Week 35, Day 2

Yesterday was a banner day for Hannah. She got her first tub bath, and met her Grandma Minor at the same time. My mom and our friend Velma drove in from Shreveport to see Hannah, and we arranged their visit to coincide with "touch time" so they could see her while she was awake and alert, instead of wrapped up like a burrito. If you have high-speed internet, you can click here for another short video of Hannah looking around and sticking out her tongue.


Today, we went to Sandia and Sidney's wedding (two wonderful people I've had the pleasure to work with at TI for 7 and 10 years respectively), for feast and festivity that made our own wedding seem like a visit to the driver's license bureau. Carla got to see a lot of the TI crowd and do a lot of bragging about how well Hannah has been doing (OK, maybe I did a little of that, too). That probably seems weird to people that have just learned Hannah's in the hospital: "So, your newborn daughter is on oxygen and a feeding tube in the hospital, and you're happy about it?" Of course, it's all relative. Compared to where we were two months ago, we're walking on clouds today.

So it was even better when we stopped by to see Hannah after the wedding and found that she gained another ounce since yesterday and is now at 4 pounds 2 ounces. She was sound asleep, busy growing so she can come home sometime this winter.

Week 35, Day 1, Third Time's the Charm

Hannah is off the CPAP and back on nasal cannula today, after several blood gas tests indicated she was ready again. Hopefully, she'll be able to stay on it this time, until she can ditch the oxygen completely. Her O2 requirements this time are around 30%, which is much better than the 55% she was needing the last time she was on the cannula, so that's a good sign.

The timing of this change is good, because my mom is coming in this weekend to meet Hannah for the first time, and she'll be able to see most of her face.

Hannah had an Exorcist-style power poop yesterday during a diaper change, which apparently got all over everything and everybody nearby. This was one day after Carla had commented that she had never seen a particularly voluminous movement like the nurses kept telling us about. Perhaps Hannah overheard that exchange.

Week 34, Day 6

Just a quick update in case any of you are getting antsy . . .

Hannah is doing great, but she had to switch back to CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) yesterday after her CO2 levels started to rise. This probably just means that she was having to work a little too hard to breathe with just the cannula. The first time she went on the cannula, she stayed on for 1.5 days; the last time was 5 days. Chances are that after a few more days of "rest" on the CPAP, which gives constant pressurized flow to keep the air sacs in the lungs open, she'll be able to switch back to the cannula until she doesn't need it either. Her CO2 levels dropped down to normal a few hours after going back on CPAP.

No bradycardia spells lately, and she's hovering around 3 pounds 14 ounces.

Week 34, Day 4

Sorry for the lack of an update yesterday. We got home pretty late after a 9pm-to-midnight kangaroo session. Hannah is doing great in all respects: gaining weight, becoming less dependent on the oxygen cannula, and starting to behave much like any other baby. She cried when she had go back to her crib today after kangaroo time. No bradycardia spells today so far, and just one yesterday.

Carla's parents are in town today, so Hannah had several visitors. Click here to see a short video of Hannah looking around as she's being put back to bed. The lump in Hannah's wrist below is caused by the tape holding in an IV tube, which is hidden behind her arm. The lump in my throat was from watching these two beautiful girls sleeping so peacefully, after all they've been through.

Week 34, Day 2

We had a good day with Hannah. At one point, Carla got the giggles about something (don't ask) while holding Hannah, and we were in the curiously new situation of worrying whether we were going to wake up Hannah if we couldn't stop laughing. Hannah didn't seem to mind, but I mention it because it seemed to be a turning point; while we have had pleasant hours in the NICU, it is the first time Carla has been relaxed enough to laugh out loud. We had just had a very optimistic talk with the doctor, Hannah was sleeping peacefully, and we're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Hannah's handling the nasal cannula and her feeds quite well, and might even graduate to bottle feeding next week. She's at 3 lbs 12 oz, still going in the right direction weight-wise. She had another slight bradycardia spell this morning, but everyone assures us that these are quite normal and it would be more surprising if she didn't have a few.

Week 34, Day 1, Bradycardia

Carla had a good session with Hannah today, but just after Hannah was put back in her bed, she had a "brady" episode. Not the kind with horrible 70s clothing and astroturf lawns, but the type that happens when a baby forgets to breathe (apnea) long enough to cause the heart rate to drop (bradycardia). It's very common in preemies, and is one of the reasons Hannah is hooked up to monitors that start to squawk if her blood oxygen or heart rate drop too low. In this case, the nurses hurried over and gave Hannah some extra oxygen, and she snapped right back to normal and was breathing fine when Carla left.

It scared Carla to tears, of course. Reading up on it afterward, the only thing particularly surprising was that she hasn't had a brady episode before today. 80% of babies born before 30 weeks gestation (Hannah was 24.5) have apnea and bradycardia, and it almost always goes away on its own. There's a slight chance that it is a sign of a more serious problem like NEC or reflux, but most likely it will be a non-issue by the time Hannah is full-term (in about a month).

Here's a picture I took last night when I visited. The camera settings were messed up at the time, so it's sorta dark and grainy. But a good view of her perfect little face nonetheless. The clear tube is the nasal cannula, and the tube in her mouth is the feeding tube.

Week 33, Day 7, Take Two

We're back on the nasal cannula! The blood gas tests looked good enough to let Hannah try the "big girl" oxygen again today, so she's back to the nasal cannula. We'll cross our fingers and hope she's seen the last of the bulkier CPAP masks.

In other news . . . she's up to 3 pounds 10 ounces today. The growth chart below (click the image to enlarge) shows her progress since birth. Note how the first artificial weight gain around 7/29 began right after she started a course of antibiotics (it was mostly fluid build-up) and she resumed her weight gain just after the PDA surgery (which improved blood flow and lung function) and the end of the light treatment for jaundice. Also, note the dip in her weight gain around 9/8, when she switched to CPAP and had to start breathing by herself. And lastly, note how I have made you tilt your head to one side like a confused puppy. Hah!