Well, Briana is still doing the same as before, which neither of us are complaining about! She is still doing well. As of today she weighs 5 lbs 6.6 oz. and is 18 inches long, a big girl! She has also developed a bit of a reflux problem. This is where she spits up but it is almost like heart burn so quite uncomfortable. She has this problem while they are tube feeding and after her trying to feed orally. It's just started to be treated today with pepsid.

When she has reflux it's terrible to watch. Briana balls up and starts to cry until it passes and then calms down until it starts to bother her again. It's just frustrating because there is nothing I can do about. I just hold her and trying to move her about and try to calm her. The doctors assure us that Briana will out grow it over time and it is something that she can come home with.

We're still working on transferring Briana to a closer hospital. Rush-Copley was the hospital that we preferred Briana to go to because of the fact that it had the same doctors and they already knew our situation. However, the insurance company informed us that the hospital was out of our network which is interesting because this is the sister hospital to Lutheran General. So, the insurance company is going to look further into the hospital and see if they can fine a loop hole. If not they're looking for other hospitals to transfer her to that will be closer to us.

Other than that Briana is being a great little girl. She's quite active when she's awake and it's always a great time being with her!

More Pictures

Still Going Strong

Briana is still doing quite well. She in now completely off of her cannula and is breathing on her own. It's such a positive step in the right direction and is so encouraging. The only wires that are left on Briana's body are the monitors, they will stay on her until she leaves the NICU, and her feeding tube.

The feeding tube is still intact because Briana is only taking half of her feedings orally. Before she can come home Bri needs to be able to take all of her feedings by mouth. She just gets so exhausted from trying to take her feedings from the breast or bottle. Briana is taking 50 cc of breast milk a day and normally averages 15-20 cc from the breast or 20-25 cc from the bottle. The bottle is easier because she doesn't have to suckle nearly as much as she does the breast.

Briana now weighs 5.4 lbs. and is still growing. She is out of most of her preemie clothes and looks so grown up! The doctors did another echo scan and her PDA is still evident, it's a small to moderate hole. The cardiologist assured me that since she is doing so well clinically that they do not want to operate on her heart. Also, he told me he really isn't too concerned about her heart that it wasn't even on the back burner. He believes that it will close up on it's own and she will be able to come home with it and be an out patient.

The doctors also conducted a hearing test, which Briana passed! Also a speech pathologist came to work with Briana concerning her suckling on the bottle. She wanted to make sure that she is handling the feedings well. The speech pathologist was very impressed with Briana, but who are we kidding, she's our daughter, we knew that already!

We are also in the process of trying to get Briana transferred to Rush-Coppley. Briana would be 11 minutes from home and we could go see her more often. It's actually more important to me that Briana is closer to home so that Paul can go see her more often. It's difficult for Paul to go see her during the work week because he can't take 4-5 hours out of his work day. He is doing such an amazing job that it would be great to spoil him with a lunch break where we could go see Bri. We are just waiting for the insurance company to approve the transfer. We will miss the nurses so much but the reason we chose this hospital was because it is the sister hospital to Lutheran General. So, she would have the same doctors and they are already aware of our situation.

Both Paul and I want to thank everyone for the prayers and support. We don't know how we would have gotten this far without all of our friends and family.

** See below for a new video of Briana!! **

Video for Daddy

A Wonderful Day

Briana is doing so well that Paul and I can not believe it.

We previously had attempted breast feeding, just twice, but both times Briana would latch on, suckle a couple times, and then look around confused. We were proud of her for trying and she was doing quite well for being 32 weeks. However, over the weekend she took a bottle and finished the whole thing! Paul and I met with the lacatation consolution today and she gave us some great pointers on feeding Briana. Briana latched on and actually suckled for quite a while. She was tired so she would start to fall asleep until I would move her around and she would start with the suckleing again.

Briana is also a thumb sucker! Also today I was holding her and all of the sudden she put her thumb in her mouth! I really couldn't believe, my daughter is a genius, she's discovered she has fingers! It was the cutest thing. Both Paul and I were thumb suckers and it is amazing to see her progress.

Earlier before we even went into the hospital we recieved a phone call from the nurse. She told Paul she wanted to call with good news. Normally when we recieve a call from the hospital it's not the best news or they want to get our consent to do a bllod transfusion or something else. So, to get a call for good news was rather interesting. The nurse told us that since Briana is taking a full bottle that she may be able to come home in two to three weeks!! She told Paul that he better start setting up the crib. His responce was that we had the crib set up, now we're just working on the changing table. Paul and I can not believe that our little girl may be coming home soon! It's almost surreal to thing that we've come this far.

Briana also weighs almost 5lbs now! The nurses told me she'll almost out grown her premie clothes so I better now buy any more. It's crazy to think about that she's gotten that big. In a way it makes me a little sad because she's already growing up so fast! Our little girl has a little bit of a double chin and I love it, she's so beautiful.

Some More Pictures

A Week Update... better late than never

I apologize for the delay in posts, we have been quite busy this past week. While Paul was in Puerto Rico his grandfather passed away. So on Saturday morning we went to see Briana and then on Sunday left for Iowa. It was wonderful to meet all of Paul's family and get to show off pictures of our baby.

Briana has been doing very well. The nurses are still attempting to ween her from her oxygen and she's now on one liter. As soon as she can control her breaths to under 60 breaths a minute we can start breast and bottle feeding. She still is occasionally having spells. There are times she recovers on her own and sometimes she needs some help. The nurses area also trying to get her off of her cannula! I'm hoping that by the end of the week she might be completely breathing on her own!

Briana was really having a lot of trouble pooping. She hadn't pooped in over 24 hours so the doctors gave her a suppository. When Paul and I went to visit her on Sat. Paul got to hold her for the first time since he had returned from Puerto Rico. After he was done we but Briana back in her bed and I got to change her diaper. At first she just had a little smear and we were happy with that. As I continued to change her diaper she went in to ice cream machine mode and continued to poop. I tried to put her butt into the diaper and thought I had done so fast enough but a nurse later pointed out the projectile poop across her bed. There was so much that they had to change out her bed completely! She is completely Paul's daughter.

Briana is still having difficulty pooping so they have given her a drug that should help basically help her intestines push along with another suppository today. Briana hasn't pooped since her explosion mentioned above, so it's been almost 72 hours. Her stomach isn't distended and is soft which are all good signs but she needs to poop on a more regular basis. The doctors have still been increasing her feedings, 16 cc's now! However, they've extended her feedings over 2 hours.

The doctors also have explained to Paul and I that Briana is big enough were they are going to put her in an open crib. She has to be able to maintain her temperature so they are slowly lowering the temperature in her bed and observing how she tolerates it. It's a little crazy to think about her in a "big girl bed" but it's a great step in the right direction so that we can bring her home.

Today I went in to visit Briana and brought her a swing that we had received for one of our baby showers. It was so good to see her again even though Paul and I were only gone for a couple of days. When I finally saw Briana she opened her eyes and started smiling at me. It was so wonderful to know she knew who I was and that I seemed missed. After holding her for quite a while I decided to test out the swing with Bri. She is so small in it! It was so funny to watch her expressions as she heard the music. I don't think she was thrown off by the motion but she kept looking around in the direction that the music was coming from. Once Briana is in an open bed and when she's awake the nurses will put her in the swing. It's a wonderful thing especially when Paul and I can't be there.

Also, Briana is 4.1 lbs! She's a big girl and is still growing! She looks so cute now and is constantly filling out. One of the nurses placed a bow in her hair and it looks absolutely adorable. At first I wasn't sure how they that put the bow there without a clip but a nurse informed me that they used KY jelly. Apparently it hardens and keeps the bow to the head but is also water soluble, she looks amazing.

Thanks everyone for checking in, sorry it took so long to update it!