Pictures of Brooklynn's Hospital Stay

So as you all know from previous blogs, Brooklynn was in the hospital for 5 days with RSV. Looking back on it now it was a short amount of time, but it had felt like a lifetime going through it. I have so much more respect for the moms and dads who have children in the NICU where I work - it is the hardest thing to see your child sick and you not being able to help and make it better! Sitting back on my hands and letting someone else do the work was very hard for a nurse to do!! I am very grateful for my wonderful family support and the nurses who cared for my baby girl every day while she was there. Here is her story through pictures.
They had started an IV at the Urgent Care Center since she was having such trouble eating. Luckily they never needed to use it after the transport because she started picking up on eating pretty quickly.

The first time I saw my baby with oxygen on her face, my heart dropped! But I had to keep reminding myself it could have been worse and she could have required more support than that. Since Big Sister Izzy was also sick, she could not come to the hospital to visit. So instead, I tried to keep her active as I could by allowing her to participate by writing a letter to her baby sister and purchasing a gift from the gift shop.

This is a picture of her room - it was meant to be a double room but since she was RSV positive and there weren't very many patients she was able to have a room to herself so I got a "luxury suite".

This is a picture of her suctioning equipment and oxygen that they used while she was there.

I always told parents to not "watch the monitors", but it is very hard to do when it is your child. I kept watching her oxygen levels and would start getting nervous when her levels would drop below 88% (they want them greater than 92%). Her average the first few days was between 88-93%. For those who don't know - the green number is her heart rate (normal for a baby is 110-180 depending on awake or asleep), yellow number is how fast she is breathing (can get up to 60 without really worrying), and blue number is her oxygen level.

Sam was a big support through all this. He was not able to take off work, but hewould come straight from work and stay until nine or ten every night. I think he got less sleep than I did.

We were able to have Izzy come see us in the hospital, just could not have her in the room. So I would have lunch with her every day either in the hospital cafeteria or outside. The Child Life Specialist gave me a doll to Izzy that she could play with that had a hospital gown and other hospital supplies so she could get an idea of what was going on with sister.
The doll came with markers so she could draw on it which she loved to do.After 4 days we were finally able to take off the oxygen, and I was so excited!!

Here is Nana P holding Brooklynn, my mom got to hold her the day before and I am a slacker and did not get a picture of it (it was my mom's birthday too).

No oxygen and ready to go home!!

She knew today was the big day and could not help but smile in her sleep :).

YAY!!

We are home, we are home, we are home!! After 5 long days in the hospital, Brooklynn was finally well enough for us to bring her home!! That is all :).

Still Here....

Nothing has really changed over the last 2 days. Brooklynn is still requiring a little bit of oxygen, and every time they try to take her off she drops her saturations to the upper 80's. Her secretions are starting to clear up a little bit, but she still has quite a bit of thick stuff!! They are still having to deep suction her every once in a while before feedings!! She is picking up on a feeds better than when we first got here which is a positive! It is hard sitting back and having the nurses do all the work - I am so tempted to get the catheter and deep suction her myself so that I can feed her the minute she is ready!! Everyone is telling me that it seems like now it is more a lung oxygenation issue than her secretions causing her desaturations! I just want my baby girl to get better soon - but looks like we are headed for a week stay!! They want her off a full 24 hours of oxygen before they will let her go home - so I bet we are here at least until Friday unless by some miracle she just takes off this afternoon.

Izzy is getting better which is good. I am able to see her about 2 hours a day which splits the day up nicely. She is getting so big and I am able to carry on conversations with her which is AMAZING!! I love my little family! It makes life a little better!!

Still here Waiting Patiently

Brooklynn is still in the hospital. They have tried to take her off her oxygen yesterday and today, and both times she drops her saturations down into the 80's (will bring herself up to the very low 90's occasionally). She is only requiring 1/4 Liter which is not much but it is just enough for her to keep her saturations between 93-96%. She has gone one feeding without having to be deep suctioned which is nice. It is so weird being here in the South hospital - it is so much smaller and not nearly as busy as the downtown hospital which is nice in a way but also a little on the lonely side!! I am hoping they will be able to try her off the oxygen again tonight and if she tolerated that maybe go home tomorrow. The doctor said with RSV a lot of times they will go back and forth on the oxygen for a few days. Her cough has seemed to die down a little (which I don't know if that is a good thing since she still has really thick secretions). Hopefully every day she gets a little better.

Good news is she has not run a fever at all so I am encouraged by that. I was a little nervous that she might have a secondary infection somewhere (like in her blood, urine, or even spinal fluid) after talking with the doctors at urgent care - they always worry about that when a child less than 6 weeks gets this sick. She has been off antibiotics for 36 hours so I would think if she had something else she would start spiking a fever now.

It has been really hard being here and not seeing Izzy!! She has been with grandparents so she is having a great time so I know it is harder on me than it is on her. I did get to see her yesterday for a few hours - she can't come into the room since she has been sick but grandparents brought her to the hospital so I got to go downstairs. Sam's parents were told they could bring her up to the room and she was so excited when she saw me and was REALLY wanting to come in to see sister but she couldn't come into the room! It tore my heart out to see her so sad that she couldn't be around sister!!

Izzy still has her cough - my mom says it is not terrible but it is still there. I hate not being with her when she is sick - but I know Brooklynn needs me a little more right now. She is eating much better than when we first got here which I am encouraged by. Last night they weighed her and she had lost weight from when she first got here which makes me a little nervous. She was 8.5 pounds when she arrived, and now she is 8.2 pounds! Well, that is all the updates I have for right now! Hopefully we will be able to get out of the hospital to enjoy the wonderful weather that is coming our way this week! Today I am going to lunch with Isabella and my mom and than hopefully do something with big daddy for a few hours tonight to get out of the hospital for a little bit and spend some time with the other people in my family!!

Sitting here in the Hospital

So today has not been the best day! Starting on Wednesday, both Brooklynn and Isabella starting getting coughs and congestion. I took Brooklynn in on Wednesday night since she is so little to the doctors - said that she had double ear infection, lungs sounded great, and she does have reflux. Thursday I took Isabella into the doctor - she had a bad cough, fever of 100F, runny nose - they told me she had bronchitis and started her on antibiotics. He listened to Brooklynn since she was there and her cough was getting worse and more congestion - he agreed and told me she MIGHT have RSV but her saturations were great - 98-100%, so he sent us home with antibiotics. Isabella threw up due to coughing, and she did the same thing Friday.

This morning, the more I looked at Brooklynn, the more uncomfortable I felt. By 11am, I decided she did not look that great - she was not eating that great (would wear out after 10 minutes of feeding, would need 10 minutes rest, than would eat for maybe 10 more minutes), she was VERY congested (I could not get anything out with a bulb syringe), and her cough sounded worse. She was also starting to retract - you could now see her ribs the way she was breathing. I decided to take her to urgent care. My mom went with me so Sam could stay with our still sick child Isabella for the time being (she thankfully is feeling much better - just has a cough but no fever).

Went to Children's Mercy Northland Urgent Care - they took her back to triage and hooked her up to a sat probe to test her oxygen and she was 85-93% - not where we like to see her. So I was placed back in a room where they continued to monitor her. She ended up being placed on a nasal cannula, which she would than keep her saturations to 98-100%. They did a rapid RSV which came back positive. They also weighed her - she is 3 weeks old today and is just at her birth weight - I dont' know if she gained more and dropped down due to not eating so well or what. That, along with her respiratory issues, called for admission to the hospital. So now I sit in the family waiting room taking a quick break from my poor baby girl who is inpatient at Children's Mercy South (I wish it was downtown so I could at least feel comfortable in the area). She has been on and off oxygen since being admitted - but she drops her saturations to 80's when she feeds so they are lleaving her on for now. She had to be transported by ambulance which was a weird experience. They are having to deep suction her which she absolutely HATES!! They said she has to be here until she is off oxygen and not being deep suctioned for at least 12-24 hours - so hopefully we will be able to go home by Monday.

I am so torn being here and wanting to be home with my other sick kiddo. And it is not a short drive home - it takes 45 minutes to drive one way!! I am hanging out at the hospital so that I can breastfeed Brooklynn around the clock since she does not take a bottle and I don't want her to if I can avoid it. Izzy is hanging out with grandparents this weekend - hopefully she just thinks it is another sleep over and not any big deal! I miss my oldest little girl, but I am worried about my youngest little girl!! Just giving people a little update! I will continue to update if things change!

Worried Mom Syndrome!

You would think working in a NICU for 2+ years would make things easier on me with a newborn...and having a one child who made it to 2 years old without many bumps or bruises along the way would give me the confidence I need to know whether I should worry or not. Well, call me dumb but there are a lot of things that I am worrying about with this new baby of mine. Don't laugh at me please- just being honest.

First off- her breathing!! I know a newborn has crazy breathing patterns - they will be super slow to super fast especially when sleeping. But I feel like Brooklynn's is pretty bad. She breathes pretty heavy A LOT! And she squeeks A LOT! There are times when I notice nasal flaring, head bobbing, and retractions and I think should I call 911?? She doesn't turn blue so in my head I know she is fine and it is mostly when she is sleeping heavy but it makes my heart race!!

Secondly - she is silently refluxing. I know this is nothing serious - but I also know of babies in the NICU who reflux and have no treatment and are on monitors and something bad happens!! Should I just brush it off and say she will get over it and be fine or should I be more concerned than I am?? She will be fine for about 5 minutes after feeding, but than she will start gagging and swallowing - and sometimes it takes her a minute to start really breathing normally again. Once again- no blue lips or anything and she recovers on her own - but what happens if she doesn't? Some times are worse than others. There is no spitting up involved which is so strange to me! Doctor said I could put her on prilosec if I want to but I also don't want her on medications when she doesn't need to be! I feel like she lives in her bouncer because that is the one place I notice she doesn't do it as much. She also gags on her pacifier when I place it in which freaks me out! I don't remember this stuff with Izzy.

So that is my freak out moment of the week! I know everything will be okay and my freak outs are just a part of being a new mom again - but boy does having a newborn raise my heart rate and worrying to a whole other level!!

Pictures - FINALLY!!

Before I start posting pictures from Brooklynn's arrival - here is a picture of my oldest baby on her 2nd birthday - we took her to Crown Center to see the Fairy Tale exhibit - she loved it!

As mentioned in the previous post I had to have a c-section - here is Sam in his garb.

I don't look so lovely but after 20 hours of labor and 2 1/2 hours of pushing - here I am after the c-section and hearing my baby cry for the first time!

Here is Brooklynn Maxine weighing in at 8 pounds 6 ounces 22 inches long, born at 1:28 pm.

Our first meeting wasn't until 6:30pm that night! Here is my beautiful little girl!

Because of the hospital restrictions, children under 14 weren't allowed to visit the inpatients at the hospital, so after 2 days I finally was able to go downstairs and eat some lunch with Izzy! It was the highlight of my day! That and being able to breastfeed Brooklynn for the first time!!

After one of my first attempts at breastfeeding - the dots near her eyes were to hold the phototherapy glasses.

After 3 days in the NICU she was finally able to come out and be with me in the room - this is the first time she was able to be dressed!

She has her daddy's feet :) They are so long and her toes are long and thin.

Her first night out of the NICU and in my room!

Family were finally able to hold her for the first time that night!

My mom:

Our first family photo minus the other most important girl in my life Izzy.

Sam's Mom:Sam's Parents : sorry for the sideways photo

My parents:My sisters - Stephanie couldn't hold her because she had the flu two days prior (she was not happy!)Me and Brooklynn cuddling - I knew we were going to be going home this day!Getting her hearing screen done.Our going home picture! We can't wait for the Isabella's meeting of her little sister!Brooklynn's first bath at our house!
Izzy likes to walk around with pacifiers in her mouth now- we are doing a lot of cleaning of them!

She LOVES holding her little sister! I love watching the two of them together!

She is discovering all of Brooklynn's parts - here she is finding out that her hands work just like Izzy's!I will continue to post more pictures as the days go on!! Hope you enjoyed the visual update!