Bringing In The Carseat

Ever since we've had Ava in the NICU, we've seen dozens of people take the final test before taking their baby home. The test is the Car Seat Test. People need to bring in an appropriate infant car seat (one that will safely fit the typically smaller sizes in the NICU). The nurses place the baby in the car seat while connected to the monitors. The baby sits there for at least an hour and is observed to make sure he/she can manage sitting for that long without having any apneas or other problems.

"Bringing in the Carseat" usually means a ticket home for the lucky boy or girl. We've seen many families bringing their carseat in empty, and the next day they go home! However, we also have observed a few families bring in the carseat, and their child has a problem (a final setback of some sorts), and then they take the carseat away empty until the problems are resolved.

Tomorrow, it is our turn for Bringing in the Carseat!

Here are some updates from the last week on Ava:

She is up to 5 and 3/4 pounds! She continues on no supplemental oxygen. She is exceeding her minimum required feedings by bottle. Ava still needs to be watched closely while feeding, to ensure she is pacing herself. Sometimes we need to take a break and burp her because she is trending toward, or having, a bradycardia (heart rate reduction) due to not breathing as much as she needs to. But, we can spot these every time now, and intervene. They are reducing in quantity and not as bad when they do happen. She does sometimes still choke, but recovers much quicker now. We have made good progress in the past week!

Ava had her RSV (a common virus) antibodies (helps protect against the worse side-effects of RSV - which can really hurt her if she gets it). Almost every baby will get RSV by the time they are two. We just want to delay it until her body can fight it off better - otherwise it could be back the ICU for us. The best prevention is good hygiene! So, when Ava comes home, we'll be holed up inside with boards on the windows and hand sanitizer for awhile, no offense to our friends and family.

Ava had another head ultrasound today, just a follow-up from the first one to make sure there are no problems. She has another eye test tomorrow, and her car seat test. Linda and I had instruction in all the aspects of her care, including infant CPR in the unlikely event that is needed.

Ava Unplugged: We "roomed in" last night. This means we stay the night with Ava in her room (they have a hide-away bed for us - not that we used it much). We ordered in pizza and the nurses only help us if we ask during this time so we're responsible for everything, as it will be when home. Ava is on a 3 hour feeding schedule with about an hour of that is busy time (temp, diaper, getting the food ready, and feeding). So, we would have been lucky to get 2 hours sleep in between feedings but Ava showed us how social she is at night (we've heard stories already from the nurses!). She slept about an hour then got real fussy until someone gave her attention. We also had all her monitors unplugged. This is a bit nervewracking, but designed to ensure we can manage without those crutches when we are home. We did great, and managed through all the nuances of her care without the monitors! Okay, I did get up a few times to peek at her to make sure she was okay. Other than the only 1-2 hours sleep we got the entire night, it was wonderful to spend this time with her. When we are home we will break up the feeds schedule differently (right now, we alternate, but both observe every feed) so we can try to catch more shut-eye each night.

Hopefully, we'll be Bringing Home the Carseat on Wednesday after 10 weeks, one day in the NICU!

Linda is doing well. She has been tired and achy as normal with this type of chemo but overall doing well. She was still anemic at her last blood test but slightly up from before, so showing steady improvement. Her other counts continue to look good. She has a CAT scan and bone scan at 7am tomorrow. They don't expect to find anything new from these, but they will be a baseline as she has checks over the coming years. Her surgery is scheduled for December 11th! It will be an outpatient surgery, but we'll go in at ~6am and come home about 5pm that night. One of the NICU nurses has graciously offered to watch Ava while we are in surgery!

Ava in her crib:

Feeding time w/ dad:

Okay, who bought her the convict onesy?!

Ava's delivery doctor: Dr B delivered Ava that night many moons ago! We have grown very close to him and his partner, Dr K, as they are high-risk OB/GYNs in Eugene and have followed us since Cricket's early ultrasounds. Both have taken outstanding care of the three of us. Dr. B played for the Oregon Ducks basketball team in college and is a wonderful person - and yes, he is as tall as he looks!

Rob.