Moving Up In the world

Sorry that it's been so long since the last post - life has been crazy. I went back to work, and between managing work, home, Elle & Ashlee, and the hospital - I'm a tad worn out to say the least.

Saturday night my parents got to go see Tiffany after not seeing her for almost 2 1/2 weeks. They left to Alaska for a trip just after she was born. They can't believe how good she looks and how she has filled out her face. They both got to hold her, and she was awake for some of their visit.

Aaron took his parents and Elle last night - but for whatever reason, they didn't hold her. Don't worry, I made up for it tonight. I held her for 2 1/2 hours!! Wait - the good news - she is out of the NICU and is in the nursery for "smaller" babies. She has moved to the 1st floor of the hospital and has her own little room inside the nursery. I really liked her nurse tonight, and felt very comfortable with her being cared for. I still am trying to get them to tranfer her to a closer hospital so that I can go visit her on my lunch breaks!

Now that she is doing better, they only weigh her twice a week, and her feedings are still increasing and going strong. They add calories to my milk to help her gain weight, and hopefully that will make her put on some pounds. They said when I come in tomorrow that we can try feeding her with a bottle. Cross your fingers that she takes it! This would make her one step closer to coming home!!!

Side note - on Father's Day, my sister Julia announced that she is prego!! We are so excited, and everyone is hoping she will finally produce a grandson and nephew - she has no clue how far she is and doesn't go to the doctor until the end of July - how nice would it be that she goes in and finds out she is 16 weeks?! My cousin Sam's wife Anna also announced that she is expecting. Don't worry - I don't plan on joining them anytime soon!

Okay - back to Tiffany - she looks so great and I just love holding her, it make me so happy and really helps me sleep at night.

Thanks for all of your prayers and support - she is doing so well, and I know it is because of all the love everyone is sending her way.

Love- Sarah

3 Pounds

Last night I took Tiffany Browne over to see baby Tiffany one more time before she left to go back home. She was alert again and very content with Tiffany holding her. We found out that she weighs 3 lbs 1oz and that they were going to remove her IV because she really doesn't need it at this time. WOO HOO!!! It will be weird to hold her today without having to hold and worry about the IV tubes. Last night we celebrated her reaching 3lbs by going to Sonic and getting a hot fudge Sunday. When she hits 4lbs we are going to go out to dinner!!

After I took Tiffany and Gerrit to airport, I ran by the hospital to take some more milk for her, since she is almost to an ounce with her feedings. When I got to the nursery, she was getting a bath by her nurse because she had pooped all up her back! We got the pooping thing figured out!! So I got to help wash her up and get her all nice and clean for the day. She was so cute and looking around and enjoying her time in the water. When I took her out to dry her off, she got mad, I guess she is a future swimmer! She also is IV free!!! No more tiara in her head to give her nutrients, she is eating enough on her own.

I'm going to take Ashlee over this afternoon for her to see her and spend some time. Hopefully Ashlee will be good (ha ha ha - who am I joking?!) I also go back to work tomorrow - I don't want to, but I need to in order for us to keep insurance. Joy.

Almost 3 pounds

Last night we (Tiffany Browne and I) went to see the little one and spend some time with her. She is eating like a pig and growing like a weed. They moved her to a not so high risk nursery of the NICU. It's less crowded and they have a rocking chair that I can sit in and hold her. She is eating just over a half an ounce every three hours, and they are increasing those feedings. She also weighs 2lbs 15 oz, so hopefully by our visit tonight she will be a 3 pounder!!!

Last night she was so awake and alert. She visited with us for over an hour and just was so awake. She looks more and more like her sister Elle did when she was a baby - just smaller. She has a heart murmur called a PDA - where basically there is a blood vessel in her heart that closes in normal babies before they are born. In preemies they have to go in and close it either by medication or surgery. She has a echo-cardiogram I think scheduled for tomorrow to see if it is closing on its own.

My friend Tiffany Browne leaves tomorrow back to Maryland, Washington DC area. She has been so helpful this whole week. I've basically had a personal chef and house cleaner. My family didn't know that other meals for dinner besides cheese quesadillas and mac and cheese.

Her little 8 month old Gerrit has been so fun to have around. He seems so huge. Ashlee and Elle have had fun with both Tiffany and Gerrit and I know tomorrow Ashlee is going to be sad for most of the day because she will miss them.

Thanks for all the emails and prayers for our family - they have been very appreciated.

Love- Sarah

First Bath

I got to give Tiffany a bath on Tuesday for the first time (well, for the first time that I gave it to her). She loved having her head rubbed, but washing the rest of her body she didn't really care for. They took off all her monitors and tape off her face, so it was nice to see her looking like a normal baby - well, a normal baby with an IV in her foot. They took the feeding tube out of her mouth and put one through her nose, now she can practice sucking on a paci. She has been pooping and eating really well. Last night she was eating 6.5cc and they are increasing it. By the way, there are 30cc in an ounce. Because she is eating so well, they are not doing the PICC line anymore. They feel she is doing well enough on her own and doesn't need it. She currently is 2 lbs 13oz!!!!

Last night I took my friend Tiffany Browne to see her. Tiffany is here visiting from Maryland for the next week, and I'm so excited!!! She brought her 8 month old son Garrett with her, and he is huge! Elle and Ashlee have had fun playing with him and practicing for when we get to bring baby Tiffany home.

Thank you for all of your support and phone calls. It really is nice knowing we have such a wonderful support group around us.

Love - Sarah

Big Girl

Last night I went to the hospital to see Tiffany, and I try to get there right before they do her rounds (where they measure, weigh, feed, and change her diaper). I discovered that once they do her rounds she usually is awake for a little while. So I got there just before rounds and got to help change her diaper again and asist in the other things. She weighs 2lbs and 12oz - so she is back to her birth weight (woo hoo) and she is such a little pig that they have increased her feeding again, so last night she was getting 3.5cc and it was going to be increased to 4cc at this mornings feedings. Little Pig! Oh and in case you were wondering, there are 30cc in one ounce.

After rounds were over, I got to hold her for a good hour, and out of that hour, she was awake and alert 20 minutes. She was moving her head around in my arm and looking around. She was very alert. It was really fun to get to look at her and have her look back.

She still doesn't have a PICC line and they have her under the lights again for her jaundice. Her poor little skin was dried out, so the nurses let me put some lotion on her. It was fun to have her smell like a baby. She is off the oxygen, I guess she is remembering to breath, and all in all is doing very well.

My friend Tiffany Browne arrives tomorrow from Washington DC for a whole week! I am so excited. Aaron and the girls have been helping me get the house ready for her arrival. Nothing like company coming to finally finish the guest room.

Thanks for everyone's thoughts, prayers and support. Please let me know when you want to go visit her, I would love to have the company on the drive over.

We have poop!

(My friend Tiffany Walters holding little Tiffany)

Woo Hoo she finally pooped! What a weird thing to be happy about! She also is eating again! They are feeding her 1cc every 3 hours and they will increase her feeding a half cc every 3rd feeding. They hope to have her up to 2.5cc by Wednesday.

They have tried twice to do the PICC line, and they haven't been sucessful. They are going to try again today, I believe, and hopefully third times the charm! The sooner she gets the PICC line, the happier I will be. Right now they are having to change her IV about every 6 hours, so it has become very stressful for me to see her little bruises.

She is back on oxygen, but it is mostly to remind her to breath. She gets relaxed and slows her breathing down way to much. So they placed her on oxygen to help remind her. Poor thing. They have the feeding tube and her oxygen taped to her face, above her mouth, and I want to get a marker and draw a mustache - but Aaron won't let me.

We took the girls to see her yesterday, and they got to do Father's Day crafts thanks to the March of Dimes. It was really fun for them.

Thanks for all of the prayers and support!

Tiffany and Papa

Aaron got to hold Tiffany last night for the first time. Even though he totally played it off, you could tell that he was excited. He is having a hard time calling her Tiffany, he says that she it too little to have such a big name. So for now he is calling her Monkey. He tried and tried to get her to open her eyes last night, but all she did was pass gas! My kinda girl!!

Tiffany Elizabeth

Well, it has been 8 days since the little turkey has joined our family, and she is doing great! She is breathing on her own, and is very active. Her only concern is that she needs to poop more. Believe it or not, pooping is a big deal!! Since she hasn't pooped, she is having a hard time eating through a feeding tube. She spits up everything they feed her, so they give her all her nutrients through the IV's. The nutrients can be hard on her little veins so they are trying to put what is called a PIC line into her little body. This will eliminate the need for constant poking and changing of her IV's since the PIC line can stay in for a long amount of time.

Last night I got to go see her and they allowed me to do what is called the Kangaroo Hold. It's where they placed her under my shirt so that we were chest to chest. Her little head poked out of the top of my shirt. I got to hold her like that for a good 30 minutes. I could have held her that way for hours. I told Aaron that I will be going over every night and holding her like that, I don't care what the cost of gas is!

On a side note - we got our first bill, my good ole Air Evac bill - my exciting 10 minute ride in the helicopter cost - sit down - $11,902.00. Of course insurance will pick up some of that and then March of Dimes and other organizations will help out too. I've been told that we should rack up a bill that is easily over half a million dollars! Tiffany is going to have to pay for her own wedding, college, and first car!

I'll post updates and pictures of Tiffany on this site so that you can see how much she is growning. Today (June 7, 2007) her weight is an amazing 2 pounds 8 ounces - So she is starting to gain back some weight!

Thank you for all of your love and support!! Please pray that we finally get her to poop!!

Love- The Doster Dorks