31 Weeks

Sydney had herself another good night and is doing well this morning. She's at her lowest backup setting for oxygen on her CPAP...ever! We have also graduated to bigger diapers and last night her doctor told us that she's VERY happy with her progress. So are we!

Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. - Psalm 36:5

A Love Story In The Making

This one is for AmyB. That's the smallest size Beanie Baby





Like her bracelet? Daddy's wedding band.


















Videos! No, I couldn't say "She's so happy!" one more time. Leave me alone!

5 Weeks Old Today!!

Sydney is 5 weeks old today and we are very happy about that! God has been so good and she's doing so well. All her routine tests have been great and she's doing her best to grow.

Guess What?? Her Daddy got to hold her for an hour last night! We had hoped that he would have been able to hold her on Tuesday night but her heart rate was slightly elevated again and we didn't want to over stimulate her. It worked out for the best though because our new favourite nurse, Tonya (shh...don't tell the other nurses) was working last night and she went out of her way to accommodate us. We have LOTS of pictures today because she just insisted on taking all kinds of pics, set up in different ways. She's like Sydney's personal paparazzi! :laugh:

When we arrived, her heart rate was a little high but we decided that she needed some Daddy snuggles anyway. Of course, we got her out and her vital signs improved IMMEDIATELY. She wasn't in his arms for one minute before she settled down and she stayed that way for the entire hour. As soon as we put her back in her bed her heart rate went up a bit again. :laugh:

Anyway, stay tuned for pics!

All About Oxygen/Lung Support

So first, Sydney started out on a ventilator. That was the most invasive option and it involved actually sticking a tube down her throat (intubation) to help her breathe. Intubation is only done when absolutely necessary and when the patient is simply not strong enough to breathe on their own. As the patient gets stronger, the risks of being on the ventilator (bacteria build up in the tubes, damage to airways etc) far outweigh the benefits. When she was on the vent she looked liked this:



That white thing taped to her mouth was holding the tube in place.

When she got stronger, she moved to the Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine that gives her air through her nose. Nasal CPAP delivers air into your airway through a specially designed nasal mask or pillows. The mask does not breathe for you; the flow of air creates enough pressure when you inhale to keep your airway open. It is not invasive at all and does not involve putting anything into her body.

On the CPAP she looked like this:



Today they started testing her on the nasal cannula which means she's needs even less breathing support than the CPAP gives her. The cannula is just a simple tube that provides her with oxygen support without the discomfort of the CPAP on her face. She hasn't been taken off the CPAP but she did perfectly for the three hours they had her on the cannula today. This is FANTASTIC news and only means she is getting stronger and her lungs are developing.

Today she looked like this:



You can actually see her face! She's doing so well.

Here's The Thing About Kangaroo Care...

It is quite possibly THE best thing in the world. I know, I know, I say something is the best thing ever almost every day but I mean it this time!! I held my daughter for 2 whole hours today. Two hours. :cry: They usually start Moms off with an hour but her nurse allowed us two hours today because she was doing so well.

At first she was swaddled and I held her like that for about 30 minutes. They were testing her with the nasal cannula today and wanted to make sure she could handle it before we started Kangaroo Care. I know some of you guys had some difficulty understanding her whole breathing thing so there will be more on that later. When she was swaddled she was a little fidgety but very relaxed. I think she was just trying to figure out what was going. Then we started actual Kangaroo Care and I am amazed by how much she settled down and just relaxed. She just laid her little head on my chest and used both her hands to hold on to me. She never let go for the entire time I was holding her. She was absolutely the most relaxed and happy she has ever been. I cannot even describe how good it was for us both.

Anyway, I know you all want pictures and thankfully she had a fantastic nurse today who was more than happy to take a few.



:love:

Believing is Seeing

Baby Girl has her one month eye exam yesterday. They were specifically checking for Retinopathy of Prematurity - ROP.

What is retinopathy of prematurity?
Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a potentially blinding eye disorder that primarily affects premature infants weighing about 2¾ pounds (1250 grams) or less that are born before 31 weeks of gestation (A full-term pregnancy has a gestation of 38–42 weeks). The smaller a baby is at birth, the more likely that baby is to develop ROP. This disorder—which usually develops in both eyes—is one of the most common causes of visual loss in childhood and can lead to lifelong vision impairment and blindness.

Several complex factors may be responsible for the development of ROP. The eye starts to develop at about 16 weeks of pregnancy, when the blood vessels of the retina begin to form at the optic nerve in the back of the eye. The blood vessels grow gradually toward the edges of the developing retina, supplying oxygen and nutrients. During the last 12 weeks of a pregnancy, the eye develops rapidly. When a baby is born full-term, the retinal blood vessel growth is mostly complete (The retina usually finishes growing a few weeks to a month after birth). But if a baby is born prematurely, before these blood vessels have reached the edges of the retina, normal vessel growth may stop. The edges of the retina—the periphery—may not get enough oxygen and nutrients.

The great news is that she does not have ROP! Woot! Her eyes are still maturing so she will need to have them checked again in two weeks but so far, so good!

Her feedings have also increased from 15ccs to 18ccs and she's tolerating it perfectly. She even weighed a whopping 2lbs 6oz this morning! :confetti:

But Wait! There's More!

We officially start daily Kangaroo Care today! Admit it... it's the best news evah, right? We are super excited about it and know it will do us all good.

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. - Philippians 1:6

How Sydney's Mama spends her days

Being a milk factory!!



The three bottom trays hold 16 bottles each and that top tray has about 48. She also has a freezer at the hospital that is stocked with bottles.

Mooo!!!!

No other changes have been made to Miss Thang today and she's having a great day! We just need her to eat and grow now. Eat and grow!

News You Can Use!

We are so excited we can't even stand it!! Sydney is having her PICC line and ALL IV lines removed today because she doesn't need them anymore. No more medications, no more IVs with fluids, nothing! She will be on 100% feedings for her nutrition now. Wooooo Hoooooooo!!!

As of today she will only have her feeding tube, her oxygen (the CPAP) and her external monitors to check heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen saturation.

Did I already say we were excited?? Soo exciting!!

Woot!

Day 31

Sydney's heartrate was even better when we got there yesterday. She was betweeen the 160s and 170s and the doctors are fine with that. Her temp has also been back to average for the past few days.

It's funny but she looked noticeably bigger last night. She doesn't look so "breakable" anymore and I was very relaxed when I changing her diaper. The best news is that she actually cried for the very first time. Only in this world could crying be a fantastic thing! :lol: My hands were cold when I went to change her diaper and she didn't like that at all so she let out a cry. A real live cry! Before this, she was only been able to whimper like a puppy because her lungs were so immature. It was only one little cry but it really was the best sound ever. It's funny because earlier in the day Brian was saying he was looking forward to hearing her cry for the first time. Of course she did it as soon as he left the room so he missed it. ((((B))))

Weight is 2lb 4.5oz this morning. Woot!

Day 30

After many more tests, the doctors decided to eliminate Sydney's caffeine dose yesterday. Many young preemies are given caffeine as a stimulant to encourage them to breathe. They felt that her dosage may have been too high now and that it was contributing to her elevated heartrate. They ordered a test to check her caffeine levels and we should get the results some time today. It seemed to have helped because her heartrate is now between 170 and 180 and we hope it goes down a tiny bit more. If she gets caffeine again, it will be at a greatly reduced dose.

She's doing well in every other way and weighs 2lb 4oz this morning! Looks like the cheesecake helped. :D

30 weeks!

Picture and Videos!

Out of the mouth of babes...

:cry:

This is from Amanda's prayer journal. She wrote this all on her own with no prompting or leading from anybody.

Click to view bigger.



We have the most awesome niece and nephew evah. :love:

Evening Update

Sydney's heartrate has been consistently elevated all evening. The doctors and nurses prefer her to be in the 160s and she was in the high 190s. She also spent a lot of time in the 200s and got up as high as 221 at one point. She was running a mild fever earlier in the day but that went away so they're not sure what's going on. They have run all kinds of tests on her and everything is perfectly fine. No sign of infection or anything.

They also say she's not acting sick or showing any other sign of a problem besides the heart rate. Her X-ray today was even better than the one yesterday too. She's very active, tolerating all her feeds and peeing and pooping. They're pretty stumped at this point.

I think they are going to do another EKG as well and we should get the results on those tomorrow.

It was very scary watching her heart rate go crazy when she looked absolutely fine. We'll be praying.

Thanksgiving Day - Day 28!

Things we are thankful for today:

1. The grace, mercy and love of God.
2. Sydney is ONE MONTH OLD today!
3. Sydney weighs 2lb 3oz today!
4. The great doctors and nurses who care for our daughter.
5. The best family in the world
6. Our Phenomenal friends
7. Modern Medicine and medical equipment
8. Digital cameras. :laugh:
9. The internet!
10. Our daily bread.

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

A lot can happen in 5 days!

Shawty is doing 100 times better this time around, than she did 5 days ago when they extubated her for the first time. When we got there yesterday, she was sleeping and looked the most rested we have seen her in about a week. No oxygen saturation problems at all and she was breathing perfectly fine. She was at 34% on the CPAP last night and was at 29% when we called this morning. Yay!

She handled the increased feedings well and doesn't show any sign of intolerance at all. Hopefully she can gain some weight now that she is past her infection and off the diuretics. I'm going to have to give her some cheesecake or something.

She starts kindergarten next week. :smile:

Extubation...Part Deux!

Sydney was extubated at 10:45 this morning and she's doing juuust fine! She's back on the CPAP machine and she hasn't had any difficulties. She's doing so well that her doctor increased her feedings to 15ccs as of 1 p.m.

Cheers all around!

Day 25!!

Sydney is having a really, really good day! She's at the lowest rate she's even been on the vent and she's doing most of the breathing herself. When she was intubated last week her X-Ray showed some more fluid in her lungs but her doctor wasn't concerned about it. She said that frequently happens when babies are extubated and struggling. They started her on more diuretics and today's X-Ray came back great.

She also has very little mucus today and that is also helping her to breathe better.

They are actually planning to try to take her off the vent again tomorrow! We thought they would wait some more but she's been doing better and better every day so they're going to try. We're praying she's strong enough to handle it now.

Thanks for all your support.

Day 24!!

Sydney continues to improve and is doing better today than she was yesterday. Last night, the doctor who was on call told us that she had a lot of thick mucus (sorry, tmi) in the back of her throat and that was contributing to her oxygen saturation problems. She can't cough or "clear her throat" on her own so they have been suctioning her more frequently and it has been helping.

The doctor was Jamaican and he's had her a couple times before. He calls her "Shorty" or "Shawty", to be exact and he talks to her like she's 5 years old. :rofl: He says he likes her because she understands patois (Jamaican dialect) and she's feisty. He's soo good with her and is very attentive to her needs. We are so happy with the way all the doctors and nurses care for her.

Her weight remains unchanged, which is good since they expected her to lose again because they started her on diuretics again yesterday. Feedings are the same and her oxygen dependence is waning. Woot!

Day 23!!

It looks like we have officially crossed the 2lb mark. Miss Thang weighed 2lbs 2.5oz this morning! She did well overnight and had no issues whatsoever. The nurse says she looked very relaxed and she's been resting well.

She's still at 14ccs for feedings and all her blood gases and X-rays are great.

So far, so good...

I just spoke with Sydney's lead doctor and she's doing much better today. She's actually at 21% on the ventilator now, which was where she was when they extubated her. It's great that she was able to go right back to that level with no problems. The doctor said they would have extubated her yesterday anyway, if only for enough time to change all the tubes that can promote infection. They just wanted to give her a chance to see where she was at but they're not really surprised that she wasn't quite ready yet.

She's very relaxed now and not having any oxygen or heart rate issues at all and her feedings remain unchanged. They're planning to try extubation again when she's closer to 30 weeks developmentally.

What an interesting cap!

She wasn't wearing her diaper cover last night but she was wearing a new cap. It's actually used to hold the CPAP tube in place. I don't know who she gets that outtie from. :laugh:




Videos. Nothing you haven't seen before. :D

29 Weeks!

Day 22

Well, the past 12 hours have been eventful, to say the least. When we got to Sydney's room last night, her nurse told us that she was doing ok being off the vent but she had moments where she really struggled. She had been ok for about an hour before we got there and then things went CRAZY. She started de-sating ( saturation dropped dangerously low), her heart rate dropped all the way down to 82 beats per minute (she's been averaging 162) and she had a major apnea episode. The apnea means that she actually stopped breathing for more than a few seconds. She had never had a major apnea episode before that. I think we stopped breathing right along with her.

Suddenly 4 neonatal doctors came racing into her room, along with a respiratory therapist. They started trying all kinds of interventions (suctioning her mouth etc) and ordered an emergency X-Ray. They also ordered a breathing treatment to reduce swelling in her throat that was caused by the ventilator. While waiting for the treatment, they gave her a pacifier and it seemed to really help her. Apparently the pacifier worked to keep her mouth closed and help her breathe better. At that point she was all the way up to 70% on the CPAP after starting at 50% right after she was extubated. The doctors were not happy with that at all so they decided to give her an hour after the treatment to see if she made any improvement. The goal is to keep her off the vent but not if it causes her distress. After an hour, she was doing muuuch better but was noticeably tired. They all consulted with each other and decided that the best thing for her was to be re-intubated for a few days and try again when she regains her strength and puts on more weight.

After being intubated she really settled down and had a very peaceful night. She still has a few days on antibiotics so they're hoping that she will do much better once she's totally past that infection.

In the meantime, we'll do the only thing we can do. Pray.

WOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!!!!

We are OFF the ventilator!!!!! Sydney was extubated this morning and has been doing well. She still has moments where her oxygen saturation is not where it needs to be but still nowhere as bad as a few days ago. The nurses say this is a tricky stage for all babies as they try to figure out EXACTLY what they need to keep them happy. They are cautiously optimistic about keeping her off the vent but we need for her to really settle down with her saturation.

She's doing great with everything else.

Three Weeks Old!!

Day 21!

Miss Priss had a good night and was resting comfortably this morning. They are going to try to extubate (take her off the vent) today since her morning blood gases came back ok. If she handles being extubated, they will move her to the CPAP again.

She's just over 2 lbs today but she still has one more dose of the diuretic so she may lose some more water weight.

The nurse said she covered her diaper with a pretty cover and she looks extra precious today. Baby girl is about to graduate to wearing clothes! :laugh:

More later...

Yes!!

Sydney's doctors and nurses have started weaning her off the vent and she has been tolerating it very well. When we were there last night, she was at 36% and now she's at 25%, working toward 20%. She hasn't been at 25% since she had the most recent infection, so this is really great news!!

They haven't adjusted her feedings because their policy is to work on one thing at a time and not cause the babies undue stress. She's doing well with her food and still peeing and pooping like a champ. All her other vital signs look good and all her tests have been great.

She's having a wonderful day.

Day 20!

Wow...time flies...sort of.

When we went to see Sydney last night, we noticed that she was doing muuuch better on her oxygen saturation. The nurse said the improvement began almost as soon as she started on the diuretic. Feeling better obviously made her more energetic because we arrived just in time to see the nurse re-attaching her feeding and breathing tubes. She had pulled them out for the second time that day. She also has this thing where she must always be clutching something. Her tiny hands are always holding on to something. She loves to pull and hold other people's fingers too. :laugh:

The diuretic made her pee more frequently, so she has lost an ounce since yesterday. That's totally normal and was expected. We're most happy that she's doing better with her breathing because it increases her chances of getting off the vent. When she doesn't have to expend energy to fight infections and deal with the vent, she will gain weight in a more consistent way.

When I spoke to the nurse this morning, she said Sydney had an even better night and had very few breathing episodes. Looks like she just needed to get rid of that excess fluid. Yay!

Day 19!

Sydney is hovering right at the 2lb mark again today. We're very happy about that! She's doing well with the increased feedings and calories too.

Her routine X-Ray showed a tiny amount of fluid in her lungs but the doctor says it's pretty normal for a preemie of her age. They will give her a diuretic today and that should clear it up. We'll be praying about that. She's still having issues with her oxygen saturation but nothing that the nurses or doctors are concerned about.

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful - Hebrews 10:23

More food!

Sydney is now up to 14ccs every three hours and they have added a Human Milk Fortifier supplement to give her extra calories. It's a way to give her more calories without giving her more liquid to fill her little tummy.

Weight is still the same and she's having a good day overall. She's very alert today but not kicking too much since they have her on her tummy. We need her to start gaining again.

All things being considered, she's doing amazingly well. We are so grateful.

Day 18

Baby Girl had a good weekend and is doing well this morning. She's eating all her food and is back to 1lb 15.5 oz. Soooo close to the 2lb mark again! She's also doing better on her oxygen saturation and is getting stronger.

Please pray that she starts to tolerate being slowly weaned from the vent this week. They don't mind giving her the support but being on the vent greatly increases the risk of infections. The most common infection is known as a "water bug" and she's already had it and received antibiotics for it. The doctors definitely won't rush the process and they're doing everything they can to avoid her getting sick.

Hey Uncle Che!

'Twas a good day...

So we get to Sydney's room today and her oxygen saturation levels are alllll over the place. When we got there, she was at 59% (not good) and then climbed back up to 88% (good). She kept that up for about an hour and the nurse said she had been doing that all day. All her other vital signs were great but this oxygen thing was driving everybody crazy.

They decided to not do Kangaroo Care because they didn't want her to be in a position where it would be hard for them to grab her if she got into real trouble. I think my obvious disappointment made them decide to meet us halfway though, so they allowed me to hold her all bundled up but not really Kangaroo style. It didn't really matter...holding her was fabulous. Needless to say, her oxygen saturation stayed completely level for the entire hour that I held her. She was so calm and peaceful and the nurses were shocked. I think she loves her mama.

Pictures!

Recognize that jacket, Dar? :love:

Daddy changing his first diaper...ever! He usually just stands behind me and squirms. :laugh:

Peace that cannot be explained...

Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Philippians 4:6-8)

Day 16!

As of this morning, Sydney weighs 1lb 14oz. That means she has lost 2oz over the past few days so the doctors are contemplating giving her more calories to get her gaining again. They would really like to see her sustain being over the 2lb mark for a while.

She had a pretty good night overall and is doing well.

We will attempt Kangaroo Care today.

She's got places to go and people to see...

Sydney's doctors and nurses attempted to adjust her oxygen settings again today and it worked for a while. THEN, she got busy, even moreso than yesterday. She's using so much energy to kick and punch and squirm that they had to increase her oxygen level again because her breathing can't keep up with her activity. If they attempt to restrain her, she gets cranky and her vital signs drop until they release her.

Someone tell her that she needs to settle down. I don't know why she feels the need to be soo busy in there!

Oops! Forgot the video!

28 weeks!!

Her vital sign monitor that keeps track of all her important stuff.

Bald Patch!! She lost some of her hair, which is normal. She doesn't like her limbs being restricted and her little hands are always clutching something. That's her feeding tube.

Apparently we were talking too much, so she covered her ears. The nerve! :laugh:


She ALWAYS has her feet hanging out of her bed. A lot of preemies like being swaddled and curled up as they were in utero. Not her. She's such a busy little girl.

Blood Pressure Cuff!! It really does look like an oversized bandaid.

Remember you can click on any picture to view it larger.

Where is she putting it all??

We are now at 12ccs!! I guess as long as she keeps eating, they will keep increasing the amount she gets. They are also stopping her vitamin IV because they don't think she needs it now that she's getting more and more breastmilk. She will still have an IV with electrolytes and glucose but they expect to stop that in a few days as she gets more to eat.

The nurse says she's VERY active today and having a grand old time in her room. She's kicking and punching and squirming. She's such a doll.

More pictures and video tomorrow!

Two Weeks Old!!!

Our baby girl is two weeks old today. In some ways, it feels like she was just born 24 hours ago and in other ways it feels like she's been here forever.

She had a great night and was busy stretching and flexing when I called. The nurse said she gave her a bath earlier and she was not happy about it. She said she was sulking in her room for about an hour after. :laugh: She's digested the increased amount of milk at every feeding and all her bodily functions are exactly where they want them to be.

She's had a blood pressure monitor attached since she was born and it's monitored her 24/7 since then. They will be removing that wire today because they don't think she needs it any longer. That's one less wire hanging off her little body. Yay! As of now, they will take her blood pressure like a normal person. Who knew they made blood pressure cuffs that small??

*Squeal*

10 ccs!!!! We can't believe it!! She's digested it all with no problems and shows no sign of bloating or intolerance.

The doctor says they are very happy with her progress and they will remove the IV in her arm today. They don't think she requires as many daily tests as they were doing especially since they were only irritating her. I'm glad because she always has that arm covering her face! :laugh: They will continue to check her blood gases daily for as long as she is on the ventilator. The doctor decided to not mess with her oxygen settings today because he thinks she's still a little weak from fighting that infection.

We are just in awe of it all.

Day 13

Guess who weighs TWO POUNDS?!?!?!?!? How awesome is that???

She had a wonderful night and is tolerating all her feedings. They will try to wean her from the ventilator again today and see how she does. They will keep attempting to reduce her dependence everyday until she no longer needs it.

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. - Hebrews 11:1

Well, look at that!

Sydney is now up to 8ccs every 3 hours!!!! She is over her infection, so they have stopped her antibiotics. She was also getting some IV fluids that were giving her extra fat calories and that will now be stopped since she's doing so well on breast milk.

They did try to lower her oxygen dependence a bit (from 28 -20%) but she was NOT having that. Apparently, she's more concerned about eating than breathing on her own. :laugh:

Awesome.

No news is GREAT news!

Day 12!

The nurse said Baby Girl had an EXCELLENT night and did everything she was supposed to: poop, eat and sleep. She had no breathing or heart rate issues at all.

Did I already mention how amazed and grateful we are that she's doing so well?

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. - Jeremiah 29:11

She is her father's child...

Feedings have been increased to 6ccs and she's tolerated the first one really well! She's still just hanging out, just eating, sleeping and growing.

She now weighs 1lb 12 oz but they're waiting to measure her for now.

Yay!!

Day 11!!

Miss Thang had a great night and was resting comfortably when we called this morning. It seems that the adjustment to the feeding tube did the trick because she's been digesting her 4ccs of milk with no problems.

The nurse was getting ready to bathe, measure and weigh her so we'll get those numbers later today.

We are amazed by how well she's doing and we appreciate all your prayers.

PICC Line has been placed!

Sydney's PICC line was placed today and all is well. It is pretty common for it to take a few tries before it's where it needs to be. Now they don't have to poke her with a needle everytime they need blood. We were at the hospital during the two hours it took to place the line and got a glimpse at how tricky the procedure is.

They also adjusted her feeding tube and it seemed to have helped with the reflux. They have now increased her feedings to 4ccs and she's doing well. Her limbs look more meaty already. :laugh:

I think they will finally measure her tonight and we'll find out if she's gotten any taller since birth.

Day 10!!!

Little Miss had a very stable night and is doing well this morning. She's eating like a big girl and digesting it all. I suppose 3cc was just a bit too much too soon. They will try increasing the amount again in the middle of the week.

Her weight is the same and we will find out if she has gotten any taller this afternoon.

Feedings have resumed

Sydney's feedings we restarted and they kept the frequency (every 3 hours) but reduced the amount from 3cc to 2cc. So far so good.

Thy X-Ray showed that the Picc line was not where it needed to be so they tried again and did another X-Ray. Still not fixed. They are going to try a third time and if it still doesn't work they will remove it for now and try again in 3 days or so. They're trying to not upset her too much. Normally they would keep trying but they did a test of some cultures they got from one of her tubes and it looks like she may be about to fight another infection. They don't like trying Picc placement if the babies are sick in any way. She's on antibiotics for a few days.

Besides that, the nurse said, "She's a perfect angel and is doing just great. We're the ones that keep messing with her."

Day 9!

Just spoke to her nurse and she said Sydney had an excellent night. All vital signs were stable and there were no heart rate drops. Her blood work has been just fine and she's being a good girl over all. They say none of her alarms have gone off in over 24 hours.

She's still having issues with some of her feeding so they have stopped them for a few hours. The doctor will more than likely reduce the amount she has been getting since she has been digesting most but not all of it. Her weight remains the same as well.

The PICC line placement also went well and they will do an X-Ray this morning just to confirm that it's where it needs to me.

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." - Matthew 19:26

27 Weeks! Yay!

It's been 8 days and Sydney continues to do really well! She had a great night with no serious issues at all. She has received 8 feedings in the last 24 hours and didn't fully digest two of those. The doctors says that's to be expected and they are not concerned.

They also did a routine head ultrasound during the night and we'll get the results later today. Of course, there's nothing wrong with her head.

More later

Videos!

Her Daddy always thinks she's fast asleep...even when her eyes are wide open. :laugh:

Pictures!

You can click on any picture to view it larger.

In the last two it looks like she has a cut on her ear but it's just some powder they use to prevent too much moisture. If her ears get too moist they will stick to her head.

The first (blurry) one was taken with a camera phone.

Wanna hear something interesting?

Earlier this year when we were praying about conceiving, I got this strong sense that we needed to purchase a newborn outfit as an act of faith. In April, I bought a pink outfit and hung it in our closet. I got pregnant in May but I completely forgot about the purchase until about a month ago when I came across it. I pulled it and looked at it and that's when I noticed the tag said, "Preemie." I remember thinking at the time, "Man, I have to find someone to give this to." I put it back in the closet and forgot about it again until just now.

Here it is: http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g205/beeshoney/FirstWeek010.jpg

Amazing.

More FYI

If you ask a specific question, look for the response in the comment section where you put your original question.

Did that make any sense? :laugh:

Baby Girl loves to eat!

We just got back from a visit. Since I spoke to the nurse this morning, they have increased her feedings again! She was awake and moving around while we were there and she kept her eyes open most of the time. She was totally comfortable the whole time and her doctors and nurses are happy with her progress.

All your prayers are definitely making a difference.

ONE WEEK OLD!!

When we got there last night, she was sleeping. Her EKG (or ECG) revealed that her little heart is perfect. :smile: They resumed feedings immediately and doubled the amount she was getting. She's being fed every three hours.

I just spoke with her doctor and she said she had a GREAT night and tolerated all 5 of her feedings well. They weighed her before she started the feedings and she now weights 1lb 110z!! She's now above birth weight despite missing food for 24 hours. She's been getting her IV fluids though and her vitamins. All her other tests have come back great too.

She’s one week old today and 26 weeks and 6 days. She was actually born at 25 weeks 6 days but doctors count you as having started the following week once you are on day 6. Their official record is that she was born at 26 weeks but they won’t count her as 27 weeks until tomorrow.

Tomorrow is picture day!

She's also getting her PICC line put in today:

A PICC (Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter) is a special catheter
placed in a vein through which medications, blood products and fluids can
be administered.

The PICC is a long, thin catheter (16-24 inches long) made of polyurethane. It
is inserted in a large vein in your arm (either in the basilica or cephalic vein)
near the bend of the elbow, and then advanced to the superior vena cava, a
large blood vessel that leads to your heart.

A PICC is inserted in persons requiring intravenous (IV) infusions over
an extended period of time. It prevents the need for frequent needle sticks
for IV insertion since the PICC line can stay in for up to six months.

http://pfrc.med.nyu.edu/handouts/pdf/proced/PICC02.pdf