Days 43&44 3.10 pounds Open crib...well almost

All settled in...snug as a bug in a rug...
Tuesday started out with the plans to change over to the open crib from the isolette. That is quite a process. Turning down the little bit of heat left in the isolette, slowly, ever so slowly. Layering clothing and blankets until they look like a snowman in Alaska...practically. Check it out!

"Hey, anyone there?"

"Yes, you...is there any snow out there yet? I really want to play."

"I'm patient...I'll wait...

...and wait, and wait."

This process took several hours then the plunge happened. Open crib, here comes Gracie. She is barely, weight wise, big enough to keep her temp so we will see how this goes...

Yes, she is in there, on top of the new rolling cribs. NICE!

While I waited I found my thumb...and
all this time I thought I lost it!!

Oh, yeah, this is good...life is so good!

suck..suck...suck (can't you hear it?)

You'd think with all those blankets it would be warm. 

All tuckered out after a long days work
of trying to keep warm.

but a little chilly...
After many hours she just couldn't stay warm enough. She was 96.6 and she needed to be 97.7-98.3. She didn't pass and even with diligent nurses putting a warm cloth diaper on her back then swaddling her, she was plain not ready. That's o.k. All in Gracies time. She gave it her best. Back into the warm, cozy isolette.

... I have so much to be thankful for...

Now for the feeds...she is still feeding at 35 ml's or cc's. Gracie, (before the nurse could grab the camera and start clicking), looked like she was praying over her food er...bottle. You know how fast babies move, as a new parent there should be a digital camera glued to your forehead before you leave the hospital, in Gracie's case...long before she leaves the hospital. :)

"And Dear Lord, bless this nutritious milk to my little body...

...to grow and get stronger...

...Oh, wait, bless me not to choke and desat. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Thank you Granny for the adorable, handmade 3-4 pound size nightgown. So adorable and fits perfect! The pretty blue blanket is perfect to keep out the bright lights over my isolette when I want to sleep. (not pictured yet)

"Oh, my! Granny, this is so cozy! I love you!"

This gown even has a lead entry from the side. So neat!

Day 42- 3.10 pounds- Moving Day to Step Down NICU unit

YAY! MOVING FROM INTENSIVE CARE TO THE STEP DOWN UNIT

This photo shows how fast we were on the
move. Once the decision was made...bam...
she was out the door.

Finally the day has come, after a long 6 week stay in two different NICU units, Gracie is moving to the step down unit. Here at Kadlec that unit only has 3 beds and 1 nurse so they don't stay too long. It is basically to get the baby out of the "intensive care" part of the NICU and put them into a much more quiet and more "parents hands on" area. The next step is Pediatrics. That is where babies go when they have "graduated" from the NICU all together and only need a few days before going home. The babies, er, I mean, nurses get to train parents so they are more comfortable taking home a higher maintenance baby. More on that when that day comes...soon and very soon!
Grace had a very good day with all successful feeds from the bottle. I can't wait to breastfeed. I got the go-ahead a week ago but I'm waiting to be in a more relaxed atmosphere before I try. I also want Gracie to gain weight and "see" the food she is eating so she has the right amount. She is also needing to have the fortifier. That is my next question...how will she get that once she is breastfeeding...good question. She is keeping feeds at 35 ml or cc's. Not really anything new...she is just losing fluid weight while gaining lean weight so staying at the same overall. 3 pounds 10 ounces. The doctors plan is to get her out of her isolette and transition to an open crib...meaning one of those little plastic tubs, I mean "beds" which normal newborns are put in. Cool. Even closer to looking like a newborn!

Leaving the intensive care part of
the NICU...YIPPEE!!

Down the hall to the "step down" unit of NICU

All snuggled in her new quarters...wow, it is quiet!

Everyone loved her little dress. They said not many babies wear dresses so early in life...33 weeks gestation! Hehe... Here is her first fashion photo shoot.  She was all about posing in different positions. It was funny. Thanks Hannah for the cutie-patootie dress. This dress is seriously doll size. It'll be on her first doll we buy her. :)

Days 35-41 A weeks worth! 3.10 pounds

     This is a whole weeks worth...hold on...it was quite a ride! Feed wise especially!

Beautiful picture of the Columbia River Temple for Gracie's bed
Thanks Hannah!

Cute as a button sign for Gracies isolet...soon to go in her
room. Perfect.

  Monday-3.2 pounds-Diagnosed with Reflux and was put on Zantac...same as Daddy. LOL 
Started feeds after a tough weekend on only IV fluids. Starting slow with only 4 cc's and for four feeds, then they increase amount. They stopped the antibiotics for her medical NEC. Cross your fingers for a good transition back into food passing through again.

Sister Lauren's hand with Mommy's over little Grace.

Tuesday-3.5 pounds- Started vitamin D
Feeds went up to 8 cc's and no belly loops yet. Great news!! She got the go-ahead to start bottles every other feed. Go Gracie! Show them what you are made of!!! Downed all the bottles with no problem, well except desats. No problem though, that is why the oxygen cannula was invented right? Thank you to who invented the cannula...whoever you are. Grace loves you! :)
Poor baby got her eye infection back again. Back onto Nystatin eye drops.

Grace lifting head to turn to the one side she loves, her right
side. I can hear her saying, "No, you can't make me lay on my
left side!"

"Oh, all right mom. You win"

Wednesday-3.7 pounds-Oral Thrush...how the heck do you get thrush in a controlled environment like the NICU? Crazy, I know. One thing I'm glad I'm not doing when she has Thrush? Breastfeeding. I hear it can be transferred to mommy. Please keep that away! Yuck. Now she is also on oral Nystatin.
Feeds? I know you want to know...get ready...she is taking 12 cc's now! Doc wants her to take that four times and then she'll go up to 14 cc's for two following times. Now, remember, before she got sick last week she was over 20 cc's, so she is basically working back up to where she was and testing her GI track. So far...no belly loops! :) Every time she goes up on her feeds, she goes down on the IV fluids. Good thing too! Poor Gracie is very puffy with Edema, retaining too much fluid. She is looking like a dough boy (girl). The TPN is the culprit they say. "Be gone with you TPN, did you hear, Be gone with you!"
She did start Lasix today to help with the fluid retention. Pleeeezzze work! For the sake of Gracie.
She was also very well known down in the blood center. She had a CBC (Complete Blood Count) draw and a CRP plus something else...sorry, forgot what it was. I know you are disappointed.


Thursday-3.9 pounds- The fluid weight just keeps on coming! Poor baby. Her feeds by bottle are up from 17 to 20 cc's. She hasn't stooled since Monday, so the little "sliver" of glycerin suppository was just a little bit bigger. Poo, baby, poo. You can't hang onto everything...let it go. Fluid and poo.

IV in her head...bummer. They tried
to put it into her hand several times first.
Thank you great nurses for all your
tries...before going to the head.

Gracie found her thumb this week

 Friday-3.10 pounds-
The sick bugs are going around our house today, so...I'm outta there! Grace can't have any sick bugs near her as she doesn't have an immune system yet. She will be very succeptable to illness because it turns into RSV, respiratory bad guys, for the entire winter season, spring & into the early summer. So I'm staying at the hospital during the entire day & then staying with a dear friend & her husband at night until things clear up at home. It is at Hannah's but I sure wish I could be home with my family & hug the sick ones. I'm so thankful for Hannah's and Brandon's welcoming hearts! I really miss everyone. I came up with this great plan though. I put together sacks with treats & toys in them, a paper heart from Gracie & a balloon tied to it all. I put them all lined up in front of the house door and went to the car, called John and they came out. They loved it! That is the best I can do right now to help them feel my love. It was fun!

At our front door...surprise!

A package for everyone...get better guys
Mom loves you!

I was a safe distance away. Flu bugs fly away!

Gracie was a little tired today but still plugged away at the bottle feeds. She is nearing her full feeds with tonight being full feed for her weight. 32 cc's with 30 cc's equaling 1 ounce. Go Gracie! So far no frog belly.
Pooped!! Celebrate good times, come on!! (music playing)

IV free!!

All tuckered out after a full feed

Saturday-3.11 pounds-Started Prolacta again today. The human milk fortifier that started all the problems last week. It is the best for her though and she needs the nutrition. It's base is breast milk, not cow's milk. One good thing about it!

Grace needs a cannula only during feeds, then it's off!
This is a little skinny 2 ounce bottle and a slow flow nipple
as not to drown her. She has a very strong suck.
As you can see...her arms aren't puffy anymore...a little bigger
than my finger width.

Nurses say that Gracie is the strongest in the NICU so that means she is the next one ready to transition to either the step-down unit or the Pediatric floor. YIPPEE! Finally, she is referred to as the most stable. I was wondering when this day would come. Now if/when there is another preemie born, she gets moved. They have quite a few born here. She is the senior in the NICU right now. In the last 2 weeks, since she arrived, there have been about 25 babies put through the NICU. Only 2 who are younger, gestation wise, than her. She is the peanut, besides the 1.2 pound baby. Never seen such a tiny baby. We are, again, packing up her things in anticipation for her move. Please pray that she will stay healthy and keep progressing...


Sunday- Grace weighed in today at 3 pounds 11 ounces! I sure wish this was true weight but she is still very puffy from her chin down to her toes. Nurses were talking about moving her down to a step-down room today but no babies are being moved. That is o.k. as it is the Sabbath day after all! :)
She has bottled all her feeds today with only one needing to have 4cc's gavaged through her feeding tube in her nose.
Gracie got her first neck & shoulder massage as her muscle on her left side is tight & a little shorter than it should be. She loved it & stayed awake through the whole massage.

Her one-finger massage

Mesmerized...ahhh....

She had a strong grip on my hand

Ya gotta try this massage thing...I'm sold!!

Still having lots of desats but no bradycardia or apnea at all.

Gracie is sporting many of her tiny 3-5 pound preemie clothing now. It is so fun to put new outfits on her. Thank you to many wonderful friends who were thinking of Grace when out shopping. You are wonderful! Such cutie-patootie outfits!

Day 33 & 34 3.0 & 3.1 pounds Doing better!

Daddy time on Saturday

This past weekend went better than expected. The doctors and nurses have been very careful on advancing feeds and watching her tummy closely. She is nearly free of tubes and IV's. She is pink now with her new blood transfusion on board. She is alert when awake. Her abdomen is the smallest I've seen it on her, this is great! We are proceeding with feeds but only doing syringe feedings now. This combines her saliva with the breastmilk so it starts digesting before hitting her intestines. She is off of all oxygen and even the air pressure given through the nasal cannula since noon on Saturday. Goodbye cannula! She only has one IV in her left hand. Her conjunctivitis is gone as well as her yeast infection on her bottom. It looks like she is on the upward trend. She also gained a little and is now 3.1 pounds! Go Gracie...

Thank you everyone for praying so diligently for Gracie. She still has some healing...but will know later today as the doctor will inform us of his findings with the x-rays. He wanted to talk to the x-ray experts. Our doctor is very, very good. They rarely have any NEC patients who can't be treated medically. This is good news for Gracie. They do have other treatments if it goes past this but right now, it looks good.

Grace wiggling out of her "nest"

On Sunday, Hannah U. and Missy S. came to visit. I don't know why Missy didn't get in a picture. So sorry Missy. They were there for her 3rd feeding (the first 2 were by bottle) but her first feeding by syringe. It is such a little amount as they don't want to overload her intestines with much. It is also only 3cc's of straight breastmilk at this point. They did that to train her how to suck, swallow and breath. This is usually learned at an older age, however she is seeming to grasp onto the concept. It is like feeding a little kitten.

Hannah practicing baby holding before her little one comes
next month. Go Hannah!

Grace holding onto my gown after feeding

Sister Katie came to visit with Grace. First time since coming to Kadlec. She wanted to stay much longer than the short time she had there.

Gracie all dressed up but no where to go...cute daisy outfit from Hannah and little 1.5" knit slippers from the NICU.

Have you ever slept with one foot out of the covers? Well, she likes that idea! She stuck her foot out of the port of her isolette. I thought it was funny. She's already has one foot out of the NICU...

Hangin' around when all other parents have left and nurses are working on other babies. Laying back in the recliner doing kangaroo care sometimes gets lonely (even though I sing to Gracie most the time or sleep with her)...this is what I look at all day at the NICU; smiling visitors, parents, nurses, doctors and new babies coming and going. This is my view right now.

And this is the best view ever with no tubes! Sure love you Grace!