Friday, June 21, 2013

Welcome to the Infant Unit!

Wow! There's a lot to catch up on so let me see if I can do it with some sort of order.  First of all, it is true! We graduated! We are now across the hall from the NICU just waiting our 7 apnea free days before we get released to go home! Today makes day three without any episodes and we're starting to get a little excited.

But let me back up to the beginning of the week.

Monday was surgery day.  I've decided that as a mom NOTHING is worse than pre-surgery butterflies when your baby goes in for the first time.  The staff here was wonderful and answered all my questions before the surgery.  Each time I asked, "And this is done all the time right?  It's not a big deal right?!"  Each time they were so kind as to assure me that of all the surgeries they do here on these little babies, this one is the simplest and one of the most common.  My nurse finally told me to just think of it as an ear piercing in an odd place as it is basically the same concept.... More or less.... Believe it or not, that actually helped :) 

Monday morning we headed to surgery at 8:00. Right on time, surprisingly enough! (It seems nothing in this medical life we are living happens when and how it is supposed to. But this one did!)

We said good bye to our buttonless baby at the OR doors and were sent to the waiting room to wait for the hour it would take to do her surgery.

I've never been in a surgical waiting room before but wow, talk about a gentle slap in the face to just remind us that our two months in the NICU is really nothing to complain about!  As I glanced around the room I saw the sunken red eyes and frazzled hair of parents who had obviously been there all night long anxiously waiting for the occasional phone call to update them on their child.  I saw the crossword puzzle and portable DVD parents who had apparently been down this road many times before.  The phrase, "by the grace of God go I" popped into my head as I quietly took a seat and repeated to myself the words, "a g-tube is no big deal".

About 40 minuets later a surgeon came in to let us know that everything went well and she was on her way back up to the NICU.  Our Bean had a button!


A few hours after surgery they started her on feedings again.  Once she was weened off the ventilator and taking full feeds through her new tube with no complications or leaking, they decided she was stable enough to move across the hall into the infant ward.

We went to a G-tube class Tuesday to learn how to feed and take care of this new contraption and what to do should it ever come out. (If any mothers have any gtube experience and/or secrets feel free to leave them in a comment because I'm pretty sure all that class really did was show me all that COULD go wrong!) 


We were hoping to be home sometime this weekend but Kimber had a reaction to the morphine they gave her that caused her to have some apnea (or to stop breathing).  It's a common side effect in babies so while its not particularly concerning, hospital policy is that we can't be sent home until she has gone seven days without an episode so here we sit.

On Thursday we came in and Shawn and I stood at her crib for about 2 minuets trying to figure out what was different. When I picked her up to hold her it hit me!  Our little girl is oxygen free!


It was like giving birth all over again!  This was the first time I've been able to see her face without tubes and tape!  I love this face even MORE and we're so proud of her progress.


Kimber is weighing in at about 6 lbs 4 oz and her cheeks are starting to show it!  I can't believe people give birth to babies this size! 


Our friend Barb continues to come in every day and teach us things we can do to help Kimber continue to improve and develop like she's supposed to.  We love Barb! 

And finally, last night after crying for about 15 seconds her dad finally gave her her binkie which she eagerly sucked on for about 5 min with no problem!  I never thought I would pray so hard for my baby to suck and cry!  Thanks for the prayers! As you can see, they are literally working miracles!


1 comment:

  1. Hi Alyssa, I know you don't really know me. I am one of your mom's cousins from Mesa. I have followed your posts (your mom, aunts, and uncles have included links on fb). I admire your strength and wisdom through this journey with your sweet daughter. I'm happy she is progressing! I love the photos of her. She looks great! Wow, oxygen free and sucking! Those are big steps indeed. My friends daughter had a g-tube for years. I can put you in contact with her if you ever need to talk to another mom about that. By the way I am a speech-language pathologist (but I've never worked in acute care or done feeding so I really wouldn't be much help to you, sorry). I'm sure you've worked with SLP's for feeding; I hope they've been helpful.

    Please know that there are many people thinking of you and your family and hoping and praying for you. Thanks for sharing your story!

    Florence Dairman Cannon

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