Cayleigh Jean is 17 days old
Tomorrow is Juliette Grace's 4th Birthday party
Next Sunday is my 1 year wedding anniversary
God is good
Today I woke up a little on the late side..well, the time I got up and stayed up that is. I get up to pump, go the restroom and take medicines throughout the night - but actually staying up is another story entirely. I am thankful to the Lord for such an oustanding man to call my husband. He is my rock and he knows me better than anyone ever has, or ever will. He is the answer to many long years of prayers. He is best friend and, at times, a pain in the toosh - but always, always he is my soulmate and my perfect compliment. (and no, I'm not just saying that to get to sleep in again. He really is all those things & a bag of chips *snap, snap, snap*)
So today, my brother in law, Gary & my sister, Jessi, took the kids to this super cool place in Concord called Sky High. I was beyond gratitude because the kids have been through so much since the baby has been born. They've truly been both strong and well behaved. Nic & I are blessed to have them and we're so grateful they got the chance to get out and be kids today. Uncle Gary, after all, is a big kid and aunt Jessi is the size of a kid (I'm laughing) so they had a blast. :) This freed up our afternoon so that Nic and I could spend the time with our sweet Cayleigh.
While Nic was dropping the kids off, I was putting the finishing touches on some homemade (tub) chocolate chip cookies for the angels (nurses) that take care of Cayleigh. Granted, my initial plan was to make them a cookie cake. However, despite the PAM I used in the pan I couldn't figure out how to get that cookie cake out without it crumbling. Thank goodness for Plan B. There is always a Plan B with me - even if it comes up last minute. So, I used the remaining dough to make roughly 2 dozen cookies and threw them in the oven with about 1/2 hour to spare before I had to A. get dress B. brush my teeth C. cook the cookies and D. frost the cookies. 12-17 minutes later, the cookies were done & I had finshed doing a 1/2 butt job at frosting them with 'daisies'.
Nic arrived, we headed to see Cayleigh with cookies in tow, and we listened to KLOVE as we always do. I said some prayers like always and just enjoyed the silence. We arrived, checked in, 2nd floor, to the NICU floor, signed in, logged in, washed up, potty stop and then got to Cayleigh's door.
It was 'my turn' to hold her and I was so extremely excited. Tess was still there. We'd called a few times throughout the night and Cayleigh was doing just fine. We get inside and Cayleigh is laying peacefully in her crib. Beautiful. Daddy and I pray over her, give the milk I'd pumped on the way over to Tess, and Tess asks if I'm ready to hold her. YES! The entire time - she was totally, completely, utterly peaceful and content. It was like heaven. I don't think I really even need words - I'll just show you some pictures. By the way, the doctor upped her to 45 mls of food today. :)
We left, after I'd held her for 2 hours, and we were on our way to pick up the kids. We made a quick stop to pick up some goodie bag items for Juliette's get together tomorrow and we all headed home. Nic made a fabulous dinner - garlic & herb marinated steaks, green beans w/almond and bacon and some rice. Seriously, it's like I'm married to a chef. Thank you Linda & Gene for creating such an incredible man (and for teaching him how to cook!) :)
We put the kids to bed and then headed up to the hospital. By the time we left it was 8 pm. An hour we were back again. This time, no cookies, but still great spirits. The nurse tonight was Rhonda. Nic met her last night when he was up visiting with her. She's in her 30's and had her long blondeish hair pulled back in a ponytail. She's very calm. Nic and I pray over Cayleigh and not too long after she begins to reflux from her mouth. Mind you, when a baby in the NICU refluxes their O2 and heartrate drop. When that happens the machines start beeping. It's very, very stressful. On top of that, my baby can't swallow just yet and so if there is something in her airway - well, you get the idea. I call the nurse. She comes over, calmly and takes out the suction thing. Her O2 is too low for my comfort and I kind of panic. I pray a bit and she is ok. Nic is supposed to hold her tonight and he asks if he will still be able to. I forwardly say that holding her will preven the reflux and that he has to hold her. The nurse says that she needs to rest a bit before Nic can hold her.
I go back to Cayleigh and start talking to her. A minute goes by and she is refluxing AGAIN. I get frustrated because I feel like her bed is not inclined enough. I say something to Nic and he calmly tells me to relax. I call the nurse again and she comes back to suction her. She leaves, then I talk to Cayleigh more. A few seconds later she is refluxing out of her nose. I panic. The nurse is back again, Nic tells me bluntly to calm down. I step away from the crib. The nurse raises her crib up and I feel better. A little.
A while passes by (well, like 10 minutes) and Nic finally asks if he can just hold her now. He and I both feel that she wont reflux anymore if she can be held. I tell him to take his shirt off so that they can do skin to skin. He says no. The nurse brings the baby out of the crib and gives her to Nic. He holds her, very carefully. I, being mother hen, begin to adjust her neck, try to make her torso straighter, etc while he is holding her. The entire time he holds her she doesn't de-sat once. We did ask the nurse to suction her a couple of times. At one point, Nic had Cayleigh on his knee, holding her, and I was patting her back to get the air out of her belly. She 'burps' a couple of times. Here are some pictures....
Nic "shares" Cayleigh with me and I get to hold her on my knee for about 5 minutes, burping her and praying with her about her throat. I pray for healing - that her epiglottis, trachea and other neck muscles start working. That she can feel them. That she can begin to swallow. She kind of looks at me.... I pray she begins to swallow on her own. It's one of my biggest prayers lately.
After about 10 more minutes we decide to let her get back to bed. She looks so sleepy. Nic asks Rhonda if she takes Cayleigh out to hold her when she is awake. Rhonda says that they like to leave the holding up to the parents. They don't want to overstimulate her. If you overstimulate preemies they don't gain weight. As I hear this I go "uh huh" in my head. I know it's wrong, but seriously? Babies thrive when they are held. They need it.
Rhonda then sits Cayleigh up in the crib. She says that she sat with Cayleigh this way last night around 11 pm. She sits her up and talks to her. As she is sitting up, Cayleigh is wide awake. Her eyes are fixated on the light above the little baby next to hers ceiling. I laugh and Nic and I snap pictures of her wide awake, bushy tailed and staring at the lights at nearly midnight. Rhonda tells us that Cayleigh was up last night from 11-1 in the morning. Greaaat.
By the way - after over 2 weeks our Cayleigh's cord dried up and fell off! We were super excited because Tess had saved it in a zip lock bag and now we get to put it in her baby book. I know some people might find that weird - but I see the cord, this tiny little shriveled thing, as the lifeline that I provided my baby life with for the past 9 months.
Cayleigh is doing well. Nic and I decided to really watch what I'm eating to make sure I'm not eating something that caused her reflux. So, we'll keep an eye out, write down what I'm eating and see how she handles feedings from now on. She doesnt always have the reflux, but when she does, it feels like an emotional roller coaster and I'm pretty sure it isn't any fun for her either.
Prayers are asked for:
Her throat- that they muscles are fully developed and she begins using them properly..and soon.
Her reflexes - Suck, swallow, gag reflux. Please Lord, may your time be soon.
Her muscles - that she is less tense (on her right leg) and that she moves alot more
Normal stats (O2 and heartrate)
Normal blood work
Thank you
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