Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Pretty in Pink

Yesterday, Dr. in charge of the NICU met with us. The Dr told us our daughter is doing well and continues to be stable. The Dr said Nayeli still has some fluid in her chest and he said it is still considered normal due to the surgery. He said they are monitoring it and it is not affecting Nayeli's breathing or stats in general. They are hoping the fluid disapates in time and that they do not have to drain her again as this is a very painful procedure for our baby girl. The Dr said they are now feeding Nayeli 8cc's of Liz's breast milk every three hours. Nayeli has a tube inserted in her mouth which runs down to her tummy. The tube is raised above Nayeli's head and there is a food basin attached to the top of the tube. The nurse pours Liz's breast milk into the food basin and it drops into Nayeli's belly via gravity. Feeding is going ok, but the nurse said there is still quite a bit of food in her belly a while after feeding. So, they have been either suctioning the food back out and re-feeding her the food, or just feeding her new milk. They say this process can be slow but Nayeli is definitely eating portions of the food. Along with this, Nayeli is starting to take poops on a regular basis. These poops are of micomium variety and they expect these poops to turn to normal poops soon. At one point, the nurse had Nayeli's diaper off. Nayeli started a mincomium poop, which looked like a huge bubble gum balloon. The balloon expanded to to about an inch and popped like a poop balloon. Pretty funny stuff. Liz tried to get the camera to take of photo of the poop balloon, but it popped too fast.

The nurse also said Nayeli is starting to pass gas, which is also a good sign. Godfather fart master Alex Hidas was very proud of his god ddaughter's farting skills. The nurse was going to give Nayeli a bath last night. We were very excited and had the video camera rearin to go. The nurse said there was a slight split in Nayeli's blood gases (oxygenated blood). They monitor this by putting a device on her foot and hand, and measure the split between the two halfs of her body. The Dr came in and talked to us about pulmonary hypertension. We are very familiar with this term and it scares the crap out of us. The Dr said Nayeli has a very small amount of hypertension and they are not concerned about it at this point. As with the fluid, it is something they are monitoring. Based on this, the nurse decided not to give Nayeli a bath. We are hoping this happens tonight!

On another good note, nurse "Kim" this morning said Nayeli only needed two doses of .32cc's of morphine last night. This is very little and shows Nayeli is healing well and her pain appears to be diminishing. Our baby girl is quite the fighter and demonstrates this daily. She has started trying to pull at her ventilator tube. Last night, Liz and I were holding Nayeli's feet and also took turns putting our hands between Nayeli's right hand and her ventilator tube. Nayeli started hitting our hands because we were blocking her from getting to her ventilator tube. She is so strong and is able to knock our hands awayb with both her feet and hands. It was obvious she was getting pissed off at daddy and mommy and she started making her well known boo boo face. When Nayeli pulls at her ventilator tube too often, the nurse has been authorized to give her a small amount of Adavan to calm her down. We do not want our baby girl pulling her breathing tube out.

Liz and I decorated Nayeli's bed with all kinds of pink stuffed animals to include an elephant, a teddy bear, and a kitty cat. Breath of Hope gave us two pretty pink blankies and Liz was very excited to put the blankies in Nayeli's bed. One blankie is in the bed, and the other covers our baby girls feet and keeps them warm and snuggly. Cassi and Brian (Angel Elli's mommy and daddy) gave us a beautiful crib cross. The cross has a cute pink bow and asks God to protect our baby. The cross has been hanging in Nayeli's bed since day one! Thank you Breath of Hope and Cassi and Brian for the beautiful gifts we used to decorate our baby girls bed. I took a video of our latest nursery decor.

We will be going to the morning briefing pretty soon and will give you an update. Keep the prayers and support coming, we really need it as this is totally effecting our sleep. Several people have pointed out that we both look very tired.

Nayeli's surgery site

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the update - I don't know about you Shane, but Liz looks good in the video! Praying for you guys. Love, Amy

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the update - I don't know about you Shane, but Liz looks good in the video! Praying for you guys. Love, Amy

Anonymous said...

that is GREAT news. thank you for updating us. lots of prayers coming your way!!!

Gail said...

Things are really progressing..remember 5 days ago when you said the first 5 days were crucial? See how fast they went by? And she is doing so good. Before you know it, she will be home with both of you safe and secure in her own crib with the warmth and love surrounding her that both of you and your family can give. In the mean time, the prayers will continue. Hang in there and love to all, Gail

Anonymous said...

Liz, you do look great in the video. Never would know you were sleep deprived. Thanks for keeping us all updated. I love all the pink and the cross is beautiful! Nayeli- keep up the good work! I'm glad that she is able to get some milk in.
Lots of love,
Jen Rocha

Tracy Meats said...

Nayeli is doing great and many continued prayers for your little girl!! She is one strong little girl. Please try to rest, for little to no sleep can cause you to get run down. My husband and I came down with colds after my son had his surgery and we were banned from coming back to the NICU until we were all better, for the fear of getting Ian sick or any other NICU baby. They wouldn't even let us wear the masks, they wanted us well, for Ian was very critical. So, many prayers you are able to get some rest and be strong for your little girl. I look forward to reading your updates on Nayeli!!

Tracy Meats - mom to Ian(born with a LCDH on 4/3/04) and WY and CO State Rep. for CHERUBS

Stacy and Jimmy said...

Thanks for the update - it sounds like she is doing great and getting stronger and better!
She is def VERY pretty in pink!
Keep up posted and the pics and vids are great!
Love
Stac and Jimmy
and of course everyone else in Buffalo that calls me daily for updates!

Alex, Ingrid, Alina & Robbie Houchin said...

Hi Shane,

Thanks for the update. It's fantastic news that Nayeli is doing so well. Funny that she is pulling at the tubes. Before you know it, your baby girl will be telling you that she is ready to go home :0).
Liz, who said about you two looking tired? You look fantastic! Shane, you are one lucky guy with two beautiful ladies in your life
:0).
We will be thinking of you.
Hugs,
Ingrid, Alex & Alina

Hope for congenital diaphragmatic hernia said...

Liz once again you look great in the video. I hope you both are getting rest. Nayeli looks great. I see that she also like to wear the hat above her eyes. Her and Ava are more alike every day! Keep the good news rolling!

~Terri

harrisamy said...

Sweet Baby Nayeli is doing great and so are the both of you. Keep positive and strong and know that we are all here for you. Sending you much love and many prayers,
Harris

Brina's Momma said...

She is beautiful. I love her beautiful blue bow. There are no words to express how happy we are that everything is coming along slow but sure and promising. We think about you all the time and I can't wait to give you two huge hugs and kisses. I will keep reading every day now. I missed a few days and it took me 45 min to catch up. Thanks for all the great info.
Love ya
Georgina

Elizabeth said...

She is beautiful just like her Mommy! I love the Cross! That is absolutely beautiful too!

Keeping you all in my thoughts and prayers and sending Miss Nayeli some lung function chants too!
Elizabeth

Jenn said...

I am checking on Nayeli daily, and she is in our prayers.She seems like quite a little fighter, and has displayed that she is strong like her parents. We can't wait to meet your beautiful little girl when she comes home:)
-Jenn Ray(and family)

mommy to Kaden, Brody and angel Ava said...

She continues to do better and better it seems...that is always great news. I was surprised to see the surgeons went in from the side/back initially. Kaden's was done through his abdomen area initially...I am always curious as to why hospitals choose different ways to do things.

Well, again, I am so happy to hear all good news. What a champ you have on your hands!!! Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.

Amy