Short and sweet...
I gave her 2 bottles today and she took all 34ml of formula!!!
She got weighed again today (she gets weighed everyday here) and she's gained another 40g
That puts her at 3lbs 14.4oz...1.4oz's shy of 4 POUNDS!!!
Archives
Monday, January 28, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Holy weight gain batman...
Ok so whether it's related to the change in formula brand, new being a big puffy still, or the change in scales, little miss went from 1600 at admission into her new home, to 1690 the day after, to 1730 today bringing her up to 3lbs 13oz, 3oz's shy of 4 POUNDS!!!!!!
I think she just really needs to have a good poop because 90g in one day seems a little much, but the 40g from yesterday to today seems about right.
Her move from one hospital to the other has proved good but they are still getting to know her so her temperature they are still working at stabilizing or 'adjusting' to their isolette's vs the others. Now she doesn't have to be bundled up in her isolette, she gets to just wear a sleeper...another step up.
Alright Maddi and Jordan are both crying right now as neither one wants to go to bed, sooooo I'm off to deal with those two. More updates (as always) to follow...
I think she just really needs to have a good poop because 90g in one day seems a little much, but the 40g from yesterday to today seems about right.
Her move from one hospital to the other has proved good but they are still getting to know her so her temperature they are still working at stabilizing or 'adjusting' to their isolette's vs the others. Now she doesn't have to be bundled up in her isolette, she gets to just wear a sleeper...another step up.
Alright Maddi and Jordan are both crying right now as neither one wants to go to bed, sooooo I'm off to deal with those two. More updates (as always) to follow...
Friday, January 25, 2008
She's transferred!!!
So at 2.30pm today she left the building...and arrived sound asleep at just after 3pm. I went to the hospital to meet her upon her arrival and got her all settled into her new home at the special care nursery. No longer an ICU patient, at this point it's just a little TLC and a whole lotta teaching on how to go home. They weighed her again and she was 3lbs 8.5oz, she's just packing it on and I can't wait until she comes home.
I called Roger and gave him all the details etc and although he's working until some crazy time tonight he still wants to go see her in her new place so all the power to him. I am happy as I'll be going to the hospital a lot more to see her with her being so close to me.
Can I mention again how laid back it is there. My security blanket for the last 4 weeks has been the monitors and the constant attention to the babies. Here it appears that the attention doesn't come until the baby demands it. Not that they aren't paying attention but babies here are here for minimal reasons and not a whole lot of concern is going on, if there was she'd still be at McMaster. I'll have to make sure I send something off to them as they've been my strength for the last 4 weeks and I had every intention of going in tonight and bathing and feeding her there but now there is no need and no need to go back to the hospital.
The on call doctor said he was impressed with how well Kenzi has done with being a 30 weeker. He was impressed that she was only on the CPAP for a little bit after birth and then not at all since, that her eye tests came back fine, her hearing is pretty much fine, and the weight she's put on is great. She also hasn't had any apnea/bradycardia spells that resulted in intervention for the last 10 days (if there were any episodes she corrected them herself) and that was a lovely sign and that now that she is 35weeks gestation and with no spells they'd probably remove her caffeine and see what happens as they haven't up'd the dosage with her weight gain, they are just letting her grow out of the dosage. She is off sodium for now and her levels seem fine and she'll still be on iron and poly vi sol which is just a nutritional supplement.
I asked what was the thing with 'baby goes home at 5lbs' stuff and the nurse just shook her head and said with her if it's just feeding from a bottle, as soon as she takes bottles only for a 48 hour period, she goes home!
GET ON THE BOTTLE KENZI!!!!!!! She's taken a bottle before, twice and done really good, and 2 or 3 times she just took 5ml's of her 19-30ml and the rest had to be gavaged...she'll get it...I want her home!
I called Roger and gave him all the details etc and although he's working until some crazy time tonight he still wants to go see her in her new place so all the power to him. I am happy as I'll be going to the hospital a lot more to see her with her being so close to me.
Can I mention again how laid back it is there. My security blanket for the last 4 weeks has been the monitors and the constant attention to the babies. Here it appears that the attention doesn't come until the baby demands it. Not that they aren't paying attention but babies here are here for minimal reasons and not a whole lot of concern is going on, if there was she'd still be at McMaster. I'll have to make sure I send something off to them as they've been my strength for the last 4 weeks and I had every intention of going in tonight and bathing and feeding her there but now there is no need and no need to go back to the hospital.
The on call doctor said he was impressed with how well Kenzi has done with being a 30 weeker. He was impressed that she was only on the CPAP for a little bit after birth and then not at all since, that her eye tests came back fine, her hearing is pretty much fine, and the weight she's put on is great. She also hasn't had any apnea/bradycardia spells that resulted in intervention for the last 10 days (if there were any episodes she corrected them herself) and that was a lovely sign and that now that she is 35weeks gestation and with no spells they'd probably remove her caffeine and see what happens as they haven't up'd the dosage with her weight gain, they are just letting her grow out of the dosage. She is off sodium for now and her levels seem fine and she'll still be on iron and poly vi sol which is just a nutritional supplement.
I asked what was the thing with 'baby goes home at 5lbs' stuff and the nurse just shook her head and said with her if it's just feeding from a bottle, as soon as she takes bottles only for a 48 hour period, she goes home!
GET ON THE BOTTLE KENZI!!!!!!! She's taken a bottle before, twice and done really good, and 2 or 3 times she just took 5ml's of her 19-30ml and the rest had to be gavaged...she'll get it...I want her home!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Another quickie...
i'm really stressed out today so it's really basic tonight...
-- had a bath and did so much better, i think she may even be liking the baths!
-- weighed in at 1559g!!!!!! that's 3.4lbs or 3lbs 7oz
-- she's completely closed her IUGR gaps and now we are just going to work on the gestational age vs IUGR age gap (3w3d)
-- she almost got transfered today, however it wasn't to the hospital we wanted, but another one so i'm glad that transfer fell through
-- that totals 10 days waiting for a bed so far
-- had a bath and did so much better, i think she may even be liking the baths!
-- weighed in at 1559g!!!!!! that's 3.4lbs or 3lbs 7oz
-- she's completely closed her IUGR gaps and now we are just going to work on the gestational age vs IUGR age gap (3w3d)
-- she almost got transfered today, however it wasn't to the hospital we wanted, but another one so i'm glad that transfer fell through
-- that totals 10 days waiting for a bed so far
Monday, January 21, 2008
Tummy sleeper...
Monday night bath and weigh in are complete. She semi enjoys the tub but I conclude that it probably has to do with the fact she gets wet and part of her still hangs out of the water so she gets cold fast. Once we take her out and put her on the blanket and cover her up and I dry her hair (yes she has some) she gets quiet again.
Tonights stats are 1475g. What a long way from 855g, or rather 750g which was her lowest. All that converted is 3.25lbs, 52.03oz and 3lbs 4oz overall...very very exciting! :)
Was told she had her eye exam today and took it like a champ. However results won't be available until tomorrow or Wednesday. We were lucky and got to go in 2 times today to see her. They told us they were stopping her sodium (not sure if that's indefinitely or not), still giving her caffeine and the poly vi sol, will check on the head ultrasound (as they usually do a follow up 4 weeks from the first so that should be coming within the next week if that's the case), still no sign of a bed closer to home, increased her feeds from 17ml's to 18ml's every 2 hours annnnnnnnnnd they are introducing the bottle again but doing it once a day from here on out. We tried tonight but I think with the bath she was pooped out and therefore just didn't really want to bother with the bottle sooooo hopefully they'll try her again on it tomorrow afternoon-ish.
Otherwise not much else to report. She's officially growing right out of her 1-2lb sleepers as her toes kind of stretch out the bottom so it's on to something new.
Tonights stats are 1475g. What a long way from 855g, or rather 750g which was her lowest. All that converted is 3.25lbs, 52.03oz and 3lbs 4oz overall...very very exciting! :)
Was told she had her eye exam today and took it like a champ. However results won't be available until tomorrow or Wednesday. We were lucky and got to go in 2 times today to see her. They told us they were stopping her sodium (not sure if that's indefinitely or not), still giving her caffeine and the poly vi sol, will check on the head ultrasound (as they usually do a follow up 4 weeks from the first so that should be coming within the next week if that's the case), still no sign of a bed closer to home, increased her feeds from 17ml's to 18ml's every 2 hours annnnnnnnnnd they are introducing the bottle again but doing it once a day from here on out. We tried tonight but I think with the bath she was pooped out and therefore just didn't really want to bother with the bottle sooooo hopefully they'll try her again on it tomorrow afternoon-ish.
Otherwise not much else to report. She's officially growing right out of her 1-2lb sleepers as her toes kind of stretch out the bottom so it's on to something new.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Last night's update...
Hey guys...sorry about no update last night, I was so tired that I came home, figured out all my calculations and then just fell asleep on the couch.
I can say that Kenzi did gain some more weight (of course she did) and she is now 3lbs 2.4oz. She gained exactly 2 oz's in 2 days which seems to be her regular gain so if she keeps that up she should be 5lbs by Feb 16th so who knows. Still waiting on a bed in Oakville, maybe we will get lucky this week.
I bathed her, changed her bum, and dressed her. Roger held her and fed her. Pretty basic night.
Will update again tonight after our visit if there is anything to report. I need some caffeine right now! :)
I can say that Kenzi did gain some more weight (of course she did) and she is now 3lbs 2.4oz. She gained exactly 2 oz's in 2 days which seems to be her regular gain so if she keeps that up she should be 5lbs by Feb 16th so who knows. Still waiting on a bed in Oakville, maybe we will get lucky this week.
I bathed her, changed her bum, and dressed her. Roger held her and fed her. Pretty basic night.
Will update again tonight after our visit if there is anything to report. I need some caffeine right now! :)
Sorry for the delay, here's a semi new pic...
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Go Kenzi, Go Kenzi...
So little miss miss is a whoppin' 3lbs .4oz tonight...she's moved on to the next pound. YAY!
Since Miss Maddi is being a stubborn little brat tonight along with her brother Jordan I need to cut this short and just say GO KENZI GO again...
She also drank from a bottle for the first time today with not real issues and I tried again tonight but it didn't work out as great so they'll maybe try her again tomorrow...
IM SUCH A PROUD MUM RIGHT NOW!
Since Miss Maddi is being a stubborn little brat tonight along with her brother Jordan I need to cut this short and just say GO KENZI GO again...
She also drank from a bottle for the first time today with not real issues and I tried again tonight but it didn't work out as great so they'll maybe try her again tomorrow...
IM SUCH A PROUD MUM RIGHT NOW!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
I want to eat her...
I love bath night. I love weigh in night. Tonight...was both! :) She always does this little ballerina pose when she gets nekkid and it's hilarious. I was kissing her head and decided that I should just smuggle her out of the NICU cause she's so damn adorable.
As per usual dad would not touch her (nor did he take pictures) during bath time, that was all mom. Then I got to put her leads for her monitors back on and dress her all up etc. Of course before her bath was her weigh in and little miss porkchop is now 1322g (2lbs 14.6oz or 2.91lbs). She is definitely over OTMH's cut off which is 1250g-1300g so we are good to go. We are still waiting on a bed at this point but I'm not sweating it. Mac is a fabulous place so I know we are still in great hands. Not that when we get to OTMH we won't be, just that it'll be a beginner process for us all over again. We've also found out that no visitors apart from parents, grandparents and siblings are allowed to visit while she's in the SCU there so that kind of sucks but all in all I think she'll be home sooner than later if she continues on her wonderful path.
She is now up to a big 17ml's of formula every 2 hours without issues. We, as always, love that. A little over half an oz of formula every 2 hours is great. I can't wait until she bottle feeds which SHOULD be attempted sometime next week I would assume but it could be a little later than that. She still has to have sodium supplementation for awhile longer, still on max caffeine for the apnea/bradycardias and she's on Poly Vi Sol which is a vitamin of sorts.
She is scheduled for an eye test next Monday, her head ultrasound again and I think that's all the testing being done. I FINALLY managed to get a length for her too and she's a 15.5inch worm, I love it. She sits in the 3rd percentile I think for growth at this point (remember she's an IUGR baby) but we are hoping to start closing that gap up sooner than later. She is still only 1 day behind in her IUGR dates and then we will work on the rest of the gap.
Will check in tomorrow and let you know if we found a bed for her yet, otherwise it'll be another night at Mac. If in the event we are still there it's just a typical cuddle night, no bathing or weighing in to my knowledge...until then!
As per usual dad would not touch her (nor did he take pictures) during bath time, that was all mom. Then I got to put her leads for her monitors back on and dress her all up etc. Of course before her bath was her weigh in and little miss porkchop is now 1322g (2lbs 14.6oz or 2.91lbs). She is definitely over OTMH's cut off which is 1250g-1300g so we are good to go. We are still waiting on a bed at this point but I'm not sweating it. Mac is a fabulous place so I know we are still in great hands. Not that when we get to OTMH we won't be, just that it'll be a beginner process for us all over again. We've also found out that no visitors apart from parents, grandparents and siblings are allowed to visit while she's in the SCU there so that kind of sucks but all in all I think she'll be home sooner than later if she continues on her wonderful path.
She is now up to a big 17ml's of formula every 2 hours without issues. We, as always, love that. A little over half an oz of formula every 2 hours is great. I can't wait until she bottle feeds which SHOULD be attempted sometime next week I would assume but it could be a little later than that. She still has to have sodium supplementation for awhile longer, still on max caffeine for the apnea/bradycardias and she's on Poly Vi Sol which is a vitamin of sorts.
She is scheduled for an eye test next Monday, her head ultrasound again and I think that's all the testing being done. I FINALLY managed to get a length for her too and she's a 15.5inch worm, I love it. She sits in the 3rd percentile I think for growth at this point (remember she's an IUGR baby) but we are hoping to start closing that gap up sooner than later. She is still only 1 day behind in her IUGR dates and then we will work on the rest of the gap.
Will check in tomorrow and let you know if we found a bed for her yet, otherwise it'll be another night at Mac. If in the event we are still there it's just a typical cuddle night, no bathing or weighing in to my knowledge...until then!
Monday, January 14, 2008
1.5oz in 1 day!
Well I'd like to tell everyone that she's in OTMH now but she's not. I haven't been able to find out why because of the nurse change overs etc but it's either because her weigh in yesterday of 1251g was 1g over her minimum and they want to make sure it's a true weight and have her a little higher or if it was just a case of bed availability. Either way she got weighed in again tonight and she's a whoppin' 1293g (2lbs 13.6oz) so she gained 42g (about 1.5oz) in ONE day. So again with this weight she's closed her IUGR dates AGAIN and this time by a full day so she's only 1 day off now for her IUGR dates for a total of 3w4d overall. Not bad at all for our little 33w3d gestation baby!!!
I'll be sure to check back in again tomorrow to let you know if we've got a bed!
I'll be sure to check back in again tomorrow to let you know if we've got a bed!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
SHE DID IT!
She's 1251g, she's 1251g, she's 1251g!!!
(ETA: 1251g converts to 2.76lbs, 44.13oz, 2lbs 12oz :) -- she closed her IUGR dates by another .5 days so she's only 2 days behind in her IUGR dates for a total of 3w 5d's overall from her gestational -- woohoo)
We are so excited. So excited that we had everything ready for the bath and the bed change etc and Roger even contemplated going over and grabbing the scale but we waited...impatiently...for the nurse to grab the scale and then I held my breath and voila, 1251g!!!
She's up to 16ml's of formula every 2 hours and holding it well. She didn't have any braddies while we were there and one little dip that she came out of and was just fabulous.
Will update again tomorrow after I call the hospital around 1pm as she is on the roster for a phone call in to OTMH and her nurse Amy said by noon they usually know what's going on. She's scheduled to have some blood work done tomorrow and they'll take a little more to check for any infections that she might be trying to fight off and if it's all clear and OTMH has a bed and says everything is fine then she might be moved tomorrow. Otherwise they might keep her until Tuesday just to make sure she's most definitely above 1250g.
Have I said already how excited we are?!?!?
Will update again tomorrow afternoon...
1251, 1251, 1251...
(ETA: 1251g converts to 2.76lbs, 44.13oz, 2lbs 12oz :) -- she closed her IUGR dates by another .5 days so she's only 2 days behind in her IUGR dates for a total of 3w 5d's overall from her gestational -- woohoo)
We are so excited. So excited that we had everything ready for the bath and the bed change etc and Roger even contemplated going over and grabbing the scale but we waited...impatiently...for the nurse to grab the scale and then I held my breath and voila, 1251g!!!
She's up to 16ml's of formula every 2 hours and holding it well. She didn't have any braddies while we were there and one little dip that she came out of and was just fabulous.
Will update again tomorrow after I call the hospital around 1pm as she is on the roster for a phone call in to OTMH and her nurse Amy said by noon they usually know what's going on. She's scheduled to have some blood work done tomorrow and they'll take a little more to check for any infections that she might be trying to fight off and if it's all clear and OTMH has a bed and says everything is fine then she might be moved tomorrow. Otherwise they might keep her until Tuesday just to make sure she's most definitely above 1250g.
Have I said already how excited we are?!?!?
Will update again tomorrow afternoon...
1251, 1251, 1251...
Friday, January 11, 2008
Another update for the boys :)
Well tonights visit went much better than the last 2 days with the machines going off etc. Tonight after her feed it only went off a few times but she brought it right back up herself.
So of course tonight was the big night, the weigh in and bath. Was very happy with both. The bath was umm interesting to say the least, why? Because I got to cloth bath her tonight, not the nurse. I know she's not going to break but I took forever to bath her as I was trying to be as gentle as possible and get everywhere. I don't think I really 'washed' her hair so much as just kind of ran the cloth over her little head and managed to give her a 'mini mo' (a.k.a mohawk). Then we got her a new diaper, a new itty bitty sleeper and the nurse said to bring her on out. I took her out and she wasn't in a blanket all wrapped up this time either so I was able to hold her and see how tiny she actually is in comparison with my arm etc as usually with the blanket she looks a lot bigger. I'll try to get some pics posted tomorrow to show you what I mean.
Her feed went well. She is still on 15ml's every 2 hours and handles it pretty good. She got her crank on a few times after the feed and her machine went off but it came back and she just chomped away on her chooch (soother) -- yes the green ugly one -- and was alright. Daddy had to put her back in the incubator and I was very proud and impressed as see he gets away with not having to bath her or change her etc. He says his hands are just too big and her feels awkward...ahhh hello, she's 1/4th the size of the other 2 babies we had, she's that way for ME too!!! Geez, men sometimes.
Alright so the official stats at 33w gestational age for her is...1185g (2.6lbs = 41.8oz = 2lbs 9.8oz). Gooooo Kenzi!!!! With this weight she's closed her IUGR gap by another day bringing her to 2.5days to reach her IUGR dates and then she just needs to work on closing the 3w3d gap for her gestational age...all in due time. She's doing fantastic, more talk of her moving on out to a level 2 early next week. I'm anticipating that day every second of the day...so until tomorrow or Sunday weigh in, keep the gram countdown on. From 129g to 65g left...come on Kenzi!
So of course tonight was the big night, the weigh in and bath. Was very happy with both. The bath was umm interesting to say the least, why? Because I got to cloth bath her tonight, not the nurse. I know she's not going to break but I took forever to bath her as I was trying to be as gentle as possible and get everywhere. I don't think I really 'washed' her hair so much as just kind of ran the cloth over her little head and managed to give her a 'mini mo' (a.k.a mohawk). Then we got her a new diaper, a new itty bitty sleeper and the nurse said to bring her on out. I took her out and she wasn't in a blanket all wrapped up this time either so I was able to hold her and see how tiny she actually is in comparison with my arm etc as usually with the blanket she looks a lot bigger. I'll try to get some pics posted tomorrow to show you what I mean.
Her feed went well. She is still on 15ml's every 2 hours and handles it pretty good. She got her crank on a few times after the feed and her machine went off but it came back and she just chomped away on her chooch (soother) -- yes the green ugly one -- and was alright. Daddy had to put her back in the incubator and I was very proud and impressed as see he gets away with not having to bath her or change her etc. He says his hands are just too big and her feels awkward...ahhh hello, she's 1/4th the size of the other 2 babies we had, she's that way for ME too!!! Geez, men sometimes.
Alright so the official stats at 33w gestational age for her is...1185g (2.6lbs = 41.8oz = 2lbs 9.8oz). Gooooo Kenzi!!!! With this weight she's closed her IUGR gap by another day bringing her to 2.5days to reach her IUGR dates and then she just needs to work on closing the 3w3d gap for her gestational age...all in due time. She's doing fantastic, more talk of her moving on out to a level 2 early next week. I'm anticipating that day every second of the day...so until tomorrow or Sunday weigh in, keep the gram countdown on. From 129g to 65g left...come on Kenzi!
And the saga continues...
Last night daddy and I went to visit miss Kenzi as per usual. Everything was fine and pretty straight forward until close to her feeding time. What I mean by this is her machine usually dings here and there for a second but then it corrects itself and we continue on. Last night however, I got her change her bum (go Mum I know), and put her back in her sleeper and the nurse wrapped her all up and handed her to me. Then it was time for her feed. She is now at 15ml's of formula (half a standard oz) every 2 hours. So by this point it's pretty straight forward how to do the feeds etc and there I was feeding her, she finished up, they capped the feeding tube and voila, we sit in peace. Yeah right until her machine dings and then goes off on it's own (yay Kenzi), then it goes off again (hey little missy), to which the nurse came over and stood there until she was happy with the number on the Oxygen sat. So it comes back up and we are good to go...yup, up until her heart monitor goes off and doesn't just go ding, ding, ding...it starts going ding ding, ding ding, ding ding and another nurse calmly says 'tap that baby, rub her back, wiggle her around please' so we do that all the while the machine is going off (at this point I'm trying not to panic) and her primary nurse comes out and says 'sorry mom but we have to cut cuddle time tonight, she needs to go back in i think'.
(can I pout and cry at this point, this is the second time in 2 days she's had to cut cuddle time)
So back in she goes, on her tummy and I sit and watch her for 15 minutes waiting to hear the bells again. Only we don't hear the bells, we hear nothing, and all her numbers are exactly where she's happy having them. She falls asleep, we stay a bit longer and call it a night. I'm sad and miserable all the way home. Why are the machines going off NOW? Was it something that I did? Is she going to be alright? All the way home I'm grilling Roger for answers. He of course is reassuring me all the way home that she's fine, she's going to be fine, she's FINE. We get home, get the other two ready for bed (which I'll point out means absolutely nothing as they never go to bed on time) and Roger calls the hospital at my request to make sure everything is in fact fine.
What we basically find out is that with small babies these things happen (if I had a dollar for everytime I've heard that in the last 3 weeks...) and that with her feeds being 15ml's it could be that it's just filling her up to the brim and leaving less room for deep breaths and all that sort of stuff so that combined with the cuddling and her position in our arms etc she just wasn't happy and wanted to be back in her incubator relaxing.
PHEW...
That better be the reasoning behind it. I called the hospital again about an hour ago to see how she's been all day and what's going on and apparently no issues at all, so I'm thinking that yes it was probably just in regards to her feeds that her body was working overtime to get all that food digested etc. They are continuing her on 15ml's every 2 hours as she needs the calories and to beef it up for them and then on to her level 2 facility.
I'm going to go in to see her tonight with daddy most likely as it's weigh in and bath time tonight. My favourite nights of course as it tells us just how much closer to home she'll be (remember 1250g, she's 129g from that now) and also how much of the growing gap she's closed with her dates. And of course bath time, well, who doesn't LOVE bath time!!!! Will update later tonight with her weight etc.
(can I pout and cry at this point, this is the second time in 2 days she's had to cut cuddle time)
So back in she goes, on her tummy and I sit and watch her for 15 minutes waiting to hear the bells again. Only we don't hear the bells, we hear nothing, and all her numbers are exactly where she's happy having them. She falls asleep, we stay a bit longer and call it a night. I'm sad and miserable all the way home. Why are the machines going off NOW? Was it something that I did? Is she going to be alright? All the way home I'm grilling Roger for answers. He of course is reassuring me all the way home that she's fine, she's going to be fine, she's FINE. We get home, get the other two ready for bed (which I'll point out means absolutely nothing as they never go to bed on time) and Roger calls the hospital at my request to make sure everything is in fact fine.
What we basically find out is that with small babies these things happen (if I had a dollar for everytime I've heard that in the last 3 weeks...) and that with her feeds being 15ml's it could be that it's just filling her up to the brim and leaving less room for deep breaths and all that sort of stuff so that combined with the cuddling and her position in our arms etc she just wasn't happy and wanted to be back in her incubator relaxing.
PHEW...
That better be the reasoning behind it. I called the hospital again about an hour ago to see how she's been all day and what's going on and apparently no issues at all, so I'm thinking that yes it was probably just in regards to her feeds that her body was working overtime to get all that food digested etc. They are continuing her on 15ml's every 2 hours as she needs the calories and to beef it up for them and then on to her level 2 facility.
I'm going to go in to see her tonight with daddy most likely as it's weigh in and bath time tonight. My favourite nights of course as it tells us just how much closer to home she'll be (remember 1250g, she's 129g from that now) and also how much of the growing gap she's closed with her dates. And of course bath time, well, who doesn't LOVE bath time!!!! Will update later tonight with her weight etc.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
The 2 day update...
So for those of you that follow along rather closely you will know that tonight was weigh in night!!! I like being there every other night at the 8pm time as I get to watch her get her bath and get weighed and all that fun stuff.
*another drum roll please*
Kenzi is up to 1121g, just 129g from 1250g...and you know what 1250g means right? Yup that's right, she's coming home to Oakville. Not literally home, just home as in OTMH. She gained 58g over the last 2 days which all converted means 2lbs 7.5oz, so just .5oz shy of 2.5lbs!
With this gain she's managed to close her IUGR gap by another half day. So 3.5 days from her on track dates and overall she's 3 weeks 6.5 days behind in regards to her gestational age vs her IUGR age. Gradual process but we are SO proud of her and her "attitude" so far. She's impressing everyone around her and is on the right track. Basically 3 weeks in a level 3 facility and on to a level 2 she'll be going.
She still has a few dips (the apnea/bradycardia) but she still pulls herself out of it. The nurse had to 'remind' her once today which has been very rare, next to nil, over the last 1.5 weeks so we aren't too worried about it. I'll of course check in throughout the day tomorrow before I go in to see how she in tolerating everything.
Yesterday's update was pretty boring (again we LIKE that). The only thing to report was that she was up to 13ml's of formula every 2 hours. Now today (earlier) they were rotating 13ml's and 14ml's and now tonight it's just straight 14ml's which to my knowledge she's handling very well.
Today was more talk of her moving on to a level 2 facility. The nurse said maybe even the end of the week but we are thinking more beginning of next week providing she keeps herself nice and healthy between now and then.
Tomorrow I should be going to visit her around 6.30/7pm'ish and hopefully Roger will drop in after that for cuddle time.
So the gram countdown is on...129g it is...
*another drum roll please*
Kenzi is up to 1121g, just 129g from 1250g...and you know what 1250g means right? Yup that's right, she's coming home to Oakville. Not literally home, just home as in OTMH. She gained 58g over the last 2 days which all converted means 2lbs 7.5oz, so just .5oz shy of 2.5lbs!
With this gain she's managed to close her IUGR gap by another half day. So 3.5 days from her on track dates and overall she's 3 weeks 6.5 days behind in regards to her gestational age vs her IUGR age. Gradual process but we are SO proud of her and her "attitude" so far. She's impressing everyone around her and is on the right track. Basically 3 weeks in a level 3 facility and on to a level 2 she'll be going.
She still has a few dips (the apnea/bradycardia) but she still pulls herself out of it. The nurse had to 'remind' her once today which has been very rare, next to nil, over the last 1.5 weeks so we aren't too worried about it. I'll of course check in throughout the day tomorrow before I go in to see how she in tolerating everything.
Yesterday's update was pretty boring (again we LIKE that). The only thing to report was that she was up to 13ml's of formula every 2 hours. Now today (earlier) they were rotating 13ml's and 14ml's and now tonight it's just straight 14ml's which to my knowledge she's handling very well.
Today was more talk of her moving on to a level 2 facility. The nurse said maybe even the end of the week but we are thinking more beginning of next week providing she keeps herself nice and healthy between now and then.
Tomorrow I should be going to visit her around 6.30/7pm'ish and hopefully Roger will drop in after that for cuddle time.
So the gram countdown is on...129g it is...
Monday, January 7, 2008
Yay for porkers!
I'm very happy to announce that Kenzi is now 2lbs 5.4oz!!! She'd closed the growth gap by another 2 days, leaving her with a 4 day gap between her birth weight and her weight loss. Once she gets back up and closes that last 4 days then she can work on the gap between her gestational age and her IUGR age.
She's down to 2 doses of sodium a day which should finish up by the end of the week and then it's pretty much time for her level 2 move. We are really happy and excited as that'll put her closer to home.
She had a tub bath tonight. Absolutely cute as it's just a little tub and there was little Kenzi. Her hair is hilarious too cause it's a tiny peach fuzz but lots of it. I hope she keeps it but we'll see!!!
Not too much else to report again today other than her level 2 move will be coming up sooner than we thought and little miss oink is taking and holding her own in the feeding department and packing on some oz's! She's even growing a bum...good girl! LOL
She's down to 2 doses of sodium a day which should finish up by the end of the week and then it's pretty much time for her level 2 move. We are really happy and excited as that'll put her closer to home.
She had a tub bath tonight. Absolutely cute as it's just a little tub and there was little Kenzi. Her hair is hilarious too cause it's a tiny peach fuzz but lots of it. I hope she keeps it but we'll see!!!
Not too much else to report again today other than her level 2 move will be coming up sooner than we thought and little miss oink is taking and holding her own in the feeding department and packing on some oz's! She's even growing a bum...good girl! LOL
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Her lil' sleeper...
So here you have it. This is a pic of her in a little itty bitty sleeper that is good for 1-2lbs.
You can kind of get an idea of how small she is too if you look at the nurse's thumb and where abouts she's fitting in her hand etc.
Today we brought home that sleeper cause she pee'd through it...THAT A GIRL KENZ, and they put her in a new one, not ours, and it was at that point I realised Roger bought a blue sleeper...oh well, I know she's my GIRL so it's alright.
Was told today that when she hits 1250g - 1300g is when she should be transfered as long as there are no pending health concerns (basically as long as she doesn't get sick between now and then). Otherwise she's at 12ml's of formula every 2hours and everything else is just standard routine, nothing much really going on with her...I LIKE IT THAT WAY!
Saturday, January 5, 2008
I heart weigh-in's!
Alright everyone. Due to a serious headache probably brought on by lack of food today this is a quick point form update that I promise to elaborate on tomorrow...
-- weigh in was 978g (34.49oz - 2lbs 2.5oz) WOOHOOOOO
-- basically at this point just waiting for a bed in Oakville and for her to pack on a little more weight
-- we put her in the sleeper we bought and she looks adorable (pic to follow tomorrow)
-- her night nurse tonight ROCKS (last nights, i really dont like right now!)
-- weigh in was 978g (34.49oz - 2lbs 2.5oz) WOOHOOOOO
-- basically at this point just waiting for a bed in Oakville and for her to pack on a little more weight
-- we put her in the sleeper we bought and she looks adorable (pic to follow tomorrow)
-- her night nurse tonight ROCKS (last nights, i really dont like right now!)
Friday, January 4, 2008
2lb porker!
So despite going to see her later today I naturally had to call at 8am to find out about Kenzi's weight. '837' they tell me. 'Umm no, that was Jan 1st, she was supposed to get weighed last night'. Few seconds of silence. 'Oops teehee, I was looking at the wrong sheet, 926'.
Drum roll please...
KENZI IS 2lbs .6oz!!!! She's made it passed her birth weight and is 2.6oz over it. I'm so very excited to hear that. Her night was good. She's still taking 11ml's of formula every 2 hours however her tummy looks a little bloated the nurse said but she's going potty fine so they are watching to see if they need to back off on the amount or just extend the time in between feedings.
I asked how her belly button was doing with the IV out if there was any nastiness going on and she said nope everything is lovely. Overall the updates tend to be 'shes doing absolutely wonderful'. Yay on that note. Again I won't turn blind to the prospect of having a not such a great update but I'm taking everything one day at a time and we are very pleased with how everything is going.
I'm feeling better today despite a bit of a headache so I'm definitely going to visit my munchkin today. Will update again tonight if there is anything new to report.
Drum roll please...
KENZI IS 2lbs .6oz!!!! She's made it passed her birth weight and is 2.6oz over it. I'm so very excited to hear that. Her night was good. She's still taking 11ml's of formula every 2 hours however her tummy looks a little bloated the nurse said but she's going potty fine so they are watching to see if they need to back off on the amount or just extend the time in between feedings.
I asked how her belly button was doing with the IV out if there was any nastiness going on and she said nope everything is lovely. Overall the updates tend to be 'shes doing absolutely wonderful'. Yay on that note. Again I won't turn blind to the prospect of having a not such a great update but I'm taking everything one day at a time and we are very pleased with how everything is going.
I'm feeling better today despite a bit of a headache so I'm definitely going to visit my munchkin today. Will update again tonight if there is anything new to report.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
She's FREE!
Ok so not literally however at around 1:20pm today her IV was removed from her belly button thus the ONLY thing still 'in' her body is her nose feeding tube but otherwise she's spankin' clean. I'm relieved as it's one less thing there that could cause possible infection. Miss Kenzi is now up to 11ml's of formula every 2 hours and holding it well. She's had 2 spit ups since all this baby being born stuff but the nurse assured me it wasn't anything to be concerned about and she'll continue to get 11ml's. If she starts spitting up more then they will cut back on the 11ml's OR just give her say 8ml's and then wait a few minutes and give her the other 3ml's. Other than that she gets weighed tonight so I'm excitedly waiting to call tomorrow to find out how her night was and to get her weigh in. Hopefully she's gained more and hopefully it's more than 49grams over the 2 days. Tomorrow will tell. Otherwise Hazel her nurse for the last few day shifts said she's doing wonderfully. *sigh* That's all this mum wants to hear!!!
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Our visit update...
So how cute do you think it was when I showed up to visit Kenzi and seen her wearing a itty bitty shirt? LOL It was adorable. I'll have to download the pics from the camera to upload on here to show you but still it was so cute. She managed to overfill a diaper for us while we were there as well, yup, she is Roger's child!
She was up to 9ml's every 2 hours but in about 20 minutes she's going up to 10ml's. She did have one spit up today but the nurse said it was only 1 and only a little bit. They'll still watch her feeding to see how she holds down the 9 and 10 and then adjust based on that and that most likely tomorrow the IV is coming out of her belly.
Roger and I took turns holding her tonight. First me, then him, and then back to me again! :) She was out for about an hour between the two of us and then back in, bum change and feeding time.
In other news I asked the nurse today at what stage a baby moves to a level 2 facility and she started to say when they are eating and breathing on their own and then she paused and looked at Kenzi and said 'maybe 1-2 weeks!'. I was floored by that. I figured more like 4-6 weeks so that's news. Of course none of that is written in stone but it's nice to hear those words as it's reassuring to me for her situation. She said infection would hold her back, of course, and the only other thing would be if the level 2 had a weight restriction, then she'd be staying in the level 3 (where she is now) until her weight got to where they were comfortable with.
She gets weighed tomorrow night so Friday morning hopefully I'll have some poundage news for everyone, otherwise tomorrow's update should be pretty standard, but it'll still get put up here!!! :)
She was up to 9ml's every 2 hours but in about 20 minutes she's going up to 10ml's. She did have one spit up today but the nurse said it was only 1 and only a little bit. They'll still watch her feeding to see how she holds down the 9 and 10 and then adjust based on that and that most likely tomorrow the IV is coming out of her belly.
Roger and I took turns holding her tonight. First me, then him, and then back to me again! :) She was out for about an hour between the two of us and then back in, bum change and feeding time.
In other news I asked the nurse today at what stage a baby moves to a level 2 facility and she started to say when they are eating and breathing on their own and then she paused and looked at Kenzi and said 'maybe 1-2 weeks!'. I was floored by that. I figured more like 4-6 weeks so that's news. Of course none of that is written in stone but it's nice to hear those words as it's reassuring to me for her situation. She said infection would hold her back, of course, and the only other thing would be if the level 2 had a weight restriction, then she'd be staying in the level 3 (where she is now) until her weight got to where they were comfortable with.
She gets weighed tomorrow night so Friday morning hopefully I'll have some poundage news for everyone, otherwise tomorrow's update should be pretty standard, but it'll still get put up here!!! :)
That's our girl...
So even though I'm hopefully going today to see Kenzi I just had to call to find out the update. I know she was weighed last night and I know that they were going to increase her food in 12 hour instead of 24 hour increments sooo....
She packed on 49g in 2 days bringing her up to 837g, that's 18g from her birth weight. YAY. That puts her at 29.52oz or 1lb 13.5oz. Based on the charts that puts her at about 26w5d growth which from all the calculations I've done only puts her 1w3d off her IUGR dates. Confusing I know but it's more for me than for anyone else! :) Otherwise she had a great night, 8ml's every 2 hours, going to 9ml's every 2 hours at 10am as last night at 10 is when they up'd her to 8ml's. Tonight at 10pm they'll up her to 10ml's which is the max for her size/weight and they'll remove her IV once they are happy that she's taking the 10ml's and digesting it well etc, so the ONLY tube in her body would be her feeding tube in her nose and that's it. LESS chance for infections, which is exactly what we want.
Then the next couple weeks would just be standard tests and watching her breathing dips and keeping her free of infections. At around 33-34 weeks they'll try to bottle feed her and hopefully that goes awesome and then it'll be time for a level 2 facility. Hopefully it goes just standard and like that with no pending problems etc. With all her tests etc coming back normal and clear, infection is the only concern and I plan to make sure that no outside factors play a role should she get one by limiting a few things.
Otherwise it's time to get Jordan to daycare, chase Maddi all over the place, and hopefully get up to the hospital this afternoon, if not tonight.
She packed on 49g in 2 days bringing her up to 837g, that's 18g from her birth weight. YAY. That puts her at 29.52oz or 1lb 13.5oz. Based on the charts that puts her at about 26w5d growth which from all the calculations I've done only puts her 1w3d off her IUGR dates. Confusing I know but it's more for me than for anyone else! :) Otherwise she had a great night, 8ml's every 2 hours, going to 9ml's every 2 hours at 10am as last night at 10 is when they up'd her to 8ml's. Tonight at 10pm they'll up her to 10ml's which is the max for her size/weight and they'll remove her IV once they are happy that she's taking the 10ml's and digesting it well etc, so the ONLY tube in her body would be her feeding tube in her nose and that's it. LESS chance for infections, which is exactly what we want.
Then the next couple weeks would just be standard tests and watching her breathing dips and keeping her free of infections. At around 33-34 weeks they'll try to bottle feed her and hopefully that goes awesome and then it'll be time for a level 2 facility. Hopefully it goes just standard and like that with no pending problems etc. With all her tests etc coming back normal and clear, infection is the only concern and I plan to make sure that no outside factors play a role should she get one by limiting a few things.
Otherwise it's time to get Jordan to daycare, chase Maddi all over the place, and hopefully get up to the hospital this afternoon, if not tonight.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
The New Years Day update...
Alright so mom and dad just got back from visiting miss Kenzi. We are happy to report that she's gained some weight!!! She was 763g the other day, and as of 12/30 she was 788g and tonight they weigh her again so I won't have that weight until tomorrow. So converted that is equal to 1.74lbs and for those number people that's 27.8oz (1lb 11.8oz) so woohoo on that. She's got 67 more grams to go to get back to her birth weight, so hopefully that'll be by the end of the week.
So the ultrasound was done on her head yesterday and the results came back and everything looks normal. I was dreading hearing anything but no news is good news as they say so I was happy to NOT hear anything but to of asked and be told 'normal' I'm pretty happy with that. As well I've been advised not to look into too many websites dealing with preemies that aren't from a medical or university point of view as they tend to stress people out more than they do good. I'll admit I've been all over looking for answers and possible problems that might arise to prepare myself but after speaking with her nurse today I think I'm just going to avoid them for the most part and check out the ones she suggested.
I asked a bunch of questions today in regards to potential problems and all sorts of things and so far they said Kenzi has no respitory issues or anything else really going on. The only potential problems they could see arising if at all would be infections. For someone so little she gets sick really fast but also gets better really fast. So far she's had no infections and with her IV line coming out most likely in the next 2 days it'll be one less thing that could cause infection. So at this point I'm limiting her visits outside her incubator to just Roger and myself. If someone wants to come visit then that's fine, but no touching until I say so.
In regards to Kenzi and her eating these days, she's up to 7ml's every 2 hours but at midnight tonight she said that they will most likely up her to 8ml's every 2 hours as she's been holding it down pretty good and they want to get her to full feedings as soon as they can (which for her weight etc is about 10ml's every 2 hours). So the increases will go from every 24 hours to every 12 hours so once she reaches 10ml's and keeps it all down with no problems then out comes her IV and they just work on getting her fed and filled out. Sometime around 33 or 34 weeks (Jan 11th - Jan 18th) they are going to start trying to bottle feed and see how well that goes. She's probably going to be a little slower at catching on to eating from a bottle but who knows, she could surprise everyone! :)
I asked what was coming up in the next week or so for Kenzi and they said nothing really planned, just some standard blood work to see how her sodium levels are doing but otherwise it's just a straight forward week for this little one...sounds good to us!
So the ultrasound was done on her head yesterday and the results came back and everything looks normal. I was dreading hearing anything but no news is good news as they say so I was happy to NOT hear anything but to of asked and be told 'normal' I'm pretty happy with that. As well I've been advised not to look into too many websites dealing with preemies that aren't from a medical or university point of view as they tend to stress people out more than they do good. I'll admit I've been all over looking for answers and possible problems that might arise to prepare myself but after speaking with her nurse today I think I'm just going to avoid them for the most part and check out the ones she suggested.
I asked a bunch of questions today in regards to potential problems and all sorts of things and so far they said Kenzi has no respitory issues or anything else really going on. The only potential problems they could see arising if at all would be infections. For someone so little she gets sick really fast but also gets better really fast. So far she's had no infections and with her IV line coming out most likely in the next 2 days it'll be one less thing that could cause infection. So at this point I'm limiting her visits outside her incubator to just Roger and myself. If someone wants to come visit then that's fine, but no touching until I say so.
In regards to Kenzi and her eating these days, she's up to 7ml's every 2 hours but at midnight tonight she said that they will most likely up her to 8ml's every 2 hours as she's been holding it down pretty good and they want to get her to full feedings as soon as they can (which for her weight etc is about 10ml's every 2 hours). So the increases will go from every 24 hours to every 12 hours so once she reaches 10ml's and keeps it all down with no problems then out comes her IV and they just work on getting her fed and filled out. Sometime around 33 or 34 weeks (Jan 11th - Jan 18th) they are going to start trying to bottle feed and see how well that goes. She's probably going to be a little slower at catching on to eating from a bottle but who knows, she could surprise everyone! :)
I asked what was coming up in the next week or so for Kenzi and they said nothing really planned, just some standard blood work to see how her sodium levels are doing but otherwise it's just a straight forward week for this little one...sounds good to us!
It's snowing!
Who would of thought, it's snowing, and it's winter!!! I only say this with lots of sarcasm in my voice as we've really not had a lot. One big storm with lots of snow and then nothing. The next time we are scheduled for some is the 12th of January!
Well...HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone from all of us. Another year has come and gone...now 2008 is going to be very promising and lots of stuff going on. Kenzi will be coming home in a little over 2 months hopefully, Jordan turns 4, Maddisyn turns 2, Roger turns 30 (Mwahahahah), we get married, and then I turn 30 at the end of the year.
So the update for yesterday on beaner is as follows. She's drinking 6ml's of formula every 2 hours and holds it down very well. They are either going to keep increasing every 24 hours by 1ml OR depending on how well she does the nurse had said they might increase every 12 hours by 1ml. Here's to hoping she holds it all down well and goes on increases every 12 hours instead.
Because her sodium levels were a little low they put her on supplementation for it. It's doing pretty good now and she gets 3 doses a day. Not sure if that is for a certain period of time or if they keep her on it from now until a later date. Otherwise she's a good little fiesty brat, EXACTLY what I want to hear, and she'll keep fighting her way out of the NICU.
Today is January 1st. Are we going to see her today? OF COURSE WE ARE. Not sure what time but once we get back I'll let everyone know how she was overnight and today.
For those that have made it through the first week of updates, thank you. It's nice knowing I have a few friends that really are interested in how our baby girl is doing, it means a lot, so thank you again! :)
Well...HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone from all of us. Another year has come and gone...now 2008 is going to be very promising and lots of stuff going on. Kenzi will be coming home in a little over 2 months hopefully, Jordan turns 4, Maddisyn turns 2, Roger turns 30 (Mwahahahah), we get married, and then I turn 30 at the end of the year.
So the update for yesterday on beaner is as follows. She's drinking 6ml's of formula every 2 hours and holds it down very well. They are either going to keep increasing every 24 hours by 1ml OR depending on how well she does the nurse had said they might increase every 12 hours by 1ml. Here's to hoping she holds it all down well and goes on increases every 12 hours instead.
Because her sodium levels were a little low they put her on supplementation for it. It's doing pretty good now and she gets 3 doses a day. Not sure if that is for a certain period of time or if they keep her on it from now until a later date. Otherwise she's a good little fiesty brat, EXACTLY what I want to hear, and she'll keep fighting her way out of the NICU.
Today is January 1st. Are we going to see her today? OF COURSE WE ARE. Not sure what time but once we get back I'll let everyone know how she was overnight and today.
For those that have made it through the first week of updates, thank you. It's nice knowing I have a few friends that really are interested in how our baby girl is doing, it means a lot, so thank you again! :)
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