Back on track

OK, back to the story...

So Kenley had her picc line done on Monday March 7th and that was a very traumatizing day for us. Every day after that I would be on pins and needles whenever I would walk into her room because I was never sure as to what I would be walking into. I feel like through this whole process I aged about 10 years. It was a tough ordeal to go through, obviously.

So here began my daily routine of getting up in the morning, getting ready, going to the hospital and spending the morning and afternoon with Kenley. Then I would drive home to meet Jim and we would go back to the hospital for the evening. Depending on how the day was for Kenley we would either leave right before shift change, at 6:45 and go home to get some house work done for the day or we would stay through shift change and not leave until 7:45 or 8. It made for some very long days, especially for Jim but we did that for 2 months. Sometimes I would just stay at the hospital and Jim would come home from work, let the dogs out and then just meet me at the hospital. That only happened a few times. It was harder for us when we did it that way because that meant I was with her from about 11 in the morning until we left that evening and being in a room with no window for about 8 hours is rough on you.

They started finally giving Kenley milk (if I remember correctly) soon after her picc line. About a week after that they started giving her fortified milk which they give to all the babies. My milk did not have enough of what she needed being so small so they fortify it which helps her gain weight faster and helps strengthen her bones. Even before I had been discharged from the hospital we had a lady come talk to us about a study. Kenley qualified for the study based on I believe it was her weight at birth. For years now they have been using a certain type of fortifier and they have recently been studing a new kind. (You think I would remember this but for some reason I don't. Either the old fortifier was powder or the new fortifier was...something to that extent). Well anyways, it was up to jim and I if we wanted her to participate in the study. We wouldn't know which kind she was on, only the nurses that mixed her milk would know and no matter what we decided, she was going to get fortified milk so it really didn't matter what we decided. They would come in each week and measure her length and head and chart her growth. Jim and I decided to do the study. Wouldn't hurt so why not. The lady that talked with us about this also gave me a hospital grade pump to take home and use. I didn't realize this at the time but a preemies suck is different then a full term babies suck so I needed a pump that was ultra strong. Not the pumps they sell in the stores though I did end up getting one of those anyways because I would need it after I brought her home. So I had a pump at home, one in Kenleys room and besides spending time with Kenley, I feel like my life revolved around pumping. Every three hours. I was neurotic about it. I got freaked out because I had so many people say "make sure you pump EVERY three hours! If you don't your milk will dry up". Of course this freaked me out so my first night home I was getting ready to set my alarm to get up in the middle of the night to pump until Jim talked some sense into me. I needed rest. My milk was not going to dry up if I went 6 hours without pumping. So I would pump right before I went to bed and get up when Jim would to pump in the morning. And I guess some moms of preemies have trouble producing milk, with all the stree and what not I see why, but not me, I was like a cow when it came to giving milk. I had even stocked up so much milk at the hospital that they ended up sending some back home with me because I was overflowing in my spot in the fridge.

So after the started fortifing her milk, her doc at the time decided to up her calories. We were warned that some babies don't take well to the higher calorie so if she showed any sign of not taking it well, they would take her back down. Well soon after starting, her belly suddenly got big and up until they took out her feeding tube, they were always measuring and re-measuring her belly. I believe she just has a big belly! But anyways, there is a life threating thing that can happen in preemies bellies and they keep out an eye for a bloated belly because that can be an indication. So as soon as that happened they stopped her feedings and took a couple days of xrays. In the end, her belly settled back down and there was nothing wrong, thank the Lord. That could have gone in a completly different direction. So she went about 3 days without getting milk, but she was still getting nutrients through her IV. The crappy thing about stopping her feedings was that she now had to start all the way over again. Back from square one. 2 mls of milk. About half a tea spoon. Not much right. They have to start small and work up. You can't be giving a baby that small tons of milk right of the bat. She is still supposed to be growing and forming in me, her intestines are still developing. Bless her heart. I go back to those days when she was a little helpless thing and my heart breaks for her.

So we had passed another hurddle. Now every day it was just making sure we kept an eye on her belly and as long as she was gaining weight, we were headed in the right direction.

She had an echo of her heart done a couple weeks after being born because they heard a murmur but thankfully whatever hole was there has now closed up. She had an ultrasound done on her head right after being born to see if there were any bleeds and again, thank the Lord, there were not. And the biggest thing I was worried about, a blood transfusion that I just knew was going to have to happen, never did. For her being born so early and so small she made it out of the hospital without having ANY of the issues Dr. Javier had talked to us about. Her nurses would always talk about how fiesty she was. She did NOT like to be fussed with the first few weeks and she would let you know if you messed with her and it ticked her off. I knew I had a strong willed girl on my hands and though this was great to get her through her hospital stay, it made me think and worry about how I am going to deal with this when she gets older. I can already tell she is going to have a temper. When she is mad she let's you know loud and clear.

I guess this is really all to say about her journey...no its not. (Got more to talk about) The rest of her time there she just pretty much occupied a room. She focused on eating and getting bigger. We still did kangaroo and when she got a bit bigger we started holding her in a cradle position. Her picc line came out after 2 and half weeks and she had her nasal canula for 12 days. She did have her feeding tube for awhile. For some reason she had a really hard time getting the suck, swallow, breath technique down. And now that I think about it, that was our last issue with her there. So there is more to talk about. Learning how to eat from a bottle for her was tough stuff. My next post will be about that and her final weeks in the NICU.