Some Pics

Harmony, Our Other Baby

We started looking for a companion for Titus in the beginning of June- he was just so lonely after Phil died. We found a little girl kitten that reminded us so much of Phil, we knew she would get along with Titus. The shelter where we found her was super strict, though, and didn't release her until the week Maisie was born. It was a little stressful, bringing home a kitten while we were in those first days at the NICU. She has adjusted pretty well to her new home, though, and does indeed remind us of Phil.

Harmony really does think she and Maisie are both kittens.

Love at Home

We are SOOO happy to be home! It has been an exhausting but exhilarating weekend with Maisie at home- finally!

Our other baby, Harmony, has had a more difficult time adjusting to the newest addition to our home. Every time I feed Maisie, the kitten does everything she can to get in between us- literally. I can't keep her from trying to jump in my lap and wedge herself between Maisie and me. She insists on being wherever Maisie is, unless she is acting out to get more attention- Harmony has been so naughty! But luckily, she is very good with the baby.

My first baby, Titus, just ignores Maisie. He's more upset by Harmony's presence and annoyances, and he's still not quite acting like himself. He was diagnosed with pancreatitis last week and it still seems to be bothering him- he's not eating as well, and seems to be more withdrawn. I hope he feels better soon!

 

Harmony caught in the act

Milk Coma

Maisie loves her swing- I'm sure she'll like it even more when she fits in it!

Homecoming

Maisie is home at last!

We were very worried it wouldn't happen today, and we'd have to wait until Monday.  The family bonding rooms at the hospital, while nice, are kind of like tiny, uncomfy hotel rooms, and we were all too happy to bring Maisie to the comforts of our own home.  She is so tiny in her little car seat, it's adorable.  It finally feel like we're a real family now, it's wonderful.

She looked a little yellow tonight and we called the after-hours nurse for our pediatrician, who advised us to take her back to the ER at the hospital.  We decided to take more of a wait and see approach, since it certainly does not seem like an emergency situation.  We didn't want to spend her first night at home back at the hospital for sure.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

I love this little girl!
-Ross

Not Yet

I hate those words! Patience is a virtue with which I still have major difficulties. This morning Maisie's med team was concerned with her low body temps over the course of the evening, her small weight gain (she gained 10 grams when they wanted closer to 20), and her lack of poopy diapers. They decided to keep her again overnight to see if she does better. So here we are still.

I've kept her bundled REALLY snug, and fed her a ton at the last feeding. I'm hoping we can squeak by and make it home just one day late.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

I missed rounds yet again this morning, but when I did arrive at the hospital, I had a pleasant shock- Maisie could be going home as early as

TOMORROW!!!

She lost weight last night and has been cold all day today. If we can get her gaining weight again, we're good to go! I get to "room in" tonight- stay in special parent rooms they have so I can try being a parent unaided, but with nurses close by if needed. And then if all goes well by tomorrow afternoon, we'll be walking out the hospital with a baby in tow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edison Day

Yesterday the light bulb was turned on! Maisie has made a huge leap forward- she ate all of her feedings yesterday without her feeding tube!!!! Most of them were from the bottle; and just as I was despairing that she'd prefer the bottle and never figure out how to nurse, she downed a TON from mom at her 9:00pm feeding last night. We are SOOO excited!

Today the med team's plan is to let Maisie eat however much or little she wants for 24 hours to make sure she gets enough when she goes home. What did you say? Go home?! We are on our way!! They still won't give us a definite day for when we might be going home, but all this eating is definitely moving us out of the NICU fast! We will be sure to keep all posted.

Maisie is an eating machine!

Life in the NICU

Here's my daily schedule:

12:00 am-pump for 30 mins, set alarm for 4 am and go to bed
3:00 am- alarm goes off and I either sleep through it because I'm so tired, or I get up and pump for 30 mins
6:00 am- 2nd alarm goes off and I get up to pump for 30 mins and either go back to bed or eat breakfast
9:00 am- Maisie's first feeding of the day with me

At the hospital here's what I do all day:

 - I start out getting the nurse's report, or if I make it in time, hear the doctors' rounds
- Maisie gets her temperature taken, diaper changed, and is weighed
- Maisie tries to nurse for 30 mins (at the breast if I'm there, at the bottle if I'm not or if she's too tired)
-She's weighed again and the difference is subtracted from her prescribed feeding, the rest is gavaged through her tube (for example, she gains 20 mg after nursing, so instead of 45 mls of food, she gets 25 through her tube)
- I pump again for 30 mins to empty all the milk she didn't get
- I now have 30-45 mins until we start again, so I can go eat at the cafeteria, take a brief nap or call family

Maisie eats every 3 hours (at midnight, 3, 6, 9, noon, etc) and it seems like 3 hours between should give me lots of time, but somehow it's all taken up and I barely have a moment before it starts all over again. I get down to the hospital as soon as I can and stay until 10 or 11 pm when I'm too tired to stay any longer. Needless to say, I will be relieved when Maisie gets to come home! At least at home I can do this all in the comfort of my own place.

Maisie is growing daily- the docs have lowered the calorie fortifier they were adding to her milk because she was growing too fast! But she is still not eating well when we do nurse. From the bottle or from mom she's not getting enough to be discharged. I keep waiting for her little light bulb to turn on and for her to get her full feeding at once! I don't know if I can handle 5 more weeks of this!

One Month

I can't believe Maisie is one month old today! It's been a stressful first month, and at times it still feels like she's not really ours since she's still in the hospital. But she sure has grown a lot in one month. She is now 4 lbs 13 ounces- she's gained over 1&1/2 pounds- no easy feat for a little preemie!

I took some more pics of Maisie during our Kangaroo care time to compare with some I had taken earlier.

Taken July 16

Taken August 10

We just love our Maisie and are so happy she's a part of our family- now we just need her to eat on her own so we can take her home!

Beanie Project

Volunteers and good-doers often leave little gifts for the children and babies at the hospital. The knit cap Maisie was wearing in a picture from my last post was one example. Yesterday, Maisie got the cutest gift so far- a wonderful little beanie from a shop in town called Be Wee. They run the Beanie Project- donating one beanie to the hospital for each sold in their shop. I've never been much of a headband person for babies- I really don't like those headbands on baby girls that dwarf the baby's head, and I get so annoyed when I see a mom trying over and over to keep the headband on while the baby tries over and over to get it off. Obviously, the kid hates the headband, so just leave it off! But BEANIES- SOOO cute, and practical, and Maisie doesn't fight to get hers off yet!

So THANK YOU, BE WEE!!

Mme Maisie porte son nouveau chapeau.

Catching On

Or should I say "latching on"? Maisie is really figuring out how to eat! She's bottling more, and 2 feedings yesterday were half from Mom, half from the feeding tube. Maisie's a smart cookie, and is figuring things out faster than the nurses say is the average. This makes us happy, as it's all steps closer to coming home!

2000

This is how many grams Maisie now weighs!! That roughly equates to 4 lbs 6 ounces! Life is good.

PS. She's back in a crib- we're hoping this time she gets to stay!

Growing

Maisie is growing like a weed! She's getting longer and putting on lots of good weight. And now that she's bigger, her nurses are trying out a crib again. Hopefully this time she can keep her temp up! We've also been working on learning how to breastfeed. For every feeding when Mama is at the hospital, we try breastfeeding first, and then put the rest of her feeds through the tube. Maisie doesn't get a whole lot of milk from me yet, but she's learning how to do it, and that's really amazing- most babies her gestation aren't even close to that milestone! GO MAISIE!!

Today's Victory

Maisie ate her full 36 ml from a bottle!!!!! Up til now, she's only been able to get about 5-10 ml at a feeding- enough to keep the nurses trying, but little enough to keep them skeptical. But today she accomplished a major feat. If she can keep it up, hopefully she can come home soon! Good girl!

Poor Maisie was so exhausted after her marathon eating, she basically passed out while she was being burped- so cute!

PS. I just love her little elf ears! She was born before the cartilage was formed, so her ears are really soft and pliable right now. I will be happy for her, but sad for the passing moment, when they start to fill in.