face ALL the time! She said that Annie is doing a "great job" and she believes that they will be able to wean her off this week. (Keep praying!)

We had a little bit of Mommy and me snuggle and cuddle time and kangaroo'd for about 25 minutes or so today and Daddy will be coming back this evening to cuddle with her. This will finally, hopefully be our first day to have the 2 a days!

After we cuddled, we changed her diaper and when cleaning her up Annie started tinkling everywhere which made Mommy start laughing! When she stopped, she passed gas, which made Mommy laugh even harder. Ruth, our nurse, came back and asked what she was doing...to which she replied, "OH, Angelina, that is not very lady-like!" It was such a joy. How many mommy's are THIS proud of their baby's first sprinkle and toot? :)

Her temperature had done really well and was at 98.4 after cuddling.

Annie does have a little swelling (fluid retention) in her right leg/calf, but they do not see it as something to worry about. They expect it to absorb on it's own. If they think it will become a problem they will give her some medicine to clear it up.

Please keep praying for Angelina!

Weight Update

As of last night, Annie weighed 2 lb 4.2 oz. That means in one day she gained 1.6 oz. The nurse mentioned that that was a lot to gain in one day and they are going to watch her and make sure that she is not retaining any extra fluid. She said they don't get really worried unless a baby gains 100 grams or more in one day (more than about 4 oz.) and as of this morning the nurse practioner had checked her out and left her alone. Hopefully it is just a growth spurt. Keep praying for Annie!

Andrea

Happy 2 Week Birthday, Annie!

Today, Annie is 2 weeks old! Her nurse today was Ruth. Ruth said she is getting so big. :)

She had kangaroo time with Mommy today. She was so relaxed and happy. Her CPAP was coming off of her face; they are supposed to get it taped back on today. After kangaroo, Mommy changed her diaper and put some Boudreaux's on her. She was wiggling so much that it got on both her feet. It was hard to do because they turned the lights off because they were about to do surgery on another baby.

Then Mommy took her temperature, Annie HATES it when you take her temperature. The thermometer goes under her arm and has to be held there until it is finished. She started screaming and crying and kicking her legs; she was so upset. :( But it was all worth it because she had maintained her temperature at 98.7

Daddy was sick today, so he won't be able visit Annie or to kangaroo tonight. He's going to stick around and make sure he doesn't feel any worse. Mommy gave her kisses for Daddy while she was kangaroo'ing and they said a little prayer for Daddy to get better so he could visit again.

Annie is HUNGRY!

Annie was increased from 7 ml to 9 ml of milk every 3 hours! Yay!

She has been doing well!

Weight and Length Update - Sunday

Tonight, I called Annie's nurse Fiona and she was doing well on the CPAP at 8 PEEPs: no oxygen desaturation and good respirations.

She also gave me a new weight update. Annie now weighs 2 lbs 2.6 oz, so another 0.7 oz for our little girl! Yay!

She also checked her length. Annie was born at 13 inches, now she is about 14 inches. So she's getting longer and heavier!

We are so proud of our strong little girl.

Please keep praying for her to grow and jump over these NICU hurdles!

Love,
Andrea

Super Sunday!

Annie was doing great today! She had kangaroo time with her Daddy and truly is a Daddy's girl. You could tell she was lovin' every minute of it! She looked very relaxed: her heartbeat was nice and strong, her respirations were awesome and her oxygen saturation stayed up at 100% almost the WHOLE time!

They still have her on 7 ml every three hours for her feedings.

Also, they decreased her PEEPS on her CPAP from 10 to 8!! The PEEPS are the amount of pressure they put through to help her inflate her lungs. Dr. Hernandez told us that they probably wouldn't start decreasing them until she was a kilogram (which is about 2 lb. 3 oz or so), but she's been fighting through everything so strongly, I guess they decided to give it a try. The decreased it when Daddy was holding her and she was doing fantastic! We love our baby girl so much! She is already such a strong woman!

Here are some pictures of our visit today when Daddy and Annie were kangaroo-ing. :)

Love,

Andrea