Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone from our family to yours!  We sincerely hope everyone enjoyed this wonderful time of the year surrounded by friends and family.  We are especially grateful for friends and family this year, and even more so for the beautiful gift of God that made us parents.  We anticipate the day when we can bring our Olivia home in the new year!

We surprised our parents with a precious ornament of the photo shoot we did of Olivia (see above picture and the two below).  Her sweet nurse got very into it and even pulled Olivia's feeding tube out so we could get pictures of her without it in.  And then to our utter amazement, our little girl took so well to the bottle that within a few days of having the tube back in, it was pulled again and now she has been eating on her own for the past week or so all by the bottle.  Just another amazing step to bringing her home with us. 

Olivia says check me out taking my bottle like a champ.  She is most alert when we begin her bottle and slowly she starts to get tired and more tired until she is asleep shortly after finishing her bottle.  She is now offered 40 ml in each bottle and can drink as much as she wants, but she has to get at least 18 ml per feed or she would eventually get the feeding tube back.  (If she goes 3 or more feeds without getting 18 ml, they would put it back in).  So far, she is crushing the challenge and taking anywhere from 22 all the way up to the full 40 ml per feeding. So she is doing great with the bottle.

This past Friday, we were able to start trying to nurse.  She is a little unsure of this so far.  Without going into too much detail, she has to work a little harder to get the milk she wants (her bottle will drip it into her mouth if she does not suck enough), so she is slow to start, but has latched a few times and will work at it for a little bit.  We only get to try for about 10 minutes a day, because again the concern is that she would burn more calories trying to get her food than she would actually take in, so we are thankful for the times we get to try.  She seems to have the hang of nursing and our hope is that by the time she comes home, she will be much better at it.  Often it takes until 36 weeks gestation to get the hang of it.  Olivia is still just 34 weeks gestation, so she is again ahead of the curve, but this is a good reminder that she can take her time getting the hang of it.

The more we see of her face, the more and more people think she looks just like her daddy.  I think they are both so cute, so I am happy to be surrounded by all these sweet faces.  Marc and I are taking advantage of more snuggle time as she is still out of her isolette.  And in true Olivia fashion, she surpassed her 4 pound goal and she is now 4 pounds 5 ounces!  Dad is so happy about her 4 pound goal too:

It is really crazy to think that she is over a month old and was still supposed to be in my belly for the next 8ish weeks.  So we are really loving the early snuggles and anticipating the day when she gets to come home. But also super scared about that most likely being right in the middle of cold and flu season with a baby that has basically no immune system.  Marc and I are trying our best to wash hands diligently and stay well through this season of colds, as we know if either of us is sick, it means a hiatus from seeing our sweet baby girl.  If the NICU has taught us anything, it is definitely the importance of hand washing (since we have to do it for 3 minutes each time we go to see her).  hehe

And just like that, we have a one month old!

So, for the past 5 or so days, I have had a note on my phone to do a blog update, and I just have not had the time.  But I know so many people follow this, so I am hoping to get this up today.  We have hit a few milestones, since my last post a week ago.  Big news, we have a one month old daughter (and in true mom fashion, I am a few days late letting everyone know!).

Since I am loving bullet points, let's go that route:

* Olivia continues to be off CPAP and her lungs seem to be functioning great, way less dips, which is great news.

* Olivia turned 4 weeks old on Saturday, December 16th

* Then a few days later, hit her one month birthday (funny how that works out) on Monday, December 18th, we brought cupcakes to her nurses to celebrate!

1 month old!

* Olivia has been doing well with her bottle feeds.  She started with only taking about 8 mL per feed then would get the rest from her feeding tube.  But she is now doing about 20 mL to her full bottle, which is 32 mL, each time it is offered (which is about every other feed).  Mom and Dad have both got to feed her too, which is fun!

I love bottle time and snuggles with Dad!

* Why does she not get a bottle every feed?  At her age, she can actually burn more calories than she needs to, so right now, it is just offered about 3-4 times a day.  As she gets older and gets the hang of it, we will move to more frequent feedings with the bottle and then eventually try nursing.

* She is now 33 weeks gestation and if you read the last post, you can see the strides she has made in just one week.

Check out me in this outfit last post, look how much better I fill it out now!

* Olivia moved to an open crib yesterday, so no more isolette.  She is doing a good enough job regulating her body temperature that they moved her to a crib with no top.  She does get double the blankets swaddled around her now though, just to give her some help and a snazzy hat on all the time.

Check out my new Crib!

* Starting today, Olivia is off caffeine as well, this is often given to preemie babies to help stimulate lung and brain function.  As she continued to grow, they kept her level the same (so she would eventually outgrown the dosage) and it was determined that she did not need it anymore, so she will now no longer get it.

* Her MRSA culture remains negative!  YAY

Big Miracles, Small Package, thanks for the onesie "Auntie" Sara!

* She did have a clot near her heart, which showed up on her ECHO, but her second ECHO showed no change in the size of it.  The doctors all say clots near the heart of babies are common and most absorb them on their own.  However, since she had the infection, their fear is that some bacteria got into the clot, so just to be on safe the side, they are continuing her antibiotics for a total of 6 weeks from the negative culture (which was pulled on December 7th), so assuming everything stays the same, she should go off antibiotics around January 18th.  Thus, she will not be home before that date, at which point she will be around 37 weeks gestation (or a few days after).

* Big News, she is nearing 4 pounds now!  She is hoovering right on the edge so we are hoping by Christmas she hits that milestone!

Christmas hat was made by one of the nurses grandma's--how precious!

Milk Coma!  She is happiest after she eats, she sure gets this honestly from both mom and dad!

We so appreciate all the prayers still, we have been so blessed with meals, gifts, gift cards, love and support from so many people and we go to bed every night realizing how blessed we are with so many great friends and family around to support us!  So thank you all!

32 weeks

First things first, I have updated the URL for the blog, so if you have bookmarked the page, please make sure to update it.  It is actually slightly easier to remember now: https://schinkelfamily.blogspot.com/

Now that that is out of the way, our little girl is 32 weeks gestation as of yesterday.  This is a milestone for an important reason and that is that starting at 32 weeks gestation, babies begin to develop the ability to not only suck (which she has been doing for weeks), but also swallow.  So that means that she can beginning attempting food from bottles or breast versus just her feeding tube.  This is sort of touch and go from 32-34 weeks, when it should be fully developed.  But we got to watch her nurse yesterday feed her 12 ml of breast milk from her bottle and it was awesome to see her drink it down well.  So hopefully she will continue to do that and we can keep adding to her bottle feds so she can hopefully have the tube removed in the next two weeks sometime.  (Note: people are always asking us for pictures of her in relation to something else to get a perspective of her size, I think these are a good reference, knowing that our nurse that is feeding her is a lady of normal size, so those hands are a woman's hands).

Even little babies get burped

Since the last post a lot has happened, so let's do a few bullet points:
* After the last post (which went up on Saturday), she went back on CPAP on Sunday and stopped regulating her temperature, so she was given a break from both for a day.
* Then on Monday we came back and she was back off CPAP again (and has remained off the last two days), and they have started trying her again to regulate her body temperature
* Her body temperature regulation is a milestone that she really should not hit until closer to 4 pounds, so we fully intend to have some up and down days with this one (the best way to tell where she is with that is with the pictures, if she has clothes on, then she is attempting to regulate her own body temperature, when she just has a diaper on then the isolette is regulating the temperature for her)

Our little diva with her hands all over the place saying please mom and dad, don't take my picture!

Look at my cute outfit!  This outfit is a preemie outfit and still a little big on her!

* She is up to 3 pounds 6 oz.  She was there on Monday, but had some swelling from the antibiotics, so they gave her a diuretic to reduce the fluid and thus the swelling, when they did that she lost about 2 ounces yesterday, but then gained it right back in a day, so we are pleased with that.
* She seems to be gaining weight at a rate of anywhere from 0.8 ounces to 2 ounces each day, so she is doing awesome!
* Olivia is up to 28 mL feedings per session (every 3 hours), this is almost a full ounce of breast milk and she gets it about 8 times a day.
* BEST NEWS OF THE WEEK: Her culture that was drawn went the full 5 days without growth, so they officially consider her to be infection free; however, they watch it and treat for at least another 9 days (maybe longer). But we are very thankful to see her moving in the right direction.
* I will leave you with my favorite pictures, the mommy snuggles 💜💜

"Are you my Mother"

Happy 3 weeks, Olivia!

For 21 days now, I have been a mom; this is CRAZY!  How is our sweet baby 3 weeks already?  To celebrate her 3 weeks of life, she finally passed her three pound mark and then decided she should fly right past it, so she is now up to 3lbs 4 oz. (or exactly 1 pound more than her birth weight).  Which means that in 3 short weeks our little girl has grown by 40%, INSANE!  If you read my last post you know that they found growth on her culture after the 48 hour mark, which we later found out was actually at hour 64, so though it is not great, it is much better than the first culture on antibiotics which showed growth after 19 hours, so we are considering it a win still.  It seems it is still the MRSA and it is just taking her body a little time to get rid of it, but her other progress is very promising, in that, her actions, other labs and overall personality is much better so they are continuing to treat as is and will continue on the antibiotics for the 14 days after the negative culture still (which we hope will be soon).  Her Echo did not show anything abnormal, per say, there was a shadow on one of the films, which is likely just a problem with the scan, so they may do another echo in a few days just to be sure.  In other news, Olivia is still off CPAP and has been for days now so that is really good progress.  She also is having less and less drops, which is great news.  And as of Friday, she is now sporting clothes because they are trying to see if she can regulate her own body temperature in her isolette.  So overall, we have enjoyed a week of good progress.

And because we love milestones, here are some fun ones:

Dad gets to take Olivia's temperature for the first time!

Dad changing her diaper for the first time (and since she pooped not long after, he got to change it for the second time too!)

More mommy snuggles!

Look at me, in clothes!  Trying to keep my body warm enough :)

And not to be outdone by all of Olivia's progress, the weather decided to make her 3 week birthday special and Olivia already got to have her first snowfall (on December 8th in Richmond--this really never happens)....

Lastly, I was lucky enough to be showered with love and support today by family and some friends as my mom and sister hosted a baby shower for me.  So we have spent the evening unpacking some fun gifts in Olivia's nursery.  It makes it so much more exciting for the day when she gets to come home and be in her new room!

As always we are thankful for the love, support and prayers from all over.  Please keep them coming, we know this is a marathon and we may encounter more hurdles before we bring her home, but we are praising God in the good and are ever more hopeful for the future. 💜

Happy Thursday!

Just a quick update, we heard last night that her 48 hour culture had growth on it, so they are trying to figure out if it is the same or a new infection, we should know more details tonight.  Also, just to be safe, they are doing an Echo (a sonogram of Olivia's heart) to make sure there is not bacteria near her heart.  This is pretty easy procedure, I actually had one while I was in the hospital too.  So we anticipate those results this afternoon/evening.  But our girl is still looking good and continues to surprise us with her fight, beauty, and spirit.  💜

31 weeks + 1 day

I fully intended to write yesterday about the fact that Olivia was 31 weeks gestation, but time seems to literally fly by these days between work, visiting Olivia, and keeping up with day to day stuff, it is hard to find extra time in there, so this is a day late (hopefully not a dollar short)! 

Anyway, news on the Olivia front, let's do bullet points:

* Our baby girl is inching closer to 3lbs everyday and I think she might get there tomorrow (no promises though).  She weight in today at 2lbs 15.3 ounces.  So we are excited that she continues to gain weight!

* Olivia is back up to full feeds (which for her is 22 ml every 3 hours) and she seems to be tolerating it well!

* Olivia has been off her CPAP for over 2 days now, which means that our baby girl is fully breathing on her own!

Oh hey, check out my cute nose without my CPAP!

* She does continue to have little dips here and there, however, every time the last day or two, she has been able to bring herself back from it without any stimulation from the nurses, so that is a good sign.

* Best news of the week: her MRSA culture taken at 2am on Monday morning continues to show negative readings, so it seems the infection has been caught and cleared.  They monitor for 5 days but general after 24-36 hours of no positives, that is a good sign.

* Since her culture was negative at the 36 hour point, they were able to put the PICC line in yesterday so no more scalp IV's for now!  YAAAY this also means that she will be able to get her antibiotics through that line and hopefully wont have to have any additional IVs for awhile.

Yay no more IVs hopefully :)

* Her antibiotics will still continue for the next 10-14 days to ensure the infection is fully gone.

* Momma got to finally do kangaroo time with her yesterday after a week of not holding her:

That is one happy Momma!

Snuggle Bug!

We continue to try to remember that this is a marathon and not a sprint, but we are for sure praising God with the good news of this week.  Please continue to pray with us that the antibiotics would continue to do their job and that she would stay infection-free, that she continues to grow and put on weight, and that her breathing continues to remain good.  Many many thanks for all the love and support once again, this is a journey we could not walk alone and thanks to all of yall, we are not having to :)

Olivia Update & NICU FAQs

Olivia is holding steady today and yesterday, doing about the same as she did Saturday.  We spoke with one of her doctors today who is hopeful that her next culture will come back negative and then they will be able to insert the picc line and have a better time frame for the number of days she will be on antibiotics.  So that was all positive.  She was having a few dips Sunday, but she is like her momma and she is just sick and tired of being sick and tired.  She also had to have her IV inserted in a different spot and they chose her scalp (which I am glad I knew of before we went in to see her, cause that is really hard to see).

You can see the scalp IV in this picture.

Eyes Open!

Our little Olivia is also known for how much she loves playing with her wires, tubes, etc.  I got a few great pictures today as an example.  This is why they call her Handsy :)

I figured now would be a good time to address some questions we get asked a lot, so far on this journey for any wondering minds...

Q. When will Olivia come home?
A. We actually do not know the answer to this exactly but have a better idea than most everyone, so allow me to enlighten you all.  Olivia will have to meet a number of milestones before she is allowed to come home, the first of those being that she must be 35 weeks old (from conception).  So she will turn 35 weeks on January 2nd, so we know she will not be home before that.  However, they also say to expect her home around her due date (which is February 6th), and anything before would be a bonus.  So in our minds, we are hopefully she will be home sometime between January 2nd and February 6th.  However, having read a number of other NICU baby stories, I also know that it can be after her due date just depending on how she is doing.  So we are hopefully to have her home by February 6th but know it could be earlier or later.

Q. How big is Olivia?
A. Olivia continues to grow daily weight-wise.  They take her weight almost daily (for awhile she was in an isolette that did not weigh her so they gave her a days break in there).  She currently weighs just under 3lbs, so she is up almost 12 oz from her birth weight (or 30% from her birth weight!!!).  Her length at birth was 14.5 inches and we do not have an updated length measurement.

Q. What are the NICU rules?
A. The rules for Olivia vary based on how she is doing.  The overall rules allow two adults in to see her at a time, with one of those having to be her parent.  So although we would love for everyone to come meet her in the NICU, it does limit time that mom, dad, grandparents, aunts and uncles are allowed in.  She can have up to 4 adult visitors a day.  Each person coming in has to scrub their hands and arms (up to the elbow) for 3 minutes with soap and hot water.  Then they have to put on a gown and wear a mask if they have not yet had a flu shot.  No one is allowed in when they are sick.  However, since Olivia is currently fighting an infection, the only people allowed in to see her currently are mom and dad.  In addition to normal protocol, we have to also wear gloves and have to change gloves any time we touch her.

Q. Why are there such crazy rules for going into the NICU?
A. Olivia, like many babies in the NICU was born before she was fully developed and she does not have the immune system that we have and she does not even have the immune system of a full term baby.  So she is extra sensitive and will continue to be extra sensitive even when she comes home, so we will probably be extra cautious with guests and visitors whenever she does come home for the first few months.

Q. How long will she stay in the isolette?
A. Olivia will stay in her isolette until she can regulate her own body temperature, which we have been told occurs around 4 lbs.

Q. How often do you get to hold her?
A. As Olivia is currently fighting an infection, we do not get to hold her, however before she was sick, we were able to hold her almost every day (as she tolerates it) for about an hour, this is called Kangaroo Care, and she would be skin to skin against either her dad or myself (we would alternate so she could get to know us both).  I would say, not being able to hold her is one of the things that is hardest for me.  You expect to have a baby that you can snuggle and get to know through touch and smell and so not being able to do that is a hard one for me!

Any other questions?  Feel free to ask, we are happy to answer any questions we can and I will try to do another FAQs at some point with any questions yall have!

Happy 2 weeks old, Olivia!

It is so hard to believe that two weeks ago, we were living out Olivia's birth story.  I find it hard to believe that it has already been two weeks, but then again, I feel like those two weeks have also dragged on.  Is this what parenthood is like?  I would wager that it is--this is why they say the days are long but the years are short!

Since I am sure everyone is curious.  Olivia is doing much better, we are not fully out of the woods yet, but it seems the antibiotics are doing their job and she is on the road to recovery.  Her meningitis test came back negative, so we are very thankful for that.  However, her MRSA culture still gave a positive result, this time 19 hours from when the culture was taken.  This is actually a somewhat good sign.  The longer it takes the culture to come back positive the better (if it has to come back positive at all).  We are still hoping the next culture will be negative, but we are taking all the good news we can get.

Olivia is also up a little more weight wise today too.  She is up to 2lbs, 10.5 oz (again her birth weight was 2lbs, 4 oz), so she is still gaining weight which is great!  And she is back to 21% oxygen, which is also good, she is still on the CPAP but again just to assist with her breathing at current air levels.  She has not been having as many drops and when she does, she tends to bring herself back on her own without assistance from the nurses so that is also positive movement. 

Her next hurdles are to fight off this infection, she needs to get a negative result, so they can start a picc line, which will allow for easier distribution of the antibiotics but they cannot do it while she is still fighting an infection.  So as you can see in some of the pictures, she has an IV in her hand.  And she needs to continue to gain weight.  But to say we are pleased with her success the last two days is an understatement.  This tiny little girl continues to impress her dad and I daily with her fight!  We so appreciate all the thoughts, texts, calls, Facebook messages, gifts, dinners, etc.  We know how blessed we are to have the community that we have; so thank you to each and every one of you!  We appreciate the continued prayers and support as we know we still have a long road ahead of us!

There is a reason all the nurses call me 'Handsy' cause I am always doing something with my hands!

Learning sucking skills by using my pacifier

Looking like Dad sucking on my finger.  

A smile!!!  This is also a good picture of my IV line on my left hand (notice the splint thing to make sure I dont mess with it)

Holding my Momma's hand.