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.  

Two steps forward, one step back!

Everyone told us this journey would be two steps forward and one step back, but it was so hard to believe with all the great forward movement she was making.  Then this week, she went back on CPAP and Marc and I were like, well here is one of her steps back.  Well our little Olivia certainly adds the drama to our life already at such a young age.  I got a call yesterday (Wednesday) morning from the NICU while I was in the shower, asking that I call them back.  Apparently overnight Olivia had more of those breathing/heart rate drops (Dcells), so the nurse on duty decided to take a culture to see if there was an infection.  As is routine, before the culture even came back they started her on antibiotics just to be safe and by mid-afternoon we found out that she did in fact have an infection and she is testing positive for MRSA.  In addition to that, they were going to perform a spinal tap on her to see if she has meningitis too.  Needless to say, my momma heart sank and I spent the better part of yesterday morning crying (this is certainly my new reality--pregnancy hormones have made me a quick crier, which is quite the change from my 1-2 times a year cry before I was pregnant).  I was scared for our little girl, for the spinal tap (aren't those supposed to hurt?), and for knowing if this course of treatment would work. 

By the time I made it to the hospital yesterday, they had a bunch of new information for me.  They had performed the spinal tap and Olivia did great (they give her sugar water--"sweeties" and she loved that), so that was good to hear.  That gets sent off for cultures so we wont know for sure for a few days, but her white blood count was elevated so they went ahead and treated for it just to be safe.  In addition she is getting antibiotics for the MRSA and they upped her oxygen to give her a little break.  She slept the better part of yesterday so each time we saw her she was sleeping or very groggy, not her usual feisty self so you could tell she was not feeling well.

To say we are thankful for all her wonderful nurses is an understatement, her night nurse that caught the infection even called in during her day off to check in our on little baby and we were able to make it back to the hospital after shift change last night to officially meet her for the first time.  And today when Marc checked in, two of her day nurses were there and one of them requested Olivia specifically, so we know she is greatly loved and cared for there.

In good news (cause even in the bad, it is not all bad), Olivia's brain scan came back showing no bleeds!  She will have another one around the 30 day mark but this is good news and we are thankful for it!  Also she was up 1.3 ounces from the day before, so she continued to put on some weight (however, they did limit her feed yesterday so that may cause a small delay in weight gain).  But we will take the good news where we can!

Snoozing away!

We hope that you will continue with us in prayer for these antibiotics to continue to work and for her healing.  That she would continue to grow and put on weight and that (if we be so bold) this would be her only major set back through this journey.  Thank you all for the love and support!  💜

Olivia is 30 weeks today

We hit two exciting milestones today:

1. Olivia turned 30 weeks gestation today!
2. I had my first post-op appointment and my doctor was pleased with my BP numbers and told me come Saturday, I could drive again and can resume most normal activity! 

Here is where we have come in the past 10 days, since Olivia's birth:

* She started at 38% oxygen on CPAP and as of today is down to somewhere between 21-25% (21% is what we breath).  She is struggling to continually breath so she gave her mom quite the scare today with her alarm bells going off every few minutes.  But she is correcting herself and starting to breath again, which her nurses say is normal for her age.  We always hear, "remember: she is not supposed to be having to do this at her age."  These reminders are great for a momma's heart to hear.

* She started at 2.5ml worth of breast milk per feeding and is now up to 22ml per feeding.  Her feedings occur every 3 hours and she is tolerating it well.  The additional feedings will help her continue to put on weight and grow--which is her main objective now.

* Her birth weight was 2 lbs 4 ounces and as of today she is up to 2 lbs 7.3 ounces.  So she is certainly making strides to gain weight!

* I (momma) got to help with a diaper change on Sunday, as well as, take her temperature and wipe her sweet little mouth (she has a tendency to droll out milk after her feedings)

* And because everyone loves a good poop story--Olivia has been producing her fair share of waste as well.  It took her a few days to poop, but she finally came around and she is keeping things regular--which is a good sign of things working well internally too! 💩

Overall, we are so very pleased with her progress and we absolutely love all her nurses.  NICU nurses are the best (in my opinion), they are so amazing with her and it is obvious how much they all love what they do.

Side note: I am totally obsessed with her hands, she is always fidgeting with things (she gets that honestly from me), but its so adorable to see her simple movements:

Our newest Adventure--Welcome to the world, Olivia!

As many of our close friends and family know, we have had a whirlwind in the last two weeks, but let's start a few months back.  On June 4th, we found out that we were expecting with a due date of February 6, 2018.  After 20 loooong weeks, we found out our new little bundle of joy would be a girl and thus the pink clothes started rolling in.  I had a very normal pregnancy from the beginning to week 24.  All of our appointments went well, I had morning sickness that would not go away, and could feel our sweet little girl moving about inside me.

So that makes my 28 week appointment all the more scary.  I went in on Tuesday, November 14th for my normal 28 week appointment expecting to stay just about 15 minutes for the urine test, blood pressure check and heart tones.  Well two out of three checked out fine, but my blood pressure was elevated and would not go down.  My doctor thought it would be best to admit me and keep checks on it, not a big deal but slightly scary.  I drove myself to the hospital in my everyday clothes and now I was looking at spending the night.  I called Marc and he left work to meet up with me, the emotional wreck that I was.  For the next two days I was put on various medicines to regulate the BP and things looked good, my numbers were getting under control, I had come in with normal ranges for the urine test (which means it was not preeclampsia at the time).  So we were possible looking at gestational hypertension and maybe 6 weeks in the hospital but manageable, right?  My spirits were up, things were looking good, I was going to keep baby girl inside to cook a little more.  Well over the next few days, things went from bad to good to bad once again and by Thursday I was getting two steroid shots for baby girl's lung development, just in case they had to deliver early (precautionary but still looking like she could stay in for awhile).  Then on Friday, things went downhill and fast. My BP numbers were no longer stable and my doctor was chasing the numbers with meds.  Saturday morning started with more BP anxiety and finally after ordering my breakfast, a nurse came in and said "Don't eat that!"  Though I did not want to jump to conclusions, I knew what that likely meant--I could not eat because I would be having our baby that day. The doctor came in about 30 minutes later and informed me that my overnight urine test came back with hugely elevated numbers and I was now considered as having preeclampsia and all signs pointed to delivery that day.  We had had a bedside ultrasound on Friday that showed that my fluid levels were borderline low and the placenta did not seem to be functioning correctly.  So it was decided that I would have a scheduled C-section at 2pm on Saturday, 11/18.  With our hearts full of every emotion in the world, we realized our baby girl would be arrive that day!

Needless to say Saturday was quite a blur to me.  Because of the early delivery, I was put on a magnesium sulfate drip to help with baby girl's brain development.  This is a 24 hour treatment and makes you very very sleepy.  Around 2pm that day I was rolled into the OR to start the epidural so I could be awake for the C-section, which also meant Marc could be in there too!  Interestingly enough, the process is much longer than on TV.  They started the epidural and I got very light headed and almost passed out, so the process took longer for me cause I was laying down versus sitting up.  But everything was finally in place, Marc was in the delivery room and we were ready to become parents (as ready as anyone can be at 28 weeks, 4 days into the pregnancy).  And at exactly 2:53pm on November 18th, our daughter made her way into the world with the sweetest little cry (they had warned us, she likely would not make any noise cause her lungs were not fully developed). She came out fighting at a robust 2 pounds 4 ounces and we were even able to grab a family photo and a sweet kiss on the forehead before they took her to NICU.

Welcome to the world Olivia Violet! We could not be happier to be your parents 😍

Unfortunately the drama for me, did not stop there.  I was kept on the magnesium sulfate drip for the rest of that day and into Sunday, so I was in and out of sleepiness with blood pressure checks on the hour all night and day.  Nothing like hourly blood pressure checks and lack of quality sleep to get your blood pressure under control!!!  On Sunday, my blood pressure was still going all over the place and the nurses and my doctor had me concerned saying things like "Delivery should have solved this."  And then I get the news that my kidneys are not functioning as they should be, so once again, anxiety creeps back in.  Meanwhile, I just wanted to go see our daughter, but I was not allowed until I was off the drip and sans catheter, which did not occur until after 5pm on Sunday, November 19th, this was definitely the hardest 24+ hours of my life, knowing I am a mom but not getting to see or hold my baby girl (this was not how I imagined birth would be--but that quickly became a theme--we did not plan for things to go this way, but this is how they were going).  Sunday, Monday, Tuesday were all quite emotional days for me, still fighting the BP numbers (I felt fine physically, but my numbers were crazy high!).  I quickly got used to the nurses asking every shift change if I had bad headaches, blurred vision or pain where my liver was, all signs of high blood pressure/stroke levels.  And each time, my answer was no.  I felt fine physically, I was just ready to be out of the hospital and the frequent blood pressure checks were doing nothing to help the numbers go down.  On Monday into Tuesday, we got the news that my kidney function was returning to normal and then Tuesday into Wednesday, I finally had my last blood test to verify again that my liver was functioning as it should be.  On Wednesday, I had an appointment with the cardiologist and then a follow up Echo and EKG to verify that my heart was functioning as it should (and thank goodness, it was too).  And finally after 8 days in the hospital, I was released Wednesday night (November 22) about 6:30pm, I cried when they told me the news!  One night of wonderful sleep in my home was just what I needed.  My blood pressure numbers have stabilized since I have been home and more rested (still currently on the meds from the doctors), but I am hopefully that over the next few weeks/months, my body will return to normal and I can eventually ween off the medicines.

Our little Olivia continues to amaze both Marc and myself with her fight and tenacity.  She was back up to her birth weight on day 6 of her life.  This was amazing cause we had heard it would take anywhere from 7-10 days.  She is currently breathing oxygen at the same rate we would and uses CPAP on and off for help when needed.  Thankfully she has never had to be on a ventilator!  Her feedings have increased from 2.5ml the first day to 15 ml now and she gets fed every 3 hours from my breast milk which we are able to bring to her in the NICU!  She is the happiest right after her feedings. She still has a feeding tube and we hear that might be the case for weeks even, as babies do not often develop the ability to swallow until sometime after 32 weeks, at which point we will be able to try a bottle. 

Mommy & Olivia Skin to Skin time

Mommy gets to take my temperature for the first time!

Little Miss Hands--she is always moving her hands around!

She will have a routine MRI on Wednesday of this week to check for brain bleeds, so we ask for prayers that everything will look good with that.  The doctors and nurses have no cause for concern; this is a standard procedure for all NICU babies. We have no doubt the next few months will be full of every emotion under the sun as we figure out life as first time parents to a baby we cannot yet bring home, but have so appreciated all the love, support, thoughts, and prayers from friends, family and the community at large.  We certainly feel all the support from everyone.  My hope is to update this blog regularly with progress reports, so please subscribe via email for the latest updates!

Much Love,
Laura, Marc & Olivia