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Welcome To My Second Month - November 1998
This month started out pretty good. I weighed 1 lb 5.3 oz and was on .8cc's of milk. They were still checking my glucose level, but only 2ce a week, so that meant it was getting better. I still had a few ups and downs with my saturation level, but they kept saying..that was to be expected. Around the 3rd day of the month I had what they call A's & B's - Apnea and Bradycardia for the first time. This means that I stopped breathing or my heart rate went too low for more than 20 seconds. Because of this, they checked my blood and my Hermaticrit count was low, so I had another blood transfusion. This time my mommy was there and actually heard me cry for the very first time. She said it wasn't good that I was crying, but the sound of my tiny voice was like music to her ears....and she got to hold my little hand the whole time. Well, as they always used to tell mommy and daddy...usually a dramatic change like that means something! So, the very next day I was moved to what they called "Isolation". They first diagnosed this infection as Sepsis, which could have actually caused me to die if it got bad enough. But after doing some tests it came back as a staph infection. But they put babies with this infection in a section (which had our own rooms) all by theirselves. Just to make sure we did not spread it to other babies. At first Mommy didnt like it, I had a whole new set of nurses and she had grown quite fond of the others. But after a while, when she realized that in Isolation...you really had your own private room and the nurses only had 2 babies to attend to. So, actually it kinda made me special!! After being put in Isolation, I had to have 2 more blood transfusions in the next few days! Mommy is getting to hold me more and more now...but still not too long. As soon as the monitor starts beeping, she has to put me back. At first I seem to be relaxed and calm..but after a while they say I get stressed out and start breathing slower and slower and the routine of handing me to the nurse and putting my back in my bed comes again. As the month goes on I start showing everyone how smart I already am, by pulling the prongs to my C-pap out. This obviously causes a problem because that is where I am getting my oxygen from....but who would like little prongs blowing air up their nose?? The Second Week of this month the doctors found a red spot on my arm where an IV had been taken out that looked infected, so they automatically started me on antibiotics. They did another Spinal Tap (see mommy told you it would become regular procedure) and waited for the Cultures. During this time I was started on Caffine. You may think this is strange, but it helps control my A's & B's and the nurses say I will most likely come home on it. I am now off Lipids (fats) and my TPN is on its way down. I am taking close to 3 oz of mommy's milk a day and I am gaining weight well, 1 lb 9.4oz!! The cultures are coming back negative and my arm seems to be getting better with the Antibiotics, so they don't think it is anything serious! During this month my mommy got really sick with the Flu and couldn't come to see me for a whole 7 days. She said those were the longest days of her life, but fortunately I was doing well during that time. While mommy was sick I was taken off of my antibiotics, they never found anything so it was just a small infection that is now gone. I know have NO IV's....that means I am off of all fluids and eating 5.6cc's of milk every 3 hours. They have started putting 4 packs of fortifier in mommy's milk just to give me a few more calories and help be grow faster. I also moved to an Isolette in the middle of this month, that is a sure sign I am getting better. Mommy is still sick though and is upset that she missed watching me move to my big girl bed, but she is still happy of course! I lost some weight for a few days in a row...but then all of a sudden I gained like 2 oz at one time. On the 16th of this month, I weigh 1 lb 11.5 oz and am 13 1/4 inches long. Mommy is better now and on her first day back she got to hold me for almost a WHOLE hour....I am doing so well!! Bad News, now Daddy is sick :( A few days later I started losing weight again, so the doctors are now alternating my mommy's milk and formula every other feeding to see if that helps me. So far so good, except I am putting out (pooping, lol) more than I should be so they are watching that close, but no big concern. Mommy is getting to hold me now without TONS of blankets..now it's down to just ONE and she says it feels so good being able to actually feel me in her arms!! Well, here we go again....they are putting back in an IV for fluids...I am really putting out too much and there is a danger of me getting dehydrated, so they have to give me extra fluid. At least my skin got a little break right!!! A few days after they re-inserted the IV's they switched me to FULL formula and none of mommy's milk :( They think this may help me gain a little more and put out less! Mommy said she had a really hard time with this, it was the one thing she could do for me every day at a time when she wasn't even able to take care of me. But, if this will help me get bigger, then she is ok with it. I have been gaining weight and am now in a bigger size diaper!!! I have been having a few apnea spells a day, so they have raised my oxygen to 35%, just when we all thought I may be off of C-PAP soon....but, everything else is well and the formula seems to be working!! On Thanksgiving Day I weigh 2 lbs .9oz. What a wonderful thing to be thankful for...Mommy will never forget I hit 2 lbs on that day!!!! Mommy finally got the OK to bring up some booties for me to wear...but so far no REAL clothes. Daddy is now able to come up and see me again, his first day back he held me for a few minutes, but I seemed really weak and my saturation levels weren't too high, so I had to go back in bed shortly. My fluids are slowly going down so hopefully I'll be off these IV's soon! The last day of this month was mommy's last day off of work. I lost a few grams and had to have a blood transfusion because my hermaticrit level was really low. This is the reason I was feeling bad yesterday. Later that day mommy got a call from the Doc saying they were going to do yet ANOTHER spinal tap and blood culture because they think I may have another infection in my arm where an old IV was. This one seems much worse and is probably what is causing everything else to happen. They automatically put me on Antibiotics..to try and catch it early. Wow, what a great way for mommy to go back to work huh?? The end of this month I weigh 2 lbs 5.0oz. 
FOURTH MONTH |
