Tuesday, March 22, 2011
have you seen me?
because i seem to be missing from here a lot. I have a lot to say and updates to post but right now all of that and my blog will be taking a back seat due to the fact that on Saturday the 19th of March my father-in-law had a stroke. I am splitting my time between home with my girls and at the hospital with him.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
prematurity
Tonight I was sitting on the bed playing with Avery and I asked Phillip if her ever just thinks about how lucky we are to have Avery. I know we are lucky to have Chloe too, she is our amazing, bright, full term miracle. Avery is a tiny little miracle too. 27weeks is considered a viable pregnancy and even being born that early babies have a good chance of survival but with babies that small there are SOOOOOO many things that can go wrong. We are so lucky to have Avery, and I get so emotional thinking about how close we came to not having her. It also reminds me of just how much I miss McKenzie.
I think what people don't realize is that prematurity doesn't end when you leave the NICU, it is a lasting fear, guilt and trauma that you carry with you long after you are home. It is a constant worry about EVERYTHING. I wish more people were aware of just how much prematurity affects the entire family, and just how much of a toll it takes family and relationships. I wish that more people were made aware of just how common premature birth is and I wish more people would donate to places like the march of dimes who are working so hard to help prevent premature birth.
I wish that people understood that if you yourself were a preemie, you have a higher chance of having a preemie. My hope for the future is that Avery never has to experience the heartaches and traumas and stress of the NICU with her own babies some day. Hopefully this year i will be able to meet my march of dimes goal and do my part to help stop premature birth and make sure that some day no other mom will feel what it is like to be in the NICU.
I think what people don't realize is that prematurity doesn't end when you leave the NICU, it is a lasting fear, guilt and trauma that you carry with you long after you are home. It is a constant worry about EVERYTHING. I wish more people were aware of just how much prematurity affects the entire family, and just how much of a toll it takes family and relationships. I wish that more people were made aware of just how common premature birth is and I wish more people would donate to places like the march of dimes who are working so hard to help prevent premature birth.
I wish that people understood that if you yourself were a preemie, you have a higher chance of having a preemie. My hope for the future is that Avery never has to experience the heartaches and traumas and stress of the NICU with her own babies some day. Hopefully this year i will be able to meet my march of dimes goal and do my part to help stop premature birth and make sure that some day no other mom will feel what it is like to be in the NICU.
Friday, March 4, 2011
4month stats and more
**first i want to say that I honestly don't think our pedi has ever had such a premature infant as a patient (since our local hospital has no NICU), so I don't think they are really sure how to handle her care. I am thinking we may switch drs but am glad i semi know what i am doing**
9lbs 7oz and 21in long, well below the charts still but i really didn't expect her to be on the charts. I even got to answer YES on 2 of the 4month milestones!!! I told the doctor that I am convinced that she has reflux. He asked me all kinds of questions, and I went over EVERYTHING with him but because she isn't projectile vomiting he really didn't want to do anything for her. He wanted to switch her to gentle ease formula. I had to explain to him that because of her prematurity she HAS to be on the formula she is on until 50weeks gestation (10 weeks after her due date) and at that point we can evaluate her weight gain and if it is good we can go down to neosure 22calorie and mix it normal. But even at that she HAS to stay on 22calorie formula until she is 12months ADJUSTED and the only exception to that is if she starts to top the growth charts then we can go down to normal formula.
When we were leaving they said they wanted to see Avery back in 2 weeks and we would re-evaluate the reflux issue but if it got any worse to call them ASAP. Then they called me back again and the office social worker type lady wanted to talk to me about switching formulas, so I explain to here while EVERYONE in the office is standing there listening. Then she tells me she didn't realize that Avery was on special formula and was asking me questions about the reflux. I tell her it is so bad that the poor baby is screaming in pain constantly and is starting to lose her voice from crying all the time. I started to cry in the pedi's office and told her, it is so bad now that I am sleeping (when ever i can) sitting in the computer chair sitting straight up because if i lay down she is in pain. I said we have tried mylicon and gripe water and nothing helps, I told her I sit there and cry with her because she is hurting and as her mom there is NOTHING more i can do for her but cuddle her.
Well at that point i guess they all realized just how bad it is and they are starting her on 15mg zantac every 12hrs and we go back in 2weeks to see if it is helping.
9lbs 7oz and 21in long, well below the charts still but i really didn't expect her to be on the charts. I even got to answer YES on 2 of the 4month milestones!!! I told the doctor that I am convinced that she has reflux. He asked me all kinds of questions, and I went over EVERYTHING with him but because she isn't projectile vomiting he really didn't want to do anything for her. He wanted to switch her to gentle ease formula. I had to explain to him that because of her prematurity she HAS to be on the formula she is on until 50weeks gestation (10 weeks after her due date) and at that point we can evaluate her weight gain and if it is good we can go down to neosure 22calorie and mix it normal. But even at that she HAS to stay on 22calorie formula until she is 12months ADJUSTED and the only exception to that is if she starts to top the growth charts then we can go down to normal formula.
When we were leaving they said they wanted to see Avery back in 2 weeks and we would re-evaluate the reflux issue but if it got any worse to call them ASAP. Then they called me back again and the office social worker type lady wanted to talk to me about switching formulas, so I explain to here while EVERYONE in the office is standing there listening. Then she tells me she didn't realize that Avery was on special formula and was asking me questions about the reflux. I tell her it is so bad that the poor baby is screaming in pain constantly and is starting to lose her voice from crying all the time. I started to cry in the pedi's office and told her, it is so bad now that I am sleeping (when ever i can) sitting in the computer chair sitting straight up because if i lay down she is in pain. I said we have tried mylicon and gripe water and nothing helps, I told her I sit there and cry with her because she is hurting and as her mom there is NOTHING more i can do for her but cuddle her.
Well at that point i guess they all realized just how bad it is and they are starting her on 15mg zantac every 12hrs and we go back in 2weeks to see if it is helping.
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