I wrote this entry a while ago, when I was thinking about Vivian's stay in the NICU. While it's still hard to even think about, I never want to forget the memories of how our little one came into our lives. This list sums up most of what we remember about those dreaded but heavenly days. (Get ready, it's lengthy.)
· We were told many times that our little one was super feisty. We considered this a great thing because she was determined to get out of there.
· Never had to be intubated. Started on oxygen with a nasal cannula but was breathing on her own after just 3-4 days. There were several times she was put back on oxygen but only on a room air level. For the most part, she was a rock star at breathing.
· Had a feeding tube for the majority of her stay. She pulled it out on her own (again, feisty!) about 3 weeks before she was sent home. We were able to start bottle feeding once she was able to eat again, so she didn't have to have her tube placed again.
· Every 3 hours, her bum was changed, temperature checked, oxygen monitor moved, and fed through her tube. They call this Care times. We tried to be there for the majority of these Care times so that we could be the ones to care for our little one.
· We practiced nursing a number of times. She was just starting to get the hang of it when she was forced to fast due to tummy problems. Which leads to…
· There were 3 separate times when she wasn’t fed any food through her feeding tube. She was sustained on IV fluids but nothing was put in her belly to help her belly get better.
· Her belly issues were due to slow gut motility. There were early signs of infection (a call in the middle of the night telling us she had bloody stool) but she never got necrosis in her bowels (thank heavens).
· Since her belly was so sensitive, she could never tolerate the fortifiers they added to my breast milk. These are what usually triggered her digestive problems.
· She had a number of abdomen x-rays to see what was going on in that cute little belly.
· We FaceTimed with Derek almost every day. He also watched on the webcam above her isolet when he was at school.
· Her glucose issues started to present themselves when they tried to wean her off the IV fluids. Once this started, they had to prick her heel and test her glucose levels before feeds every 6 hours.
· The highlight of every day was when I could do skin to skin or “kangaroo care” with my mini baby. After care time and while she was fed through her tube, I could hold her on my chest for as long as I wanted. Viv loved this snuggle time also and slept very well while her momma held her.
· She received a blessing from Grandpa and Scott Heiner one of the times they tried to wean her off the fluids in hopes she wouldn’t have to have a glucagon challenge. Derek was there in spirit, with the help of FaceTime.
· She ended up failing the glucagon challenge, and after consulting with the endocrine team at Primary Children’s, the doctors started her on Diazoxide. None of the nurses had ever heard of or administered this medication.
· On 3 separate occasions they tried to start a PICC line, since a good vein was beginning to be hard to find and she needed to be on IV fluids a while longer. Each time she was poked 6-7 times, with no success any of the times. This was especially traumatic for me. Thankfully, she didn’t need to be transferred to Primary Children’s for a PICC line and they continued to find veins to place IV’s.
· She had IV’s in her feet, arms, hands, and my least favorite—scalp.
· The doctors in the NICU often likened the NICU experience as a rollercoaster. There are lots of ups and downs with the babies. There were days Vivian made lots of strides and days where she had setbacks. It was also an emotional rollercoaster for this new momma.
· Her love of bathing started in the NICU, and especially loved getting her hair washed. This was one of my favorite things to do with her, and a favorite thing to see for Grammy and Grandpa.
· All of the doctors, NP’s, and nurses were amazing. We always felt so lucky to have confidence that our babe was being cared for by amazing people when we couldn’t be there.
· Some of our favorite nurses were KD, Tami, Cami, Janae, Katie, Natalie, and Kristy. Kristy was her nurse the night she was born and the last night before she went home. Teresa Warwood, one of the NP’s, willingly called Derek often to give him detailed updates of Viv’s condition. Dr. Miner was the doctor who worked on her just after she was born. ALL of the staff in the NICU was amazing and we will always remember their kind, loving gestures during the time we spent there.
· It was so exciting when she was able to fit in preemie-sized clothes. I also loved picking out bows for her.
· Viv took a pacifier as soon as she was born and loved to suck on it. She loved it so much she would suck too hard and it would pop right out of her mouth if it wasn’t held in.
· She loved the “frogs” they put on top of her blankets. They were small bean bags that provide a little weight on tiny preemie bodies. This was very comforting for Vivian.
· We got to know a sweet mom named Danielle whose babe was next to Vivian. She was beautiful and kind and left some preemie clothes for Vivian with a note when her baby was discharged. It was so nice to be surrounded by kind people during such a traumatic time.
No comments:
Post a Comment