Our family

Lillian and our family are doing great! She is ALREADY 6 weeks old!!! Lillian weighs a great big 7 pounds 7 ounces. (what my son weighed at birth)

Baby Lillian at six weeks old

Girls! Girls! Girls!

Today we permanently closed the door on NICU...

Although the last two weeks for our family was been very rough, exhausting, and difficult to manage our experience with a level two nursery, life flight, and the newborn intensive care unit has been a very positive experience showing John and I just how precious life really is, from the very beginning. There were many times that John and I would talk with other parents who have either been in NICU for months or they have just arrived and don't anticipating taking their babies home until November or December. For John and I, two weeks felt like a lifetime! We are very thankful for all the loving care that baby Lillian and her family have received.

Day fourteen in NICU

Today Lillian is two weeks old! John and I arrived to the hospital at 10:00 am to take our little Lillian home. We were given all kinds of discharge paperwork and had to sign lots of hospital stuff. Once that was all over with many of the staff were coming up to John and I giving us hugs, for them they were all sad to see us leave. Apparently when it was time for Lillian to have a bottle at 8 in the morning lots of nurses and aides were arguing about who got to feed her, the nurse practitionar went into the room and said "i'll settle this, I will feed her." The staff asked us to send updated pictures of her and to bring her up from time to time. The NICU staff has been the best medical personal I have ever come into contact with, they are all so caring and so organized.

The ride home I sat in the back with Lillian and I was nervous the entire ride home! We suprised the kids and grandma and grandpa by just showing up at their house with the baby. Everyone was so excited.

Best nighttime phone call...

The nurse caring for Lillian called me at 10:30 pm to inform me that Lillian has gained 1 ounce. With that information John and I was assured that our baby girl gets to come home tomorrow, the day that she turns two weeks old!!!

Day thirteen in NICU

THIS IS ONLY A TEST... Car seat test!

Today John and was at the hospital by 8:30 am. Today was a big day as we are preparing for possible discharge on Monday. Lillian did her car seat test and passed! John and I was taught all kinds of discharge stuff like how to care for a newborn and what to expect from a premature newborn. Lillian was also put on a multivitamin with iron (looks and tastes really gross!) As long as Lillian does not lose weight tonight when they weigh her then we get to bring her home tomorrow!!!!!!!!

Day twelve in NICU

So... Last night Lillian was waiting for her bottle and freaking out while the nurse was preparing it, she got ahold of her feeding tube and pulled it right out! (She must have been listening to our discussion regarding her feeding tube yesterday!) Lillian did so well through the night with the bottles that the nurse did not put in a new NG tube. Look how precious she looks now with no tubes hanging out. Today the Dr. was very happy with Lillians' progress that she said if things continue to go well we may be able to take her home on Monday.

Day eleven in NICU

Today I was able to breastfeed Lillian 4 times, successfully! Her bilirubin is slightly elevated but not high enough to require lights. Lillian is going to get bottles of breast milk tonight instead of through her NG tube and if she can handle the bottles without getting worn out then the nurse will pull the NG tube out tomorrow.

Day ten in NICU

Today Lillian is 10 days old! I showed up at 8:30 this morning and she was wide awake looking around. I attmepted to nurse her 4 times today and 3 out of the 4 were successful! I attended Dr. rounds with Lillian today and the team is very impressed with her progress yet still no idea as to when we get to take her home. The Dr. thinks her bilirubin may be increasing slightly and he plans to check it with morning labs.

The kids are staying at grandma's house again because I need to be at the hospital for at least four of Lillians' feedings. This coming up weekend I may be staying the entire night with Lillian to see how well she nurses throughout the night.

I am also going to talk with the Dr. in the morning about stopping her tube feedings for about 6 hours, allowing Lillian to get hungry and nurse more.

Lillian was taken off oxygen at 4:30 pm today and when I talked with her nurse at 9:30 pm she was still doing great!

Day nine in NICU

Today the Dr. discontinued her IV therapy and the nurse was finally able to take out that nasty IV that has been moved DAILY! Lillian was also moved to a different room where she will stay until we bring her home. The hospital requires parents to pass off all kinds of things before you can take your baby home so John and I started with the check list. Today we passed off a CPR class. Now you would think with me being an RN I would not have to do this little pass off but yes they made me watch a video, take a little written test and practice CPR on a doll.

Lillian continues to be at 21% oxygen and her team of doctors have increased her tube feedings daily.

Grandma Sharryl brought the kids up today to see their sister. They are all impressed as to how she looks compared to a few days ago while on the ventilator. Grandma got to hold Lillian for the first time today, Lillian and grandma both loved every minute of it!

Day eight in NICU

Today Lillian was moved to a different room and placed in a crib. I was also able to get her dressed for the first time. She is slowly starting to understand the concept of breastfeeding... now if we could just get her to understand the concept of suck, swallow, and breath all at the same time!

Day seven in NICU

Lillian is one week old today! Today I was able to attempt to breastfeed Lillian, she latched on great but really had no idea that she could fill her belly this way. She would latch on and then look at me like "now what do I do?" Her oxygen level is the same today and her bili level continues to decrease.

Day six in NICU

Today was a great day!! First they took Lillian off the CPAP and placed her just on oxygen. Second Lillian's bilirubin level has decreased so they removed the lights and her little bug glasses. Third, they removed her central line from her belly button. And the best part, we got to hold our little Lillian for the first time today. I have to admit even though I was very excited to hold her I was also very nervous!

Day five in NICU

Lillian is doing just the same as yesterday, all of her settings have remained the same other than her tube feedings have increased as they will continue to each day.



The greatest highlight for mommy and daddy today is that we heard her cry for the first time! It's amazing what we take for granted and that for myself and John how rewarding it is just to hear our daughters voice.



We were also able to turn off the bili lights and take her bug glasses off. The second the glasses came off Lillian opened her beautiful puffy eyes and was looking right at mommy. She did not take her eyes off me as she was seeing mommy for the first time!



We also discovered how much Lillian likes her binki. She was soothed by her binki and the second the binki would fall out of her mouth we knew, she just started yelling!

Day four in NICU

Great news!!! The doctor removed Lillians' chest tube at 8:00 am and she was taken off the ventilator and placed on a CPAP at 10:45 am. Lillian was also placed under bili lights because she is beginning to develop jaundice. She looks like our little alien baby, wearing bug glasses to protect her eyes and a cone shaped hat to keep her CPAP in place. Very cute!

The nurse also told us that Lillian opened her eyes for the first time just after they removed the ventilator. She looked around for a while and was kicking her little legs. I can't wait to see her eyes open!!

Nighttime drive...

Since the kids are staying at my mom's house things have been pretty quiet for John and I as we are both trying to get as much rest as possible between hospital visits. I called NICU at 11:30 pm to check on Lillian. She was doing great the only problem was that the nurse informed me that Lillian would be out of breast milk before the night was over and they would need to give her formula. After getting off the phone John and I looked at each other thinking the same thing. We gathered all the breast milk that I had been pumping all day and headed to the hospital. We stayed and visited with Lillian (and the staff) until 2:30 in the morning and then headed home. I think the greatest aspect of NICU is not only everyone is so nice and caring but also that mommy and daddy can go up to the hospital any time we want (other than shift change 6:45-7:45 am/pm) and we can call and get a status update anytime we want.

Day three in NICU

Today we were able to take the kids up to see Lillian. Up until today Alivia has been very upset not because the baby was sick but because Lillian was in a different hospital and mommy was not there to take care of her. That made me cry :( The kids are allowed to go up to the hospital 2 times per week for 15 minutes each time. NICU is very cautious as to who they let come in with the babies. In order for the kids to go in I needed to give NICU copies of the kids' immunizations and they check their temperature before letting them in!

Also today they started Lilian on tube feedings. Lillian is getting 3ml of breast milk every 3 hours.

Today was the greatest highlight of my day. The nurse let me change Lillian's diaper for the first time!! As I cried the entire time of changing her I got to (1) confirm I have a little girl and (2) care for my daughter as my motherly instincts have been on hold for 3 days.

No news is good news...

John and I quickly learned that if NICU DOES NOT call us than everything is going fine. Approximately 5:00 am Dr. Chan called to inform me that Lillians' right lung had collapsed and they placed a chest tube in the lung to keep it open. As the phone was ringing (at 5 in the morning) I was scared to death to answer it afraid of who it was and what they were going to tell me.

Day one in NICU

This morning my Dr. came in to see me and gave me a 3 hour pass to go up and see Lillian!!

Very excited, John and I left at 10am. When I seen her I was very relieved because she was not working to breath and wearing herself out. She had tubes, monitors, & IV's coming out of everywhere yet she looked so relaxed and calm. Everyone working in NICU welcomed John and I and explained how the unit works and took us on a tour. The unit is not only concerned about how Lillian is doing but also about how her mommy and daddy are doing.

Level two nursery

Lillian was admitted to the level two nursery due to respiratory distress. The put her on oxygen and continued to watch her. I was finally able to go in and she her (once my legs were not as numb) around 3:30 pm. She made little grunts and small crys as a way of trying to keep her lungs open which wore her out quick! A blood gas was done at 8:07 pm which shows chemically how her oxygen is affecting her body. That of course came back looking terrible. Her pediatrician immediately informed me that little Lillian was going to be life flighted to theUniversity. Life flight arrived shortly before 9:00 pm and after placing her on a ventilator and inserting a central line, life flight took our baby at 10:53 pm.