NICU Day 45 (January 21st)

It was another really good day in the NICU with Noelle.  We are getting spoiled with so many good days in a row, but we hope it continues.  Noelle was doing so well on the cannula this morning that they finally quit switching her between that and the CPAP and just left her on the cannula.  So far, she has continued to do really well with it!!  We even got to hold her tonight for a little while and thoroughly enjoyed watching her tiny face (I wore a mask and gown as I have never developed any other symptoms than the pressure in my ears, but we wanted to play it safe).  She absolutely loves her pacifier!!  It fills her mouth, but it definitely quiets her down when she starts to get a little fussy.  She has definitely starting to build up muscle tone as well.  Tonight, as she lay on her tummy, she pushed herself up and completely turned her head from one side to the other.  It is incredible to watch such a tiny baby do something like that!!  They decided to leave the PICC line in for one more day so we are really hoping that it does come out tomorrow.  She will also receive an echocardiogram tomorrow to double check the function of her heart since they stopped her heart medication today.  Other than that, we are just enjoying these good days with her and watching her grow.  God has been so gracious to us, and we thank Him for another day of Noelle's little life.

NICU Day 44 (January 20th)

Noelle had an absolutely fantastic day today!!  She graduated to the cannula for a short time and just had oxygen flow.  It was amazing to see her whole face without all the big tubes and hat and things wrapped around it.  We can hardly believe what we are seeing only two weeks after her last big dip in the roller coaster ride.  Everyone is amazed at her progress, and even some of her nurses have said that it could only be of God.  Incredible!!  We never dreamed we would be this far with her only two weeks after such a severe episode, and we know so much of it can be attributed to the power of prayer and cannot thank you enough for the part you have played in her tiny little life.  We still have a long ways to go, but the steps we have been able to take in the last couple of weeks are such an encouragement.  It is fun to dream about the day when she might come home and all the things that go along with that.  We did hear a teeny tiny little cry from her tonight!!  There never was a sweeter sound in all the world.  She is still a little hoarse and raspy from the tube being down her throat, but she is making tiny noises nonetheless, and they are music to our ears.  The main thing now is for her to grow.  She did lose some weight (part of that is due to the fact that she was extubated and all the tubes that go along with that), so we are hoping that she gets back up to doubling her birth weight soon (she is currently 640 grams).  Another prayer request is for her hypothyroidism.  Some babies outgrow this (as is our prayer for her) and others have it the rest of the their lives.  If she does have to deal with this the rest of her life, then we will take it!!  But if God chooses to heal her of this as well, it would be another added blessing.  Other than that, we just enjoyed our time with her today.  She will go back and forth from the CPAP to the cannula until she can just stay on the cannula until she is off oxygen completely (we hope and pray it goes this way...it should, as long as she does not have a setback).  I hope we can put up some great pictures tomorrow in which you can see most of her face!!  Thank you for sharing in our joys and our sorrows through this process and for praying accordingly.

NICU Day 43 (January 19th)

We are so excited to be reaching new milestones with Noelle.  Today she was extubated and graduated to the CPAP machine!!!  They were not planning on doing it quite this soon (they were going to give her a little more time to grow), but her tube had a leak and needed to be changed so they decided to go ahead and switch her over and see how she does.  So far, she has done extremely well and has already been weaned on her settings twice.  They have warned us that this could be temporary.  She could get tired and worn out from breathing on her own after a period of time and may have to go back on the ventilator and grow some more.  We are trying to mentally prepare ourselves for this, but right now we are just rejoicing at her progress!!  It is so fun to see her tiny little mouth, and now we will be able to hear her tiny little cry.  Whoever thought that a cry would be such sweet music to one's ears?!!  Noelle's other milestone was gaining 10 more grams and more than doubling her birth weight.  They are hoping she will continue a steady gain of approximately 1/2 oz. (or 15 grams) per day.  Tomorrow should present yet another milestone as they plan on removing her PICC line.  We are so excited to see machines being moved away from her bedside and others being turned off.  She had a steady stream of nurses coming by this evening checking out her progress...she has quite the fan club (as they themselves put it), and many of them even call in and check on her during their days off.  We are so incredibly grateful for the care that she is receiving and thank God once again for placing us where He did during this time.  It is also encouraging to us to share with the nurses that so many people are praying for Noelle and have them be excited about that and acknowledge how powerful prayer is.  We're praying that it gives us many opportunities to share Christ with all those we are encountering so thank you for being a part of that testimony and praying for us!!

NICU Day 40 (January 16th)

As I type "Day 40" I can hardly even believe it has been that many days since Noelle was born.  Really?  So much has happened during that time, it's almost unbelievable.  We are still almost 5 1/2 weeks out from her original due date and even at that, she was measuring only about the size of a 22-23 week baby when she was born one day shy of 29 weeks.  Her nurse practitioner said today, "I came and looked at her today and couldn't believe how much she'd grown, and then I was even shocked that I was thinking that about a baby that currently weighs only 630 grams!!"  She did lose some weight and is down to about 1 lb. 6 oz. currently.  This is normal, but we are hoping that she starts packing on the ounces more quickly since she is starting to do so much better.  They weaned her off the nitric oxide completely today and are discussing moving her medications over to oral ones so that we can also get rid of her PICC line soon.  It's nice to see machines and lines disappear from her bedside!!  The big discussion is now is when to take her off the ventilator and try her on the CPAP machine.  We are excited for them to do it soon and yet at the same time do not want them to rush it if she isn't ready.  It looks as if it may happen this week though since she is on the lowest settings on her ventilator, and they can't wean her any more.  It looks like they will have to give her a little mask when they move to the CPAP because the smallest nose prong tube is still too big for her little nose!!  All in all, it still was a "boring" day, and we are so thankful to God for that.  Thank you for rejoicing and continually praying with us!!

NICU Day 36 (January 12th)

~Tom truly holding Noelle for the first time~

Noelle turned 5 weeks old today...I can hardly believe it!!  She was
doing well enough that Tom was able to hold her for the first time
(Kanga Care) for an hour this evening.  An hour has never gone by so
fast!  They continued to wean her ventilator settings today (slightly)
as she was responding well to that, so that is a huge praise.  We're
hoping that she can come off of that machine within the next week or so
and be extubated and move to a CPAP machine.  I can't wait to see her
little mouth!!  I'm also looking forward to her being more
comfortable--she is moving so much more these days that it often affects
the position of her tube and bothers her.  She weighed in tonight at 1
lb. 7 oz. so we're excited to see progress there as well.  It is already
hard to imagine how tiny she was when she was born.   She is still so
small and yet she is very close to doubling her birth weight.  She will
receive an echocardiogram tomorrow so we're looking forward to seeing
how her heart is doing at this point.  Other than that, there is not
much to report (which is a good thing!).  As always, thank you for

praying!!

NICU Day 35 (January 11th)

God was very gracious in giving us another good day with Noelle.  She actually came off her jet ventilator today and is now on a conventional one.  Hopefully she can stay off this time and continue weaning down until she is breathing completely on her own.  Typically they go from the ventilator to a CPAP machine so we are hoping that can happen soon.  She did not gain any weight but she did not lose either, and they increased her feeds once again so hopefully that will help her continue to gain weight.  She really is starting to look and act like a normal term baby--which is fun to watch.  Today she was even a little fussy (although we cannot actually hear her crying with the tube down her throat, we can see her little face all screwed up and her mouth wide open when she is crying), but mommy was able to settle her down by rubbing her back or patting her on her little diaper.  As far as her heart, they are planning on repeating another echocardiogram on Friday so we are praying that continues to show improvement as well.  For us, it is taking some time to figure out a new "normal" schedule.  With so many ups and downs the last couple of weeks, this is the first week for us to really get back to some sense of reality at home...bills, laundry, etc...all the stuff that does not stop just because your life seems to be on hold for the moment.  Plus, we are on the same schedule as any other family with a term baby which they are nursing, and that includes middle of the night "feedings" as well.  It is the one way we really can be involved with Noelle right now in contributing to her care. As always, thank you so much not only for praying but for letting us know that you are praying...it's an incredible encouragement to our hearts.

NICU Day 15 (December 22nd)

Noelle had the best day yet today according to the doctors.  She turned two weeks old today, and her progress is pleasing to all of them!!  She is doing so well on the new ventilator that they completely took the jet ventilator away from her bedside today.  Her lung has improved and no longer has any collapsed areas, and they are hoping that they can wean her from this machine and go to a CPAP machine within the next 10 days or so.  It would be incredible to have her breathing tube removed!!  She is tolerating her feeds so well that they have decided to start boosting them every 12 hours instead of every 24.  She still is not anywhere close to what she should be getting, but at least she is slowly increasing each day, and that is a great sign.  The highlight of the day was that Jill got to hold her for 3 hours!!!  She snuggled right in and went to sleep for most of the time, although we have started discovering today that she definitely likes to be sucking on something whether her fingers or the pacifier that the nurse found for her.  It is the smallest one they had, but it is still half the size of her face!!  Still, she took right to it, breathing tube and all and loved having the tip of it in her mouth to comfort her today.  She also reached 440 grams or 1 lb. in weight today, so that is another huge milestone for us!!  They are hoping to increase her caloric intake from the 60 calories she has been getting to a whopping 120 calories very soon and would like to see her gaining about an ounce every two days.  We thank God for yet another good day in the NICU with our precious girl and pray that He continues to use us as a testimony of His grace to all who are watching her.