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Dear Brooklyn,
You are such a strong little girl. You have overcome many bumps already with just coming into this world 10 days ago. You have one more hurdle in front of you: eating. We know you can eat. You've showed us you can eat, and you even made a little progress today. Now you just have to be consistent and eat everything at every feeding without using your tube. We are trying to be patient, but we really want you to come home soon. We want to be able to enjoy you all the time. You are in a lot of people's prayers, including ours. We love you Little B and couldn't be more excited to welcome you into our family. Come home soon.
Love you,
Mom and Dad
I woke up a little emotional this morning knowing that I got to go home, but our Brooklyn has to stay for a little while longer. But I got up, ate some breakfast, pumped and then headed down to the NICU to see if I could make it in time for Brooklyn's 9:00 feeding. Lucky enough for me, her nurse was running a little behind.
I took Little B's temperature, changed her diaper, and then here's the best part....The nurse asked if I wanted to try breast feeding her. I told her I didn't know if I was supposed to yet because they wanted to make sure she was getting a certain measured amount at each feeding while they wait to see if her PDA closes. Since I had just pumped, she said it would be ok and it would just give B the experience of latching on.
To make a long story short, I'm 90% sure Little B will do great at breast feeding, but she was so hungry at this point she didn't really want to have anything to do with it. She was on for a little bit and we tried some little tricks with the milk, but she was just too hungry. The good news is I can start doing this with her more. After she finished eating the nurse let me hold her for about 45 minutes with just that skin-to-skin contact. We had the best cuddle time together!
And another positive update: The nurse didn't hear Little B's heart murmur this morning!! This could potentially mean that her PDA has closed. They are going to run her Echo on either Wednesday or Thursday now to see if it has closed. Yea! My testimony of prayer and fasting continues to grow everyday. Thank you everyone, our prayers are being answered.
When Brooklyn was first in the NICU her heart rate sped up in the 200's. Fortunately, she was able to calm herself down from this. It happened a second time later that day and she couldn't come out of it, so the nurses helped her by putting some ice on her face.
Brooklyn went about 48 hours without this happening, we thought we were in the clear. We got a call up to our room tonight that said her heart rate was back up and it had been going for about 20 minutes. We got down there as fast as we could. Right after we got there they were getting out the ice to try and calm her down because she wasn't coming out of it on her own. (I'm going to admit, this is right about where I lost it and couldn't watch what was going on.) The ice didn't bring her out of it. There next option was to get some medicine into her through her IV. The medicine should take her heart rate down immediately, well it didn't. They don't know if it was because her IV was in her foot and it just wasn't getting there fast enough or what. They put in a new IV, but the only spot they could find a good vein was on the front side of her head. (Definitely wasn't in the room for this.) This spot finally was able to reach her heart and her heart rate came down.
They let us know if it happens again they will probably transfer her to Primary Children's because they have a good team of cardiologists up there. They are going to start her on some regular medicine that is given to her twice a day that we will continue once she is home. They aren't sure what triggered it, it could have been her sugar line that's in her moved up and started tickling her heart. So they are going to take that out and put in a PICC line.
On a brighter note, Kenyan and I went down to visit her tonight and she woke up and was looking at us and was a very happy baby. We had a good visit with her, and I think it calmed both Kenyan and I down a little bit. Kenyan and I both got to hold her tonight and Kenyan was able to feed her while we were down there and loved being able to do that.
As hard as this evening was, Brooklyn is one strong little girl. We know she's going to pull through all of this, it's just a matter of time. We can't wait to be able to bring her home, but are extremely grateful that she's in good hands right now as well. Thanks to all of you for all of your thoughts and prayers. We appreciate them more than you know.
I got to hold Brooklyn yesterday morning for the first time. Besides marrying my wonderful husband, this was by far one of the best moments of my life. I can't believe how much I can love one thing so quickly. She is the most beautiful gift that Kenyan and I have been blessed with this week. And she's one tough cookie. I love watching Kenyan with her. He is already the best dad ever. He has been there for me and her this week. He leans over her, comforts her and calls her "Sweet Pea."
She knew exactly when she was supposed to be here. (With some help from our Heavenly Father too.) When I was here 3 weeks ago, they knew it was too early for her. They knew this week would be the best week.
Update on Brooklyn:
Brooklyn's blood sugars are stabilizing. When she first came out her pancreas was working double time. It was working for me and for her. I believe when they tested her after pulling her out that her blood sugar was around 40. This was the first thing they needed to get stabilized. After working on this they noticed a heart murmer. Brooklyn had an episode where her heart sped up in the 200's really quickly. She was able to calm herself down this first time, but it happened a second time and the nurses had to help calm her down by rubbing some ice around her jaw line. Those two times are the only times it has happened. When I was visiting her last night the nurse said it had been 36 hours since her heart last did that.
After doing an image of her heart and sending it to Primary Childrens for interpretation they said her PDA line hasn't closed. If I remember correctly, his is the ventrical coming from the right chamber of her heart. This should close on its own, it's not an uncommon thing. The nurses have told us it happens in babies that come full term as well. It might take Brooklyn's a little longer because of her being early. That's the big thing we are waiting for now.
Because of this PDA line they have only had Brooklyn on a sugar drip. Which is the white line coming out from her umbilical cord. This is why no one has been able to hold her. If this line came out it could cause her to bleed severely. They also haven't been feeding her anything, but yesterday she got to start eating some food, but only in very tiny amounts, and I mean tiny! I went down last night to see her and got there right as the nurse was getting ready to feed her. Lucky me, because she asked if I wanted to do it...duh!! So I got to hold and feed my precious Brooklyn again last night. The feeding took her about 30 seconds, but she loved it! Then the nurse took her blood pressure. They have to check it 4 times-once on each arm and leg. They were doing this every 6 hours, now they're only doing this every 12 hours. Good sign!
I'm so grateful for all the nurses and doctors here. They have taken such good care of me, but especially my Brooklyn. If she has to be in the hospital, she couldn't be in better hands right now. A huge thank you to the NICU staff at the IMC. Thanks for watching over my baby.
Brooklyn's story of coming into this world:
On Tuesday, February 15th, after my mom had finished her appointment with the endocrinologist I decided I was getting tired of being all scrunched up inside this dark space. I started poking around and found that when I poked this one balloon it would get my mom all wet. This kind of freaked my mom out. I heard my mom talking to people trying to figure out what was really going on. I think my dad thought she was joking.
A lot of stuff happened from the time I started poking at the balloon. The next thing I really remember is someone's fingers touching the top of my head and telling my mom she was a 4. (If you ask me, I think my mom's a 10!) Then things kept getting tight on and off. I was being squeezed to death!! (or that's what it felt like, it kind of freaked me out a little bit.) This kept going on for a while. It stopped for a little bit and I think my mom got a chance to relax for a little bit.
I heard a doctor come in and tell my mom that she wanted to do a C-section. She told mom that she gave it good try all night, but she was starting to swell up and it would be better to do a C-section. I know my mom always tries to be brave, but I could tell she was a little emotional about this. I wish there was something I could have done to help her feel better. But my dad came to the rescue and told her she'd done her best and that they were going to have a daughter soon. (This is where I really come in.....)
The next thing I know is, my head was poking out and there were lots of people standing around. I heard my dad say, "She has hair, lots of hair!" They kept pushing on mom and pulling on me until I was free!! It was a lot brighter now, I liked it a lot better than being crammed up in that dark space. I heard all the doctors keep saying, "You made the right decision doing C-section." What's that supposed to mean? They took me over and put me on some kind of machine and said that I weighed 11 lbs. 10 oz. I'm not sure what that means, but all the doctors seemed shocked by this. I don't know why they were so shocked, my dad seemed really happy to see me. He took me over by mom so my mom could see what a good job she had done. I could tell my mom was really happy to see me too, which is funny because I think she might have been crying too.
Then this nurse came and took me away from my mom and dad. They took me to a special room and got me hooked up to all sorts of things. I heard them say my pancreas was working over time to help out mom, so now it has to get used to just helping out me. They took an x-ray of my right clavicle because I wasn't moving my arm, but I was just tired. The x-ray came back fine....see, I told you I was just tired. They are also checking some things with my heart to make sure it's ok. I have a lot of great people taking care of me, but I have to admit, I can't wait to just be with my mom and dad.
(**Update from mom: Brooklyn is doing well. She might have to be in NICU for up to two weeks. They're doing a few more images of her heart and sending those to the doctor's at Primary Children's-just making sure everything is looking ok and is doing what it's supposed to. Her blood sugars are starting to stabilize, which is great news!)
