Day 11 - Return of the Big Blue Light

So today was our 11th day here and it brought with it a return to the Big Blue Light. Ezri's bilirubin level went up again so they stripped her down and put her under the lights to see if they could get it to go down again. She is none too pleased about the change, as she was really enjoying getting to be dressed and bundled all day, but alas, the doctor's don't seem to care much what any of us prefer. The good news is that this is a very common situation in premies and it will clear up eventually so no need for worries.

The good news of the day is that Miss Ezri is now weighing in at a whopping 4 lbs. 4 oz. That's 2 oz. over her birth weight. She's really been packing on the pounds the last few days so hopefully that is a good sign that she's getting stronger and closer to going home. She is still doing very well at the breast - went on for another 15 minutes this evening and, since I no longer have to empty before letting her latch on, she was actually able to get some breastmilk straight from the source. It wasn't enough for a full feed, but definitely a step in the right directions.

That's all for now.

And on the 9th and 10th day, we rested...

at least as far as the blog is concerned.

Sorry for the lack of updates and photos the last two days. We're just comletely exhausted and trying to focus on Ezri so the picture taking has taken a backseat of late. Plus our camera battery is dead again so that hasn't helped matters either.

We can report that Ezri is continuing to make strides towards coming home. The last two days she has latched on at the breast and camped out for a good 15 minutes each time - sucking and swallowing just like she is supposed to. They're still having me pump right before she goes to the breast so she isn't getting much from me - just a few drops here and there. The good news is tonight we got word from the on-call doctor that I only have to pump enough to get it flowing - less work for Ezri - and then she can go to the breast and take what she wants.

Today we also attempted the bottle for her feed for the first time. She did hold it in her mouth and took about 4 mL of it - a full feed is 33 mL. However, she spent much of the time with a very suspicious look on her face, wondering what in God's name we were sticking in her mouth. At any rate, we were happy that the nurses finally gave her a shot at it and hopefully she'll keep showing signs of wanting try again. Unfortunately, her bilirubin level is back up so she's pretty tired a lot of the time. Once that starts going down again, her energy levels will pick up and she should be able to handle full feedings by nipple - bottle, breast or whatever they say she needs in order to come home.

That's all for now. We were able to get to a store to buy batteries tonight so there will be pictures tomorrow.

Le Huitième Jour

Day 8 and some good progress to report.

Ezri was granted a day of reprieve from the Big Blue Light thanks to her lowered bilirubin levels. Because of this, she was allowed to wear her own clothes - except that her cautious parents had decided not to bring any of her own clothes, thinking that she would still require the Light today. Luckily - sort of - the NICU keeps a stash of clothes on hand that had been donated so she didn't have to go naked. She did however have to spend the day in a somewhat hideous pink garb, complete with stains from some other NICU baby who was also doomed to wear it. I don't blame them though - I would vomit too if I had to spend any amount of time in such attire. By the end of the day though, Miss Ezri was decked out in one of her very own, brand new, supercute outfits and the hideous pink garb was banished to the soiled linens bin for the next poor baby whose parents don't bring them clothes to wear.

Other good news - the doctor wrote orders today for Ezri to start practice breastfeeding. We gave our first trial run at her noon feeding with FANTASTIC results. She latched right on and started sucking away - AND SWALLOWING! This is a HUGE step for a premie since one of the main challenges of having a baby before 34 weeks is that they don't have the whole suck-swallow-breath thing down. Ezri managed to hang on - quite aggressively - for a good 3 to 4 minutes. The lactation consultant at first was just impressed that Ezri had stuck her tongue out and showed some interest in the breast. She was shocked and delighted when Ezri actually latched on and downright giddy to see that she was swallowing. Granted, they had me pump prior to all of this so she was only getting hindmilk (the stuff that comes after regular breastmilk is expressed - it is very high in fats and other things that are very good for babies). At any rate, this is a good indication that our girl is probably ready to start nipple feeding so hopefully tomorrow they will be attempting one of her feeds through a bottle. We will continue with Breastfeeding 101 once a day to get her used to it before she comes home.

Finally, Grandma and Pop-Pop - my mom and dad - along with our longtime family friends Kriss and Mike came up for a visit this evening. Everyone got a chance to hold Ezri, which she thoroughly enjoyed and was very relaxed by. We managed to snap a few shows with Grandma Lynn before our camera crapped out on us. We did sneak in a cell phone to get a few photos with Pop-Pop, but you'll have to wait until Grandma emails them to me before they'll find a place on the blog.

Overall, eight was truly a great day for us. Fingers crossed for more good news tomorrow!

It's Been One Week...

So today marked Ezri's One Week Birthday and her seventh day in the NICU. To celebrate, we sprung her from her plastic bubble to enjoy a visit from our "Unkie" Brian (the future librarian) and "Auntie" Liz who came in from Pittsburgh. The little stinker had pulled out her feeding tube - hence the few shots where it is missing. It was put right back in for her next feeding. Her bilirubin levels continue to drop so the Big Blue Light will hopefully be gone soon.

Six Days Down

They say no news is good news - so here is a funny anecdote and a load of pictures instead.

Every morning, the nurse has to poke Ezri's heal to get a blood sample. It's actually quite sad to look at her little feet and see all of the red spots where they have gotten her each day. Anyway, her nurse was telling us that this morning, she was getting ready to poke Ezri as usual. As soon as she grabbed her ankle, Ezri made a face and tensed up like she was bracing herself for what she knew was coming. Then, when the nurse stuck her, she screamed. Not like a baby-crying-type-of-scream. She actually let out a shriek like an adult would and then stopped.

Such intuition and control of her emotions.

Her daddy is so proud.

Five by Five

Well we have good news and bad news...

The good news is EZRI GRADUATED! She was moved this afternoon from the high-risk nursery to the low-risk nursery. Her IV was stopped this morning and she increased to full feedings through her tube. Her bilirubin levels went down which means the jaundice is clearing up. She still is under the lights most of the day, but she is definitely on her way out of there! Even though they won't even attempt nipple feeding until she reaches the 34 week mark - which is this Saturday - she is DEFINITELY ready for it. All day, about a half hour before her scheduled feeding, she would start to get hungry and fussy and try to stick things in her mouth. Once she would get a hold of the pacifier, she would try to suck the living daylights out of it hoping there was something in it. When she realized there wasn't, she would get pretty pissed.

So basically, once the jaundice goes away and she proves to the doctors that she can get all of her food by mouth, she will be making her way over to Lowe Road.

Now for the bad news.

We have no pictures to document this fabulous day. The camera was left at home so you will all have to wait until later tomorrow before you get your baby fix. Sorry if we're just a little too busy to be good bloggers all of the time.

To hold you over, enjoy these photos of our original babies - who have started acting out as they sense the upcoming arrival of their new sister. We've already warned them that she is much cuter than they are so it's best behavior or they're out.

Trotsky

Dax

Frida

On the 4th Day...

Another day and - thankfully - not much to report. Ezri is still struggling with jaundice so it was another day of the Big Blue Light. The jaundice makes her a bit sleepy so she didn't seem to mind much. All of her bloodwork came back perfect so the Neonatologist told me that there is no reason to be concerned - jaundice just comes with the territory with a premature baby. Looking around at the other babies in the NICU - many on ventilators and a variety of other devices - we are VERY lucky that this is the biggest concern we have right now. Ezri's nurse actually told me that when she saw she just had Ezri and one other baby to look after, she thought she would have a boring day. I never thought I'd be so proud to have someone call my daughter dull.

The doctor did tell me that she is doing "incredibly well" - his words exactly. She was able to increase her feeds yet again and the doctor plans to have her IV out tomorrow. She will still have the feeding tube for a while, but she is definitely showing signs of being ready for nipple feeding - when it's close to her feeding time, she gets fussy and searches around with her mouth open for her pacifier or whatever else she can get into her mouth. They tell us they usually start to try to nipple feed at 34 weeks - this Saturday - and since she seems to be interested, she may be ready to give it a go this weekend. It will be a slow process but every step counts in getting her home.

As always, here are some pictures from today.