Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Tubby Time~

Victoria had a great time with her bath~



Monday, December 29, 2008

Eye Exam

Victoria just had her eyes checked and the stage 3 on both eyes is the same. She has 1 and 1/2 clock hours of Stage 3 in both eyes. She has a small area of hemorrhage on both eyes that was there last time, but it hasn't gotten worse (that should clear on its own) No plus disease so she will get another exam in 5-7 days. Good news is it hasn't gotten worse, But we still don't know which way she will decide to go.

If she gets more Stage 3 and shows signs of plus disease, then surgery will be required. Right now she does not need surgery. Thanks to everyone for all the prayers.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

12 Weeks Old

Happy Holidays Everyone! Sorry we haven't posted any updates as Mommy was sick over Christmas and unable to see Victoria. Mommy and Daddie spent the afternoon with Victoria today and she is doing well, She is now 3lbs 13ozs (1740 grams) Doctors took her off her diuretics yesterday and hopefully she will not need to go back on them. She gained 90 grams today and another 60 grams last night, (a little much....) but we will see how she does. Daddie has been giving her all her bottles over the last few days and she is doing great with her feedings. Thank you to everyone who sent gifts for Victoria over the Holiday week.

Victoria will have her eyes checked again in the morning and hopefully they haven't gotten any worse. Here is a picture of Daddie holding Victoria after her feeding today.

Monday, December 22, 2008

11 Weeks Old

Victoria is now 11 weeks old and graduated to Room #1, She is 3lbs 5ozs and eating 27 cc's every three hours. Doctors have added protein to her diet and not sure she is liking it too much. She has had more destats than normal and watery stools since Friday. They are going to watch it for another day or so, but may need to remove it from her diet. Victoria will have an eye exam tomorrow, we hope that the Stage 3 has not gotten any worse. Here is a picture of Victoria smiling last night and a picture of big brother Nate enjoying the snow we got this weekend.


Friday, December 19, 2008

35 Weeks

Victoria is 35 Weeks Gestational Age today and weighs 3lbs 2oz's (1410 grams) She is doing well off her nasal cannula and is up to 27 cc's of milk every 3 hours. Her nutritionist feels Victoria needs more protein in her diet and this will be added as a powder mix to her milk. Victoria had her eyes checked today and has areas of Stage 3 ROP, She will now be checked every 3-4 days. Daddy was finally able to see Victoria yesterday, but now Mommie has been home sick for two days :(
Please continue to keep Victoria in your prayers.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

3 Pounds & Off Nasal Cannula!!!

Victoria is now 1350 grams (3lbs!!!!!) and they have removed the nasal cannula to see how she does. So far she is breathing comfortably and likes the freedom. Mommies first day back to work is today, So we will post pictures tonight. Miss you Victoria, Love Mommie~

Monday, December 15, 2008

10 Weeks Old

Victoria is now 10 weeks old and weighs 1300 grams (2lbs 14 oz) she is 40 cm long (15.7 inches)
She continues to stay on the nasal cannula and doing well. Doctors have discontinued her daily dose of caffeine as she is now 34 weeks corrected age. She is now eating 23 cc's every three hours and takes one bottle a day. Victoria had her eyes checked on Friday and she has more Stage 2 ROP in both eyes. She will be getting them checked every week (unless they get worse, then she will be checked every two days)

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Bottle Feeding

Victoria is 2lbs 11oz and eating 14 cc's every two hours. We are giving her a bottle a day to teach her how to eat. She is getting pretty good at it, but when she is very hungry - She forgets to breathe. She was able to latch on yesterday and does better breastfeeding than with the bottle. See below pictures of her taking the bottle, Sorry - the breastfeeding pictures are not being published (I will spare you). Daddy and Nate have been sick so they aren't able to visit. Hopefully this weekend everyone will feel better.



Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Victoria is now 2lbs 10oz's and eating 14 cc's every two hours. She had her two additional vaccines today. Tracey moved her feeding tube from her mouth to her nose so Victoria could continue working on feedings. While kangarooing, Victoria seems to inch her way down my shirt and wants to breastfeed, We will try later this week as she gets very mad when I don't let her go where she wants.

We received a notice today from Yale NewBorn Special Care that due to the number of RSV cases they are asking everyone to limit the number of visitor's that come to NICU. Anyone who wants to visit should not have any symptoms of respiratory illness (e.g. cough, sneezing, fever, etc).

Monday, December 8, 2008

9 Weeks Old

Victoria is 9 weeks old, She had 1 of her 3 --->2 month vaccines on Saturday morning. She wasn't herself yesterday, so the doctors decided to hold off on the other two to make sure she wasn't coming down with something. On Saturday night and most of Sunday Victoria was having many episodes of Apnea. The doctors were keeping a very close eye on her to determine if it was the vaccine or an infection. Today she was doing better and the doctors feel that she should be ready for the 2 additional vaccines in the morning.
Here is a picture of Victoria smiling this afternoon.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Graduated to Room 2

Victoria had another eye exam today and it showed Zone 2 Stage 2 Retinopathy of Prematurity. The Doctor will continue to exam her eyes every 7-10 days. Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), is a disease of the eye that affects prematurely born babies. It is thought to be caused by disorganized growth of retinal blood vessels which may result in scarring and retinal detachment. ROP can be mild and may resolve spontaneously, but may lead to blindness in serious cases. As such, all preterm babies are at risk for ROP, and very low birth weight is an additional risk factor. If Victoria progresses to Stage 3, she may need laser surgery.

Victoria is 2lbs 8 ozs (1130 grams), she is doing well on the nasal cannula and the doctors have decided that she can graduate to room 2 (the closer she gets to the door, the closer she is to coming home).

Please continue to keep Victoria in your prayers.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Victoria's First Bottle Today!

Victoria had a very productive day today, we started off the morning still breathing a little fast, so the doctors increased her diuretics in hopes that if her lungs were a little wet that this would help. (If it doesn't they may need to put her back on CPAP again.) Victoria is starting to show good signs of wanting to feed so Tracey gave her some milk this morning (see video), Victoria loved it and did very well so at 4pm we tried her first bottle feed. She had 5 cc's of milk from a bottle and gave us a nice loud burb. She didn't get that she had to suck, swallow and breathe all at the same time so we had to help her a few times. We will try again in a few days once we can get her breathing under control.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Victoria is now 2lbs 8ozs, She is enjoying her tummy time more now that the scuba gear isn't pushing up on her nose. Tracey (her primary nurse) gave her a little taste of milk today with her binky and she loved it. We may try to start feeding her in a week or so, She was breathing a little heavy at times today, so we need to see how she does over the next few days. Her next eye exam is later this week and she will be getting her 2 month vaccines soon. Victoria is currently 8 weeks old ( 32 weeks gestational)

Monday, December 1, 2008

Nasal Cannula!

Victoria did really well on CPAP over the weekend so Doctors decided to try her on just a nasal cannula. She has been on the nasal cannula since Sunday morning about 11am. She is on about 23% - 25% oxygen. She definitely likes them better on her nose since they fit better than the scuba gear. She has had a few more episodes of apnea so they increased her caffeine to help her. As long as these episodes don't increase she can stay on the Nasal Cannual. She is now 1080 grams - 2lbs 6oz's.