1 Week Old

26.5 weeks gestation (the .5 is five days, not half).  Today was a good day, although Scarlett decided to stress us out for the first 90 minutes or so.  The NICU team was trying to wean the kiddoes off of the high frequency oscillator.  Around 9:30am Scarlett was consistently "destatting" or registering oxygen levels in the range of mid-60s to mid-70s or less.  We want those numbers to be between 80-95.  I can't remember a time I've ever been so frustrated, frightened, and angry.  I asked the nurse if Scarlett's tube could have moved.  The oxygen mixture she was breathing in was in the mid 50s or 60s (which was already among the highest I've seen her on) but she was still destatting.  This particular nurse was the coldest personality I've met at Riverside to date.  I am sure she is a great person and fantastic nurse, but was not feeling it at the moment.  She later told the Nurse Practioner that she only says "Morning" because there's no such thing as a "Good Morning," so maybe at that point she was still having the grumpies.  Honestly, I don't know how a non-morning person could survive starting at 7am without being allowed to drink coffee at their "desk."  Anyway, she said "No, the tube is in the right position" and seemed to ignore my panic.  I decided to do "Hand Containment" where you reach in, and firmly hold them.  I tucked her legs in to try and simulate how she would be positioned in the womb.  It didn't help at all and the nurse sort of spit at me that Scarlett doesn't like being messed with.  Like a kid caught breaking the rules in school, I sheepishly pulled my hands out and closed the portlets.  A minute later, the nurse goes in and starts suctioning her mouth, then adjusting other things on her body.  I realize how immature it is, but I couldn't help but resent the fact that this woman who knew my daughter for 2.5 hours was slapping my hand out of the candy jar while scooping out delicious, soft, chocolate chunk cookies.  Did she not know that I've been there for hours at a time, multiple times a day this past week?  How did she not hear how annoying I've been, pestering the doctors, nurse practitioners, respiratory therapists, and innocent bystanders with question after question?  No, I've never held, fed, or burped my child but I know her.  This isn't normal for my child.  Something needs to be changed, and it needs to be changed now because I'm freaking out!  Well, I didn't say any of that, I just tried to pray and remember to breathe, and paced, and looked around to see who I could call over if things became worse.  But nothing changed.  Eventually the team came through doing rounds.  We went over Grayson first and because of that we were standing in his "room" (I'll describe the space another day and you will know why I used quotes).  Once they were done, I suggested we move next door for Scarlett's rundown.  A couple people said, "That's OK, we can stay here to make it easy on mom."  I replied, "No, I think the nurse needs to be involved.  Scarlett's been destatting all morning so the nurse is more important this morning."  I felt vindicated when the doctor and nurse practitioner asked the nurse if that was correct with concerned looks on their faces, then ordered an x-ray to check the tube placement (see that?!) and discussed a way to troubleshoot if the tube was indeed in a good place.  The x-ray revealed the tube was indeed in the right place, so we shifted her position a little and she rebounded.  Whew!

In their rounds, they ordered a 3pm enima which helped her give her first bowel movement!  Grayson gave his second this afternoon!  Both kids had their second/final umbilical lines removed.

The rockstar of the day was Grayson.  He accepted the changes in the High Frequency Oscillator and graduated to a SIPAP machine.  Unfortunately he only lasted about 3 hours before they put him on a normal ventilator.  So he has a tube again but ended the day ahead of where he started.  And if the night goes well, Trish will be able to do Kangaroo Care with him tomorrow morning!  It will be such a treat the first time we get to hold our kids.  Of course mom gets to go first, but I am so excited for both of them to have that experience.

Here are the obligatory "First Week" pictures.  I didn't want to ask the nurse to help us make Scarlett's a better picture, so we may cheat and retake them tomorrow!