Wednesday, November 26, 2014

The day I held Scarlett

Grayson had a good day today.  He wasn't weighed today but was 2 pounds 5 ounces last night.  He remains on the CPAP, even though he did give us a couple scares today where he decided to stop breathing.  The nurses were able to stem him each time but I worry that it will happen at a time that no one is around.  I am confident that would not be the case because the staff at our NICU is amazing!

Scarlett's day was much more tempestuous as she had our emotions bouncing around all over the place.  Early this morning, they changed her Mean Airway Pressure on the Oscilaltor to 10.5 GOOD! but noticed her temperatures were running high.  BAD!  They decided to change her bed to see if that was contributing to the readings or if she was really feverish.  This opened the door for Kangaroo Care!  GREAT!  So Trish held her on the Oscillator for the second time, and this time lasted more than an hour!!!  However, early this afternoon they were drawing blood to run labs and see if they can figure out why her temperature was high.  She became agitated which led to her needing her mouth suctioned.  While the nurse was doing that, Scarlett coughed and somehow extubated herself.  VERY BAD.  They kept her breathing using the bag for a while before decided to try her on the SiPAP around 4:30 this afternoon.  They called us to let us know just after 5pm.  I swear my heart stopped for a couple seconds as I listened in to Trish's phone and heard, "Trish, its Mary Beth from the Riverside NICU.  Everything is OK..." I missed the next couple words because I was catching my breath but she explained what happened.  We were discussing dinner plans and Trish was about to do her motherly duty and pump, but instead we jumped in the car and headed to the hospital.

When we arrived, she was there, on the same machine as brother!  GREAT!  She was still pretty stressed from the ordeal so Trish did hand containment with her to calm her down.  She had a chest X-ray done around 8pm and her lungs looked well inflated, and she didn't see any PIE!  GREAT!  Shortly after that, I was able to hold my baby girl for the first time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I held her for about 2 hours before the fatigue started settling in.

Scarlett
 Trish holding Scarlett
Close-up of Trish holding Scarlett
Holdling my daughter

3 comments:

  1. Please Tim...use a color other than green...I opened the blog, didn't have my glasses on yet and all I could read was BAD and VERY BAD in red. My heart stopped. I was afraid to put my glasses on. I'm glad I did. Did Scarlett still have a fever when you left the NICU? Did they change Grayson to the CPAP? Well inflated lungs and no PIE! Thank you God! In the Cuban culture, it is their custom to light a Pink Candle when they pray for health or healing. My Principal is Cuban and last night at 7:30 I was thinking about the babies and I texted her and said that we desperately needed a pink candle to be lit. She texted me at 7:45 and said it was lit and she was praying for them both.

    God, just when my trust is waning you do something wonderful to show me how silly I am for NOT trusting. Thank you for KC for Scarlett and for giving Tim what I pray is the first of many opportunities to hold Scarlett now that she is on the SiPAP. Please keep her lungs clear and working so she doesn't have to go back to being entubated. Watch over Grayson and the nurses and doctors who are caring for both babies. Keep Tim and Tricia in your loving care; give them strength to get through these ups and downs and make the "ups" outweigh the downs. Thank you for showing us again that you have this under control!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sounds like a roller coaster day, ups and downs, but happily ending with ups!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The pictures are wonderful! I see 'happy' on your faces. Praying for a good day today, ups! only. Thank you prayers in our hearts. Mother in Heaven continue to hold these babies and watch over them.

    ReplyDelete