Spitting Up

At the lactation consultation on Tuesday, Lily weighed 4lbs 5oz - up from her doctors appointment on Monday!  We started her on a multi-vitamin at the request of her pediatrician and all hell broke loose.  Starting late Tuesday Lily started spitting up all the time and not necessarily after feedings.  She was unhappy all day and all night.  This was not the kind of spit up where she felt better afterward.  It was coming out of her nose and she was screaming every time.  I was convinced it was because I started drinking Dr. Pepper so I stopped doing that but she was still crazy spitting up.  We stopped giving her the new vitamins yesterday and she's like a new baby!  She has another appointment on Tuesday and hopefully her pediatrician can offer some suggestions but there is no way he can convince me to give her those again.  She'll stick with the ones sent home from the NICU.

Today is our first day home by ourselves.  Mike went back to work on Tuesday and Grandma spent the rest of the week with us.  She left yesterday and was such a big help.  Not only did she do our laundry and our dishes, she finished painting our train wreck of a basement.  We thought it was a good idea to remodel and a week later Lily arrived.  It's almost put back together!

Hopefully the doctor gives us a good report on Tuesday and says we can have visitors and outings.  Since her immune system isn't as developed as a term baby, we've been a bit quarantined.  Lily needs to meet her future husband - Colter I promise we're coming soon!!! 

Here's a few photos from our maternity session - taken not a moment too soon!  We've scheduled her "newborn" session but she'll be a month old already.  Stay tuned for those!

1st Doctors Appointment

Today was Lily's first appointment with her pediatrician. She weighed in at 4lbs 4 oz - up from when we left the hospital last week! No more growth in length but hopefully soon. We go back next week to make sure she is still gaining.

She is eating like a champ from the bottle. About 2 oz every feeding. We have an appointment tomorrow with a lactation consultant since Lily is struggling to nurse. Both her doctor and the consultant said since she is so little it might not work for her. Have no fear - our freezer is getting so full with liquid gold that Mike is looking into buying a deep freezer for the garage.

Up until last night we were doing pretty good with her sleep schedule. She screamed all night! I can't believe that someone so small can have the energy to make so much noise for 7 hours straight. Let's hope tonight isn't a repeat!

Home Sweet Home

Lily was discharged from the NICU yesterday.  Before she left she weighed in at 4lbs, 2 ozs and was 18.11 inches long.  She will go in to see her pediatrician on Monday so hopefully she will keep gaining lots of weight! 

Her first night at home was a little bit rough - she didn't quite stick to her NICU feeding schedule - but now that we are functioning this morning she's back on. 

As for our furry family member, she's doing pretty good so far.  She follows Lily around and has to give her kisses every time she's within reach. 

Lily's coming home!

During rounds this morning Dr. Winslow said "get her out of here!". We get to pick her up in a few hours!

Rooming in

Today we are "rooming in" with Lily. In preparation for her departure from the NICU we have been moved back to the postpartum floor and get to spend one on one time with her - something we were not able to do after she was born. It's comforting knowing that he is still hooked to her monitors but we don't have the nurses hovering.

Lily only had one alarm last night but it was during feeding and apparently those are anticipated. She gained 30 grams - a whole ounce! - this is the most she has gained in one day. Dr. Winslow said another day or two like this and he is sending her home!

Think Spring!

Happy first day of spring!  We woke up to find one of the trees by our deck full of these beautiful flowers.

Lily had a big day for visitors - BDO Aunties Lesley and Kaitlin came to visit (sorry ladies I forgot to take pictures of you!) as well as Grandma and Grandpa Sundstrand and Uncle Brayden. 

In terms of progress, Lily had a good day as well.  Lily has not set off a breathing alarm in the past 24 hours.  She gained 10 grams from yesterday which puts her 10 grams away from her birth weight.  In order to help her continue to gain weight, we will be fortifying my breast milk by adding a calcium powder which will give her extra calories.  Lily's bilirubin count is down to 2.6 and her umbilical cord fell out.  If her breathing continues to remain stable and she continues to gain weight, the staff is hopeful she may be coming home this weekend!   

Slowly making progress

Lily has gained 45 grams - she weighs 3lbs, 15 oz - close to getting back up to her birth weight.  She is eating well, sometimes up to 50ML a feeding.  She is getting stronger and looking more healthy every day.  She loves to sleep with her arms above her head and does everything possible to get out of her swaddle.  Although we won't appreciate it later, her cries are getting louder and louder every day.  Oh, and she looks nothing like me and everything like her daddy.

She set off another breathing alarm early this morning however when looking at the monitor data for the last 24 hours there was no sign of breathing interruption.  Dr. Winslow is still not concerned enough to put her on any medication or breathing intervention.  He says other than the periodic breathing, she is ready to be discharged.  They will continue to monitor her for the next couple of days before making any hard and fast decisions.  It's possible they will release her on a breathing monitor which is both scary and comforting at the same time.  On one hand we want the monitor so we know when she forgets to breath but on the other we would rather not have to worry about it.  I know they would not release Lily to us if she wasn't ready.

One Week Old

After such a good report yesterday, Lily has had a little bit of a set back in her progress.  Between midnight and 3am this morning she sounded her breathing alarm because she was forgetting to breathe.  Fortunately, she corrected herself and no intervention was necessary.  All day, she has been "periodic" breathing which essentially means she isn't taking full breaths.  While this can be corrected without putting her on a ventilator by using drugs, Dr. Winslow does not think this is necessary yet.  We were prepared for back pedaling but after such a good day yesterday it's extremely frustrating. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today during rounds, after the nurse practitioner finished updating the team on Lily's status, Dr. Winslow (head of the NICU) asked "why is this kid still here?".  I'm not lying - Mike and I about died.  We are so ready for her to be home but not at the same time!  Dr. Winslow said we need a few more good days of weight gain to ensure she doesn't regress in her developments and we may be able to take her home.

Lily has increased her milk in take to an average of 38-41 ML at every feeding.  Her nurses say she is a piglet.  In addition, Lily took her car seat test today.  We had to bring in her seat and she had to sit for 90 minutes without sounding a pulse, heartbeat or breathing alarm.  This was a huge milestone in her progression towards discharge and she passed with flying colors.  We thought we had six more weeks to get ready for her to come home!  Mike is sitting here putting together all of those fun baby swings and bouncers we've had sitting in boxes. 

She HATED the carseat at first

Once she had her pacifier, all was calm

Long story short - St. Patrick's Day was an amazing day for the Hoy Family.  Not only were we showered with uplifting news, Uncle Brett and Aunt Hollie (and baby Annie) came to visit!

5 Days Old

Lily is 5 days old today! Her feeding tube has been removed and she has gained 5 grams. Her dr has put her on a long term discharge plan which means she is on the right path to come home. Mike and I are making our way through a bunch of videos for preemie parents which are required before she is released to us.

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog!  We are overwhelmed with the number of emails, phone calls, and texts regarding Lily that we cannot keep up.  We decided a blog would be a great place for all of our family and friends to follow Lily's progress in the NICU.  We anticpate being able to bring her home mid-April.

Lily was born on March 11 six weeks premature.  She was 4lbs, 17 inches and surprised all of us.  After a week in and out of the hospital thinking I had horrible heartburn, I was diagnosed with HELLP Syndrome complicated by severe preeclampsia, a condition which effects 5-10% of pregnant women.  I was given medication twice to stop contractions followed by steriod boosters to help Lily's lung development.  I was also placed on a magnesium drip to help reduce the risk of seizures.  My platelet and liver levels were falling and rising in the wrong directions and it was determined that the only cure was to deliver as soon as possible.  Since my platelet levels were so low, a c-section and epidural were considered too risky.  If a c-section was to be absolutely necssary, it would have been done under general anethestic and would have required blood transfusions.  Mike would not have been allowed to be with me.  My OB was hopeful I would be able to deliver naturally.  I was induced around 11pm on March 10, had my water broken around 10am on March 11, and Lily arrived at 3:37pm (in time for Daddy to watch the tip off of the MSU game). 

After all of the worry regarding Lily's underdeveloped lungs, she came out screaming and did not require a ventilator.  The overall effect of my various IV medications also seemed to not have as much of an effect as expected.  Mike and both sets of grandparents were able to visit with her in the NICU shortly after delivery.  Since I was still considered at risk for seizures, I was unable to see Lily until March 12 in the evening.  By 3:30pm, my IVs and monitors were turned off and Mike was able to wheel me down to meet her.  Unfortunately, Mike woke up with a terrible cold and wasn't able to come with me. 

My blood levels and liver levels returned to normal much quicker than expected and I was released from the hospital on March 13th, the same day that Lily first took a bottle.  On March 14th, Lily's feeding IV was removed and I was able to breastfeed her for the first time - a step they told me would not be likely for another week or so.  Mike had also recovered enough to be allowed back in the NICU and was able to hold her for the first time. 

When I arrived at the NICU this morning to see Lily, she had been removed from her incubator since she was keeping her temperature up on her own.  In addition, her bilirubin levels (jaundice levels) have started regulating and are going in the right direction.  She has also increased her milk intake from 30 ML to 38 ML which is a pretty large jump since she started her IV at 9ML.  This evening, Mike and I were shown how to give her a bath.  Today was great progress!

First time holding Lily

Big Girl Bed!