Anders Getting off Machines!

Anders Day 5

Day 5 was a day of lots of improvements and big steps in the right direction for Anders.  Early that morning they moved Anders out of the isolette and into a normal crib since he could keep his temperature consistent on his own.  This also meant I got to start putting clothes on him which was kind of fun.  That morning they also finally got Anders weaned off of CPAP which was super exciting!  That meant they removed the nasal cannula which was really exciting.  They also removed his OG tube and replaced it with an NG tube so that he didn't have something in his mouth and that would make it easier when he was finally allowed to eat on his own.  He still wasn't allowed to try and feed on his own because his retractions were still significant and his respiration rate was still high so they were still worried about him aspirating.

Around lunch time they ended up removing his IV because the site looked like it was getting irritated and they didn't want to risk infection.  It ended up actually working out really well because Anders was taking his feedings so well they were able to just increase the volume of his feedings more rapidly and not have to put a new IV in.  It was so nice to be able to touch the top of his head without having the IV there.  It was also nice to see him taking his new tube feedings so well, even with the volume increasing rapidly!  That meant there was a good chance they would let me start breast feeding him the next day.

Anders got moved from the isolette to the crib! 

Getting Anders all dressed and settled in the crib.

The nasal cannula finally came out!  No more oxygen or CPAP needed!

All tucked in with the blanket that I made for him!

So nice to be able to hold him and have this cuddle time with one less cord to worry about!

Grandma finally got to hold her new grandson!  I am so grateful that my mom was here for all of this!

No IV or nasal cannula. It was so nice to see him like this because he looked more like a healthy little baby!  His poor little face and head are all red here from having to take all the tape off but at least it was gone and they didn't have to get put back on.

The NG tube in place now.

Such a sweet precious little boy!

It was so nice to see Anders like this and know that we were that much closer to going home with a totally healthy little baby boy!











Anders Day 6

On the morning of day 6 the neonatoligist decided that it was safe enough for me to start to try breastfeeding.  This was the last major thing that had to happen before we could go home.  Anders needed to be able to eat enough on his own with out needing supplemented feedings through his feeding tube. When I started feeding him they just wanted me to watch the monitors to make sure that his oxygen didn't drop too low.  Miraculously, Anders was an amazing eater who figured out how to eat right away and even nursed long enough where they were able to remove his NG tube and I just demand fed him for the day.  He just had to take a long break in the middle of his feeds to rest and breathe because breathing was still harder work for him than a normal newborn.  Therefore, breathing and eating at the same time took a lot of energy out of him but he was able to do it and that meant as long as he kept eating well and didn't lose too much weight we would be able to go home the next day!

No NG tube now either! It was so nice to see him with no assistance needed.  (He was still attached to all the monitors until we left the hospital)

It was so nice being able to feed him and hold him!

Resting so peacefully between feedings!  His feedings really wore him out at first so he would sleep for 3-4 hours between them.

Day 7

This ended up being our last day at the hospital! Yay!  They weighed Anders at midnight and he had lost 4 oz (putting him at 6 lbs 8 oz)which made me worry that we might have to spend one more day in the hospital because they wanted him to be gaining weight while demand feeding.  However, when the neonatoligist came in the next morning she said there wasn't really any reason to keep him another day because he was eating as well as they could hope and his oxygen levels were staying within the normal ranges.  On top of that he was retracting less and his respiration rate was not going too high any more.  The neonatoligist just wanted me to go in to my own doctor the next day to weigh him and make sure he was not losing more weight.  I was so excited that we would get to take Anders home finally! 

Getting Anders all ready to go.  We finally got to take all the monitors off!

To be continued...

Anders Starting to Improve

Anders Day 3

So, on Day 3 of Anders' life he slowly started improving but not much changed.  He stayed on oxygen and CPAP at consistent levels all day.  He was between 40 and 50% oxygen all day but he appeared as if he was breathing easier.  He was not grunting as much and his retractions (the sucking in of the skin in his chest around the bones) seemed to be getting better.  They did start decreasing his oxygen later in the day and got it down between 30-35% but then he stayed there all night.  They still wanted him handled as little as possible so that he could recover, so I didn't get to hold him but it was just good to see him making improvements.

Anders resting.

My mom and I brought Alden over to the hospital that night for dinner in the cafeteria.  He couldn't go in to see his brother but at least this way he got an idea of where mom was spending all of her time.  Alden had fun walking all around the hospital and looking at everything.

I was really grateful to get to spend time with Alden, even with Anders being in the hospital.  I am really grateful my mom was willing to do so much back and forth driving to the hospital we got moved to!  (It was a half hour drive each way without traffic)

Anders Day 4

On Day 4 they started decreasing Anders oxygen more aggressively to try and get him to room level.  They had to get him to room level oxygen before they could start weaning him off of the CPAP.  He started the day around 30-35% oxygen and they got him down to room level (21%) pretty quickly that morning.  Then we just had to watch his oxygen levels for the day and see if he remained stabilized.  I felt like I was just watching the monitors all day, hoping that the number stayed in the safe zone.  Thankfully, his oxygen levels stayed fairly good all day and so they started weaning the CPAP that night.  It was a great day in terms of making progress.  It was so nice to know that Anders was getting better and making steps towards going home!

They also started feeding him my pumped breast milk through a OG feeding tube which was also a big step in the right direction.  Before, the risk of aspiration had been too high to feed him anything, even through a feeding tube, but with him no longer needing extra oxygen and them decreasing CPAP we could finally try feeding him.  He did great with his feedings which was a really good sign.

I think the best part of my day was being able to hold Anders again!  He was finally stable enough where they would let me hold him outside the isolette.  I was so excited and it felt so good to just be able to cuddle with my sweet little boy.  

We had to put socks on Anders' hands because he kept trying to pull the oxygen tube out.

I got to hold Anders and just cuddle with him for about an hour!

He actually started opening his eyes more this day too which was really exciting!  It was nice to see him actually awake a little.

These were just a couple pictures I took of Anders' room.  I was very surprised when we got transferred to this NICU to find out that every baby had their own private room.  It was really nice for me because the couch pulled out into a bed so that I could just sleep in the room with him at night.  It was a little strange though, because I never saw another baby the whole time we were there.    It was a very nice hospital and we had a really good experience there with all of the care that Anders' received.

To be continued...

Anders getting Transferred

Anders' Day Two: (Sorry this is really long and detailed and I am mostly writing it for my own memory)

On the second morning after Anders was born I went down to the special care nursery in the hospital and found out the Anders had gotten worse over night and was now up past 60% oxygen.  As soon as the doctor came in, he called over to the NICU at another hospital and after talking to the neonatoligist there, they decided that Anders needed to be transferred to that hospital that had a Level III NICU (rather than a Level II where we were) because they needed to try some treatments that the nursery we were at could not do.  As soon as I found out Anders was being moved I made sure that I could get discharged at the same time that he left.

By the time the transfer team from the other hospital (which included three nurses and the ambulance driver) had arrived and had Anders ready to go, I had been discharged so my mom and I could follow directly over to the other hospital.  Anders got put into a portable isolette and they kept his oxygen going and even started him on CPAP on the ride over to the other hospital.  One of the nurses later told me that Anders did really well for most of the ride, he just got fussy and agitated when they got off the freeway at the end and the road was a little more bumpy.

It was really hard seeing my newborn baby so sick and needing so much help.  I was very emotional during this whole experience but I am so grateful for my mom who was there through everything with me, for my family who supported me from far away and for the wonderful friends that I had nearby who offered help in any way they could and had people lined up to watch Alden for the next four days within an hour of finding out what was going on.  I can't imagine how I would have got through this experience without all of them.  I am also so grateful that I was able to talk to Drew multiple times a day for the first few days of Anders life when everything was still so unsure.  It was great to be able to send Drew pictures through e-mail as well!

Anders all ready for his ambulance ride.

By the time we got to the other hospital and found the NICU, Anders had been put in his new bed and room.  They had him hooked up to CPAP and had the oxygen at around 50-60%.  The doctor came in to meet us and get us up to speed on what was going on almost as soon as we got there, which was very much appreciated.  The doctor told us that Anders was working really hard to breathe and they had started the CPAP with the hope that it would let them reduce his oxygen levels but it hadn't worked as well as they would like so far.  If he didn't start improving they would need to intubate him and give him surfactant.  My mom and I watched Anders for a few minutes and then went to get lunch in the cafeteria at the hospital.  We went back to check on him again after lunch and spent a little time with him but then we needed to go home to get Alden, so that I could spend a little time with him and I needed to pack a bag so that I could spend the night at the hospital with Anders.

The set up in Anders room at the NICU with all the machines around him.

While I was at home with Alden the nurse called me and told me the doctor had decided that they needed to give Anders surfactant because his breathing was not improving and she suspected Anders' lungs might be a little underdeveloped.  I am actually grateful I was not there when they intubated him to give him the surfactant because it was apparently a very difficult experience for Anders' and it took them multiple tries to successfully intubate him.  However, by the time I got back to the hospital that night, Anders was already breathing better.

He looks like he is resting so peacefully here but he was still grunting as he breathed.  However, it did gradually start getting better after they administered the surfactant.

They kept him lying on his tummy because it seemed to make him more comfortable.  They had to keep trying to tie him into place with "seat belts" (as the nurses called the blankets they rolled up and put over him) because he would try to roll over.

These were some pictures I took during the night when I got up for one of the nurse's care times.  The nurse came in every four hours the first night we were there. I helped where I could but they were really trying to just let him rest as much as possible so that his little body would have time to heal.

To be continued...

Anders Was Born

Anders Rigby Wilkinson was born on March 2nd at 1:09 AM.  He came at 37 1/2 weeks (4 days earlier than Alden) and he was a healthy size (7lbs 3oz), but unfortunately it seems that his lungs had not fully developed and they were filled with fluid when he was born. He struggled to clear on his own therefore, we had a longer hospital stay than we were expecting.  He needed some extra care and help breathing during his first week of life, but he is home now and doing wonderfully.  If you want to read more about our hospital visit then you can keep reading, if not feel free to just look at the pictures. =)

Anders: Day One

I was very grateful that my mom had come to town two days before I ended up needing to go to the hospital.  Both of my labors have been a little unique in the fact that I am not sure I am in labor.  I don't notice my contractions unless I am really paying attention at first and it is only for the last hour of labor that I really feel pain.  Yes, I am aware there are lots of women out there who probably hate me for this but I guess it is just the way my body works.  So, when I went to the hospital with my mom on Sunday night I wasn't sure I was in labor and they actually kept me in an observation room for over two hours before they finally admitted me because they weren't sure that I was in labor at first either.  By the time that they admitted me it was almost 10:30 PM and Anders ended up joining us by 1:09AM so we didn't have too long to wait.

My mom took pictures of me in the delivery room because it was massive and pretty nice. 

As soon as Anders was born I could tell something was not quite right with his breathing.  I hoped it was something that would quickly clear up on it's own, but that didn't end up happening.  I got to hold Anders for a minute after he was born and one more minute after they cleaned him up but then they had to take him away to the special care unit to be checked out.  I sent my mom with him but it was still really hard watching my ten minute old son being taken from the room and not knowing what was wrong and going to happen.  I was very grateful for cell phones so that my mom could call or text me and give me updates until I was able to go over to the nursery and see him for myself.

Me holding Anders right after he was born.

Anders getting all cleaned up.

This was me holding Anders right before they had to take him away to the nursery.

I got over to the nursery about an hour and a half after he was born and he was hooked up to monitors to measure his oxygen levels, heart rate, respiration rate and other things.  His oxygen levels kept dropping lower than the acceptable range and when you listened to him breathe it sounding like he was grunting which the nurse told me was Anders' way of trying to keep his lungs inflated.  They said he had fluid in his lungs and we just had to wait and see if he could clear it on his own.  It was really hard to watch him struggle so much to breathe.  I watched him for awhile and then my mom and I went to try and get some rest because there wasn't anything we could do for Anders' just then.  They just had to watch him and see if his oxygen levels improved within 4 hours and if they didn't he would be officially admitted to the special care nursery and put onto oxygen.

Anders in the nursery when they hooked him up to all the monitors.  The one on his wrist is the one measuring oxygen levels.

I went back to see Anders early the next morning and he was on oxygen.  He was still making grunting sounds as he tried to breathe and it was obvious he was still struggling.  They did a chest x-ray on him that showed the fluid in his lungs and also showed a small pneumothorax.  The nurses also ended up having to insert an IV line so that they could feed him through that because he was not able to eat on his own when he was struggling to breathe.  I think the hardest part for me was that there were no definite answers to what was going to happen or how long we would be in the hospital.  Even with the results from the x-ray the nurses told me we would still just have to wait and see how his little body coped with everything.  Obviously I just wanted Anders to get the care he needed but not knowing what to expect was hard for me.

During the first day in the hospital I spent my time going back and forth between my room and the nursery.  I would go to my room to eat and pump and then go back to the nursery to see Anders.  It was also really nice because my mom brought Alden over in the afternoon and I got to hang out with him in my room for a little while.  He was not allowed into the nursery to meet his little brother because it is cold and RSV season and so no one under 14 was allowed in.  Alden was okay just seeing Mom for a little bit and playing games on my tablet.  After my mom and Alden left to go home for the night I went back over to the nursery and that was when I got to hold Anders for the first extended amount of time since he was born.  I got to hold him for a little over an hour and it was amazing.  He was still hooked up to his oxygen and all his monitors and I could hear him grunting as he breathed but it was so nice to just hold my precious little boy in my arms.  Anders was so calm while I held him and his breathing seemed to stabilize a little which made me realize that he would be okay!

They put the purple heating pads on him when they were trying to find a good IV sight.  They ended up doing a scalp IV.

This was Alden coming to visit me.  It was so nice to see his happy face!

This was when I finally got to hold Anders again.  I was so happy to get to hold him!















When I finally left to go to bed that night he seemed stable on his oxygen and okay but apparently while I was sleeping he started having a really hard time breathing and was crying a lot around midnight.  They ended up having to do another x-ray of his lungs at that point and had to increase the oxygen to over 50%.  This was significant because the hospital we were at only had a level II special care nursery and if Anders started needing oxygen over 50% for long they would have to transfer him to the level III NICU at another hospital further from our house so that they could give him other treatments he might need.

To be continued...

My Quilting Project

So, before Anders was born I started getting a little antsy and started working on a bunch of projects that had been on my to-do list for awhile.  This helped to keep me busy.  One of those projects was a quilt for Alden.  I had bought the fabric to make this quilt before Alden was born but had never actually gotten around to sewing it until now.  I finally got the quilt pieced together and sewn.  This was the first quilt that I had done all on my own, so with that being said, I thought it came out pretty well. I still need to sew the binding on the outside but everything else is done.

Laying out the quilt before sewing it together.  (Yes, a couple pieces are missing because I pulled them out to take to the store to match colors for the backing and border)

 

Laying out the quilt to pin it together before I sewed it.  The backing is orange, like Tigger, because that was what Alden wanted.

This was the quilt after I had sewed it together.  I sewed along all of the seams between the squares and borders.  Now I just need to sew the binding on so that Alden can use the quilt that he is so excited about.

I also decided to sew a couple baby blankets for Anders in the week before he came.  They were really simple and easy to do but I thought the came out really cute and I had fun making them.

I laid out the flannel fabric and pinned it together.

Here is one of the finished blankets. (I made two that were exactly the same) They are just simple flannel blankets with satin binding but I had a lot of fun making something for my upcoming baby.  I really wanted to have something for the baby to use that I had made for him.