Making Progress

Hello world! Or maybe I'm just stretching.

Where is my bottle?

Daphne's doctor thinks she may get to come home on Monday! She passed her hearing test today. There has not been another sleep apnea episode. And Daphne is getting much better at eating. Two days ago it was a struggle to get her to stay awake for 20 - 25 mL of formula and of course there is the pacing issue. Daphne is getting better at pacing and is sucking down 45 - 50 mL of formula each feeding. She has also started to wake up on her own when hungry. In the NICU they typically wake the babies up every 3 hours to feed them. But now that Daphne is waking on her own for food they have changed her to a feed on demand schedule, which is more consistent with a normal newborn.

We told Tyler that Daphne is probably coming home in a few days and asked him if he is excited to meet her. He said that he is. Tyler also said, "I will hold Daphne on the couch and watch football." Spoken like a true male!

I'm Going Home!

Michael is on his way to pick me up from the hospital right now. Yay! We're all excited I'm coming home, particularly Tyler. Poor Tyler is probably so confused since I've technically been in the hospital 3 times over the last 2 weeks. Apparently he slept with Daddy on my side of the bed last night and has told me I'm not getting my spot back! I got another good night sleep last night and am feeling really good.

Daphne is going on more than one day without any sleep apnea. She is getting a little better at not eating so fast and I am getting better at feeding her and helping her with her pacing. Daphne is still just getting bottles because my milk hasn't come in yet (other than a few drops of colustrum here and there), which is typical when you deliver pre-term. Michael and I are enjoying all the cuddle time we can get with Daphne in the NICU. She is just so precious!

Daphne Update

Daphne is still doing well, but will probably need to spend 3 to 5 more days in the NICU. Although she ate really well her first day, she has been having trouble with her feedings since then. She tends to drink too fast and forgets to come up for air. My dad said, "She takes after her PawPaw!" (For those of you who don't know my dad, he is notorious for eating way too fast.) Then today Daphne had a sleep apnea episode and so they need to keep observing her to make sure this doesn't happen. Back when Tyler was a NICU baby he had sleep apnea too.

I am doing pretty well today, but the last 2 days were a little rough. It didn't help that I gave birth in the middle of the night and came off the magnesium sulfate in the middle of the night. That magnesium sulfate is not pleasant. They took me off the IV for that 24 hours after delivering. I was pretty flush and itchy while I was on it and then got the shivers when I came off. They took my catheter out at the same time and my bladder seemed to be working fine. However, after sleeping about an hour I woke up in excruciating pain. I felt like I was going to explode and the nurses ended up needing to put another catheter in because my bladder was too tired to work. After they drained 800 mL (27 oz!) of urine out of my bladder I felt much better. My blood pressure also went back up after the magnesium sulfate wore off and so now I am on medication for that but they think it should return back to normal in the next week or two. Last night after taking an Ambien I got 7 straight hours of sleep and have been feeling great today and spending lots of time in the NICU cuddling with Daphne. My nurse is bringing me an Ambien now and then I am off to dreamland.

Daphne Belia Hurtado

Meet our newest family member:

• Daphne Belia Hurtado
• (Belia was Michael's grandmother's name)
• Arrived at 12:34 am Tuesday, December 27
• 5 lb, 11 oz
• 17" long
• Gestational age: 34 weeks + 6 days

Don't let all the cords scare you! Everything
attached to Daphne is for monitoring only.

Kangaroo care at approximately 3:30 am

Yesterday evening my blood pressure increased and the doctors decided it was time to deliver for the safety of me and Daphne. The only cure for preeclampsia is to deliver. Since my cervix was nowhere close to being dilated we opted for a c-section since inducing would not have been very effective.

The c-section went well. Michael watched over the curtain as they extracted Daphne from my belly. After they checked her vital signs they let her lay on my chest for about 5 minutes. It was absolutely divine snuggling and checking out my precious newborn! Daphne cried when they took her off my chest and took her to the NICU.

Since Daphne was born prior to 35 weeks, she automatically had to go to the NICU for monitoring. The good news is that she is doing great! Her birth weight was high for her gestational age, she is breathing on her own, and she is accepting bottle feedings plus the milk I am pumping. The doctors are going to assess her tomorrow and may release her from the NICU and let her hang out with me in my post-partum room.

As for me, I am doing pretty well. My blood pressure has returned to my normal, which is at the lower end of the normal range. Because of the preeclampsia I am on a magnesium sulfate IV that I need to take until 24 hours after delivery. The magnesium makes me flush and I have vomited several times today. Since the magnesium can also cause dizziness I am only allowed to visit Daphne in the NICU for 10 minutes every 4 hours or so. Needless to say, I am looking forward to coming off the magnesium and spending much more time with Daphne!

Michael and I feel truly blessed with the safe arrival of our daughter! Big brother Tyler hasn't gotten to meet her yet and since he has a cold won't be allowed into the NICU. Hopefully he will get to meet Daphne in another day or two.

I should be released from the hospital on Friday and hopefully Daphne too!

Christmas Eve

Michael just pulled this off his phone. This is me watching cartoons with my little buddy on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Highlights

Christmas

Click on photo above for album of our Christmas highlights.

Mom and Dad

Lately Tyler has been using the terms Mom and Dad more than Mommy and Daddy. It makes him sound older, which makes me sad that he is growing up so fast!

Quotable

This morning while Michael was changing Tyler's diaper, Tyler blurted out, "Mommy makes you crazy!" Michael would like everyone to know that this was unsolicited.

At breakfast this morning Tyler said, "I'm not done yet. One more milk-stache..."

34 Weeks + 4 Days: Home on Christmas

The doctors released me from the hospital this morning. My blood pressure mellowed out yesterday and this morning and I even had 1 or 2 readings that were "normal". The lab results of my 24-hour urine test came back yesterday afternoon and showed that the protein in my urine had reduced enough that I didn't even meet the preeclampsia threshold anymore. So now the doctors think I just have pregnancy hypertension, which is still a concern since by blood pressure has been all over the board. My blood pressure has been slightly up since I got home but still not high enough to be hospitalized. Michael thinks it stresses me out to be home but not be allowed to get up. I have to admit that is hard since I am restless by nature. But I am relaxing and trying not to think about it!

Michael and Tyler brought in dinner last night for a family Christmas Eve dinner in my hospital room. And this morning I watched Tyler open his Christmas gifts via Skype, which was nice. Michael had planned to bring the stockings into the hospital, but we got to go through them together at home this afternoon. It's nice to be home with my boys!

Jingle Bells- Adapted

Written by PawPaw for Tyler:

Main Verse:
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the Way,
Oh what fun it is to ride
With Tyler in the Sleigh - Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,
To St. Vincent Providence,
It would be a joy for another boy,
But Ziggy says no more gents!

Refrain:
Dashing down the street,
In Portland's rain and sleet
O'r the hills we go,
So Mama we can greet.

For Christmas in Room 310
Hope we don't do this again
And laughing all the way,
But overnight we can't stay.

Oh ....

34 Weeks + 3 Days

My blood pressure is still high but holding stable below the threshold to take action. I didn't sleep very well last night with the blood pressure cuff going off every hour and the continuous baby heart rate monitoring. Now that I'm stable they are only going to take my vitals every 4 hours and monitor Ziggy's heart rate 3 times a day. The doctor on-call this weekend thinks they will probably need to deliver the baby within the next few days. They are hoping my blood pressure stays stable until 35 weeks (Wednesday). Babies born before 35 weeks automatically go to the NICU for monitoring. If I make it to 35 weeks there is a good chance Ziggy can skip the NICU and come home with us.

Crazy fact: I have lost 10 pounds of swelling in the past week since I have been on bed rest!!!!

Mr. Particular

Tyler is pretty particular about how things get done and what things he gets to do on his own (I can't imagine where he gets this from!). Last night after Michael and Tyler hugged and kissed me goodnight at the hospital, Tyler made Michael come back into my room to give me a "better hug". Since they were back I asked Tyler to give me a fist bump. So of course Tyler wanted Daddy to give me a fist bump too. While these particular requests were cute, we often feel like we live with a little dictator!

34 Weeks + 2 Days: Back in the Hospital

My blood pressure got too high and so the doctors wanted me back in the hospital for continuous monitoring. So now I am back on hospital bed rest. Thankfully my blood pressure still hasn't exceeded the threshold for needing medication or needing to deliver although they had me hold off on food and water all afternoon/early evening to make sure. They are now taking my blood pressure hourly and have Ziggy on continuous monitoring. The good news is that doctors said that Ziggy is doing great.

Nurse Tyler

This afternoon when Michael took my blood pressure Tyler wanted to get his headphones so he could listen to Ziggy's heart beat.

34 Weeks + 1 Day

Bed rest is going well at home. When Michael brought Tyler home from daycare on Tuesday, Tyler practically bounced off the walls with excitement when he saw me on the couch. My little buddy likes to sit next to me on the couch and watch TV or play on the iPad or have me read to him. Tyler also likes to pile stuffed animals and blankets on me on the couch. I love that he likes to share. Tyler has also been wanting to hear about how he was once a baby in my belly. It's hard to believe he used to fit in there!

My blood pressure is still high, but has stayed under the threshold for needing medication. I go back in to see the doctor tomorrow and then again on Tuesday, which is when they will re-test my preeclampsia numbers. Luckily Michael already had a bunch of time off for the holidays. Next week he only works 3 days and so he is going to work from home while Tyler is in daycare. Nurse Michael is taking great care of me and Tyler!

Saturday's Ultrasound

Here are some of Ziggy's ultrasound photos from Saturday. They have the high-tech ultrasound machines at the hospital so they printed out this adorable 3D photo of Ziggy.

Zoo Lights

Tyler and Michael headed out to Zoo Lights with friends earlier this week. Tyler loved all the lights.

John "Rein"deere

Tyler has a John Deere shirt that he really likes. With all the talk of Rudolph and reindeer this month Tyler has been calling it his John "Rein"deere shirt.

Sleeping on the Floor

Sleeping near the night light

It has been a month since Tyler got his race car bed and the transition has gone pretty well. However, in the beginning Tyler kept getting out of bed to turn on his bedside lamp and the overhead light despite the fact we had given him a handheld glow worm/alien-like blob of a night light to sleep with in bed. Nevermind the fact that the dark never seemed to bother him when he slept in the crib. We did let him pick out another night light that is always on and so Tyler picked out the Lightning McQueen light pictured above. Early last week when I went to get Tyler up for daycare I found him sleeping on the floor next to his night light. I do have it on good authority that Santa is bringing a lava lamp for next to Tyler's bed to help with the light issue.

Resting at Home

I am on bed rest at home now. Yay! That means I'll get to see lots of my boys and since it's the holidays Michael already has a bunch of days off. The doctors feel like the preeclampsia is pretty stable and will have me come into the office twice a week for check-ups and to monitor Ziggy's heart beat. At home I have to check my blood pressure several times a day and weigh myself each morning to make sure I don't have any sudden fluid retention. Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes we have been receiving!

Holding Steady

Good news: the baby is still doing great and my preeclampsia numbers are holding steady at mild. There was a spike in my uric acid numbers, which isn't too concerning but is another sign of the preeclampsia. The doctors are on the fence about whether I should stay in the hospital on bedrest or continue bedrest at home because of my pregnancy history. They want Michael and I to weigh the pros and cons over the next 24 hours and make a decision tomorrow. The more I think about it the harder it is to decide. While I miss being at home with my boys, it's much easier for the doctors and nurses to monitor me at the hospital. The doctors are hoping I can hold out giving birth until 37 weeks, which would be full term and is 3 weeks from Wednesday (January 11).

Bed Rest

As of Friday I am now officially on bed rest for the rest of my pregnancy. I've been going in to my doctor's office once a week since mid-November to monitor my blood pressure since it has been borderline high/normal. It was normal when I went in on Monday. However, this week they also decided to start doing NST (non-stress testing) once a week to see how the baby's heartbeat is doing over a 45-minute period and to see if I'm having any contractions. When I went in Friday for the NST my blood pressure had shot up pretty high and there was protein in my urine. Plus, my hands and feet have been pretty swollen for at least a few weeks. These are all typical symptoms of preeclampsia. So Friday evening they sent me to the hospital.

On Saturday the doctors confirmed that I have mild preeclampsia. Typically with mild preeclampsia they would send me home to do bed rest at home. However, they wanted to keep monitoring my blood pressure because of the large change because for most of my pregnancy my blood pressure was on the low end of normal. So this morning the doctors started running a new 24-hour preeclampsia test. If the numbers are consistent with the first test they will let me go home tomorrow and continue bed rest at home. If the numbers are on the rise they are going to keep me in the hospital for more monitoring. As long as the preeclampsia numbers stay stable I can keep carrying the baby as close to term as possible. If the preeclampsia gets worse then I will have to deliver early for the safety of me and the baby.

The good news: Ziggy is looking great! They did an ultrasound yesterday and she is approximately 5 lb 7 oz in size. The blood flow to the placenta is normal and her heartbeat looks great on all the NSTs. They did a continuous NST the first 18 hours I was in the hospital and are now just doing three one-hour sessions a day because she looks so good. They adjusted my due date from February 3 to 1, which means I am now at 33 weeks and 4 days. That means I have already carried Ziggy a week and a half longer than Tyler and he turned out just fine. If I carry Ziggy at least another week and a half we may bypass the NICU altogether.

I miss my boys but they are treating me well at the hospital and I am feeling pretty good. Tyler likes that he gets a sticker when he comes to visit and that I have cable TV in my room, which means there are always cartoons (this is not the case at home). Last night when Michael and Tyler were about to head home from the hospital, Tyler said a few times, "Come with us Mommy!" That part is hard! I've been telling Tyler about how he was born here and that I stayed here on bed rest for 3 weeks before he was born. Apparently pregnancy just not agree with me!

Heartbeat

Tyler has been to all my pre-natal doctor visits with me and likes it when we get to listen to Ziggy's heartbeat. I had a pre-natal visit Monday morning and then later that afternoon Tyler put on his headphones, pretended to plug them into my belly, smiled, and said, "I'm listening to Ziggy's heartbeat."

Christmas in Dairyville

The Alpenrose Dairy has re-instated Christmas in Dairyville this year. They have a cute little village with store fronts and Storybook Lane, which is a walk through snow-covered trees with various animals.

Tyler and Calvin- do we really have to pose?

Petting a donkey

We finally rounded up the circus animals!

Checking out the model trains

Linus Moment

Tyler has been attached to his blankets for a while now. He mostly sleeps with them and plays with them in the house. Sometimes he will take a blanket in the car and on rare occasions he has taken one with him to daycare. We were lucky for a long time because of all Tyler's many blankets there were 3 that he liked and we could rotate a clean one in every few days. Then a few months ago Tyler decided he needs to sleep with 2 blankets. And now he is fond of 2 blankets in particular. Yesterday morning while Tyler was playing I put his 2 favorite blankets in the washing machine with the rest of Tyler's laundry. About half an hour later Tyler was looking for his blankets and he had a total meltdown when I told him the blankets were in the wash. He threw himself on the floor and exploded into tears. Later after Tyler calmed down he excitedly helped me put all the laundry in the dryer so that his blankets could get dry. Of course he seemed to forget about this by bedtime because I had already put 2 different blankets in his bed to see if he would use them and sure enough he did.

Baby/Toddler Clothes

Right now I have tons of piles of baby/toddler clothes in the front room. Tyler was very curious and wanted to know what I have been doing. I told him that I have been sorting through all the clothes he has outgrown, keeping all the unisex items for Ziggy, and getting ready to pass the boyish stuff on to other friends with baby boys. Tyler pointed to the pajamas he was wearing and told me that we need to save his firefighter/dog pajamas for Ziggy. What a sweetheart!

Marcus' 3rd Birthday Party

Marcus the Fire Chief putting out the flames

Craft time- all the kids decorated treasure chests.

Tyler was all about the markers and the foam stickers.
He did not want to dip his fingers in the glue so his
chest didn't have any feathers, glitter, etc.

The party was at the Children's Museum and so we
got to explore the museum after all the festivities.

Making French Toast

Tyler likes to stir the ingredients and
he also likes tossing the bread into
the egg mixture.

Michael also made scrambled eggs. When I asked Tyler if he wanted any scrambled eggs he said, "No. My French toast already has eggs in it."

Leaf Fun

We came across this nicely arranged row of leaves at the park and naturally Tyler and Viola couldn't resist trampling through the leaves. Lots of giggling ensued!

Mr. Cool