Week one

It's hard to believe that it has been a week since Elyse was born.  I think it has been both the longest and shortest week of my life, especially as we try to adjust to our "new normal" for the next little while.  One thing is for sure, it has been quite the rollercoaster of emotions -- from the initial feelings of shock and anxiety finding out she was coming early, to the joy and relief of her safe arrival, and then feeling completely overwhelmed the first time I set foot in the NICU.

It was hard seeing her in the isolette for the first time, she just looked so tiny and helpless.  She should have still been warm and safe in my belly for two more months, not surrounded by wires and machines.  But it was comforting to know that she was in the best possible place, surrounded by a team of doctors and nurses who's sole concern is to get her home safe and healthy.

The NICU is a pretty amazing place.  Elyse has a nurse dedicated to her around the clock, constantly monitoring her heart rate, breathing and oxygen levels.  Every four hours she goes through her care routine -- temperature and blood pressure taken, eyes and mouth cleaned, diaper changed, and oxygen probe switched from one foot to the other.  They have shown us how to do it too, so that we can be involved and interact with her.  When the babies are this small, they try to cluster all of the activities together so that in between she can just rest and not get too overstimulated.  She is also able to come out once a day for "kangaroo care", where we get to cuddle with her skin-to-skin.  Definitely the highlight of my day.

holding Elyse for the first time (2 days old)

 

Elyse had a great week with lots of positive progress.  She came off her CPAP machine after 48-hours, and has been breathing room air on her own ever since (awesome).  I believe a lot of that has to do with her receiving the steroid injections, and am so thankful we were able to complete the full dose prior to her birth.  She lost some weight the first few days, which was to be expected, but was back up to her birth weight on Friday.  Fortunately I have had no issues pumping, and was able to provide her with colostrum and breast milk from the start.  She receives the milk every 2 hours through her feeding tube, and also receives a constant intravenous infusion of TPN (total parenteral nutrition - a solution of protein, fat and carbohydrate, as well as nutrients such as calcium, phosphorus and iron.  It is supposed to mimic the nutrients she would have been receiving in utero).

 

Daddy changing his first diaper

 

Her first round of blood work on Monday showed an increased bilirubin level (jaundice), so she spent 2 days under light therapy to bring it down, and it has been stable ever since.  We were also able to bring in our own blankets to use as bedding in her isolette, so she looks so much cosier.  I even managed to find ones with ponies on them -- you can never start too early ;-)

 

catching some rays in her isolette

 

I was discharged from the hospital on Thursday, which was bittersweet.  It was so nice to get home to Emmett, and sleep in my own bed again.  But at the same time, it was hard leaving Elyse behind.  Now our new challenge is trying to balance life at home with life at the hospital.  We have been blessed with an outpouring of support -- from messages and stories of hope, to meals and offers to look after Emmett, to all the prayers and positive thoughts -- please know how much we appreciate it all.

 

So that pretty much brings you up to speed so far.  The plan going forward is to continue to increase her feeds and decrease the TPN solution, and slowly transition to bottle/breast feeding in a few weeks.  Hopefully things stay stable and strong, but we have been told to expect to take "two steps forward and one step back", so we are just taking each day as it comes.

 



6 days old

(30w3d corrected)