Sharon on Sipap

Hopefully this video works, it's taken me a few tries. Enjoy!

Update & a few pictures

I just wanted to give everyone an update on Sharon. Yesterday they switched her from the breathing tube to Sipap, which just has short prongs that go into the nose & blow minimal amounts of oxygen, requiring her to breathe much more for herself. She's been doing really well on it, & hasn't had any problems with her oxygen saturation even when does get upset. We have been really pleased with her progress since her surgery. She's recovered really well, & is having virtually no breathing troubles anymore.
I took this picture today because she is wearing a little onesie. It's still a little big, but she looks so cute! One new thing since she's had the breathing tube removed, we can actually hear her cry, & cough & sneeze. It's kind of sad hearing her cry, especially when I can't do anything to help her. She does love her pacifier, & it usually helps to calm her down. Hopefully she'll suck that well when breastfeeding because she sure goes to town on the pacifier! Here's a picture of her on her stomach so that you can see the incision where they went in to do the PDA surgery. It's about 1 1/2" to 2" long, pretty big for her. It's healing well & hasn't shown any sign of infection, which is wonderful!
Sharon did get past the 4 lb mark, but it was because she was retaining tons of water. She has lost that water weight, and went back down to 3 lbs 10 oz yesterday. She is back up to 3 lbs 13 oz today, and is growing quickly. She's now getting 1 oz of milk per feeding & loves feeding time. She is also maintaining her own body temperature. We weren't expecting them to have her do this so quickly, but she seems to be doing fine, and is always nice and warm. If she has trouble they will just plug her back into the bed so that it will compensate if she gets too hot or too cold.

We are so excited with all of Sharon's progress & can't wait for her to be able to come home! It's so nice to hold her without all the extra tubes & wires, and will be even greater when it is just her! Thank you for all your prayers, we know that they've been heard and answered on Sharon's behalf! We love you!

A short video of Sharon in the hospital

I thought you all might want to see a video of Sharon. We recently bought a video camera, & I thought it would be nice to share this because we only have a list of four people that can visit her with us, so this way you all get to see her. She is all hooked up to various IVs, ventilator & monitors because of the surgery she had recently. She is doing really well, & is really enjoying the morphine & sedative they give her to help with the pain. We are doing well & will share more videos as we take them.

Quick Update

I just wanted to let you all know that Sharon's surgery yesterday went very well. There were no complications, & she was already awake when we got to see her. We are hoping that this will help with getting her off of the ventilator and breathing on her own. The surgery was to close the PDA vein that's just outside the heart.

Daddy's Little Girl

October Scrapbook Pages

Baby Scrapbook Pages

Kangaroo Care

Since Sharon has had this bacteria, we've had to wear gloves, gowns and masks, which means that I haven't been able to do Kangaroo Care with her. Kangaroo Care is skin to skin cuddling with the baby and mom. I got to do it twice before the gowns, but haven't been able to do it since. Sharon's doctor recently got the approval for us to do Kangaroo Care again, and I am so excited! We did it on Saturday, and it was so wonderful! She is so soft and warm, and fits so well down the front of my shirt, just like a little joey. Maybe we'll start calling her Shari Jo =). Here's a picture of the new Grandma with Sharon!

The flowers on her moomoo were pink

I just thought you all might get a kick out of this moomoo that Sharon was wearing yesterday when we went to visit her. I sure got a kick out it! It was very loud!
You might notice how red and puffy her eyes are and that's because of the eye exam she had just as we got there. I wondered how exactly you give an infant an eye exam? "Please read aloud the 3rd line of letters." Wait, she can't read! Really the doctor just is checking the retinas to make sure they are disease free and forming correctly. Her eyes are good, aside from being underdeveloped simply due to her age. Her eyelids were all red from the doctor trying to keep them open so that he could actually see her eyes. She wasn't too thrilled about that!
I got to hold her yesterday, and she's certainly feeling heavier, and is easier to hold as she gets bigger. She is up to 1350 grams, which is still just under 3 pounds. They did an echocardiogram on Monday and we heard the results yesterday. The PDA (the vein in her heart) hasn't closed but it is small, so they are not planning on doing surgery in the immediate future (huge sigh of relief). They have also upped her feeds to 25 cc of milk every three hours, which is awesome, because I am really running out of freezer space.

Almost 3 pounds

That's right, Sharon is almost 3 pounds. She is up to 1340 grams and looking so good! She is still very congested & stops breathing periodically, but she is doing well. She's still digesting her milk, which she gets ina dose of 23 cc every 3 hours. She is looking bigger each time we see her. We both got to hold her on Sunday & it was so nice! We are excited for the progress she is making.

Congratulations Meghan!

My sister Meghan got engaged a little over a month ago and I never posted about it. I did take some engagement pictures for the happy couple this morning & just wanted to share a couple of the pictures from the shoot. I think they turned out well. I'm sure it helps that they are super happy just to be around each other. Congratulations Sis!

Shh...the baby's sleeping.

We took this picture yesterday.

One month update

This picture was from the 29th, when Shari was still on the Sipap breathing machine. She did fairly well on it, but did end up getting too tired, so they put her breathing tube back in on the morning of the 30th. She received two blood transfusions to help with her oxygen saturation, but it wasn't quite enough to keep her breathing on her own. She is much more relaxed now that she doesn't have to breathe all the time, and she looks much better rested.

I took this picture yesterday. Just so you know, this is a yawn, not crying. I got to hold her for about an hour and a half yesterday (which is just about all my arms can handle). It was nice to be able to hold her again, because it's been about a week with all the drama she's had. Yesterday she was up to 1210 grams, which is just over 2 lbs 10 oz. We are looking forward to 2 lb 12 oz because that will mean she'll have gained 1 whole pound since she was born. Oh, she is now one month old by the way, and we are so excited about that!

Sharon has become a favorite of some of the nurses because she is such a good baby. She is very good about telling the nurses what she wants, and then going back to sleep once they've given it to her. She'll wiggle a lot if she doesn't like her position, and then she'll snuggle in when they move her. If she doesn't like what you are doing she puts her hands up to her face or puts her hand out to say stop. She is doing really well, and we love seeing her little personality shine! I'm thinking of making her a halloween costume, which will consist of a white crocheted beanie with a crocheted spider on it. I think it would be really cute, I just hope the nurses will let her wear it. I'll have to post a picture once I make it.