The Baylor Family Blog

This morning has been quite busy and my head is swarming with details as we get ready to go home…

–Abi passed her hearing screening! Unfortunately, they showed up while she was feeding, so she was pretty squirmy during the test making it last even longer! And the volunteer put the adhesive ear cover right on Abi’s IV dressing. I refused to let her take it off not wanting Abi’s IV to come out with only one dose of antibiotic left. So she looks a little like an alien at the moment.

–We have a portable oxygen tank to bring home with Abi and will need to call the oxygen company as soon as we get home to get more tanks. Abi’s oxygen saturation dropped this morning, so she was put back on oxygen.

–Abi is currently in the NICU getting a chest x-ray.

–Abi’s bilirubin level only dropped from 9.1 to 9. At least it did not go up and she does not have to go home with bili lights or anything. However, we will need to bring her into the lab to get her level checked tomorrow.

–Abi has her first visit at the pediatrician’s office scheduled for Monday morning.

–Abi managed to kick off the security bracelet on her ankle this morning while she was sleeping quietly in our room. I heard the alarms going off in the hallways, but never imagined it was because of my baby until the nurse came in and said, “I heard my baby is missing!” Opps

–Abi will have her last dose of antibiotic in a couple of hours! Then we should be discharged home…

Oh, and Eli isn’t feeling so hot still. He’s been extra clingy and sleepy, but has not vomitted this morning. He is likely fighting off a virus of some sorts. Please pray that he recovers quickly and the rest of us stay healthy!

We finally made it to Discharge Day! Abi is to be discharged from the NICU today after her final dose of antibiotic at 4 p.m.! This past week has been long, and I am relieved we finally made it today! The night shift nurse was able to wean Abi off of oxygen last evening, and she has been in the room with me during the night without oxygen. I will be sending Abi back to the NICU shortly for another dose of antibiotic and the nurse will monitor her O2 sat at that time. I’m hoping everything is still stable, and she will be able to stay off of oxygen!

Abi’s weight is back up to her birth weight, 5 pounds, 5 ounces! That is music to my ears! She has been eating A LOT tonight, too! The nurse will be drawing another bilirubin level this morning. Apparently her bilirubin went up yesterday morning from 8 to 9. I’m hoping her level has decreased by today. She definitely appears less yellow than a few days ago.

During my visit with the pediatrician yesterday, I asked him several questions trying to guage if any of the factors above from oxygen to bilirubin levels would make him want Abi to stay in the hospital any additional time. And the pediatrician assured me that none of those things will keep her in the hospital! However, the doctor said he will order a chest xray today if Abi still needs oxygen to rule out other causes that might increase her oxygen need.

I am so excited to be together as a family again! I know there are still LOTS of adjustments to be made, but I’m looking forward to starting the process!

Its been so nice having Abi with me in my room! Its been even nicer being able to follow her cues rather than the feeding schdule the NICU has had her on! I did send Abi back to the NICU for a couple hours last night because they needed to re-start her IV, give her IV antibiotic, trial her on room air, and I decided while they were at it, I’d let them give her early morning feed, too, so I could get a little extra rest.

Abi now has an IV in her head. Not so much fun to see, but I know its only for a couple days. I’m just hoping all the tape doesn’t take off her precious, soft hair when it comes out. It is also looking more likely that she will go home on oxygen. She wasn’t able to keep her oxygen level above 88% in the five minute trial they gave her. It will be a pain having oxygen at home, but we will learn to manage.

With discharge looking like it will be tomorrow, Matt and I are starting to think through things to be ready when we get home! Matt and Eli are going to run a few errands today picking up a few warmer preemie outfits and preemie diapers. We are also tossing around the idea of finding or borrowing a bassinet.

I will post more later, but we did get to introduce Eli and Abi yesterday. It was probably the typical toddler response, and Matt and I had quite a few laughs! But with Abi’s small size, the likelihood of having oxygen, and our very active and rambunctious (i know i spelled that wrong) little boy, we thought it might be nice to have a safer raised up place for our little girl!!

I walked into the NICU for Abi’s noon-time feed and was told some very exciting news: Abi could now stay with me in my “hotel” room at the hospital (which is just outside the NICU). The nurses will come to the room to check her vital signs and will bring her back to the NICU twice a day for antibiotics, but otherwise, Abi gets to be with me! This also means that she gets to be off all the monitors that seem to beep constantly every time I move Abi…so we get to feed without beeps now! We are able to hook her oxygen up in the room, and she has a portable oxygen tank when she travels between my room and the NICU. I can’t tell you what exciting news it is to have my precious girl in my care!!

The other very exciting news is that Abi’s culture from her spinal tap came back negative! This means she does not have bacterial meningitis and that her course of antibiotics will only be 7 days. We immediately starting counting up her doses, and she should be able to come home on Thursday! She has already finished up the course of one of her antibiotics, Gentamycin, and only needs a few more doses of Ampicillin!

Another step in the right direction is her bilirubin level dropped from 11 to 8, bringing her into the low-risk category, so the doctor discontinued her bili-lights and she is back in a normal crib again.

I’m still hoping she is able to be weaned off oxygen before we go home, but regardless, she can still go home on Thursday even if she needs oxygen. Her weight has dropped down to 5 pounds, 1 ounce, which isn’t terribly concerning…but I’m also hoping she starts trending back up so that her weight does not become an issue.

So we are taking a deep breath and seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. We’ve been trying very hard to keep perspective throughout everything. I will admit some moments have been easier than others. This good news has done a lot for our spirits.  And we praise God for this positive progress, knowing He has Abi in His hands.

Warning: Compilation failed: characters with values > 255 are not yet supported in classes at offset 16 in /home/t/h/thebaylors.org/html/thesprings/wp-includes/shortcodes.php on line 227

Please excuse the obnoxious code above.

INFECTION: We learned today that Abi’s infection is a rare form of strep called strep bovis. Our pediatrician had to consult with a pediatric infectious disease specialist because he was unfamiliar with the strain. The good news is that the antibiotics she is currently taking is effective in treating strep bovis. However, the dilemma is whether to treat her for 7 days or 14 days. With this type of strep, there is a 20% chance she has bacterial meningitis. Bacterial meningitis is treated with the same antibiotics, only the course is 14 days, not 7. After lots of discussion between Matt and I and the doctor, we decided it was prudent to have the doctor do a spinal tap on Abi to see if she fell into the 20% and had meningitis. The nurse told me Abi tolerated the procedure great and was back asleep within two minutes

MENINGITIS: The doctor sent the spinal tap to the lab for a culture. His initial impression of the fluid was that the fluid looked normal. The preliminary results from the lab also appear to be normal. However, we need to wait 24 hours for the final culture results to know for sure.

BILIRUBIN: Abi’s bilirubin level is down from almost 15 to 11. She still appears to be a bit on the yellow side, but she is making progress.

WEIGHT: Abi’s weight remains at 5 pounds, 4 ounces today.

FEEDING: Abi is starting to communicate her hunger instead of needing to be awakened for feedings. She is also taking a little more in today than she was ysterday and much more willingly! Its encouraging to see her desire to eat! I am thankful that my milk supply has been adequate to meet her needs. She is breastfeeding some, but getting the majority of her feeds from a bottle still. Between the infection, bilirubin, her small size, and being three weeks early, it may take a while before she is able to breastfeed exclusively.

OXYGEN: Despite everything going on in her little body, Abi has managed to stay off oxygen. However, just recently, her oxygen saturation levels have been dropping occasionally during feeds. As long as this doesn’t happen too frequently and she is able to recover quickly, she can remain on room air. However, the nurse said it may indicate she needs oxygen because feeding could be causing too much stress on her body. So far, so good…but time will tell.

ELI: I enjoyed a wonderful visit from my little boy and husband this morning. I enjoy going on walks with Eli around the hospital and marveling at how much energy the little guy has! After holding a tiny baby, I look at Eli and am amazed at how big he is…and how grown up he seems to me now! Eli is enjoying lots of daddy time right now We were able to eat lunch together before going on separate ways to take afternoon naps!

So our precious little girl has a strep infection and will be in the NICU at least through this week. The blood culture will be able to identify the strain of strep by tomorrow, so Abi’s course of treatment and antibiotics may change then.

On a positive note, she had a great feed at noon-time and was so precious to hold. She got to have her first experience at “tummy-time” as it was time to flip to her tummy on the bili-lights. She was so precious, wanting to lift her neck and look around. If only I had my camera during that feeding time!

On Friday night, I was so encouraged as Abi seemed to make a lot of progress throughout the night. She was able to go off continuous IV fluids because she was eating enough orally and was able to move into a little crib instead of one of the fancier NICU beds. I was even dreaming that she might be able to be discharged with my on Saturday because she seemed to be doing so well.

With that said, you can imagine my suprise when I went in to meet her day shift nurse and feed her on Saturday morning and found her curtain shut, Abi was back in the fancy NICU bed, there were four nurses around her, and Abi was crying. I was quickly informed that her blood cultures came back positive, meaning she does have an infection, and she would need to stay in the NICU for 1-2 weeks. They were drawing another set of blood cultures at the time to send to the lab.

I had to return to my room in the chaos to be see my doctor and be discharged from the hospital. Matt and Eli were on their way over to see me at the hospital, and thankfully, our dear friend Lindy came to the rescue to watch Eli so Matt could come back with me to the NICU. Soon after feeding Abi, the pediatrician came by. We are so grateful to the wonderful doctors that have been around us…that alone is such a blessing! The pediatrician said the blood cultures identified gram positive cocci, and we are awaiting to find out whether that means a staph or a strep infection, and even more specifically what kind of staph or what kind of strep infection.  Some infections are better or worse than others. We should know those results this morning (Sunday). In the meantime, Abi is to continue on IV antibiotics. On a positive note, her second chest xray did show improvement, so the doctor is doubtful she has pneumonia.

Throughout the rest of the day, Abi was quite fussy and not interested in being fed or handled. She just seemed to not be feeling well. We decided not to push breastfeeding and to feed her breast milk through the bottle, realizing food is way more important than the method. I also hit my wall of exhaustion, hormones, and stress and ended up heading home. It was such a treat to have a warm meal brought to us shortly after arriving home. I went to bed just after 6 in the evening, and besides waking up to pump frequently throughout the night, I slept. Matt went into the hospital twice during the night to meet the night shift nurse and feed Abi. This morning, I am feeling much better and feel like I have the means to function.

Lindy kindly agreed to watch Eli so Matt and I could come back into the hospital this morning to see Abi. Abi had a bilirubin level drawn this morning which came back at 14.9 (ideally, it should be 0). A level of 15 or more is considered high, so she is borderline intermediate-high. As a result, she is now on bilirubin lights. This technology has advanced a lot even since I was in nursing school. She is laying in a little cocoon in her bed on top of some bilirubin lights. Because the lights are underneath her and she is laying in this cocoon, she does not have to wear goggles. The nurses will rotate her throughout the day to maximize exposure over her whole body. She is comfortable and resting though. Apparently, high levels of bilirubin can increase lethargy and overall just not feeling well, which helps explain her mood yesterday.

As much for my own information, Abi’s birth weight was 5 pounds, 5 ounces. Her weight increased to 5 pounds, 7 ounces on Saturday morning, and today her weight is 5 pounds, 4 ounces. I know I’ve typed a lot of medical details in, but our little girl is absolutely adorable. I cannot believe how much soft, red hair she has. Her eyes and facial features are so feminine. I cannot wait to just hold her and cuddle her to my heart’s delight! And it brings me so much joy to watch her daddy hold her and feed her…it just looks so right and natural!

Matt and I were hoping to meet with the doctor this morning together. Unfortunately, we never know when the dotors will make their rounds. After getting Abi settled and fed, and getting me settled into my “hotel” room at the hospital, Matt has returned home to spend time with Eli. So we are basically back to waiting again.

Eli has had the most wonderful care through all this, but I think everything is having a toll on him as well. He doesn’t understand why we are leaving him so often and is acting out more frequently trying to get our attention. We were hoping to have a smoother transition of bringing home a baby and adjusting to all these changes together as a family, but things obviously are not happening that way. I think it is extra tricky for Matt to find the balance to take care of all of us…so please pray especially for him!

That is the update for now. I am going to lay down and rest now…thank you for all your support and encouragement!

I’m sorry we didn’t get much in the way of updates out today. It’s been a little crazy.

Last night Abi seemed to be doing really well. She ate from Kimi well and took bottles well. This morning Kimi came to give Abi a feeding and found a bunch of nurses surrounding Abi. It turns out that Abi’s blood cultures came back positive. Basically it means that she’s fighting off an infection. It also means that she’s going to need to stay in the NICU for am extended period of time. We’ll know more about that tomorrow.

Kimi was discharged today and we had thought of keeping Kimi at the hospital on “hotel” status, but it became clear that she just didn’t have the energy for that. So we were forced to leave the hospital without our beloved baby girl. Major disappointment.

I’ll be headed back into the hospital in about an hour to feed Abi and meet her night nurse. Please pray for us for endurance, wisdom and peace.

Hey all,

I’ve just returned home from the hospital to be with Eli for the night. Kimi and I realized that some of the stress we felt during his birth was returning. While I don’t think that other people can cause stress, they certainly can create situations that make stress more likely. We had some of those people involved with Eli (read this post, especially the paragraph about Kimi). Kimi and I realized that the same folks are involved with us again in many of the same ways. The big difference this time is that we’re not doing this together totally. I’m here at home and Kimi is going to be navigating 3 feedings without me tonight. Please pray that she has boldness strength and courage to assert herself the way that she needs to. Thanks!