Bailey's Big Day

When we got to the hospital this morning, which was way before the doctor ever made rounds when we where actually in the hospital, we had already missed him. But I got to talk to the nurse pract. Apparently between 5:30 a.m. when we got up and called to check on her and 8:45 a.m. when we got to the hospital, Bailey had been taken off the vent. She is now on oxygen at 30%. We breathe 22% so not much further and she won't even have to have oxygen. We haven't gotten to hold her yet, but we were there today for 3 of her feedings. She actually had 4 the whole time we where there, but the first one was before visitors are allowed in the NICU and they told me she acted like she was hungry so I told them to go ahead. At the second feeding, which was at 12:30, the nurse was extremely nice. She offered to let me change her diaper but I told her I'd just observe since she had all these lines hooked up. Bailey opened her eyes and looked at us and responded to us talking to her and touching her. She got 5 cc's of milk for the first two feedings and moved up to 10 cc's for the rest of the day and night until the doctor comes back tomorrow. That is about 2 tablespoons. The nurses sit her up to feed her but they don't actually hold her either. She did have to start being under the billy rubin lamp (I don't know if that's how it's spelled or not). When we were there for her 9:30 p.m. feeding, she gulped the bottle so much she was smacking and she really seems to enjoy eating so that's good. The only problem today was with her oxygen gas levels in her blood. They were turning her oxygen down by 2% every so often and had gotten down to something like 25%. But at the 6:00 p.m. lab readings, the doctor decided to raise her oxygen level to 30% and leave it for the night. So throughout the night, other than feedings every 3 hours and vital signs, nothing should happen. There should be no change.

We are hopeful that she will get the lines out of her belly button tomorrow and get a normal IV. At that point, she can get a bath and we can hold her and feed her ourselves. So that should be the next big step.

For those of you who know me well know that I have always said I WAS NOT nursing. No way, no how. Well, when they take your baby and put her at the other end of the hospital, you feel so helpless that you will do anything you feel like you can to help her. Since she is sick and it is supposedly so good for her, I decided to go ahead and start pumping and I guess eventually she'll breast feed. I am still a little shocked at myself over this decision. But it really is what's best for Bailey. So far, everything is going will with it. But we'll see. She may like the bottle so much she doesn't want to breast feed. And that'll be fine too!

Mom and Dad got to come back over today. They were excited to see her. Sid's mom and dad and came and saw her too. Sid's Mom and Dad hadn't seen her since Monday and my Mom and Dad hadn't seen her since Tuesday. So they were all excited to get to see her. And I was excited to see Mom and Dad. There are just sometimes in life you need your mama and this is one of them.

I don't have Internet at the hospital so I'm not able to update this blog til I get home. I'm also not the best at answering my phone right now. Sid is better at answering and updating. It's still a little hard for me to talk about all this out loud. For those of you who have babies and take them home 2 days later, be very, very thankful. We are, however, grateful for the care Bailey is getting and the progress she has made. The prayers, calls, comments, concerns, etc. have all been so reassuring to Sid and I both. We know she is hearing your encouragement. Thank you all so much!