Lorelei 32 days old

Last night I went to see Lorelei around 10pm. To my great surprise she was off all her respiratory support. It was so nice to see her without something in her nose. She is just so cute. I stayed with her until about 1am. We had such a great time together. She did a huge poop, which is great for her and I got to feed her a bottle which she finished and wanted more. She is now on all breast milk (pumped). Hopefully soon I can try to breast feed her. Two days ago they moved her to a normal newborn bassinet. She can control her own temp and is doing great on her oxygen saturation. These are all great steps to coming home soon. I will post some new pics as soon as I have the time to download them from my camera.

Christmas Day

Here are a couple of pictures of all the excitement of Christmas day. Asher's favorite gift by far was his motorcycle from Nana and Papa. Everyday now he can't wait to get outside and ride. There is also a picture of Baylee and Riley after she opened a Kirby stuffed animal from Riley. Lets just say she was very, very happy. I think Riley got whiplash from all the love. They got so much great stuff this year. Lots of video games, UGG boots, Zhu Zhu pets and habitats, a watch, clothes, books, Legos, a camera, Webkinz, glow dome, remote control cars, etc, etc... But the best part of all was just having a great time together and knowing that someday soon our baby girl will come home.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone. Hope you all had a wonderful day. We had such a great time. The kids were so excited to open their presents and play with all their new toys. I felt a little torn between being two places at once. In the late afternoon I got to visit Lorelei for a couple hours. We had a wonderful visit. I even got to feed her a bottle. That was a first for me. She did great. They have ordered her an occupational therapist to come next week to help her out with her feedings. Her belly is still having trouble with distending. Hopefully it will get better soon. I will post more pics of all the kids and the Christmas fun soon. Love you all.

The Night Before Christmas In The NICU

Twas the night before Christmas, and in each isolette
Little creatures were squirming and getting all set;
Machinery sat by their bedsides with care,
In hopes that good breathing skills soon would be there.

Day shifters were home all snug in their beds,
As visions of overtime danced in their heads;
While preemies on ventilators, and some on CPAP,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap...

When out in the hall there arose such a clatter,
The residents woke up to see what was the matter.
Away from the sink I flew like a jet
To make sure all was well at my baby's isolette.

Some bilirubin lights with their powerful glow
Gave the luster of mid-day to babies below,
When, there before my wondering eyes, it would seem,
Was an oversized stroller and a medical team.
With a handful of needles with which they could stick you,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nicu.

More rapid than eagles his specialists came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
"Now, Nurses! Now, Residents! Now, Neonatologists!
On, Social Workers! On, Respiratory and Occupational Therapists!
From the front of the unit! To the end of the hall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

Up to each baby's crib side they flew,
With the stroller full of toys, and St. Nicu too.
And then, in a twinkling, they stopped at each bed
And tucked in the babies and got them all fed.

As I looked at my baby, and was turning around,
Down our aisle St. Nicu came with a bound.
He was dressed in red scrubs, and I could instantly tell
That his clothes had an obvious hospital smell;
A bag of stuffed animals was flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
A little red pen he held tight in his teeth,
And a stethoscope encircled his neck like a wreath.

He was chubby and plump, with a few extra pounds,
And I laughed when I saw him there doing his rounds.
A turn of his clipboard and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke few words, but came straight to my side,
And running down his face was a tear he had cried.

And laying his hand on the back of my head,
He gave me a nod, and slowly he said:
"Each night you come here you're aware of the danger,
But your baby is loved by the One in the manger."

Then the medical team gave a thumbs-up and smiled
And St. Nicu placed an animal next to my child.
But I heard him exclaim, as they rolled out of sight,
"Merry Christmas, tiny baby, and have a wonderful night!"

Nipples

Today they started nipple feeding Lorelei. She took really well to the bottle. They are trying it once a day for now. She did so great, I was so proud of her. She is now 5 pounds!!!!!!!!! If she does this well on the bottle they will let me try to give it to her myself. Then if it keeps going well and she absorbs her feeds, I can start breastfeeding.

22 Days old

Today Lorelei is 22 days old. She has been doing pretty well with her feeds although she is still having a little difficulties with some of them. She throws up a lot and has trouble having bowel movements on her own. There is still a lot of air in her belly and at times she seems really uncomfortable. Hopefully we will learn more when we see the doctor on duty tomorrow. Today I put on her baby sister tee shirt. I had to specially alter it so it could fit on her with her PICC line and all her leads and tubes. I also had to make it short sleeve. It feels a little weird cutting up brand new clothes, then trying to sew them back adding velcro. So far it has worked out for her. I will update tomorrow and let you know what the doctor is saying. Baylee, Riley and Asher are doing really well. They are having so much fun having all the grandparents around and they can't wait for Christmas. I can hardly believe it is only 5 days away. I have so much left to do.

18 days old

Just called the nurse on duty for Lorelei tonight and so far she is tolerating her feeds today. She gets fed through a feeding tube and they adjusted the flow to an all day slow feed. All her xrays and GI studies have come back normal, which is really great news. She is receiving so many xrays and so much care that they moved her to another room so it is easier to get the xray machine in and out. This room is so much better because it is a lot more quite and we don't feel so squished in there. Yesterday was not such a great day. They had her off food all day and night because they were getting back green residuals and she was throwing up bile. That is a really bad sign to see in babies of any age especially preemies. That is why the doctor held off her milk for a while and is now giving her this special digested formula and some antibiotics which have a good effect on intestine motility. So far it seems to be working. The doctor says that there are a couple of different tricks they can do to try and jump start her digestive tract. Lets hope this works out for her. I went in this morning to see her and she looked great. She had just had a bath and she was in the best of care with my two favorite nurses, Pedro and Lorelee. You can see why Lorelee likes our Lorelei. They are both really great and I felt good that she was being cared for by them. I can't wait to go see her tomorrow. I just hope and pray that these feedings do the trick. The kids at home seem to be doing good. I try to get home soon after they get out of school so we can have time together. My parents have been so helpful here at the house and with the kids. Asher can't wait to see them in the morning. Today Papa came to our Mommy and Me class. It was our last one for the year. We don't start up again until mid Feb. I know Asher is really going to miss it. Here are a couple of pictures I took of Lorelei yesterday.

Lorelei 16 days old

Today Lorelei is back on foods. They started her on another special type of formula that is already digested to make it easier on her intestines. Hopefully this will get everything going. This is such an important step for her I really hope she can do it. Hope you all enjoy the movie.

13 days old

Today was not such a great day for our little girl. She has been taken off breast milk again because her intestines are not functioning. It could be due to prematurity and or the loss of blood flow from the placental abruption and shock. Whatever the cause they are keeping a close eye on it with many x rays, blood tests and stopping all feedings besides her IV. I am so worried about her right now it makes me feel so sick. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers so she may make a turn around and fight this off. The nurses say that she still looks great with her color and her vitals so that is uplifting. I was able to hold her for about 3 hours today. If it wasn't for the fact that I felt like I was going to pass out due to hunger I would have stayed and held her all night. Hopefully tomorrow when I go check on her she will be doing better. I just want to bring her home to meet her family!!!!!!!!!!!!! We all love her so much.

2 Weeks Old

Today Lorelei is two weeks old. I went to the hospital this afternoon while Jeff was at work and my dad watched the kids. She was doing great while I was there. Her oxygen intake was the best ever so they put her level at room air. She is still getting a little help from the air pressure, but hopefully soon they can start weening that too. Her feedings are still not going so great. I need to call again tonight to see how the last feeding went. She is still getting lots of air in her belly and some residuals. If her intestines start to work better she would be feeling so much better. Tonight she was so alert. She was looking all around the room and at me. She is such a little cutie. I wish the kids could see her in person. I think it is so hard for them to just hear about her and see pictures. I know they are really wanting to finally meet her and hold her in their arms. Whenever Asher sees a picture of her he says "baby in mommies tummy". We say "that's Lorelei". He just says again "no, that's baby in mommy's tummy".

Lorelei

Today we got to hold our sweet girl again. For the last two days they haven't let us hold her because her tummy was not holding down the formula or breast milk. Last night they took her off all feedings to give it a rest. Tomorrow they are going to be doing more belly x rays to see what is going on. They said that she has been a little upset since they took away the milk. Hopefully tomorrow they will find nothing wrong and resume the feedings. Sometimes it is only a matter of maturity of the gut. I really hope that is all it is.
Yesterday we had quite a scare with Baylee. After being at the hospital during the day I got home in time to take the kids to their school to get the H1N1 vaccine. On our way to the car after they both got their shot, Baylee fell to her knees saying she felt sick and dizzy. I helped her back into the cafeteria where the nurses were. She looked terrible, she went sort of green to white and sweaty. She couldn't walk any more and laid on the floor. The nurses came over and put her on the bench with her feet up and called 911. I was so afraid for her. The paramedics, police, fire dept. all came of coarse. They ran all the tests on her and everything came out good, so in the end we declined transport. So it was either some reaction to the shot or just a reaction of being so scared inside about getting the shot. Either way she is better. I am not sure how I am ever going to convince her again about getting another shot anytime soon. She was so brave at the time. I was so proud of her. I think she was just internalizing it all.
So tomorrow Jeff is off and we can spend some time together with the kids and go and see Lorelei again. Keep her in your prayers about her x ray tomorrow and that she takes on to digesting milk soon.

10 Days Old

Today our sweet little girl is 10 days old. She has graduated to room B in the NICU. That means she is getting better. I got to hear her cry for the first time today. It was so nice to finally hear her. I also got to give her a bath. The only problem she is having right now is digesting the breast milk. They are going to give her some special type of formula to see if he tummy accepts it better. If it does they said they will gradually introduce the breast milk again. Hopefully she can take it again because we have a freezer full. Tomorrow I have my doctors appointment so I will hopefully find out more about why this all happened. Check back tomorrow for more good news.

9 days old

Lorelei keeps progressing everyday. She is already making us so proud of her. Today she was sleeping on her tummy to help with her breathing. She is still in the first room but hopefully tonight they will move her. She got a new hat made by the volunteers at the hospital. She looked so cute in it. She is still fed through a feeding tube but she is digesting more, so that is good news. I got to hold her again today so that was really nice. I wish I could stay there and hold her all night long. It is so hard to balance spending time with all the kids. They seem to be doing really well with everything going on. I know they would just love to see their sister in person. If only this H1N1 was over. The hospital won't allow anyone who is under 16 to even enter into the lobby. Jeff and I are going over in the morning to see her so hopefully tomorrow I will have some more good new.

Sweet Baby

Today was yet another great day. I feel like everyday there is going to be some sort of set back but Lorelei keeps up her fight. Every time they challenge her with something new she does great. Today Jeff and I went to see her and they had taken off her CPAP and replaced it with high flow nasal cannula. She is tolerating it well. They also removed the IV line from her head and took her off the prophylactic doses of antibiotics because all her test came back negative for infection. We will know next week if her brain bleed is any smaller, so keep good thoughts for that. Now for the best news of all, Daddy got to hold her for the first time. She made it even extra special for him by waking up and looking at us. This is the first time we have seen her awake. It was so amazing. Jeff is on cloud 9. Being able to hold your baby does so much good for the heart and soul. I hope it does the same for her. Before we left tonight the nurse put her in a new bed. Now she can sleep better because she is closed in instead of out on observation. I was feeling sort of sorry for her to be out like that 24 hours a day because the NICU is really noisy and bright. There are so many monitors beeping all the time, people talking, stuff being moved around. So now it makes me feel better to have her sleeping in someplace a little more serene. Pumping has been going great. All the doctors and nurses are suprised by all the milk I am producing. They have so much of mine in the freezer over there that I have to store some here at home now. She is starting to tolerate the milk in her gut a little better now, so that is also encouraging. That is all for now, lets hope for the good news to keep coming. Keep her in your thought and prayers.

Lorelei Update

The last two days have been really great for our baby girl. Thursday morning they extubated her, so she is no longer on the ventilator. The next thing for her is to be on the CPAP, which is continuous positive air pressure. It is a tube placed over her nose that creates air pressure and keeps her lungs open. She is breathing on her own now and she is much more comfortable without the tube down her throat. With the tube in her throat she was in a lot of pain and she seemed really uncomfortable. Now she is resting peacefully and hasn't had apnea since they took it out. While I was there they were changing her mask so I got my first glimpse of her face. She is so beautiful. Now for the best news of all- Today, Friday, I was able to hold her for the first time. It was so amazing. I wanted to hold her all night. She was resting in my arms so peacefully and seemed to be responding to my voice. I can't wait to hold her again. I had to put her back in her bed after about 10 minutes because her O2 was starting to fall but just that short time really made my day, maybe even year.

Welcome Lorelei Christine

Saturday November 28, 2009 at 32 weeks gestation, Lorelei Christine came into this world.
She is a beautiful, sweet and strong little fighter. We are giving her all our love and prayers so she can come home soon. It is so hard to be without her. The day after Thanksgiving I noticed that she was no longer moving inside of me. We were in San Diego at the time and went to a hospital out there. Unfortunately the doctor missed what was really happening with her and we were discharged. Luckily my amazing OB called me because she heard I was in the hospital. When I told her about the test results and how I was feeling she had Jeff rush me to our hospital. Within a short time they were doing a emergency c-section to get her out. We were suffering from an abrupted placenta. She lost 80% of her blood inside me. She came out lifeless and completely white. It took over two hours to stabilize her. It will take some time to know the effects of the blood loss and trauma of the birth but we are remaining hopefull and just concentrating on loving her. I was discharged tonight and she is in the NICU with the best nurses and doctors. I just pray, hope and plead that she can be here with us soon. I haven't been able to hold her yet but hopefully soon. They have been planning on taking her breathing tube out to see how she does but it keeps getting set back because she is getting periods of apnea. Today was the first time they put breast milk in her feeding tube so hopefully soon she can be taken off the IV nutrition. I will update as much as I can. Just send her prayers and positive thoughts. I also want to thank all of our wonderful family and friends. I have never had a community come together like this for our family. I love you all. And thank you to the grandparents who have stepped in to support our kids here at home and help us out in so many ways.

Photo Tinks by WiddlyTinks.com

My New Shirts

Here are a couple of the new shirts that I have been working on. I love to make them. Actually I have been working with felt lately and it has been so much fun. I can't believe all the things you can make with it. I have been debating again on whether to put the shirts back up again on my website, but for now I have received so many orders from people in public that see Asher wearing his shirts. It think I need to start paying my model. So if you see something you like or have anything in mind that you would like me to make, just let me know.

Halloween 2009

The kids had the "BEST" Halloween ever. They had so much fun at the two parties we went to and got lots of candy trick or treating with Dad. At the last minute I even made a costume for Lorelei.

Happy Halloween

Today is FINALLY Halloween. The kids have been asking when it is coming for the last four weeks. They are so excited today. Yesterday at school they wore there costumes for the Halloween parade which all the parents come to watch. They all looked so cute. This year Riley is Indiana Jones, Baylee is Supergirl and Asher is a penguin (unless it stays this hot then he will wear his ninja costume). We have two parties to go to today and then Jeff will take them out trick or treating. I will post pics soon.
* Last night we carved pumpkins. The scary monster is Riley's and the "bonehead" is Baylee's which she carved 100% by herself. She was so proud. They used these cute little patterns that make the best jack o lanterns and they are really easy to do.