8/29/09 over 2 lbs!

Brianna is now 2 lbs 3 oz!! Today she came off her cpap machine and is just on nasal oxygen. Her oxygen setting is low at 24 % and is doing great! She looks so big now and has quite the personality. Yesterday she was throwing her first fit because her feeding wasn't going in fast enough her face was beat red and you can really hear her cry now. The nurses said its great she is beginning to fuss when its time for her feedings and they give her pacifier to soothe her until her feeding time. She is going to be transferred in the next couple weeks to a hospital closer to us she will only be 20 mins away instead of an hour.

8/20/09 first time wearing clothes

8/20/09 my first bath

Thank you everyone!

Thanks everyone for all your love, support and prayers! They are doing wonders. Sorry I haven't updated this for awhile. We have been going to see Brianna almost everyday and the ride is so tiring I get home and pass out. I still don't have all my energy back and my incision still is a bit sore but as the nurses said its only been 4 1/2 weeks so its normal to still be so exhausted. I'm so used to bouncing right back after surgery but this one has been a bit tough. I'm still trying to figure out why they needed to make an 8 inch incision down my belly if she was so little! I am healing well though and beginning to feel a more like me more and more everyday. Brian has been very busy in the nursery he already painted the whole room and will add the border on the walls this weekend. Her crib should arrive by next week so its coming together little by little. Brian loves to have his little projects and doesn't like to sit still so its perfect for him. Thank you again to everyone!

8/19/09 I'm getting bigger!

kangarooing with daddy and sucking on my binky

8/12 and 8/13 on c-pap and off the vent

8/19/09

Brianna has been off the ventilator and on a c-pap for 7 days now! She is doing great and her cpap setting has already come down 2 settings. Her weight today is 1 lb 12 oz and is only a few grams away from being 1 lb 13 oz! She is on max feedings for her size of 10 ml every 2 hrs and is also on an additive in the breastmilk of extra calories and nutrients to help her gain weight. The doctors all say she is doing great and they are very proud of her and they are happy with her progress. She is starting to fill in now and has chubby cheeks already. She is very alert and smiles a lot. She loves to suck on her fingers and her binky. I'm so happy she is doing so well and making great progress. Yesterday she turned 30 weeks gestation.

8/11/09

Today we didn't get to see Brianna I had 2 Dr's appts today that totally wiped me out and I was too exhausted to make the drive. My brother Shawn (aka Milk Man) just left the house to bring up the breastmilk I have pumped so she doesn't need to have formula tonight. On days I'm too tired he makes the trip just to bring up the goods and have a quick visit with Brianna. I'm so thankful he does that for me. Brian and I go up and see Brianna almost every day but some days I'm just too wiped out to make the trip. I did find out today one reason why I'm still so tired and lacking energy my sugar levels are still not down to where they should be not high enough to need insulin but enough to go on a pill to keep my sugar level down. Normally Gestational Diabetes goes away after birth but they are thinking due to massive trauma my body went through its going to take a little bit longer. Hopefully I'll feel better soon.

Brianna is doing great today. Her chest x-ray was completely clear and her lungs sound great. The team of doctors have no concerns for her other than getting her off the vent. She is on no IV's and no meds. She just has her feeding tube and right now her breathing tube. The doctor is thinking that her lungs might be swollen from when she had the fluid trapped and needed the chest tube after birth so what they are going to do is treat her for 3 days with steriods before trying to remove the ventilator again. I can't wait to go up and see her tomorrow!

8/9/09 & 8/10/09

Brianna came off of her ventilator on saturday 8/9/09 and was put on the c-pap machine she did great for 12 hrs but then got tired and had to go back on her ventilator. The nurses warned me ahead of time that 95% of the time this happens at least once if not a couple times because babies this small just get tired. Part of the problem was also that Brianna is so active she kept pulling the oxygen out of her nose and refused to leave it alone. Her settings on her vent are very low she is at 19 breaths a minute and on less than 20% oxygen so she is doing most of her breathing on her own. She lost a little bit of weight on Saturday but Sunday her weight remained the same she is at 1 lb 9 oz. She is on max feeds for her size so she is taking 9 ml every 2 hrs and handling it very well.

8/8/09

Today I got to "Kangaroo" Brianna. We have lots of pictures and will add them soon. Tonight they are going to try and remove her breathing tube and put her on the c-pap machine. There is a chance that she might not be ready and might need to have the ventilator put back on but they won't know until they try so they want to give it a shot tonight...Our fingers are crossed that she will do great!

kangaroo care 8/8/09

August 5, 2009

Just got off the phone with Brianna's nurse and she is doing great. Her blood gas this morning was good so they have weaned her ventilator setting down again. Now she is down to 26 breaths per minute from the ventilator from yesterday's 30. They will do another blood gas tonight and if its good again they will wean her down a little more tomorrow. Her nurse said she is tolerating the wean quite well and doing a fantastic job! I can't wait for Brian to get home so we can go up and see her tonight.

snug as a bug

August 4, 2009

Brianna is doing great today she has been weaned down on her ventilator again and is down to 30 breaths per minute and using 20% or less oxygen. The doctors are thinking she might come off of her ventilator in the next few days and move down to using just a c-pap machine. She is such a strong little girl.

Holding Brianna for the first time

Daddy and his little girl

Melanie and Brianna

Mommy and Brianna

August 3rd We got a nice surprise today!

Today we went to visit Brianna and got a nice surprise...her nurse said she was stable enough and asked us if we wanted to hold her. It was such a nice feeling to hold her for the first time and Brian couldn't stop starring into her eyes and rocked her for almost an hour. It was a great visit.

August 2, 2009

Brianna is still doing great on her new ventilator the nurse today took a very cute picture of her all snuggled up in her blanket and took footprints of her tiny little feet for us. She is up to 1 lb 9 ounces and has increased to eating 5 cc's of breastmilk every 2 hrs. The only thing that is bumming me out is I'm not getting enough breastmilk to keep up with that so they just put me on a medicine that should help...apparently its common for someone who has had a very traumatic stressful birth and ER c-section. Tonight they will have to supplement a bit with formula which bums me out a little bit but whats really important is she continues to grow at the rate that she has been. Hopefully this medicine will kick in soon.

August 1, 2009

Today was a great day for Brianna. She came off of her Jet ventilator and went onto a conventional ventilator. This is a step down and a good thing. This ventilator allows her to take some breaths on her own which she is doing approx 10-13 times per minute. It also makes her lungs expand and retract instead of the Jet ventilator that kept her lungs inflated the whole time. So this is more like our normal breathing. It also allows her to move more and when they say its ok I can hold her on this ventilator...I can't wait for that! I have lots of new pictures of her and you can see how much she has grown in them from when she was born....although I need to get a new usb cord so that I can hook my camera up to the computer...hopefully I can do that tomorrow.