That sounds like good news!! Still praying for her! That precious little baby has a LOT of prayers going up for her from all over, so you know that she is in God's hands!!!
So, Maddie did really well all night long with feeding. Today they upped the feeds to 12cc (the amount that she has never liked) and she only had 2cc left after 3 hours, so that is GREAT. We will call shortly to find out how the second 12cc feed went. Maddie has always digested the first 12cc feed but never the 2nd, so we'll see what happens.
She had another blood transfusion today (her fourth one so far). We knew she'd be getting one soon because we've been watching the hemoglobin level falling everyday, but yesterday her whole body looked pale and we knew she needed to be refilled (what we call it ). She had her eyes looked at for something called ROP which is common in preemies. Basically the eyes make lots of extra little blood vessels in the back of the eyes....it usually clears up after time. Maddie doesn't have it tho...so that's good. They put drops in her eyes to dilate them and to numb them a bit and then put a spring loaded thingy in them to hold the eyelids open. So apparently she screamed her head off for the entire thing. her little eyes were all red and puffy when we got there today. We think one of them will be a black eye by tomorrow. ...but that will go away in time. I think that is all for today. :)
No, I can't give blood for her. I am O positive and she needs O negative. Now, Stephen has the same blood type as her....B+, but donated blood has to be treated before it can be given. They have to test it for all sorts of stuff first. Preemies get anemic because their bone marrow is too immature to keep up with their usage....especially when blood is being draw everyday for different things.
Stephen called about her last feeding. There were 2cc left over, so she did digest a full 12cc if you factor in the 2cc remaining from the previous feed that were re-fed to her. So, this time, they re-fed the 2cc again and then gave her the 12cc on top of it. The nurse said that at 4:45, Maddie was not a happy camper...she was crying up a storm. Nurse thinks she was hungry since she stopped after the feeding started. Now we just need her to poop today. She hasn't pooped since lastnight and dr. said she needs to poop....but didn't say what he'd do if she didnt'. I don't wanna find out!
Oh, the poor little darling. Our preemie niece went through alot of ups and downs before we got her home. It was hard seeing what she had to go through. for Maddie.
~~Tam~ You can bury all your troubles by digging in the dirt.
Still praying for little Maddie- sounds like they are working well too- funny to be praying for a poop diaper.... but whatever she needs.... We had the ups and downs with the twins too- one would do fine and the other would have a problem- next day would be the opposite... to see them now you would never believe it... they are so big!
Thanks for all of your poopy diaper prayers! It worked!! We called the NICU this morning to find out what was decided during rounds because we decided we needed to catch up on sleep this morning. Well, apparently between 11:30 lastnight and 10:00 this morning, Maddie had a "massive" poopy diaper and another good sized poop along with 2 smaller poops. So that is GREAT. Her night feedings did not get digested quite as well as the day ones. She had residuals of 8cc which they through away and gave her the usual 12cc and then one of 4cc which they re-fed her and gave her 16cc......the 16cc is her next step with feeding that was decided during rounds. We'll be going in at 3:30 to visit with her today, so that's when we'll see how she's tolerating the new amount of feed. Here's hoping and praying!
It's a 30% increase in her feed. I think it just sounds like alot because the number is larger. Going from 8cc to 12cc was a 50% increase! If the dr. will tolerate the residuals, I think she'll be ok with it.
She seems to be doing OK with the feedings. At 5:00 she had 4cc left...which isn't much. So, they threw that away and gave the 16cc. She sucked on her binky pretty well today too. We ordered some special binkies that are just like the ones that the NICU uses, but just a little smaller. They are special made for babies in the NICU...they don't get in the way of the CPAP or nasal prongs. I ordered them on Monday and hope they are here tomorrow. Anyways, that's all for tonight.
of thankfulness for the poopy diaper/s. It truly is a blessing the little ones do not remember what they had to endure, while those responsible were helping them fight. May the angels continue to enfold Maddie in their gentle embrace.
graffixofeden.net "The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears."
I too was a preemie--and I can attest to the fact that you do not remember things like this. The first memory I can recall (here spur of the moment) is being about 18 months old--& sitting in a high chair on a concrete patio in front of a house. (I know how old I was because when i described the memory to my mom, she said I had just described where we lived on Scott Field Air Base in Belleville, Il. and I would have been about 18 mo old.
I will continue to keep all of you--but especially Maddie in my thoughts & prayers.
Last edited by JunieGirl; Jul 12th, 2007 at 06:47 PM.
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Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain!! .....
At 8:00 they pulled 7cc from her belly, threw it away and gave the 16cc again. If she continues to do this, I wonder what the dr. will do. Hopefullly just tell them to keep trying.
I forgot to mention that she weighed 4lbs. 7.5ozs today.
Stephen just called to see how the 11:00 feed went. They pulled out 6cc, threw it away, and gave her another 16cc. So, now we're going to bed and we'll go to the hospital in time for rounds tomorrow. 'night!
We just got home from the hospital and I wanted to post an update before I went to bed. Maddie is doing GREAT. Yesterday her feeds were put to 20cc every 3 hours (cant remember if I told you that) and today she was upped to 25cc every 3 hours. She is actually doing better with these feeds than she did when they switched to the 20cc. Today her weight was up to 4lbs. 11.5 ozs. Because her feeds are up and doing well, they have stopped the TPN (fluid nutrients that are good, but if on them too long will become toxic) and lipids (liquid fats). She was put on clear fluids and the nurse said that by the end of the week if she keeps doing as well as she is now, she'll be on full feeds and off the fluids. So, all is well. 'night!
Jen, what wonderful progress for little Maddie- I keep checking in and reading- and still praying too... just don't always post- she is a little doll... won't be to long she will be keeping you up at night at home too! Nana
Last edited by Nana's11; Jul 15th, 2007 at 11:14 AM. Reason: forgot color..DUH!
Glad to hear everything is going so well for Maddie. Please take care of yourself and Stephen too. You both need to be well so you can be there for Maddie. Continued prayers for you all.
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Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain!! .....
Maddie did well with her feeds all through the weekend. They steadily increased them and today she was put up to 35cc/3 hours. That is what they call her "full feed"....it is what she should be eating. They took her off of all IV fluids. The only thing she gets in her IV now is what they call D-10. It has some dextrose and heparin running through her PICC line and it is only running to keep the PICC line good. The dr. said that if she tolerates the full feeds for a couple days, then they will take the PICC line out and she won't have any IV's in at all. They have changed her IV meds to oral meds. The only thing she really gets as far as medicine is caffeine, arithromiacin (for bowel movement), reglan (for bowel movement),and prevacid (in case of reflux). So, the weekend was a good one. :) The dr. said that once she is on full feeds for a couple days and has shown that she can grow on the full feeds for a few days, that they will try her off of the CPAP again.....maybe the beginning of next week. Apparently the TPN that she was on can cause the lungs to mature slowly, so that was probably why she had trouble last time they tried. If she tolerates being off of the CPAP and breathes well on room air, then she will graduate to the NSCU (neonatal special care unit) which is basically the feeder/grower side. Once there, she'll be taught to breast or bottle feed and will be going through testing to go home. So, that's all for now.... tonight is BINGO night!!!! woohoo!!
Maddie continues to do well on the full feed. They are supposed to take her PICC line out today! Dr. mentioned maybe taking her off of the CPAP on Friday. I asked if he was on this weekend and he said no and then I asked if we could wait until Monday for that. He said "I could probably do that" He knows I'm nervous about that. Tomorrow they are adding fortifier to the breast milk to give it the calories that she needs. She has lost weight 3 days in a row. It is normal for that to happen after they end TPN and lipids. That's about it.
Oh, I can't remember if I posted this before, so I'm posting it now. This is the link to our website. Stephen updates it every now and then and puts new pictures and adds new entries to the blog. Enjoy... http://www.vermeire.net/stephen-jenn/
I am so thankful things are moving along in a positive direction, Jen. Soon Maddie will be home for you to cuddle with all yoru heart desires. I love the pics on your web site!
Shirl
graffixofeden.net "The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears."
I am so thankful things are moving along in a positive direction, Jen. Soon Maddie will be home for you to cuddle with all yoru heart desires. I love the pics on your web site!
Shirl
I could not have said it better. Congratulations!!
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Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain!! .....
Today we were surprised when the doctor decided to take Maddie off of the CPAP machine! He was originally talking about taking her off of it on Friday, but the nurse asked if they could do it today and he said they could try it. The nurse didn't waste any time either! Before rounds was even done, that machine was off and the tube and cap were off her head! She was doing really well without the CPAP when we left the hospital. We'll see what happens today and tonight. Doctor said that if she does well off the CPAP today and tonight that they will think about introducing Maddie to the breast. Not so much to feed, but just to get used to it since she's only been shown the pacifier.
Tomorrow, Stephen, his mom, and I are going to take the neonatal CPR class. The hospital offers it for free and I think that we are required to take it before we can take Maddie home, so we figured we'd get it out of the way. I'm already CPR certified for another year, but the nurse who is teaching the class tomorrow said that things have changed since I had my last class. She also needs someone to sign up for the class so that she has an hour of free time to have a meeting with the hospital board. She is inventing a new CPAP that will stay on a baby's face better, so we decided to help her out.
I think that is all for now. We did take pictures today and I will post them, but I need to get some other stuff done before I do that and we are going to go for a bike ride soon too. So, probably this evening I will post those pictures. :)
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