10/13/08 - Brown Eyed Girl!!!





Look at those big brown eyes :) Brown as they should be, but you never know because it looks like her hair is going to be blonde. She's our little brown eyed girl! I heard that if your pupils are dialated (without the help of medicine), it means that you are in love. It is good to see Kayleigh's pupils so large :)

She is doing really well too! There was only one problem so far. She is not gaining the weight they hoped for when she hit full feeds. She weighed in at 1470 grams the night before last, which was down from the previous night. Last night she weighed in at 1505 (3.4lbs), but it is still not a significant amount. They started her this morning on fortifier and as we all know, this has not worked before. Today was a good day though as she pooped at all feedings, not like the previous weeks when dealing with fortifier. My guess is that she needs to continue breast feeding/bottle feeding to initiate/giving the gut a jump start with the mouth. I think it may be working because she is getting three times the amount of food as she was before when having bowel/gut issues. No problem so far, so maybe she has strengthen those bowel muscles up and is ready for anything to be thrown her way. I was really weary at first and a little upset, because the doctor that just decided to change her over to fortifier is not our normal doctor and has never seen Kayleigh before in his life. It was scary and a little frustrating, but so far so good (so I am going to keep my mouth shut)

Other than that, Kayleigh is doing great. They moved us from our suite in the corner to a different room that is a little tighter. We were not too happy about that, but there weren't enough babies to be back in that corner for the amount of nurses they have to watch them. Oh well, I guess we will just have to suck it up. We were grumpy last night because we got moved, no weight gain and Kayleigh going back on fortifier. I am just glad tonight was a much better night. Kayleigh was ever so happy laying with us and we didn't want to go home tonight. The more days that go by, the more we notice she is getting so attached to us.

Poor little Kayleigh, she didn't have her OG tube down all the way. She must have pulled it up and taped it back down before anyone noticed. When she was getting her feeds tonight, she seemed to be having trouble breathing and then I noticed milk coming out of her nose a little. All of a sudden, she just up chucked/threw up milk all over the place. Thank goodness Aimee figured it out and the nurse quickly fixed the problem. Kayleigh then was satting 100 the rest of the time. I am sure that was a little stressful, but it was good to know that we caught the problem fairly quickly. That had to be so uncomfortable. Poor little girl!
Well, this is the end to an awesome weekend, but I wish you all a wonderful week at work. Let's pray that Kayleigh keeps doing good with her feeds and grows quickly!!!! I am so ready for her to get the last of her procedures done, so we can get her home.

God Bless,

The Freemans :)

5 comments:

Living With CES After Failed Tarlov Surgery said...

Wow look at those big brown eyes just paying attention hehe :) I wouldnt worry to much about the fortifier with the breast milk. Shes still on the reglan right? That will make a difference for her.

If I recall correctly, wasnt she on the breast milk with fortifier before she was on the reglan? If this is correct then with the reglan in her system with the fortifier, she shouldnt have a problem like before :) This is what Ava was on for the longest time before she came home from the nicu and after also. She was on breastmilk, 24 cal fortifier and reglan and did great with that combo :)

I hope it works as well for Kayleigh as it did for Ava, because once she got that foritifier with the milk, she put on the weight quick :) It sounds alot like Ava, that the breast milk just didnt put enough weight on by itself and needed a little boost.

Before you know it, you will have her home and laying on you all the time, that is of course cause you wont want to put her down haha.

Take care guys and keep moving forward.

Sincerely

BobbieLee

Staci said...

I have been following your story for awhile now and she is seriously the sweetest thing! What a beautiful girl! Love those big brown eyes. You guys are amazing!

Anonymous said...

Aimee and Adam,
Several of us on 9B have been keeping up with Miss Kayleigh's story which is absolutley amazing. She is absolutley adorable and making such progress. We are so happy for you. You and your family are in our prayers. Stay strong and keep faith. We will continue to think and pray for you guys and Kayleighs homecoming! With love. Andrea

Anonymous said...

Look at those beautiful beautiful brown eyes! You all better watch out she's going to be a heartbreaker...Daddy better use his cage skills and beat those boys away! I'm so glad that her sats are up! Nowgain some weight so you can get on home baby gir.

Lots of love and prayer sent your way

Kelly Sheree

Unknown said...

Adam and Aimee--

The situation with the OG tube made me cringe! I am a nurse. The first thing we ALWAYS learn with OG/NG tubes is to CHECK PLACEMENT and CHECK IT AGAIN!!

When my first daughter was in the NICU, one nurse didn't check placement and I went to the MD who was caring for her and told him, he let her have it.

If these little ones pull the tube up and mess with it, it can end up in her lungs. Even though it is taped-- it moves, as you clearly saw!

Just what you need is a set back because the nurse didn't follow nursing 101!

Please, when you are there-- and you seem them ready to start her feed-- make sure they "prime" the tubing.. and if they don't get their stethoscope and USE it to push air into Kayleigh's tube-- ask them to! That can cause a huge-- completley avoidable complication!

Ok, **stepping off my soap box**

I am so happy to hear how well Kayleigh is doing!

My first wouldn't gain weight either.. They added straight vegetable oil to her feedings-- just a thought..