Things have been pretty good over the past 24 hours. Ava has improved somewhat which is nice to see. She is taking more milk now (up to 1cc every 3 hours) and had a monstrous poop (for a 2lb little girl, anyway). It was so big the nurse saved it for us. I took a picture but won't share it for you in case anyone is eating lunch while reading this.
Mom had almost an hour of Kangaroo time (skin on skin) and Ava was great during this time. Her oxygen saturation was up and she was very relaxed the whole time. She seemed to like it and made nursing motions with her mouth at times too.
She has still been having her Brady incidents (no breathing followed by severe heart drop) but they have been slightly less frequent. I am able to spot them now before the alarm sounds sometimes and a couple times I rubbed her back or patted her bottom to stimulate her back into breathing with the nurses watching to make sure it worked. The nurses have been helping to show us the right way to do this. Sometimes she will do these when we are leaving which is sad - that she may somehow know what we tell her or sense when we are there or not.
Her CPAP oxygen level has been on "room air" (no additional oxygen) for much of the past 12 hours. Hopefully she continues with this but it is common to go backwards at times so we'll just see how she feels and roll with it.
I changed her diaper a couple times (only my second and third diaper changes in my lifetime), and also have been helping with her measurements such as temperature. Linda is looking forward to helping with these when she is feeling better.
The nurses are getting attached to our little Ava (who wouldn't!) and several have already "adopted" her by asking to be her primary on their work days/nights. Two of the nurses gave us some onesies as a birth gift which was very thoughtful and sweet. The NICU nurses here are amazing and I can't say enough how great it is to have them.
Linda had a more painful day - trying to slow down on the pain meds was a little early. She is doing well, but we'll stay here until Sunday since her c-section was rough and she has the "extenuating circumstances". One of the NICU nurses stopped by to talk with her and shared her breast cancer story (she is a 2 year survivor) and has a full head of hair! You saw from our blog at Ava's 6 month date that Linda still had some hair - it is almost all gone now. We haven't been home since Monday when we left and our lives took this curious twist!
I'm going to go check on my little girl again and tell her goodnight - this has become my routine.
Rob.
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5 comments:
Its so wonderful to hear Ava's daily progress. I'm also so encouraged to hear that she's on room air for the CPAP. Your little one is a fighter to be sure! I hope she continues that progress and can be on a oxygen without the CPAP soon! It will be a treasure to hold her without having to worry about the placement of all those tubes and stuff covering her face! Please give Linda our best and let her know that we are praying for her in her recovery from the c-section and her continued fight against the cancer.
Blair Family,
I am a friend of Heidi & Todd G. in Colorado. I want you to know you are in my prayers daily. My grand daughter Alexis was born 6 1/2 years ago at 27 1/2 weeks, 2 lbs. 2 oz. We know each step these precious little ones take is huge. The loving care they receive now stays with them and makes them compassionate, caring people. May you all be blessed with good health and realize your circle of support reaches far beyond the people you know.
Our family is praying for your family... Please feel free to call anytime, our home is open for you to stay anytime.....we'll be happy to accomidate you....689-3512. We are about 15 minutes from hospital.
ps...the dr. who delivered Ava is a friend of mine, Keith Bernstien, and said you were an amazing person LInda! He is a great person and Dr. Be in touch. God Bless You and your family, esp little Ava.
Thank you for your comments and NICU empathy!!! It is so nice to hear from others who have been down this path before.
Robin - funny that you know Dr. B!!! He stopped by today and said he knew you and had talked to you - he is a wonderful Doctor and a great person!
Rob.
Ava is beautiful! And so are both of you. We are praying for all of you but especially for Ava to gain weight and progress quickly and Linda to withstand treatments well and have a full recovery.
My first granchild Hailey (Don & Heidi's daughter) was born weighing 1 lb, 13 ounces. She dropped to 1 lb 6 ounces. Now she is 15, an A student taking AP classes, catcher on the Aloha High softball team and a digger on the volley ball team. Her name means miracle. Indeed she is and so is Ava. Much Love,
Kathy, Ed, Lisa, Charlette, Don and all of us Leslie
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