Getting in a Routine

Well, it's been a week since we came home from the hospital and we are trying to get into a routine of being full time parents.  We are enjoying spending every second with our baby girl without doctors, nurses, and beeping monitors, even though some of that quality time is at 3am!  She is actually a really good baby and sleeps most of the day.  I'm sure some of this is because she is premature, but we'll have to see what sort of routine she gets into over the next couple of weeks.  Initially she was sleeping great during the day and then up every hour or two at night, but the last couple of nights she has slept in longer stretches.  We hope this continues...knock on wood!!  I've been just trying to enjoy my time with her at home and keeping up with the housework, and Nick is off to work as usual.  I'm sure he's needing a little more caffeine these days because of the late night wake up calls, but he is such a trooper and a great dad.  She has him wrapped around her finger already!

We went to the pediatrician on Thursday so that they could monitor her weight gain and she now weighs 5lbs 1oz!!  She has really been eating well and the doctor really didn't have anything to add.  We'll be going back weekly for a while so that they can monitor her weight, but other than that she is as healthy as can be.

We had a great visit from Nick's mom this weekend.  We really enjoyed her company and help around the house.  We watched the Tigers get another victory making Sophia 3 for 3 for her LSU games.  We hope she keeps up the streak this weekend vs. Arkansas!! 

Nick and I got ourselves a new digital camera.  It is a Christmas present for ourselves that we had to get a little early since our little one decided to make an early arrival.  We're still getting the hang of using it, and next we have to figure out the software and download some of the pics so that we can share them with everyone.  In the meantime, here are some Iphone pics until we get the real ones uploaded!

Home Sweet Home!!

Well, today is the day that we've been waiting for.  Today we got to bring our baby girl home!!  It was definitely an emotional event after 16 days in the ICU.  We are so thankful for everyone who cared for her and so glad that she made such quick progress.  Nick and I are so excited to start our lives with little Sophia.  She was the nurses pet at the NICU because she rarely cried and everyone thought she was adorable. ..we have to agree!!  She has been pigging out the last few days, and as of last night she weighs 4lbs 10ozs!!  Nick and I think she looks bigger until we take a picture of her. I'm sure she's going to grow so fast and we'll quickly forget how tiny she is now.  I'll try to continue to update everyone on her progress.  Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers!!

Sophia's Room!

Here are a few pics from the nursery/guest room.  Looks like it'll be ready for her arrival after all.  Thanks to my mom for making the pillows and window seat and for helping me make the lamp.  We think she's going to like it!

More Good News

Well, things are going great and we've gotten wonderful news.  Friday the doctors took out Sophia's NG tube because she had been eating so well by mouth and now they're letting her eat as much as she wants.  She's been doing great with breastfeeding and taking her bottles.  She continues to gain weight slowly and is up to 4 lbs 4 ozs.  Barring any setbacks she will be discharged on Tuesday!!  We are so excited to finally be able to begin a normal life with our baby girl.  The hospital staff has been wonderful, but we'll be glad to tell them goodbye this week!!

 No more NG tube!!!

 No more incubator! Sleeping peacefully in her big girl crib!

Moving up!

Sorry for the delay in posting...things have been busy. I'm actually posting this from my phone so please ignore any typos. So Sunday afternoon we got the good news that Sophia would be moving to the step-down ICU for less sick babies. Here she has her own room and we can be with her 24 hours a day. Nick and I both stayed the night here Sunday night, but both of us on a single person cot meant neither of us slept well at all. Since then I've been staying the night and Nick stops in before and after work to visit us. Staying at the hospital has worked out great for me because Monday I went back to work. Lots of people have told me I was crazy, but I really need and want to save up my maternity leave for when Sophia comes home. Also, driving to and from the hoapital was becoming draining in itself. So now I stay the night with Sophia and help with some of her overnight feeds, and then in the morning I take the elevator downstairs to Radiology. It's the best commute I've ever had!! I can stop in a few times a day to check on her and I come on my lunch hour and give her her noon feeding. I am somewhat exhausted , but it's worth it.

Sophia is progressing more and more every day. As of the last post she is off of the IV nutrition and up to her full feeds (a little over an ounce per feeding). She is doing well at breastfeeding which I get to do twice per day and is starting to get the hang of the bottle as well. For now she gets whatever she doesn't finish of her bottle through her NG tube. Once she can consistently take her full feeding by mouth then the tube can come out. As of last night she weighs 4lbs 3oz...almost back to her birth weight. She seems to be steadily gaining a little weight every day. We hope the feeding continues to progress and we'll be able to take her home soon!!

First Game Day!

Well, today was a good day for little miss Sophia.  We went to visit her this morning and brought her the LSU hat and blanket that Aunt Karen sent so that she would be all decked out for the big LSU game vs. Bama today.  All of the isolettes have blankets hanging over them, so now Sophia's has an LSU one so that everyone knows who she's rooting for.  The Tigers pulled out a victory, and we think we might have a little good luck charm on our hands!!

As of last night, she is back over the 4lb mark and this morning her feeds were increased to 30cc/feeding or right at about an ounce.  Tomorrow she will go up to 35cc which is her goal for her weight and from that point on they'll just increase her based on her weight.  We were also informed that tonight they'll turn off her TPN (IV nutrition) which means the IV might be coming out for good soon!!  At her noon feeding we attempted breastfeeding again and she ate like a pro...I'm so proud of her!  We were told today that she is next on the list to move up to the step up ICU for babies who don't need as close of care.  Basically she will still be monitored continuously in an ICU setting, but it is the next step up to going home.  The best part of moving into that unit is that she will have her own room and we can room in with her there.  Hopefully she'll be making that move by tomorrow.  We can't wait to be able to stay with our little girl overnight!!  She is progressing so much everyday and we know we'll have her home soon!  Thanks for all of your prayers...they're really working!!

 A picture with her eyes open is hard to come by!

Making Progress

Well, every day is getting better for little Sophia.  Her bilirubin had gone down enough yesterday for them to turn off her phototherapy lights which was great news.  This also means that she is able to get out of her bed a little more so that we can hold her.  They are continuing to increase her feeds and she is now at 20cc/feeding every 3 hours.  They attempt bottle feeding at each feeding and then feed her the rest through her NG tube.  We also got to try breastfeeding for the first time yesterday.  The first attempt she was very sleepy and didn't really latch on, but the second time she latched much better.  She seems to tire out pretty easily from breastfeeding and I know it's because it is much more work for her to get the milk.  We tried again today at her noon feeding and she did even better.  We still give her her full feeding after the attempts at breastfeeding because they aren't sure how much she is actually getting and we have to fatten her up!!  She took her whole 9am and noon feedings through a bottle without having to get any through her tube which is awesome.  She seems to be getting the hang of the eating, sucking, breathing thing.  She is also having fewer apneic/desaturation spells.  She currently weighs 3lbs 13ozs.  She had dropped even more than this from her birth weight but now seems to be going in the right direction and hopefully will continue to go up with increasing her feedings daily. 

Here are a few pics from the last few days. Mom Mom and I are putting some finishing touches on her room that I hadn't gotten to before.  I'll post pics of the room soon...I must say me and mom might give Martha Stewart a run for her money!

 I look really little when Daddy holds me!!

 Meeting Mom Mom!

Our little burrito!

Sophia's 1st Halloween!

My first Halloween costume...candy corn hat courtesy of the NICU!

 

I've got lots of hair...must be from my Daddy!

Mommy holds Sophia for the first time!

 

 Daddy and Sophia

Our little family!

Life in the NICU

Sophia has been in the NICU at Vanderbilt since birth, but is doing great considering her prematurity.  She has never required any oxygen which is such a relief!  She is currently getting nutrition through an IV and getting my pumped breast milk through an NG tube.  When she first attempted to drink from a nipple, she would suck but then forget to breath making her oxygen saturations drop.  Her doctor says this is very common and usually the coordination of eating and breathing at the same time comes around 34 weeks. So for now she is getting the majority of her feeds through a tube with occasional trials of small amounts through a nipple.  She also has occasional bouts of apnea requiring stimulation for her to breath which is also very common in a baby of her gestational age.  Her bilirubin levels were high yesterday and she was placed under the UV lights...or her little tanning bed as we like to call it.  She will probably have to be under these for a few days until her levels come down.  Other than this we are just working on fattening her up and making progress so that one day soon we can bring her home.  The initial estimate that we were given for her stay in the NICU was 2-4 weeks and it all hinges on her progress tolerating her feeds and progressing to oral feedings and no longer having apneic spells.

My mom has been here since Sunday night helping us out which has allowed Nick to go back to work. I'm feeling well and feel like I spend most of my day attached to a breast pump!  We are able to go and visit Sophia anytime during the day or night except during nurses shift change and we are trying to soak up as much of her as we can.  When she is off of the UV light treatments we will be able to have her out of her bed much more often to hold her and I'm going to attempt to have her breastfeed. Nick and I are so in love and can't wait until the day that we can bring our baby girl home!

Welcome to Sophia's Story!

So Nick and I have decided to keep a blog in order to keep our family and friends updated on the progress of our little girl!  As most of you know, Sophia decided to make a surprise appearance this weekend 7 1/2 weeks before her due date. 

On the morning of Friday the 29th, Nick was up early and hit the road at about 7am to head down to Louisiana for his cousin Cody's wedding.  I went to work as usual. At work I began feeling some pains which were coming very regularly and decided to call the doc and see if I should come to get checked out.  I called Nick and told him it was probably nothing but that I would call him back if he needed to turn around.  When they checked me, I was dilated to 1cm and my cervix was very thinned and the baby's head was very low so they told me that I needed to go straight to labor and delivery.  I called Nick back who by this time had been on the road for 7 hours and had already made it to Hammond and told him that he needed to turn around!  Nick made it to the hospital about 10pm after driving for 14 straight hours!!  I was put on medications to attempt to stop my labor overnight, but by Saturday morning I was already dilated to 6cm and there was no going back.  At this point we realized that this was the day we were going to meet our baby girl and we prayed for the best.  Sophia Elaine Miller was born on October 30th at 11:04am weighing in at 4lbs 5 ozs.