4 Pounds

Isabelle has reached 4 pounds. Her weight was 1830 grams, which is almost 4lbs 1 oz. She was a very big girl today. During rounds today the doctors made more changes. At 11am today Isabelle began nasal cannula for 6 hours. She did a great job. When the nurse put her back on the CPAP it took her a little while to adjust. She will be on the CPAP for 3 hours then back to nasal for 6. Isabelle even got to nuzzle at the breast today. It has been 8 very long weeks of pumping or bam, bam as Nolan calls it. She also had her first increased feeding at 11am today. Isabelle is now getting 5ml every 3 hours. When her nurse checked to see what had been digested there was around 1ml left. It's pretty gross to watch, especially today. The milk was partly digested (chunky). Just wanted to share-hope you weren't eating anything. We should be able to tell if the feedings are going well in a couple of days. They are going very slowly. If she is able to digest the 5ml, the amount will go up every 12 hours. So tonight at 11pm she will get 7ml. Full feedings are around 25mls. If all goes well she could be at full feeds the beginning of next week.

I tried to take some pictures today but they were dark. Our new spot needs better lighting. Maybe I'll have better luck tomorrow.

Just a little note--Brooke did wear her hair down for pictures.

Almost 4 pounds

Isabelle gained 50 grams yesterday, which makes her 3lbs 14ozs. The doctors decided to do trophy feeds for another day. They are going slowly because of her bowel history. Her bowels have digested most of her trophy feeds, but a few didn't get digested real well. Isabelle is trying real hard. She has so many new things happening right now. With feedings, nasal cannula, weekly eye exams and keeping her temperature.

During rounds today the doctors decided to do 3 hours of nasal cannula and then 6 hours CPAP (3-nasal 6 CPAP). Isabelle did a good job. The nurses thinks she does better on the nasal cannula. As to keeping her temperature-the temperature on the isolette was at 37% and has gradually gone down to 30%. When she gets to 28% they will try her in a crib. If she holds her own temperature she will leave her Giraffe (isolette). All these things are important but we just want to get her to full feedings.

When Isabelle is at full feedings we will get transferred back to Winchester and then she can work on the rest. I think Dave is wore out with doing it all. Brooke has spring pictures tomorrow and I told her she should wear her hair down. She thinks daddy should put it in pigtails. He barely has time to comb her hair in the morning. He's not a morning person. None of them are very happy in the morning.

Please continue to pray for Isabelle. The doctors talked about what will happen if she doesn't digest her milk. We don't want to go that direction, so please make it a matter of prayer.

Thanks for the comments. I enjoy reading them. For those of you wondering, the background is a free template. If you click on the logo in the upper left corner it will take you to the website.

Moved From B Pod to Step Down

Isabelle was moved from B Pod late yesterday. She is now in an area called Step Down. This is a good move, according to her nurse, Isabelle was the most stable baby in her Pod. She has come a long way and it's great to hear it. We no longer have a window view but we do have more privacy. I guess we can't have it all.

She continues to do well on her trophy feeds and is having nasal cannula every 12 hours. I was holding her today while she was on nasal cannula and she did great. I forgot to mention how much Isabelle currently weights--3lb 12ozs. She is getting so big.

Isabelle was wide awake the other day and I used my video setting on my camera. You can hear some of the alarms in the background. As you can tell she was doing great. I dream about the alarms. Hope you enjoy the video.

Getting Started

I've decided to start a blog. This should make things easier. I'm not sure how it will go when I'm back home (we only have dial up). Living in the valley we don't have to many options for high speed. I've told Dave to do some research.

As you know, Isabelle Grace decided to join us three months early. She arrived on March 3. We began our journey at Winchester Hospital. Isabelle weighed 1lb 12/13 ozs. (810 grams) . She was unable to breath on her own, so she was placed on a conventional ventilator. Her first bed was an incubator, call the Giraffe. Her skin was still transparent. Dave's wedding band fit on her ankle and wrist, with room to spare. Her eyes were still fussed shut. Isabelle was placed under lights for jaundice. She had many different IVS, PIC lines, Arterial lines, blood pressure cuffs, oxygen sensors, temperature probes, etc. At one point she didn't have a free limb. She has had to have an IV placed in her head. Early on Isabelle developed an infection. The doctors, Dr. Lee and Dr. Clauson, did a spinal to see if it was meningitis. That was ruled out and they continued to watch blood cultures. Nothing grew on the blood cultures, but Isabelle did have an x-ray that showed hazy lungs. They began antibiotics for the infection. She had a level one brain bleed, there are four levels. Level one is nothing serious. She had to have four blood transfusions, while at Winchester. She was given hydrocortisone, to help with a stress hormone. Isabelle was also on two blood pressure medicines. She was also given many rounds of indocin to try and close her PDA.

On March 19, we were informed that Isabelle had a perforation in her intestine. This is when our journey got even more difficult. Isabelle was taken to Charlottesville, VA with Neonatal Emergency Transport. Dave and I packed a few things and then headed to Charlottesville, VA. It takes about 2 1/2 hours from our house.

When we arrived the NICU doctors consulted with Dr. Rogers, a surgeon, about Isabelle's belly. They decided to make a small incision in the right side to release pressure and clean out the area. Dr. Rogers put saline into her belly to flush things out, then he put two small drains in. He said we would wait and see if the perforation healed on its own. This should take 2-3 weeks. About 2 weeks later Isabelle had surgery to close her PDA. After her surgery she had to be put on an oscillator. She had a few days that were not so good.

During our journey at Charlottesville, I have stayed at the Ronald McDonald House 35 out of 36 nights. Brooke, Nolan and Lily got to met their sister on March 28. Brooke said Isabelle looked like a baby doll, Nolan just wanted to hug and kiss her and Lily kept saying baby.

Isabelle has been at UVA for 5 1/2 weeks. The NICU doctors had been talking about doing her upper contrast study for weeks. When her contrast study was done, they did a lower GI contrast first. It took the dye 8 days to get out of Isabelle system. The upper GI study was done on April 23 (five weeks after her drains were put in). On Friday, April 24, the surgeon gave the go ahead for trophy feeds. Isabelle does have an area in her intestine that has narrowed, but the surgeon isn't concerned right now. Sometimes feeding can stretch the narrowed area. He feels she doesn't need surgery as long as things are being digested. Trophy feeds are where they feed Isabelle small amounts of breast milk in a feeding tube every 3 hours. Before they feed her they will pull out everything left in her stomach and then return it (gross). This will be done for 4 days. Trophy feeds basically prime the gut. So far Isabelle is doing well with her trophy feeds.

Isabelle is currently on CPAP for her respiratory needs. Yesterday the doctors tried a test on nasal cannula. She did a pretty good job. Daddy was holding her during this time. Today they did another try this morning and she didn't do as well. Maybe Isabelle is already daddy's girl.

I know I left out some information, but this is the shorter version of our journey. I will try to keep everyone updated as much as possible.

Here are some pictures from the last few days.

Isabelle with her nasal cannula

Big sister and brother (Brooke didn't really want Nolan in front of her, you can't tell by her face)

Here is a video of Nolan and Lily giving Isabelle kisses.