Gestation: 36 weeks, 2 days
Weight: Not sure…
Feedings: However much she wants by bottle
Between going to church and visiting Abby yesterday Lydia didn’t get laid down for a nap until well after 4:00. And when we did lay her down she was so overtired that she just cried and screamed. Finally I picked her up and sat with her curled up and sniffling in my lap as I rocked in the glider.
Overtired myself, I thought, “I can’t do this anymore.”
For a while my mind continued to list all of the things I have to do and how I just can’t take anymore. Then, it was almost like someone said to me, “What are you doing right now?”
Rocking Lydia.
Then that’s all you need to do.
And so, in a simple way I was reminded that God never promises strength in advance for everything we have to do next, but He certainly provides the strength we need for the moment. So Dan and I have been living lately, drawing moment by moment the strength we need from the only One who won’t ever run out.
Are you ready for a crazy weekend?
Friday, I left you all with Lydia sick and Abby about to get an abdominal x-ray. Thanks, I believe, to the goodness of God and lots of prayers, Lydia was sick and better all within three hours. It was a rough weekend keeping her out of the NICU, but it was really only for a couple of days and we made it through. Friday night was almost a disaster for me when Dan went to see Abby and I stayed home with Lydia. I decided it must be a crime to keep a parent from being allowed to see their baby. Lydia and I did some projects together to pass the time and ended up setting up Abby’s bassinet for when she comes home. We made it.
Abby’s x-ray was normal. However, she continued to spit up through the weekend, and she continued not stooling.
On Saturday, while Dan was helping feed Abby in the morning, she got her feeding tube out. Dan quietly suggested that if she was eating well maybe they would just leave it out this time. At the next feeding, the nurse put a new feeding tube in, but Abby promptly got that one out too. So they left it out! At 5:00 on Saturday night the doctor put in order that Abby was to be “Ad Lib”.
Ad lib feeding is usually the last step for NICU babies. It means they have taken their bottles well by mouth (Abby was at 74%) and are close to discharge. It’s usually only 24-48 hours before they go home, once they’re ad lib. During this time, babies can eat any time they are awake and looking hungry within 2-4 hours from their previous feeding time. While their amounts are still recorded, they can eat as much or as little as they want as long as they gain a decent amount of weight.
On Sunday, Abby had lost weight and still wasn’t stooling. She spit up at four feedings in a row. And no one was talking to us about discharge. So Dan and I sat down with a doctor and asked if Abby could just be taken off the fortifier. We did some research on the importance of supplementing calcium and phosphorus for preemies so that their bones mineralize well and we found one hopeful paper that suggesting fortifying is unnecessary. I’ll spare all of the details, but basically this whole topic of fortification is really unsure. Research hasn’t been going on long enough to determine if preemies who don’t receive the fortification may have weak bones as adults. Anyway, there seem to be pros and cons either way. Our doctor agreed to give Abby a trial off of any fortifier to see how she does. They’ll watch her calcium levels and weight gain in the process.
Then Dan and I found out that Abby might have been home by Tuesday as long as she had gained weight. This particular doctor (who is on all week) wasn’t concerned about her spit up or her lack of stools and thought she was ready to go. Dan and I quickly explained that we weren’t set on taking her off the fortifier. We just want our baby home! But the doctor seemed to think it was a good idea to try her off the fortifier and keep her in the hospital in the meantime.
Bummer.
Then we went on to tell us that a recent exam revealed that Abby has a left inguinal hernia. This is very common in men and in preemie boys (about 1/3 of preemie boys have a hernia), however it is less common in preemie girls. Of the 700-800 our NICU sees each year there are usually only one or two. So Abby decided to be one of the two this year. By tomorrow a pediatric surgeon will take a look at Abby and decide if she needs to have surgery quickly (this week) or if it’s less serious and we can wait a couple of weeks.
This weekend, more than ever, I have been tempted to “lose it”. That is why, as I was rocking Lydia Sunday afternoon, I wanted to say “I can’t take it anymore!” But we know that God is taking care of us, and of little Abby.
Hernia surgery, from my best understanding, isn’t too serious. But it is still surgery. We are eager to talk to the pediatric surgeon and find out more about how serious it actually is. Our neonatologist didn’t seem too concerned though.
Today we found out that Abby has been eating about every four hours. In all of her short little life, Abby has never been a very awake baby for feeding times. We always have to wake her up. You may remember our frustrations last week when our nurse wouldn’t give her a bottle because she always “looked sleepy”. We’ve slowly been assuring the nurses that Abby always looks sleepy but she still eats great. That in mind, we thought it might be nice to keep Abby on the three hour schedule. More frequent, smaller feeds might help with the whole spit up issue. And it’s what she’s been doing all along. Once again, our doctor said that sounded fine, so tonight we will switch back to a three-hour schedule and see how Abby does on that.
Between the three hour schedule and the unfortified milk, we are hoping Abby will have less spit up, more stools, and bette weight gain. As long as she is gaining weight, it is still possible she could come home this week. Or, it may take longer for clear results. Or, she may go back on the fortifier and we may have to wait to see how she transitions to that before taking her home.
I’m still trying to gather my edelweis. Right now Lydia is walking around wearing my flip-flops and carrying a reusable grocery bag. She recently walked around the corner and I heard her say, “Dear Jesus, please help Abigail sleeping, grow”. So Lydia is joining you all in your prayers, all of which are edelweis to this Mommy’s heart.
Praise the Lord
We are thanking God for:
-a doctor who will consider our ideas
-no more feeding tube!
Please Pray:
-that Abby will do well off the fortifier and on a three-hour schedule
-that Abby will eat well and gain weight
-that Abby will spit up less and stool more
-that Abby’s hernia won’t be serious, painful, or become incarcerated
-wisdom for all the doctors involved
