Holdin' my baby...

Well, daddy just got to pick up Sarah for the first time. It was both exciting and terrifying at the same time. She's so tiny and precious that I don't feel qualified to hold her. I'm sure that's true for most dads though, right?

I didn't really get to hold her... I just got to lift her up off the bed for a second while they prepped the bed to weigh her. She lost a little but still is a hefty 420 grams.

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Peekaboo!

Sarah's first game of Peekaboo! She doesn't have the whole thing down yet, as she forgot to open her eyes at the end and she can't really say "boo" with the breathing tube in. But you get the picture...

A Big Day for Sarah

As we all know by now Sarah Chaya reached the 1lb mark today! Way to go Sarah. Momma is so proud of you, keep up the good work and Grow Grow Grow! Grandma Rees gave her 2 new outfits to celebrate. Hopefully she will be able to wear them in a few weeks. I also need to report Sarah also got her first item of mail today-a thank you note from her first cousin, Lily:) Lily, Sarah can't wait to meet you, Uncle Mike and Auntie Chavi.

Day 15, Lunch Report

No poop today. :(

Everything else is good. She's eating and hopefully will hit half a kilo in the next few days. Here she is enjoying some milk.

Morning report - 2w1d old - over a pound!

Sarah had another good night. She was weighed early this morning; she is now 460 grams (a pound is 454 grams, I think). We are so excited that she reached the 1 lb. mark!

I'm still trying to figure out how to get the video to post, it keeps stalling and won't upload. When I figure it out, I'll post the videos again.

My First Video!

Someone finally remembered to bring the good camera to the hospital. Sarah accomodated by stepping her cuteness factor up exponentially. See:

Google

Our little blog here has some clout, apparently. Do a google search for Sarah Chaya, and we're the fourth link out of 305,000. Do a search for "Sarah Chaya", and we are #2 out of 315 in the whole wide world wide web.

Morning report

We had quite a scare last night. Erika called at about 21:00 to check up on Sarah. Sarah's nurse told us that Sarah's blood sugar was elevated again, up to about 180. Last Friday, the same thing happened, and Sarah needed three insulin injections before her blood sugar came under control.

However, just before we fell asleep, I asked Erika to check in with the nurse again. Thankfully, Sarah's blood sugar had dropped down to 150, which is still high but we'd rather see it go down instead of up.

This morning, I checked in with Nurse Kathy. Sarah had an okay night, as her blood sugar didn't go down any lower, but it didn't go up at all either. And they haven't given her any insulin yet. Instead, they just lowered her IV nutrition, which seems to have stabilized her blood sugar. Hopefully with the lowered IV nutrition, Sarah's body will sort itself out.

Dr. Banks came in for a minute this morning before rounds, and looked at Sarah's tummy, which is doing quite well, thank you very much! Sarah will continue on her 1 CC per three hour diet of breastmilk. Since Erika is a Jewish mother now, this will make her very happy. "Eat something!"

Sarah's x-ray showed that her breathing tube was a little out of place. The RT was able to adjust it without have to take it out and re-insert it. That's a relief!

They didn't weigh her again last night, so her official weight is still at 430 grams. Hopefully she's much bigger than that at the next weigh-in, whenever that is.

No pics this morning, sorry! I'll update again at lunch.

Lunch report

Same old, same old. Only three things to report:

1. Sarah is stable.
2. I love Sarah.
3. Sarah is now eating every three hours (instead of four).

This pic is Sarah's Giraffe Isolette. The little quilt on top was knitted for Sarah by a volunteer that belongs to a group that, coincidentally, knits quilts for NICU residents.

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Good Morning! report

Sarah, once again, had an uneventful night. There is really nothing more we could hope for. O2 sats, blood gas, blood pressure, skin color, everything looks good.


Nurse Alice says that the respirator pressure may be reduced today, which takes us one step closure to the day when they can take her off the respirator and we can hold her! Once they have her on the oxygen mask, we can bundle her up and hold her. I certainly cannot wait!


She didn't get weighed last night, but hopefully tonight at the weigh-in she will tip the scale at, well, something.


Tomorrow Sarah turns two weeks old!


Here is a picture of the dog we'll be giving up when Sarah comes home, if he doesn't start to behave!!! If anyone is interested, let me know. I'm just kidding, of course. I just wanted an excuse to put up a picture of Butch.

Auntie's Visit

I am so excited to go see Baby Sarah tonight! I haven't seen her since she was just one day old, back on the 12th! I left work early on the 12th to see her one last time before leaving to New York for 9 days, but they were doing some important doctor stuff in the NICU and I was denied!

I can't wait to see how big she's gotten and how much she's improved, as well as her butt, which I hear is the cutest!

1 lb here I come...

Sarah is back up to 430 grams! Nurse Alice says she should be over 1 lb by this time Wednesday. Keep up the good weight gaining Sarah! Oh and Sarah wants to wish her Uncle Joe a very happy 18th Birthday. She can't wait to celebrate with you in the future.

Lunch report

Really, that is Sarah under there, I promise. She is having a great day. Dr. Banks resumed feeding today, and Sarah will be eating 1 CC every four hours. Nurse Alice has been with her all day and reports that everything is a-okay. Sarah is nice and toasty under all her blankets.

And finally, she had a pretty big poop today!

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Morning report

Sarah had a nice, boring night last night. Nothing new to report, and that’s great news. She is stable and doing well. I spoke with Nurse Alice, and she says they may resume feeding breast milk today. We certainly hope so!

Sarah's first gift!

Sarah got her first gift in the mail today. It was from the McCollum Family. The cutest little Preemie outfit with pink flowers. I can't wait to see her in it. Maybe in a few weeks. The McCollum's have been so wonderful and positive throughout all this. Most people are afraid to call/email us or if they do, it's to say they are so sad for us. WHY? It's the birth of a child! We should be happy and always think positively. Sarah is a strong survivor and she has proven her will to live is strong.

Mom report

Mom is going to the doctor today to see if she can get clearance to go up and down the stairs. Yikes! I gotta get home to pick up all the clothes, sheets, cat litter, trash, soda cans, etc., that have accumulated since Erika last was upstairs in September. Don't tell her, but its a mess up there!

Lunch report

She is doing very well today. Nurse Ha says that Sarah hasn't had any problems, and that everything looks so good. We are so lucky to have such a great group of people working with Sarah.

Anyway, Sarah is wide awake and looking around. I was trying to take a picture of her, but it was too dark. I had to ask the nurse to turn on the light, and Sarah immediately responded. She does NOT like the light yet. She needs it nice and dark to protect her little eyes. Anyway, here's the picture I snapped real quick while the lights were on.

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Repositioning

Sarah really likes being on her tummy. The nurse and RT reposition her from her back to her side to her tummy and repeat as needed. She seems most comfortable on her stomach. She is incredibly strong, and can push herself up a little with her legs. Her little tush sticks up when she does, and it is the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Here is Sarah posing with daddy's pen.

Sarah sees you!

More weight loss...

I just checked in with Sarah's nurse, and unfortunately she has lost another 10 grams, and is down to 400 grams (14.1 oz.). Also, she told me that the doctor doesn't want to resume feeding Sarah breastmilk today. She's going to remain on the IV feeding, though.

Weight Roller Coaster

The doctors say it is common for preemies to lose a little weight after birth, but our little Sarah didn't have much to lose. Her initial birthweight was 394 grams (13.9 ounces); at her second weighing at five days old, Sarah had dropped down to 360 grams (12.6 oz.). We were getting quite scared, because when you only weigh three quarters of a pound, you need every tenth of an ounce.

Sarah's third weigh-in was an extreme relief. About a week after her birth, she tipped the scales at nearly a pound, 430 grams to be exact. Needless to say, Erika and I were elated. Sarah had begun to take breast milk through her feeding tube, in addition to the IV diet of fat, protein, and glucose. She was doing so well that her feedings increased from one CC every four hours to one CC every three hours. Dr. Su said we could expect to see weight gain of about 10-15 grams per day.

Sarah's weigh-in the next day caused some alarm, as Erika and I thought it would be all weigh gain after the initial drop after birth. However, her weight may continue to go up and down as the doctors adjust her intake in response to her ever-changing conditions. She dropped from 430 grams down to 410 grams.

Due to an increase in Sarah's blood sugar on Friday night, the doctors stopped feeding her breastmilk over the weekend. We are told that they would resume feeding her today.