Details and Updates

You'll all have to excuse me for the next eight weeks or so while I carry on and on about our new baby and life in the NICU. I'm hoping to have some other interesting things to write about from time to time, but for now this is my life so this is what I will blog. Plus, I figure why start writing about interesting things now?

Our "flowerbud" (anyone have any other ideas for a pseudonym?) was born on Wednesday, February 4, which incidentally was the little flower's due date back in 2007 (she of course came 10 weeks earlier). Flowerbud weighed 2 pounds, 13 ounces and was 15 3/4 inches long, great stats for a 27 6/7 weeker.

I felt like I was leaking fluid on Sunday so we went to OB triage. They tested twice for amniotic fluid and both times the test was negative so we were sent home. I continued for the next few days with the same symptoms and felt something wasn't right but I was due to see the perinatologist on Thursday so my thought was to have her check for low fluid in the office then. Wednesday morning I woke up with increasingly painful contractions and as soon as our nanny arrived I had her take me to the hospital. Just in case.

Chris was of course working at a distant site and at first didn't think he would be able to meet me at the hospital. Thankfully, he was able to work something out and made it to the delivery. We're bummed that AGAIN we weren't fully prepared and neglected to bring a camera, so we have no pictures from either of our girls' birth.

I mentioned to the NICU nurse this morning that I was anxious to see Flowerbud's face again. When I went back this afternoon she had taken this picture for me:

Isn't she lovely (sing it like Stevie Wonder)? She looks a lot like her big sister did, but even smaller:

We got to see her today with her CPAP off. She is slowly being weaned to a nasal cannula. She is tolerating my milk via NG tube, something the little flower had trouble with for quite some time. Her hematocrit has stabilized so for now no more blood transfusions. Her bilirubin is slowly coming down. All in all she is doing very well. I was able to change her diaper and take her temperature. My hands were shaking, I could not be gentle enough:

I am home now and I just called the NICU to check on her before we went to bed. Apparently Flowerbud expressed some dissatisfaction with having her CPAP mask back on tonight after having had it off for several hours. The nurse had just checked her blood gases and everything looked good so she called the doctor and he said she could continue with the nasal cannula as long as she remains stable. I'm so happy for her, I hope she is resting quietly and hearing our voices in her dreams.