Penelope is 74 days old

Penelope's surgery went great and she's pretty much fully recovered.
She is eating milk again and sleeping in her basinnet.

She gained over 100g yesterday but most of that was water weigh from
her iv fluids. When she was able to eat again yesterday she didn't
have any bradies. Of course she missed half her meals yesterday due to
the surgery so I'm not sure if it counts.

Besides the surgery, Penelope had been doing so well. Some of the
nurses who weren't aware of the surgery have asked Trent why she
hasn't been sent home yet. Our best guess is that she could come home
as early as late next week. We will just have to wait and see though;
she's already shown us that we can't always make plans for her.

Thanks for checking in. I'll update more later.

Penelope post op

Doing fine

Penelope is 73 days old

Late this morning, Penelope was wheeled down to the OR for surgery.  I was able to walk down with the nurses and left her as she was getting anesthesia.  Several of the doctors and nurses kept saying how cute she is.  I have to say that although I may be biased, I agree.  She should be back in the NICU in a couple of hours. 

When I got the the NICU this morning, her nurse had already moved her into an isolette and she was hooked up to an IV.  It gave me such a weird sense of deja vu.  She should be back in her bassinet and off the IV by late this afternoon, though. 

Penelope gained 90g overnight and weighs 2.54kg, or about 5.56lbs.  She didn't have any bradies yesterday.  Her feeds were cut off at midnight last night, so although she didn't have any bradies overnight, she only had one real feeding.  She should be able to have oral feeds by the end of the day.  Hopefully she won't have any bradies. 

Thanks for checking in.  If I have time, I'll update again today to say how the surgery went.

Ready for surgery

Sweet P prepped for surgery

Penelope is 72 days old

It is a new month, which means Penelope has a new attending physician. July's physician was Penelope's very first doctor.  He was hoping she would be discharged before this month, but Trent and I are happy he is back.  He has been following her throughout her course and it's nice to have a doctor who already knows her so well and has taken such an interest in her. 

Penelope had a couple of bradies yesterday - once when I was feeding her and once when Trent was feeding her.  Basically what happens is when she is eating sometimes she gulps down her milk too quickly and she tries to take a breath while it is in her mouth, which can cause it to go down the wrong pipe.  Whereas an adult would just cough when this happens, her muscles aren't strong enough to cough it out.  She holds her breath to keep the milk from going down the wrong pipe and into her lungs.  When she holds her breath, her heart rate drops, which is the brady.  This is something that she will outgrow when she is stronger. 

With the continuing bradies and surgery tomorrow, any talk of her being discharged has been suspended for a few days at least.  Her due date was July 11 and we are hoping she will be discharged by then.  Of course, that is all out of our control and it is probably unwise to have expectations about discharge dates.  She will come home when her little body is strong enough.  She is growing every day and is just so adorable.  It is easy to stay positive when she is doing so well in all other aspects. 

Thanks for checking in.  I'll update more later. 

Fwd: Cute!

>

Penelope is pretty in pink

Penelope is 10 weeks and 1 day

Penelope turned 10 weeks old yesterday.  In a couple of weeks she will actually reach her due date. 

Trent and I did "care by parent" on Monday night.  It went really well and we enjoyed  being able to spend so much time with our little girl.  We had our own room with a bed, bathroom, etc. and the nurse wheeled Penelope into the room in her bassinet.  We were in charge of all of her care throughout the night, although the nurse checked in on us every few hours to make sure everything was ok.  We did all the feeding, changing, comforting, etc.  As soon as we turned out the light to go to sleep, she wailed.  Luckily, it turned out she just had a really wet diaper and wanted to be changed.  Otherwise, she slept a lot.  Trent and I were both really tired yesterday.  He had to go to work but I was able to go home and sleep for a few hours. 

Earlier this week, the nurse practitioner discovered Penelope has a little hernia. The hernia occured because her abdominal cavity didn't have a chance to close up before she was born.  This is really common in preemies, although it is a little less common in girls than boys.  She will have surgery on Friday to fix it.  This surgery is one of the most common pediatric operations that are performed and it is really simple and quick;  the surgeon will just close it up.  This is usually an outpatient surgery but obviously she will go back down to the NICU when it is done.  I'm thankful that her nurses will be in charge of her post op care and not me - better to leave that to the professionals when you have the chance.  I can choose to be in the OR with her during the surgery.  I haven't completely decided if I want to watch it or not.  That is more of my sister's thing. 

Otherwise, she is doing really well.  She hasn't had any episodes in a couple of days.  The team is hoping that she will be able to go home after she stabilizes from the surgery. So she may be home by mid to late next week.  Of course, if she bradies again, that is all out the window.  It all depends if her little body is strong enough yet.

Thanks for checking in.  I'll update more soon.

Sucking her thumb

Penelope is 69 days old; weekend update

Uncle Mookie left this afternoon and we were all sad to see him go.
Trent especially enjoyed having him visit.

Penelope had a good weekend although she had a couple of desats and
bradies on saturday night. It's just her body's way of telling us she
isn't ready to go home yet. We definetly feel like we are on the home
stretch though.
This morning she was moved into the feeders and growers room. This is
the room where the healthiest babies are and it's usually the last
stop before discharge. We've been waiting 69 days for her to be in
this room.

Tonight Trent and I are doing "care by parent". There is a little room
connected to one of the main nicu nurseries with a bed, bathroom, etc
and the parents can spend the night there with the baby to practice.
She will still be hooked up to all the monitors so we will know if she
is having an episode and a nurse will check in on us periodically.
Otherwise we are taking care of her all night by ourselves. Wish us
luck!

Thanks for checking in. I'll update more later.