Holding a Whole 2 Pounds

Addison had a fairly good few days this past weekend, but still could not seem to shake her temperature rising. She had to be monitored closely as she was getting above 38.5, which is in the danger zone for babies her size for febral seizures and strokes. The nurses actually had to bear down and give her baby tylenol and a sponge bath to cool her down. Addison however would just not shake the high temp that easy and the staff actually had to leave her in her incubator with the lid up and absolutely no heat on. Staff has never seen the likes of this before as babies her size are not capable of regulating their temperature. The doctors and nurses are not sure what is causing this, as she has already started her meds for the yeast infection. They have taken some more samples to test for bacteria culture and on Sunday evening they even took a spinal tap for fluid to test for meningitis and other infections. Again these samples will take 24-48 hours for results, so we hold our breath until then and hope that it is nothing to serious that antibiotics can not cure. Doctors have wasted no time though, they have already started a course of antibiotics on top of the antifungal meds to help our little girl out. Here is a picture of her all splayed out as we try to get her cooled down. Nurses actually switched Addison to a new incubator system called the Draeggar, which is just a simpler version of the giraffe system that she was originally in. The only downside is that the lid does not open on the new one some mom and dad cannot lean over the top and openly talk with little Addy. Those are the breaks though, it is really about what is best for Addison, not us.

In light of her now taking more medication, (which goes in via IV fluids) we now have to maintain her feeds of breastmilk at a certain level as Addison can only have a certain amount of fluids pumped into her body that she can maintain. Addison has been doing amazingly well (knock on wood) on her feeds over the weekend. She advanced from 4cc all the way up to 10 cc as of yesterday. The nurses can advance her feeds up 1cc every 24 hours and she made up to full capacity yesterday. Yep our little monkey is eating 2 full tablespoons of breastmilk now!!! Unfortunately that is where she will stay (cross our fingers she still keeps food down and digests) though over the next 7-15 days because of the antibiotics and antifungal meds, no more increase in fluids can be added.

Addison's lungs are still a little to wet, so she is having some trouble feeling comfortable enough to come down on her oxygen levels on her respirator. She was given a drug called lasex, which causes her to drain some of the fluids by urinating them out. She definitely is peeing up a storm, but her little lungs are not feeling better. Doctors believe that this may also be as a result of her yeast infection and the fact that Addison's breathing tube has now been in for over 30 days and she has outgrown the size. She is actually breathing around the tube, which causes a leak and gives her that extra air in her belly. Doctors are attempting to lower her oxygen levels that they are assisting with, forcing her to breath more on her own. They are hoping that they can either ween her off the respirator and attempt to go on something where she is just assisted to keep her lungs inflated or stay on the same one but insert a new tube through her nose. It is just a waiting game as Addison is really the one who rules on this and will let us know what she is capable of doing.

The good news is that Addison, despite all her temp problems, looks well and still responds well to mom and dad and the medical staff. She does not show the signs of a sick baby. With her increased feeds she has finally weighed in at 2 whole pounds!!!! Addison's first milestone. She continues to open her eyes and follow mom and dads voice and give them hours of complete pleasure as they watch her sleep. Here is dad attempting to change her diaper through the small holes on her incubator, but he did it!

Mom however, had the best day of her life yesterday!!! A life altering momentbesides her wedding and birth of little Addison. Nurses had suggested on Sunday that if Addison held steady on her oxygen and kept her temperature down that they would be able to take Addison out of the incubator and let mom hold her. This is a method that the NICU unit calls KANGAROOING. It is allowing the infant to go skin to skin contact with the parents as they hold them outside of the incubators on their chest. Studies have shown that the infants respond amazingly to this, and can even have huge decreases in their needs for oxygen assistance. Well Addison cooperated and mommy got to hold her little girl for the first time ever. What an amazing experience!!!!! Addison did so well, she settled in on mommy's chest and within a minute she was sleeping away. She managed to stay that way for 1 hour and 40 minutes while she was still on her respirator and other machines. She even took a feed. Mom managed to maintain her composure and did not break into tears for fear that Addison would react to mom's emotions and have to be placed back inside her incubator. You could sure see the smile on Mom's face though from across the room. Absolute bliss. All goes well Daddy will have his turn soon in the coming days. Enjoy the pics, truly one of life's unforgettable moments.