Brinson is ticklish

Lisa and I visited with Brinson tonight. She is doing well not off the respirator yet....probably tomorrow. She did get her PICC line. It is in right foot.

Somehow during the visit Lisa figured out that Brinson is ticklish on her left foot. It is kinda funny, check out the video and see what you think.




Since the saran wrap is now removed, we get to see her and touch her more easily. Here is a good shot of her new cap. Take a look at the size of button compared to her hand.

BTW she is on room air at 20 bpm and no dopamine....yeah!!!

Leann (Lisa sister-inlaw) is doing the march of dimes for Cooper and Brinson. She wrote something really nice on the website...take a gander.

Video of Brinson before PDA Surgery

This video was taken on the 8th before her PDA surgery.

Video of Mommie taking Brinson's Temperature

Elliot captured a video of Lisa honing her nursing skills.....I mean Mommie skills.

Brinson lends a hand and Grandfather's visit (said in an English accent)

It seems Brinson is so excited from being off sedation that she is gripping fingers now. This is apparently normal in utero ....babies are often recorded grabbing their umbilical cords.

Here is of a shot of Elliot, Grandfather (said in an English accent), and Lisa with Brin.

Brinson being removed from respirator..woowoo!!

Lisa is just called me. She is off minimal stimulation, She is going to get some caffeine to get her to breathing on her own. She is being moved from a tube in her mouth to her nose ie CPAP.

That means she will be able to cry.

Lisa and Elliot took some pictures....will post tonight.

Brinson is off sedation

Brinson has been taken off the sedation and ,according to Lisa, back to her feisty self. Before the surgery and in several previous photos you may have noticed her leg kicked up. Well she is back to that....so that is good.

Lisa also said they have lowered her O2 to 22 percent....so almost room air. Great news!.

She is on her way to full recovery from the PDA.

Father spends time with Brinson

This morning I got to spend some quality time with Brinson. It seems as I learn how the NICU works there are some key times to call vs show up and get information.

This morning was a key time (right after morning shift change) because I got to see her a lot and do a little bonding. (BTW early morning is not necessarily a good time to see the doctor) At first I just spent 10 mins just talking to her, but then the primary nurse showed up and I got to take her temperature (98.7...good) and then change her diaper.

Her skin is still real dry, but she is still wiggling toes and fingers (still sedated). Actually since I was there right after shift change I got to watch the nurse do an assessment.

First she checks for a pulse on all limbs (including head) to make sure there is good blood flow (one problem that can come up is the lines through her belly button can cut of circulation to her legs) and then listens to the heart to make sure no anomalies exist (like a murmur). That was actually a funny moment. The nurse warmed the stethoscope and then place it on Brin's chest. Brin jumped like wow that is cold....obviously the nurse did not warm it enough. The last thing the nurse checked for was stomach contents.....eww yucky green stuff (bile, but a very small amount). This just means the stomach is still not ready for food (if you remember.

Her other vitals are looking good. BP is good....the dopamine is done to .2 (so they lowered from .8 to .2 in 12 hours) and BP is holding in the range. They still have her on some 02 but they expect after her last dose at 6pm today that the oxygen should go back to room air.

I had a lot of opportunity for pictures....but did not have the camera. I will fix that tomorrow....

Well I am back at work and questions are rolling....so more later.

Parents late night visit (Grandparents too!)

We just arrived home from the hospital....long day.

Since mom's car was there, Lisa pumped so grandparents got some time with Brin and then we followed after they left.

Brinson is not able to withstand the FATs and Sterile water they were giving her. It seems her stomach is not quite ready for stuff yet. They will increase her proteins via IV in the meantime. Her dopamine was lowered to .6 while we were there, that is good.

Her O2 saturation looked good so they lowered her O2 from 25% down to 23%. They had to increase both dopamine and O2 after surgery. Also they lowered her rate from 34bpm to 25 bpm.

Ideally she needs to get back on room air (21%) and be closer to 20bpm before she can be moved to CPAP. Basically she would be breathing on her own but would have positive pressure of air through her nose.

Brin was also receiving photo therapy. Again expected....and she will continue to have it on and off again until her liver is more developed.

Oh yeah her temperature was 99.0 at the beginning of the 7pm shift, so she lowered the heater. Without the saran wrap over her, her temp would plummet. Babies without fat cannot hold body temp. This is usually a problem until 30+ weeks. (on the March 13th Brinson will be 25weeks)

Overall she looked good, lots of little movements even though she is sedated. Her skin is getting a little crusty from all the photo therapy. But that is only temporary.

Well it is back to work for me in the morning. And Lisa will be trying to keep busy.

Thanks for you all your wonderful comments. Goodnight!

Painting is done!

A big thanks to Mike and KD for getting the painting done in Brinson's room. There is so much to do and not enough time to do it. Lisa and I spend 1 1/2 hours in the car traveling to and fro to see Brin. It is a long journey but worth it.

The carpet gets installed on March 11th. She will have a new room to come home too.

Thanks Bert for helping me with returning the furniture.

Hard day

Today has been a hard day. Lisa and I started the day with going to the funeral home to take of Cooper. We picked out an aqua colored stone heart. it will be engraved with his name and possibly a teddy bear.

This afternoon we have seen Brin. She has a few setbacks with blood pressure which has been expected from the surgery. Also they have her paralyzed so her body can heal. we did get to see her wiggling her toes and fingers as we talked to her right before another dose was given. That is way more comforting for us to know she is still there.

Today we plan on finishing painting the room. Mike and KD are going to help. Yeah team.

Bert and I wil be returning the Cooper's furniture...another reality that no ones wants to deal with.

Both of us are still not etting quality sleep...I an hopeful that maybe some busy work will help.

Well Lisa is done pumping. Back to see Brinson.