Well, we’ve have Briana home for 5 full days now and it’s been quite a trip. She actually a good baby and really doesn’t cry unless she needs anything, which is fine by us. Paul and I went to Briana’s first doctor’s appointment. We have Dr. Anne Emmick and are thrilled to have her. She has a very impressive resume and is a mom herself. Dr. Emmick was very good with Briana and answered all of our questions with a lot of detail. A nurse at Delnor NICU had advised us not to take Briana anywhere for 6 months, which I thought was a little absurd. When we asked Dr. Emmick about this she told us this was not true and to use our common sense, great news. I couldn’t imagine not being able to go anywhere for 6 months, I would go crazy! She also weighed Briana while we were there, a whole 6 lbs and 2 oz! Since Briana is two months old chronologically she was due for 4 immunizations and we weren’t really aware of that. Briana was not pleased about the whole thing, which I did not expect it to go well. Briana’s little legs were so sore for the rest of the day; she was not a happy camper.
Briana also had her first bath in the sink; she actually seemed to enjoy it. But she was floating instead of sinking toward the bottom. Overall we feel pretty lucky to have her home and besides the lack of sleep we’re getting by alright. I just can’t wait for her to start talking and maybe not sleeping all the time. When she is awake, mainly at night Briana is looking everywhere. She’s a little explorer!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
And She's Home!
Well everyone Briana just made it home!! It happened this past Thursday and we're so happy to finally have her home.
Briana was transferred to Delnor hospital because she was stable enough to be closer to home. Having her at Delnor was such a blessing. Both Paul and I were able to visit Briana multiple times a day for almost every feeding. It was wonderful to be so close with in comparison to Lutheran General. Briana had to test an apnea test in order to come home, it was a 24 hour test that observed her heart rate, breathing, and any apnea spells. On her first round she failed it and it was quite disheartening, we really thought that she would be coming home.
The doctors started her second test and we really didn't want to get our hopes up that she might be coming home. When I went in that morning I knew that she would be concluding her test and was nervous, I didn't believed that she had passed. The doctor came in to discuss the results and informed me that Briana had passed and could come home that afternoon! I was so excited and called Paul and some other family members to spread our news.
The first day home with Briana was quite surreal. Paul and I couldn't believe she was finally home. We showed Briana around the house and her room. She has been such a good baby and we've had no complaints. She did not like her crib at all, in fact every time we attempted to place her in it five minutes later she would be screaming. So from 12-2 she slept on Paul's chest and the rest of the night on mine, we're spoiling her already! Thank goodness for Laura, she gave us the advise to let Briana sleep in her car seat because it would keep her nice and snug. That did the trick, the next night she was sleeping past her feedings and I had to wake her up so she didn't pass 4 hours.
It's so wonderful to see Briana with Paul, he's such a good dad and they are so cute together. It's really quite amazing to think that we made Briana and she is so little and perfect. We both feel so lucky and blessed to have Briana and finally have her home. We want to thank everyone again for all of the support and prayers, we don't think we could have gotten through everything without it. THANK YOU!!
Briana was transferred to Delnor hospital because she was stable enough to be closer to home. Having her at Delnor was such a blessing. Both Paul and I were able to visit Briana multiple times a day for almost every feeding. It was wonderful to be so close with in comparison to Lutheran General. Briana had to test an apnea test in order to come home, it was a 24 hour test that observed her heart rate, breathing, and any apnea spells. On her first round she failed it and it was quite disheartening, we really thought that she would be coming home.
The doctors started her second test and we really didn't want to get our hopes up that she might be coming home. When I went in that morning I knew that she would be concluding her test and was nervous, I didn't believed that she had passed. The doctor came in to discuss the results and informed me that Briana had passed and could come home that afternoon! I was so excited and called Paul and some other family members to spread our news.
The first day home with Briana was quite surreal. Paul and I couldn't believe she was finally home. We showed Briana around the house and her room. She has been such a good baby and we've had no complaints. She did not like her crib at all, in fact every time we attempted to place her in it five minutes later she would be screaming. So from 12-2 she slept on Paul's chest and the rest of the night on mine, we're spoiling her already! Thank goodness for Laura, she gave us the advise to let Briana sleep in her car seat because it would keep her nice and snug. That did the trick, the next night she was sleeping past her feedings and I had to wake her up so she didn't pass 4 hours.
It's so wonderful to see Briana with Paul, he's such a good dad and they are so cute together. It's really quite amazing to think that we made Briana and she is so little and perfect. We both feel so lucky and blessed to have Briana and finally have her home. We want to thank everyone again for all of the support and prayers, we don't think we could have gotten through everything without it. THANK YOU!!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Closer to home!!
Briana has been doing so well that Lutheran General decided that she was stable enough to be transferred to Delnor. At first I was really excited about her being closer to home because she'd be 5 minutes frome our house and the opportunity to see her more often is amazing. Then I began to think that she would not have the same nurses and the doctors wouldn't know her tenancies. However, the doctors at Lutheran General assured and reassured me that they had every confidence that the doctors at Delnor would do an amazing job. It was hard to leave those nurses, they've been so good with Briana and we've been through the worst with them. They will be missed but we're keeping in touch with them.
So, on Friday Briana was transferred to Delnor by ambulance and Paul and I met her there. Delnor's NICU is much smaller than Lutheran General, in fact there are only two other babies. The nurses seems quite capable of taking care of her and they have been more than helpful to make us feel comfortable. They are making sure to get to know Briana and her habits and really listen to our suggestions on how to make her more comfortable.
Once Briana was comfortable after the transferred my family came to visit. Jill had come down from Madison and got to see and hold Briana for the first time. It was really amazing to be able to see her interact with Briana. Also, Briana has been doing very well with her feedings. We've discovered she's a night owl because she does her best feedings at night, lucky us! She's been taking full bottles at night and during the day half of a bottle. The nurses tell us that once she is able to take down full feedings ever feeding for 24 hours they will remove her feeding tube.
After the feeding tube is removed once Briana has been eating full feeding for 4 to 5 days with no spells she will be able to come home! There really isn't a set time that she we have till she comes home, it's just whenever she puts everything all together. So, hopefully soon it will all come together!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
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!
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!
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