Day 20

Sister Sarah and Brother-in-law Bruce had their babies on Monday, October 26th (for those who don't know). They had twin girls and Sarah carried them almost to 40 weeks. She had a c-section on Monday. The girls are doing well. Here are the stats:

Avery Marguerite & Juliana Rose Halliday

Avery @ 5lbs 11oz (2570 grams) & 47cm

Juliana @ 5lbs 8oz (2504 grams) & 48cm

Avery is hanging out with Sarah and Bruce while Juliana is hanging in the NICU at Lion's Gate to get her blood sugar levels on the rise. They should all be heading home sometime this weekend.

Our wee Alice is getting intubated today (that's a good thing). We finally had a repeat nurse (Dolly, who is amazing) and she fought for getting Alice intubated as Dolly felt she was looking tired. To give some background, so far everyday we've gone to the hospital, Alice has had a different nurse on the day shift. There's been the odd time where the same nurse has stayed for two days, but that's only happened in 2 cases. The drag about a new nurse everyday is they don't get to know Alice (or any baby), so when a doctor asks what are they normally like, the nurse can't give an accurate answer.

So thanks to Tara Loutit (who worked in the NICU for years and years and is now working on her masters while at home with a 2 1/2 year old and a 4 month old - go Tara!) told us that we have to be our own advocate and look out for Alice. Well, it's taken almost 3 weeks for us to feel confident in doing this. Some of the nurses will be "primary care givers" for the babies if you ask them - which means they will get assigned to your baby on their shift. So I talked to Dolly today to see if she would be interested - and she said YES! And she's going to help find some other nurses who would also be interested in working with Alice as well.

So with Dolly pushing for the intubation and me agreeing to it, the doctor signed off on it. The intubation isn't always a good thing as it can lead to infection, possible lung problems and possible brain problems as well. But our wee Alice was getting so tired that she needs help breathing so she can get stronger. And since she was the one who pulled out her tubes a few days ago, she would have remained intubated had this not happened. So now she can work on her growing bigger and stronger and then the breathing.

Speaking of growing big and strong - she gained 51 grams last night - so her weight is now 1010 grams. She is now 1 kilo. For today that is. She may go down tonight because of the intubation, but she's growing and enjoying her food.

No cuddles today because she was so tired, but tomorrow we will have some good cuddles!

Day 18

Here's a photo from Day 15.

As of today Alice is doing well. Her weight goes up and down. It went down last night (but it went up the night before). She is still over her birth weight - so that's a good sign.

She's doing well with her breathing but I wouldn't be surprised if she has to be intubated again in the next few days - her lungs are "wet" and she seems to be getting a bit more tired. But we'll see. Everything else is holding steady.

We had cuddles today!

Day 14, 15 & 16

Day 14

Alice was doing just as well on Friday as she was on Thursday. Her weight levels had increased - getting closer to her birth weight. And her food is still continuing to increase 1cc every 12 hours.

She knows when I arrive now - which is so special - as she opens her eyes to my voice. It's very sweet! And it was great to have another cuddle as well.

Day 15

While Scott and Max went to Sportball, I was having cuddle time with Alice. Again, her food increased by another 1cc in the 12 hours. Her eyes opened when she heard my voice and her weight has increased to surpass her birth weight! She's on a good road right now. The beginning of the week was tough, but the middle and end of this week have now made up for Monday and Tuesday. She had her 10-14 day brain ultrasound and we are awaiting the results from it.

Day 16

Quick visit today with Max and Scott as we had to get to the pumpkin patch to get our Halloween pumpkins. Very important!

Sometime from when I left the hospital yesterday to when we arrived this morning Alice was extubated - meaning the tube going right to her lungs to help her breathe has been removed and she's back to have the assisted breathing over her nose (just like some of the first pictures where you see her wearing the hat and the tube to her her nose). I'll get more information from the doctor's tomorrow - but this again is a step forward. There is no guarantee that she will stay this way - she may require intubation again. We'll just see how long she lasts and whether she starts to get too tired again.

Results from her brain ultrasound were positive - nothing additional to what was reported after her initial brain scan - still the grade 2 bleed - but again, that's normal and we don't need to worry about it. I believe her next brain scan is at 6 weeks.

Alice's weight is now at 906 grams - which is over her birth weight (not by much) but she increases and decreases each day. The increases (so far) have outweighed the decreases.

We picked out a pumpkin for Max and for Alice.

Day 13

We had a great day today!

Results from cardiology say that her valve is open a wee bit and it will close on it's own so there is nothing that needs to be done to manually close it. YAY!

Results from her infection say it's staphylococcus and that's what they thought, so the antibiotics that Alice is on will zap the infection. YAY!

Her food intake is currently 6cc's (6ml) every 2 hours and this is now going to be increased 1cc every 12 hours rather than every 24 hours. She's peeing and pooping, which means she's digesting the food. Again YAY!

And we got to have a cuddle today as well - which was so nice! This little girl is a fighter. Today was a good day.

Day 12

Day 12

The transfusion sure gave our little girl some energy. She was not nearly as tired as the last couple of days - she was wiggling, squirming and stretching a fair bit today. It sure was nice to see her moving.

And it turns out she does have an infection of some sort. So they (it's so funny to write "they" because who are "they" - "they" are the doctors and nurses in the NICU) have given her some antibiotics to fight the infection. At the same time Alice is on the antibiotics another group of "they" take the infection and put it in different petri dishes and use different antibiotics to see which one fights the infection - and then "they" will change Alice's antibiotics (if she's on the wrong ones) to fight the infection within her.

At the same time all this was happening today, a resident cardiologist came to check out a murmur another doctor had heard in her heart. The murmur could possibly be a PDA (patent ductus arteriosus). In regular people terms here's the explanation - when a baby is in-utero there is a valve in the heart that is open and it prevents the blood from entering the lungs. When a full term baby is born, the valve knows it's time to close. When a premature baby is born, the valve doesn't always close. It has an argument with itself on whether it should close or not. An ECG was done today to check on whether Alice's valve had closed or not. If it hasn't closed, there are different solutions (which we don't know yet) on how to get the valve to close. An open valve affects the breathing. We'll find out tomorrow what the next step is, or if there even is a need for a next step regarding her valve.

As she was so busy today being poked by the cardiologist and the tech for the ECG we didn't have any cuddles. But tomorrow we will for sure! All of what is being posted is "normal" for a premie - when we are told to worry, we'll let you all know it's time to worry as well.

DAY 10 & 11

The last couple of days have been tough on our little miss Alice. She's having problems breathing so an x-ray was done and she has what is called 'wet lungs' - meaning that she needs help to breath. She is still intubated and they are having to figure out her CO2 levels as they are quite high - in the high 60's or low 70's and they should be between 40 and 60. So the RT (Respiratory Therapist) plays with the levels of stuff (I don't know what) to try and get her CO2 levels lower.

There were a couple times yesterday morning where she just stopped breathing so they had to 'bag her' (just like you see on the hospital shows where they put the bag over the mouth and manually pump air to fill the lungs). All of this stuff is fairly normal for premies, so don't worry.

Her weight continues to go up and down. She was down to 794 grams yesterday but gained 6 grams overnight. So is now at 800 grams.

Today she seemed much more sleepy than she has on previous days - even more so than yesterday. So it's time to figure out what is wrong. Some tests are being done tonight to see if she has an infection of some kind (doctor phoned to say she did very well when they took all what they needed from her for the tests). They are also going to give her a blood transfusion as she is showing signs of anemia in her blood count. A blood transfusion usually happens in the first week and the fact Alice has made it to Day 11 without one is great. This is also very common for premies. Some premies will only have one transfusion and some will require more. If you're wondering the stats on a blood transfusion - I believe 1 in a million chance of HIV and 1 in 250,000 of Hep C. They have to tell us these statistics but from what the doctor's have said, they've never seen either of these actually occur.

All of these things that are happening are normal for premies and when the doctor's are worried, then we will worry - and they are not worrying. So we are good. There are steps forward and then steps backwards. This is a tough backwards because it's the first backwards step we've taken. But there will be more!

Day 8 and 9

DAY 8 - And we had our first (of many) cuddles.  Skin on skin contact is very important and so they hospital recommends that when the babies are brought out of their "homes", the sit with you for at least an hour.  So above is the first picture of mommy and baby.  It was nerve racking, because she's so tiny, but it will get better and I'll feel more comfortable each day.

Eyes are not yet open.  The doctor says there is not set time as to when they will open.  All of a sudden they are.  Alice no longer has the wires going into her tummy.  Her PICK (or IV tube) is in her right hand.  As you can see, she is still intubated (that's the tube you see going into her mouth).  They'll keep her on this for a while (don't know how like "awhile" is).  She is back to getting only 1cc of food every 4 hours.
You can see how small her hand is in relation to Scott's finger.  Very, very tiny.  We did learn today that there's a chance she'll need at least one blood transfusion.  Reason for this is she only has about 73cc's of blood in her little body.  And with a premie, the bone marrow does not yet know it's supposed to replenish the blood when it leaves the body.  The hospital needs to withdraw blood from her for testing - at most they'll probably take 3cc's of blood from her.  If she was a lot sicker, then more blood tests would have to be done, which would mean the possibility of more than one transfusion.  The blood for the transfusions are from donated blood (that has been tested up the ying yang) so the chance of her getting HIV or Hep C is very, very, very low.

DAY 9 - Big Brother Max meets his sister Alice (no photos)

Max met Alice this morning and was very happy to see her.  He realizes that she is very, very, very small and must stay with the doctors so she can grow big before coming home.  We didn't know how he'd react, but he was fine.  Kids don't see what we see (the tubes and wires and all the machines) and so he had no concerns at all.

I was able to have another cuddle (much more relaxed this time) while Scott and Max wandered the hospital and had hot chocolate's at Starbucks.

Big thing - her eyes are open (very weird that we had just asked about it yesterday).  They are also going to increase her food take to 2cc's every 2 hours and increase the amount by 1cc every 24 hours and see how that goes.  It's good news for now, as she is digesting the breast milk.  Alice also gained 6 grams overnight, so her weight is now around 809 grams.  The doctor has ordered an x-ray to see how her lungs are doing as her oxygen and CO2 levels are a bit high - but nothing to be worried about.

One Week Old

Alice is now one week old.  Sarah (sister Sarah for those that don't know her) came with me to visit Alice today.  Sarah is trying to get in her Alice time before her scheduled c-section (with twins) that occurs on Monday, October 26th.  We had a nice visit today.

Alice is no longer on any antibiotics (but could go back on them should she require them). She's much more relaxed now that she is intubated.  She has lost weight (down to 812 grams from 894).  This is normal as all babies (full term and premie) lose weight before gaining.  It will take Alice more time to gain the weight back than a full term baby would.

The tube in her nose goes directly to her stomach.  This tube is used for feeding her (basically putting the breast milk directly into her stomach) and it is also used to clear the junk from her tummy as well.

The white patch on her cheek is the bandage and tape that holds the intubater in her mouth.  This is hooked up to a machine that directly pumps the air right into her lungs.  The other "patches" you see on her tummy are to track her respiration and heart beats.

There are wires/tubes that go directly into her belly button right now (but will be removed in the next day or two).  These were hooked up to her antibiotics and are still hooked up to a saline (I think), but they get removed around a week's time because the belly button starts to grow in.  A wire/tube will then get put into one of her hands or feet, but more likely directly into her head (as there's less movement in the head than the hands or feet).

 

The whiteboard (above) is something that all the babies in the NICU have by there bedside.  It's a nice little touch so everyone knows her name and you can see the other babies name and family info as well.

  

6 days old

Had a nice visit yesterday.  Alice is hanging in there.  She's having problems breathing so her oxygen levels have been increased as well as her caffeine jolts (I'm thinking it's like a shot of Red Bull she gets to remind her to breathe).  The breathing is the toughest thing for these little ones - it tires them out so much that they just forget.

She also had her 5 day scan on her brain to see what it was doing - and there's a grade 2 bleed on the left side.  From what we've been told this is nothing to worry about - there are four levels (grade 1, 2, 3 and 4), so this being a grade 2 is okay.  Kids born at full term can also have these bleeds.  She will get another scan at 10-14 days old. 

The nurse had to change her hat yesterday so got to see her head - which has a full head of dark hair (just like when Max was born).  Also got to see a diaper change (very teeny tiny diapers).

The phone rang at 9:30 last night (call display said it was the hospital).  One of the doctor's was calling to say they had intubated Alice.  Which means they have put the tube back in her mouth, down to her lungs to help her breathe.  This is a big relief (we were expecting it to happen, just didn't know when) so now she will breathe with much more ease.  Her oxygen levels have now decreased from 42% to 24%  - another good sign that she is doing better with the assisted breathing.  The doc said she's a strong little girl!

That's the update for now. 

To start, we just want to thank everyone for their love and support over the last couple of weeks and moreso, the last few days with our new little Alice coming into this world so quickly.  She really wanted to get here!

I'm going to start posting everyday or two, her updates.  We love the phone calls, but thought this might be a more efficient way of getting the information out there.

For those that don't know (and I'm sure most of you do know) my water broke on Friday, October 2nd and Scotty and I rushed to Lion's Gate, where we were then taken by Ambulance (our first Ambulance ride ever) to Women's Hospital where I was put on immediate bed rest.  This experience wasn't too panicky, as my membranes had also ruptured early with Max.  There were no signs of contractions or anything.  So we were safe.

Everything was going well on bed rest at Women's for me (I was anxious to get home and be on bed rest rather than at the hospital).  I needed to be patient and see how things were going to go through the weekend.

On Friday, October 9th I was starting to feel some pressure/tightenings in my uterus but nothing that seems too out of the ordinary.  Friday afternoon the nurses and doctors hooked me up to the fetal monitoring system.  Everything seemed good.  The "tightenings" were few and far between (nothing consistent) so I just hung out.  Sarah and Susie were there for a visit (bringing me a cookie and vanilla steamed milk from Starbucks).

Around 4:50pm or so I went to go to the bathroom, sat down and felt a very strange pressure down below.  I immediately got back onto my bed and Susie got the doctor.  They took me to another room for a "peek" and the words out of her mouth were "I can see the head, I'm going to put my scrubs on".  Yikes!  This baby was coming.

Sarah immediately phoned Scott and I was taken downstairs to Labour and Delivery (with Susie and Sarah at my side).  At 5:08pm our little miss Alice Marguerite Link came into this world weighing just under 2 pounds and 13.6 inches.  She even had a little cry when she was born.  Sarah phoned Scott (again) and told him to stop speeding and take his time in getting to the hospital.

Scotty showed up shortly there after.  Alice was taken to the NICU (Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit) and there she hangs out hooked up to all sorts of machines that monitor her every breath, heart beat, etc.

She has strong lungs and is breathing the same air we do (no oxygen required at this point).  Currently she doesn't have a tube down her to assist with her breathing (she's breathing on her own) but is forgetting to breath sometimes (so they may need to put the tube in her).  They say she's a fighter and a strong little one and is doing well for being born at 25 weeks 4 days.  She's peeing and has had one poop.  We haven't held her yet, but are able to touch her feet and hands.  

Max is very excited to have a baby sister.  She brought him a present (a doctor's kit), which he was very excited to receive.  He knows that Alice is very little and sick and has to stay at the doctor's until she can come home.  He's had a cold, so has not yet met her.  Hopefully this weekend. 

I'm pumping breast milk and she's receiving 1cc every 2 hours.  So not much, but at least it's something and it's getting her body used to receiving it.

Right now I'm at the hospital every afternoon for a visit.  Once she can be held more, then we'll start spending more time with her.  The nurses and doctors in the NICU are wonderful and very supportive.

That's all for today. I'll try and update everyday, if not every other day.