Lookalikes?

Does she look like Dumb Donald from Fat Albert or what? All she needs is the modified trombone and the two eye holes.

Moving to a new Pod

Today they are moving her to G pod. It will be much quieter.....YEAH!!!!! Now Brinson will be much more relaxed during the day....and not so stressed.

Also Lisa was able to capture Brinson checking the world out. Mind you she can only probably see light and dark at this point. I think there may be a small yawn in this one.



BTW Brinson had a few visitors ealier today including Dr. G, Grandfather and Grammy.

3 Weeks and Another Good Morning!!!

Brinson had another restful night. She is still processing the majority of the 1.5cc of sterile water they give 3 hours. So that is real good news. They will probably try a larger dose in the next day or so to see how much she can tolerate....again to prepare for the good stuff (milk).

Her BP is lower this AM and her hematocrit is lower than yesterday. So they are going to give her some blood as a preventative.....to get her numbers better. She has not had blood for 5+ days so that is good.

Anytime you give blood you wonder where the blood is going. We don't really worry unless you have to give a number of transfusions in a row.

The photo above is from the 24th with herself all spread out and comfy.

Oh yeah, today is 3 weeks for Brinson.

Attitude, Attitude, Attitude!!!

Miss Brinson definitely has attitude. Giving Mom fits with diaper changes, de-sating at will and jockeying for attention (nurses are 2 to 1). Lisa tells me that Zachary and Brinson having duels all day long with there machines. Meaning when 1 is beeping and gets the nurses attention the others machine starts beeping. It is pretty funny!

Brinson was able to process another 1.5cc of sterile water (that 2 in a row) this evening. Only time will tell if she can keep it up. But so far so good.

BTW she was able to sleep just fine when the carpet was being cleaned earlier in the day.

I was able to capture a yawn, but unfortunately the video quality is poor because of the low light.

There will be more yawns....no worries.

Brinson digests water!

This afternoon after a 2nd attempt, Brinson was able to digest almost 1.5cc of sterile water. This good news because this is the first step before we try milk.

Lisa changed Brinson this afternoon while I was at work and Brinson did not like it. She kicked her legs and if there would not have been a tube in her mouth she would have been screaming. As soon as she dried her butt and got a new diaper on her, she quieted right down. I think Brin is going to be hell on wheels.

The nurse today got her down to 36% oxygen....the lowest she has been in 10+ days.

We are out and about right now. More later.....

Happy Morning!

Brinson had a great evening. They bumped her steroid back up a bit and so they can start the weening process over again. Her BP mean is in the 30's...not the teens .....ie too low. WooWoo!

The nurse told me this morning she is sleeping and saturating her O2 at 97%.

So it is a happy morning.

Who couldn't love a face like this one?

BTW today we find out if she is going to drink some sterile water.....testing the waters so to speak.....before we move on to MILK!!!!

Mixed day

Today started good, but end poorly. So another mixed day. Hopefully she gets a good night rest with Susan at her side.

Brinson had some good loving on by Donna the NP and Beverly the respiratory tech. Just about everytime Brinson had trouble, Bev would talk to her with her soothing voice and let Brinson hold her pinky finger. Brinson loved it and settled right into a slumber.

Late this evening her BP was low and her saturation was all over the place. BTW the BP is probably low because of the changes in her steroid. They have been weening her off, but they went down 2 steps today. So they will go back up 3 and start weening again.......to see if she can tolerate the change.

Everything is a balance.....Acid, BP, CO2, O2, Saline in, Pee out....etc!!!!!

Lisa called on the way home and she is already doing better....with the unit quieting down. That is good.

They think she gets over stimulated......and just starts reacting to everything.


PS A Big Thanks to Aunt Barb for the Flowers, Candy and Bunny!

Brinson relaxing in NICU

Today, Brinson is doing pretty good. Lisa tells me she had her eyes open some of the day looking around (preemies see very little at this point, but she appears to look at us).

I just heard they are going to do an abdomen ultrasound on Thursday (15 days post operation and 3 weeks in this world). Probably they are trying to determine when she can eat.

Otherwise her vitals are pretty much the same. Lisa said she was sleeping.....which is good.

Here are a few more pictures and videos from yesterday. She just looks so comfortable.....with her hands over her head.

For about 20 minutes she had her eyes open and as responding to us....a little bit.

Happy Easter!!!

Brinson had a good day. She was going down with her oxygen all day and was able to withstand 5 visitors over a few hours.

Before dinner, Lisa and I spent some quality time with Brinson. Melinda the nurse taking care of Brinson was gracious enough to help us take some photos with her.

It is hard to believe but those clothes are for preemies.



Look at the ears around her head.....














Another Family Photo!!!



After the Easter photos, her is Brinson catching some ZZZZZZzzzzz!!!

Status quo

Over the last few days, not really much has changed. She does well at night, but because of her sensitivity to noise her O2 saturation during the day is mixed at best. The nurses joke she is not a morning person.

So she is doing no better or worse.

Yesterday they started her on Lasixs to try and get some fluid out of her lungs. If this is done, she should get better with the respirator and move closer to CPAP.

Oh yeah, no milk this weekend. They are waiting a few more days since there was blood in her stomach (2 days ago).....they want to make sure everything is ok and she is digesting.

She cannot get her own condo (isolette) until she is more stable with breathing.....ie CPAP.

We were able to capture something funny the other day. Watch the eyebrows. Brinson only does this when she has the hiccups.


Later this evening the family is getting together for a non traditional Easter Dinner.
Happy Easter!!!