Happy 2 week Birthday, Cricket

Ava is two (weeks) today! This is a nice milestone for her and she should be through the most critical part now. She is doing better the past few days with her breathing but remains on "4" for the airflow on her nasal cannula. She sometimes gets down to "room air" but most times needs some additional oxygen. Ava has impressed the nurses with her gymnastics and ability to turn her head and kick and wiggle around. I think she is strength conditioning to try to make an escape one of these nights. Mom and Dad both held her today and yesterday, which she seems to like. Ava has been getting some Vitamin A injections and some additional caffeine (preemies often get caffeine to stimulate their breathing and it helps other things too).

Ava's weight has been up and down. She is just several grams higher than her birth weight (~28 grams in an ounce, if I remember correctly). This is common in very early preemies (to maintain weight for the first 2-3 weeks) so the doctors are not overly concerned at this point. She is getting some enhanced breast milk (added calories). For her, just a few added calories per feeding can make a difference. She is tolerating her feedings well (now up to 21 cc per 3 hour period).

Overall, she is doing well. We probably have 2+ months in the NICU and have been staying in Eugene at the Hospital Guest House (thanks again Children's Miracle Network) while we're here which is nice. Although, we have some good stories from the "Beta House" (fraternity) across from us. They have been keeping us entertained at night.

Here is a picture of Ava with her Cricket stuffed animal hovering overhead. She turned her head into her pillow and put her arms up. She was getting good oxygen saturation with this so they just let her be but I thought it was a cute pose and worthy of a picture!

Linda has been having her toughest Chemo yet but is doing better today after a rough first few days. She had some nausea this round (but luckily for her c-section stitches, kept it together). She really didn't have any nausea with Cricket inside her! I've been told that pregnant women have less nausea than those not pregnant.... Her anemia has made her much more tired this time so she has been napping on the couch in Cricket's room as needed. She isn't used to needing to nap so it is tough for her. There are 5 breast cancer survivors that are nurses in the NICU (two are Cricket's primaries) and they have been very nice to us. One of the nurses advocated to put Cricket in a corner room (at least for now) with more room, a couch that Linda can nap on, and a private bathroom so Linda doesn't have to worry about the public restrooms. It is wonderful they are taking care of us and Cricket so well. Here is Linda during Kangaroo time:

Linda is halfway through her chemo now!!! She is done with the AC and starts Taxol in 1.5 weeks. For that, they will have us in the hospital since there are rare cases of allergic reactions to the vehicle in which the Taxol is delivered (I guess there is stuff that you can get that is absorbed better, but I think it costs too much for them to offer it as 1st line chemo - bummer!). She will have 4 rounds of Taxol then have her breast surgery.

It can take about 1 month for the anemia to get better so she may be more fatigued until she recovers from that. However, each day she feels a bit better and a bit stronger.

Rob.