Mommy and Daddy a bit tired

The grind of driving daily and staying with her day and night finally caught up with us as much as it did with Brinson.

We needed a break, so we watched some tv, paid bills and did some laundry.

And she needed a break from us. She can sense our tension and it shows when her blood gas comes back.

Melinda is taking care of Brinson today and we feel confident in her abilities. About 3pm we will be making the trek in town to visit our sweetie pie and to have a nice dinner with the Baldwins during the 630-745 break.

I am going to leave you with a snap of one of my most favorite photos. My 2 favorite ladies!

Yesterday was a long day

Brinson had a long day. Eventually by late afternoon she just needed to rest. It was very loud and lately she seems to be quite sensitive to noise. It also did not help with a new Nurse and PA that did not know her. They thought for sometime in the afternoon that something was going on with her. But the surgeon and night nurse reassurred everyone....she is doing fine. Thanks Dr. Minkes and Barbara.

By the evening with morphine on board she had been tucked into a nice sleepy self.

Here are a few shots of her in a cocoon made up by the night nurse, Barbara. Both the Baldwin's as well as us love her. She really loves her job and likes to fuss over our children.

BTW the glove has beans in it to make it feel like a real hand. Preemies like boundaries well most of the time.....every baby is different.









Later on before we left for the even Lisa uncovered her a bit. Look at the grip on the pulse oxygen sensor. Probably a good simulation of the umbilical cord in this position. If you notice she is on left her side. Barbara and Tiffany (NICU nurses) do good job of making sure Brin gets other positions....most of other nurses do not. How would you like to be on your back 24x7...without being able to move. BTW this was the first time we got to see her back.



After her arm gets uncovered she really gets comfortable by slinging that right arm in any old position.


Here she is gripping her sensor.

Brinson is doing fine

Brinson is doing fine this morning/afternoon. Grandfather and Grammy visited early this morning for about 1 1/2 hours.....we got a late start.

There was some dried blood in her OG tube this morning. They did a cleaning of her stomach (lavage) yesterday and pulled some clots out, but nothing active. So they are not sure if it is just an iteration of the tub or something else. Since it is not bright red and not a lot of blood, there is no worry.

With that being said, they will not try to feed her until her stomach is empty.

Her lungs were a bit tight this afternoon, so they have her Oxygen cranked up a bit (60%). Brinson is still pretty much "Touch me not." Meaning if you touch me, I will not like it.

Here is a short video and picture.....take a look at her skin....it is really getting bronze. That will not get corrected until she digests milk (bilirubin levels will go down)

Mommie gets some time with Brinson

Here are a few pictures of Mommie with Brinson.

Mommie loves to whisper stories of shopping in her ears. Can you say Cha-Ching!!!

Mini me!

I am starting to think there really is some resemblance to me.

Hmm....makes you think right?

Oh yeah, Lisa said she sneezed today. It just little things that makes this process easier for us.

Feet are cold, better put some booties on!

Brinson has some cute new booties this AM. Take a peek and let me know what you think.













Her status is unchanged. Vitals look good. They are still planning to try feeding her this weekend. We did get some good news this am; her brain scan is unchanged....still a grade1 (ie a bruise).










Yesterday they started her on a new machine. This machine provides NO and NO2 via Brinson's respirator. This is to help prevent lung damage from her being on a respirator. Because of the surgery they have had her on the respirator longer than planned. This is not uncommon for little ones.

For details on all the other machines see my previous post about the machines needed for my daughter to survive here.

Eyebrows!

Brinson has eyebrows. They are blond, but if you look closely you can see them.

Scalp IV!

Yes, Brinson has an IV in her scalp. I did not even know this was possible. It looks painful, but it does not seem to bother her.

2 weeks old!

Today Brinson is two weeks old or 1 day shy of 26 weeks of life.

She is beginning to act more like a child everyday. For instance the sensitivity that I explained earlier ("Touch me nots") and now she is yawning and strecthing her arms.

Here liver functions are definitely elevated because of the bilirubin. This cannot be fixed by photo therapy. She will need to start drinking milk (probably this weekend) and then her liver with get rid of the bilirubin. In the meantime her eyes will start to get yellow and her skin will turn green/bronze color. So don't be alarmed with the photos.

Today she is doing well overall.

Touch me nots!

Brinson has the "touch me nots!" That means if you touch her or mess with her she tells you that she does not like it....by not saturating her oxygen. Above you see me staying clear of my daughter.

It was a long and stressful day for both of us. Every visit for me...she just seemed agitated and was not saturated her oxygen consistently. Apparently preemies just do this. But for Brinson this is new.

Well tonight they wanted to do another lumbar puncture.....Brinson said hell no....and guess what they could not do it.

Later this evening Lisa and I were able to get some quiet time with her and she was doing just fine. Grampa and Nana also had a visit and the nurse said they just talked really softly to her....and Brinson loved it.

















BTW her x-ray and ultrasound both we good...so no problems there. The next brain scan is Thursday.

Morning check

Brinson is doing fine this morning. Her vitals looks good. Her CO2 is down which is good and means she is making progress with the settings on the respirator.

The urine output has slowed from 14cc/hr to 8cc/hr. (average per hour should be 2cc) The have done an ultrasound of her kidneys (follow up from the other day) and a chest x-ray.

Her bilirubin is up, which could mean she needs more photo therapy. I know they are planning to test her liver functions. It is possible the TPN (protein via IV) could be giving her Liver trouble.....it is manageable....plus ultimately Brin will be on milk....so it should not be an issue long term.

BTW Mommy slept really good. She goes through cycles where she goes and goes like an energizer bunny and then it finally catches up. I think she slept 10hours last night.

Lisa did her first wash for the baby. That is standard practice in the NICU to send home laundry of bedding they use in Brinson's bed. I think Lisa really enjoyed it.

Otherwise still progressing....more later.

A closer look at Brinson

Brinson is doing well this evening. She had 2 more visitors (Grammy and Grandfather). We all went to dinner between the 630 and 745 shift change.



But before they arrived we took some more photos of Brinson. Does she have more hair? Lisa thinks so....I am not sure.




The night nurse got her nice in comfortable before we left....and she started opening her eyes.
What a cutie pie!!!




Take a look at this video....All I see is nose, but Lisa swears it looks like she is talking.


BTW All her vitals are stable; she is up to 14cc an hour... that is a lot of pee. The average should be 2cc an hour. They are planning to do another ultrasound of her kidneys. Her BP is now back to where it was before the surgery....yeah!!!! They will be continuing to lower her respirator settings to get her closer to CPAP (to remember what it looks like go here) They tried an arterial line today, but no luck. The nurse practitioner said it was better but still not usable. They will try again in a few days. I think they are going to remove the umbilical line soon. The problem is without another arterial line in place they will have to stick her every time they need to check blood levels. Also the ivy in the left hand was not usable anymore so it was pulled today. Luckily the PICC line in her foot is still good.

Otherwise everything is going well.

Brinson pulls pacifier out...wow!

Well I did not believe it, but it is definitely reproducible. Brin pulled out her pacifier 4 times within 1-2 minutes of putting in her mouth. I was able to capture it on the 4th time. She is pretty quick and I missed it the third time while adjusting my chair!

But here she is in action.....our sweetie pie. Enjoy!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Brinson is doing quite well today. Her vitals are good and all her kidney functions are normalizing.

The doctor told us they will try feed her in about 6 days or so (10 days post operation). On Monday they will do a follow on brain scan to make sure everything is still good. The previous scan showed a grade 1, which is like a tiny bruise. As number goes up the more critical the problems can be (highest is a grade 4). Even a grade 3 or 4 babies can fully recover....it just depends on her.

Lisa got her a new beanie baby (does that tell you how small she is???)bunk mate because of the day. Anyways take a peek. BTW she was measured last night and is now 12 1/8"...woooot...5/8" longer!!!

Nana changes a diaper

Last night Brinson had few visitors, Nana and Grampa. After Grampa changing the diaper first (the night before) (Nana not happy about that), Nana finally gets to as well. It sounds like it was a great bonding moment with her.

Last night Brinson slept really well. Her mean BP is down (probably more relaxed with the ear muffs and lowered steroid) and she is saturating her oxygen really well. The pee is still flowing, but no one is really worried because too much pee is easier to manage then no pee.

I am going to visit right now.....more later.

First video with Brinson using pacifier

This video is brighter. Enjoy!

Grammy (Marion) has a long visit

I needed to do a few errands so I drove one of the cars home. Marion was nice to enough to give me a ride back to the hospital. She was rewarded with some quality time with Brin.










Brinson had at least one eye open most of the day, but on occasion she had 2. I was able to capture one of the those moments

BTW her skin is really dry, they won't put any lotion on it till her belly is better from the surgery (too much stimulation).

New pictures with pacifier

Up close with Brinson. Watch out she is eying you.











Here is a great shot of her working the pacifier and eying the camera.

Hello Pacifier

Well it seems Brinson has a new talent. Yes you guessed it is the sucking reflex.

This morning we came in to a much more comfortable Brinson. Barbara the nurse last night determined Brin is quite sensitive to sound so she put some cotton balls over her ears.

The ear muffs and pacifier has really got her more relaxed.

They have begun lowering her oxygen to get her back to room air. Her BP is up this am, but they think as the fluid comes down and steroid is removed the BP will lower.

Overall the swelling is down, her lung sounds are better and her color is much improved. She is still peeing so they did increase her fluids to ensure she does not dehydrate.

Today we also go a good look at her RIGHT eye. Kinda looks like she is possessed....which is normal. Babies don't real control over the eyes for quite some time. Her LEFT eye is still swollen.

The have also adjusted her position so she is laying on her left side. This will help with moving the excess fluids as well.

Mommy is definitely much happier this am....so we are all happy.

More photos and videos....yeah

New video

Here is a new video of Brinson without her hat and eye shades.