Tag Archives: Neonatal intensive care unit

Abby Update: 10 Days Old

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Weight: Almost 2 pounds, 12 ounces

Feedings: 16 milliliters (about 1 Tablespoon) every 3 hours

Abigail is doing great!  She is almost back up to her birth weight and is due to be weighed again tonight.  As her feedings continue to increase by 3 milliliters each day, she will slowly be weaned from her IV and the doctors will be able to remove her PICC line, which is the line that goes in through her arm and feeds her those fluids.  Today they took away her lipids (fats that they have been feeding her).

Abby’s is off the bilirubin light and digesting well.  Over the past couple of days she has begun to spit up some.  It is very common (but inconvenient) for preemies to develop reflux, so we are praying this will not be the case with little Abby.  Her nurse today said she seemed more relaxed and has only spit up once today, for which we are glad.

The big news is that Abby is off her cannula and breathing on her own.  If she struggles to breath, they’ll put her back on the cannula, but so far she looks like she’s doing great.  As more of the wires and stickers are being removed, Abby looks more and more like a term baby, although still much too small, and today she was wearing her first outfit!

While Abby is doing great, we would appreciate prayers for the rest of our family.   On Friday, the young people from our church moved us into a new apartment.  They did an amazing job.  One young man used his incredible packing skills to rearrange our laundry room into a storage and useable laundry room.  I was also surprised when I opened the cupboards in the kitchen to find nearly all of our kitchen unpacked and put away.  And our super sweet pastor’s wife loaded our fridge with some produce and other healthy foods that she had made.  If anyone who helped ends up reading this, consider this a HUGE thank you!  While everyone was working so hard, I was relaxing in the hospital typing out Abigail’s birth story.

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While Abigail continues to do well, the rest of our family is in need of prayer.   Taking care of our bigger Munchkin, getting in Dan’s time for work, visiting Abby, getting some small amount of rest, and trying to move in, eat, and keep up with at least a little bit of laundry is proving to be a lot.  We have yet to figure out a workable routine, and Lydia is not cooperating well enough to continue bringing her with us to the NICU.  Abby is doing well enough now that we could hold her twice a day, but we haven’t been able to figure out a workable plan that allows us to hold her twice.

Back in May Dan and I moved in to a condo in Ann Arbor, but soon Dan was experiencing all sorts of weird symptoms (feeling sick and nauseous whenever he was home) that we finally attributed to mold.  We rushed out of that condo to a temporary home in Plymouth.  We took a long time finding another place to live, trying to be careful to find a place that wouldn’t make Dan sick again.  However, when we got to see our current apartment, it smelled so strongly of cleaning chemicals that it was hard to tell if there was anything else weird in the air.  Today Dan started feeling nauseous again.  Honestly, it’s too much for me to think about right now.  In fact, I’ve developed a new coping technique where I don’t think about anything except what I’m doing at the moment.  The thought of having to move again is completely ridiculous.  But if Dan is really going to feel very sick whenever he’s home, the thought of staying there for a year is also ridiculous. So I am overwhelmed and at a loss as to what to think or do.  Please pray that his nausea passes, that it’s not related to the new apartment.  Or, pray that if we really are going to have to move (I can barely stand to write that down!) that it will become very clear to us within the next day or two.

Praise the Lord

We are thanking God for:

-Dan’s Mom who helped pack us up for our move and spent a couple days helping with Lydia

-the youth at church who moved us all in a couple of hours

-Abby’s weight gain, breathing success, and freedom from the bilirubin light

Please Pray:

-that Abby will continue to gain weight and breath well, and will stop spitting up (can’t stand to loose those calories!)

-that we will figure out a workable routine-that Dan can get in his hours at work and I can get in the rest I need to stay healthy and strong

-that there will be nothing in our new apartment making Dan feel sick, that he’ll feel much better very soon and we’ll know within a day or two if something needs to change

Abby Update: 8 Days Old

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Weight: 2 pounds, 9 ½ ounces
Feedings: 7 milliliters (about 1 ½ teaspoons) every 3 hours

Yesterday when Dan and I walked into the NICU our nurse informed us that Abigail has been hungry. Standard procedure in the NICU is that for the first seven days of life babies are only allowed to receive their MEN feedings (minimal enteral nutrition) which is only four milliliters every four hours. The point is to get things going in the digestive system without causing any problems. Well, Abby wasn’t happy with her MEN feedings. She was hungry! Our nurse asked if she could get her feedings bumped up a day early, but the doctors turned her down. That’s ok. Today Abby is getting more food at last. Now we can really start watching her gain weight.

Yesterday Abby was off of the bilirubin light. Her bilirubin had come down from 7 to 4.6, but today she was back up to 6.6 and had to go back on the light. That’s ok. She may come off and on a couple more times before she’s done for good.

The other excitement today was that Abby is being weaned from her cannula. She has been on 2 liters and today the nurse turned it down to 1.5. If she continues to breath well, and she seems to be, they will continue to wean her until she is breathing on her own. Last night Dan and I helped give Abby a bath, and she was off her cannula for almost an hour with absolutely no problems. Out of all of her achievements so far, it’s the breathing that amazes me the most. She seems to have very strong lungs, especially considering how early she was born.

And, thanks to all who were praying! Abigail’s first brain ultrasound came back normal. She will have a few more ultrasounds as she gets older to make sure there is no bleeding in her brain, but so far, so good.

  photo 03_zps695c5a49.jpgHow is Lydia handling her new role as big sister? The first couple of visits to the NICU were a few steps short of disaster. She wanted to touch everything and when she couldn’t she screamed and cried (not an ideal situation when there are babies in critical condition). However, she’s been doing much better and will not sit happily with us as we read to her and listen to Adventures in Odyssey. Every time we visit, Lydia gets a sticker from the nurse at the front desk. Then she tells everyone we pass, “Abigail!” as we head in to Abby’s room. Once there, she knows that she has to wash her hands (she loves throwing the paper towel in the trash). We hold her up to see Abby and then she entertains herself, or we entertain her, until it’s time to go. When we leave, she says “Bye!” to Abby, blows her kisses, and then says “hug” and won’t let us go until she, Dan, and I all take turns “hugging” Abby’s isolette. It is precious.

Abby Update: 4 Days Old

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For pictures of Abigail, visit our Facebook page

Things have been such a whirlwind since Abby was born last Wednesday, that I haven’t had much free time to write any updates.  Dan and I are hoping to figure out some sort of (somewhat) sane routine soon, and in the meantime my parents are here to help us keep things together.  But, here is an update on the past few days.  I hope to eventually share Abby’s full birth story, and I really think it’s a good one, with God’s hand so obviously involved in the events that happened.  Then again, I am a little biased.

When Abby was born (via C-section), she was rushed to the NICU.  Even though she was born 2 weeks younger than Lydia, Abby has not had to use a ventilator at all.  She was given a bubble CPAP, which supplied pressure to her lungs to keep them inflated.  After a treatment of sufactant (the liquid that lines our lungs), Abby’s breathing improved even more.  By Sunday (today!) Abby was transitioned to a nasal cannula, one stop closer to breathing on her own.

Abby’s birth weight was 2 pounds, 15 ounces.  By Saturday night it had decreased about 18% to 2 pounds and 9 1/2 ounces.  This isn’t a concern yet, but we certainly don’t want her losing any more of that weight!

Nurses began feeding Abby a couple of days ago and today she just started to succeed at digesting milk (which I pump for her).  She gets a whopping 4 milliliters every 4 hours.

Overall, the nurses, doctors, and respiratory therapists are thrilled with Abby’s progress.  Her breathing amazes me, as she is doing so well even though she was born earlier than her sister.  If there was any complaint, it would be that our munchkin is feisty and doesn’t care for the tubes!  She is constantly pulling them out, keeping her nurses on their toes.

As for the Parents…

Dan and I are starting to wrap our minds around what is actually happening.  Both of our parents have taken turns helping with Lydia, meals, cleaning, laundry, and giving us a chance to rest and get away to see little Abby.  I am recovering well, but still sore, and won’t be able to do much of anything for a while still.  The first few days were hard, physically and emotionally, but so many people have offered prayers, encouragement, loving words, and help.  We feel overwhelmed with the love and support.

Praise the Lord

We are thanking God for:

His hand in the delivery, at least two specific instances when He led and protected us in life or death circumstances.

Abby’s wonderful progress.  The NICU is a roller coaster but we haven’t had any drops yet.

A plentiful milk supply and that Abby is starting to digest.

Please Pray

That Mom will heal quickly as there is just too much to do when Mom can’t help!

That Dan and I will figure out a workable schedule to be able to parent Lydia and Abby, get Dan’s time in at work, and actually sleep and eat!

For Abby’s continued progress, and our patience as we begin what will be another long NICU journey.

That Abby will be home quickly.  I’m praying she can be home by Thanksgiving, but expecting by Christmas.

Introducting Abigail Faith

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Here’s is my promised pregnancy shot from the past weekend.  The picture on the left is me 28 weeks along with Lydia.  The picture on the right is me at 28 weeks with Baby 2.

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Here’s Lydia on her birthday, just 2 weeks and 6 days after that picture was taken.

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And here is Baby 2 on her birthday, just 4 days after that second picture was taken.

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Introducing Abigail Faith Taylor

Born: September 11, 2013 at 4:53 am

Weight: 2 pounds, 15 ounces

Length: 15.75 inches

Well, little Abby decided to come even earlier than her sister.  While so much of this labor and delivery was not what we had prayed or hoped for, God’s handiwork was all over it.  From the preparation of our hearts and minds leading up to labor, His provision for everything we needed, just before we needed it, answered prayers during labor and delivery, and Divine Protection, God was definitely in charge of this situation.

photo Justine_zps11067ec9.jpgI plan to post the details of Abigail’s birth story later, along with updates on how she is doing.  For now, Baby is doing very well (for her age) and Mommy is recovering well too.  We are currently trying to figure out a plan for handling our Munchkin along with this new little one, as we expect to spend the next two or three weeks with Abby in the hospital NICU.