Emily Update 6/02/09

Nothing real new...she now weighs 6 pounds and 5 1/2 ounces.

Emily Update 5/28/2009

Emily now weighs 6 pounds and 5 ounces. She is 20 inches long....growing like a weed. She is doing great...had a small eye infection but it is healing up nicely...is starting to be more alert...and is also starting to really take off on her feedings and letting us know when she is ready to eat or wants more to eat...but all in all she is doing great.

Emily Update 5/23/09

Just letting everyone know...Emily is doing great...no real big changes going on.

Emily Update 5/20/09

Emily has been home for a week now and is doing great. We had an eye appointment today and she did so good...didn't fuss or anything while they were messing with her. She now weighs 6 pounds and 1 ounce...and is 19 3/4 inches long. She is such a joy.

Emily Update 5/14/09

We have reached a new milestone...Emily Marie Hendrix is home.

Emily update 5/8/09

Well I haven't updated because I have been with Emily for 3 days and staying down there. I don't have internet service down there and can't use my computer at the hospital. So when I get back to my room I can't be out in the hallway because it is after hours and I can't get internet in my room either. But there is not a lot to update about she is still trying to learn the bottle and that is hit and miss on that for her. As she wears out some times I'm going to spend my last week off with Emily so there will not be many if any updates. Emily's weight is 5Lbs. 11oz.

Emily Update 5/5/09

I'm so sorry about falling behind on my updates. Emily is now drinking out of a bottle..and doing fairly well with it. She is getting just under 2 ounces of milk a feeding. And will usually take all of it, but if not all at least half of it. And is doing great about not spitting it back up. She is usually waking herself up when it is time to eat... and showing cues that she wants to eat. All in all she is doing great. Again sorry for falling so far behind...I'll do better at least try to...

Emily Update 4/29/08

Emily Marie is doing so great. They took her off the nose canela today and is now breathing room air and doing great. She weighs 5 lbs and just about 2 oz. I got to give her her first bottle on Monday...and she did well on it. Then yesterday took off like she knew exactly what she was doing. We are still working with her on that and hoping to see great improvement with her and the bottle. Sorry I haven't updated it for a few days...I was staying at the Ronald McDonald House, so I could spend more time with Emily and really get in and work with her. Just keep your prayers coming and hopefully I will be able to bring home this beautiful bundle of joy soon.

Emily Update 4/26/09

Emily is doing so great...she weighs 4 lbs 14 oz. Is now taking her feedings in 30 minutes and handling it well. So hopefully tomorrow or Tuesday she will be introduced to the bottle and take it well. She is just really doing amazing...no episodes at all for the last 4 days. She seems to love being in an open crib and handling it well. She never had any problems with her body temperature. And doesn't seem to be over whelmed by it either. So I'm hoping in a few short weeks she will be home with us...so keep your fingers crossed and us in your prayers.

Emily Update 4/21/09

Emily now weighs 4 lbs 7 oz. And guess what...she is getting moved into an open crib this afternoon. Yippee!!! She is handling her feedings great. They redid her retick count and it is doing great also. So they are hoping that she won't need another blood transfusion but can't guarantee it. But for the situation she is in she is doing great.

Emily Update 4/20/09

Emily is doing fantastic. She weighs 4 lbs 5 oz. And is starting to look more like a newborn and filling out so beautifully. She is receiving 36 cc of milk over one hour now. They want to get her feedings down to a half hour before they release her. She is doing great on her nose canela. Still having her destats but all of them are self resolved. They are talking about moving her into an open crib on the 27th of this month. Now she may have to be moved back into her isolate if she can't regulate her own body temperature. So keep your fingers crossed.

Emily Update 4/17/09

Emily weighs 4 lbs 3 oz. She is receiving 36 cc of milk over an hour and a half. And tolerating it well. She is still on all nose canela and is doing amazing. Still having some destats but they all are self resolved. That is all the new things. Tomorrow is the big walk, and I wanted to thank all who donated.

Emily Update 4/16/09

Emily has finally broke the 4 lbs mark. She weighs 4 lbs 1/2 oz. She is on full nose canela now, so we are hoping that she can handle it. We will know in a couple of days. I got the test results back from the reflux, and they are negative. So she doesn't have acid reflux. She may be moving to an open crib on the 27th of this month. So keep your fingers crossed for that. Thanks for reading and keeping us in your prayers.

Emily Update 4/14/09

Emily now weighs 3 lbs 14 oz. She is doing great. She had an eye exam and it went great. They won't have the reflux test results back until thursday and I will post them when I get them. Besides that she is doing great...thanks for reading.

Emily Update 4/13/09

Emily weighs 3 lbs 10.5 oz. She had to go back to six hours of nose canela and six hours of CPAP. It was just a little to much for her to handle so fast. They are also checking to see if she is having a type of reflux reaction and if that isn't the cause of her destats. She isn't spitting up her food at all though. Besides that she is doing awesome. Thanks for reading.

Emily Update 4/12/09

Emily now weighs 3 lbs 10 oz. She is staying on the nose canela for nine hours a shift. And the CPAP for 3 hours a shift. She is doing very well. They are also putting her milk on her pacifier every three hours and she is very interested in that. The reason they do that is to provide postive oral stimulation, just so she won't have all negative stimulation around her mouth.

Emily Update 4/10/09

Emily weighs 3 lbs 8 oz. She is doing good with the six hours of nose canela. She also is now receiving 32 cc of milk over and hour and half period. I really don't have a whole lot of new updates expect for those metioned above. Thanks for reading and following her updates.

Emily Update 4/9/08

Emily is now up to 3 lbs 7 1/2 oz. She also is now getting to be on the nose canela for 6 hours every 12 hour shift and one the CPAP for the rest of the 6 hours. She is doing good on it so far. That is really all the new news I got for everyone. Thanks for reading.

Emily Update 4/7/09

Emily is now 3lbs 6 oz. She also has finally reached a full ounce of milk and they are giving it to her over the period of 1 1/2 hours. They want to get her to be able to take a full feeding in about 30 minutes. So we are headed in the right direction. She is doing great on her nose canela time. Still only on it 3 hours a shift. But seems to be very content with it. She is able to keep her eyes open a lot longer now and look around at things and people. She is also getting louder with her fussing and crying which also shows her maturing. Thank you for reading.

Also I just wanted to remind people that the March of Dimes is getting closer and anyone who wanted to sponser me needs to let me know and send me the donations by the 16th of April so I can get them turned in on time. Thank you to those who already have sent or gave me their donations.

Emily Update 4/5/09

Emily Marie had a good night and great day. No breathing episodes that need stimulation to come up and out of. She is up 3 lbs 4 oz and still tolerating her feedings well. She is still at 28 cc of milk but they are talking maybe in a couple of days moving her up to 30 cc. That is all the new news I have for now.

Emily Update 4/4/09

Emily Marie is doing great today. She weighs 3 lbs and almost 2 1/2 oz. She is doing great on the nose canela, she is still on it for three hours every 12 hour shift. She is getting a little tired towards the end of the three hours but still showing great improvement.She had her eyes opened most of my visit. This was the first time she has really had them opened up long enough for me to really look at them. But I can't tell what color they are going to be. They are still immature so have a dark blue look to them. But all babies are born with blue eyes and could change colors up til her first birthday. Today was Easter in the NICU. Emily had her first visit with the Easter Bunny. She really didn't have much interest in him, she felt it was time for all the activities to stop so she could just nap. Her vocal cords are starting to mature, she is starting to voice her opinion by fussing at people when they get in with her. Thanks for reading and please keep us in your prayers.

Emily Update 4/3/09

Emily is having another good day. She lost 1 oz over the night, but due mostly likely to being on the nose canela. She is having to work a little harder with that on, but doing great on it. The doctors are pretty positive about maybe in a couple of days bumbing up her time on it to a couple more hours maybe. She is tolerating her feedings well while being on it. Her blood gases also looked great which is even more encouraging for her to be on the canela.

Emily Update 4/2/09

Emily is receiving 28 cc of milk, with 24 calories. She is on the nose canela 3 hours per shift and on the CPAP for the rest of the 9 hours. Besides that nothing else is really changed. She is doing great.

Emily Update 4/1/09 Part 2

I was just to excited to wait until tomorrow to post this. She now weighs 3 lbs 2 oz. I can't hardly believe how fast she puts weight on. Besides that her day has been real good. The nurses said she has slept most of today, probably recuperating from her eye exam from yesterday.

Emily Update 4/1/09

Emily fhas finally broke the 3 lb mark. She weighs 3lbs 1/2 oz. She had a good night and so far a great day. Nothing else has really changed...sorry for such the small post, but thank you for reading.

Emily Update 3/31/09

Emily is doing great today. She had her first eye exam today, it went well. Her eyes are developing normally for her age. The reasoning for the eye exam was to check for Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). This is a process of abnormal blood vessel growth in the retina of the eye. There is a strong association with ROP and prematurity as ROP is seen most frequently in infants born at less than 32 weeks gestational age. Besides prematurity, additional risk factors for ROP include respiratory problems, anemia (low blood count), heart problems, hemorrhage in the brain, and the need for supplemental oxygen necessity. Of course we are looking for the reasons of respriatory and oxygen use. She is up to 2 lbs 15 oz. So hopefully tomorrow she will break the 3 lb mark. She is active and fiesty. And is all about trying to help the nurses take care of her, usually by grabing the tubes they need or are trying to use and pulling on them.

Emily Update 3/30/09

Emily has had a great night and day. She put on 2 oz which now brings her to a whopping 2 lbs 14 oz. She is still really low on her oxygen intake. Which what we want. They ran her nutrition labs again today, and everything was nice and high. Her iron was really high, which also really good. And her bilirubin was nice low, which means she isn't jaundice. The 2 oz could also be partially water gain, since babies her size don't normally gain that much weight at a time. Thanks for following Emily's journey and keeping her in your prayers.

Emily Update 3/29/09

Emily is still doing very well. They turned down her oxygen to 21%. Which basically means she is breathing the same air that we are, just it is a little more forceful to keep the air sacs in her lungs opened up. She is recieving 24 ccs of milk with 24 calories for every ounce in it. She is up to 2 lbs 12 oz now. She is geing so close to the 3 lb mark. We are hoping once she is up to that point she may not need all the help with her breathing. She can't get moved into an open crib until she is off the CPAP and is no longer in need of the ventilator. We finally found clothing that fits her, doll clothing. But I doubt that will last for very long at the rate she is growing. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who is reading these blogs and keeping Emily in their prayers.

Emily Update 3/25/09

Emily is doing great. Her retick count was right where it needed to be. This means she is making her own red blood cells and at a good rate. She is tolerating the CPAP well. She did lose about 1/2 oz, due to the fact they skipped a feeding last night. They wanted to see how well she would tolerate being on CPAP and didn't want to overwhelm her. Her head ultrasound came back perfectly normal. Her brain is growing and function just as it should. I got to dress her for the first time today. It was to cute, even her preemie clothing is to big on her. But she will grow into it soon enough, at least I keep telling myself that.

Emily Update 3/25/09

Emily Maire is one month old today. She is doing great. They removed the ventilator yesterday, and is now back on CPAP by mouth. With a little (lot) of help from Miss Emily. She is keeping them very busy and on their toes. Emily seems to have many tricks up her little sleeve. She weighs 2 lbs 11 oz. They moved her feedings up again, she is now getting 24 cc of milk every three hours. They are doing a head ultrasound today, checking for white brain mass. The white brain mass is good. It shows the brain is developing like it should. They also are doing a rountine check. And doing what is called a retick count, this will see how fast she is making her own red blood cells. If she is making them at a fast enough rate, then they will leave her alone. But if not then they are talking about another transfusion. We are getting closer to getting her in an open crib. She has to have all leads and tubes taken off of her before that. So we have the CPAP and just the basic leads left. They are talking in about being able to dress her soon, so Mom and me have spent the last two nights getting clothes together for her. Thankfully we have plenty of preemie clothing. Thank you to all who gave them to us. I wanted to use these because by the time she gets home she be in newborn/0-3 monthes. And at 34 weeks they will attempt to feed her through a bottle. She has to be able to take it and keep most of it down for 48 hours before she comes home. Keeping our fingers crossed that she will be home before long.

Emily Update 3/22/09

Emily Marie is doing beautiful today. She is up to full feedings now, which is 22 cc of milk every three hours. She is tolerating it very well and keeping it all down. She is still getting 24 calories added to every 30 ounces of milk. She now weighs 2 lbs 8 3/4 oz. She normally puts on about 20 grams a day. And once she reaches 34 weeks they will begin to bottle feed her. She got her ventilator settings turned down again today. She is now receiving 15 breathes per minute, and is pretty much driving it herself. Which means that it really only puts pressure on her when she falls below the set setting. She had a chest x-ray and it looked perfect. They are looking at taking her off the ventilator around Monday or Tuesday. Keep sending prayers and good thoughts our way.

Update Emily 3/21/09

Emily is doing really good. She is up to 2 lb 8oz. They are weaning her off the ventilator. She has been stable for the last two days, and it is looking like a good night for her. She had another chest x-ray, which is clear. Her blood gas is excellent. All her levels are where they need to be. She is still getting 21 cc of milk every three hours and 24 calories added to every ounce of milk she takes. They won't increase her feedings until she stops gaining weight, then they will increase it again.

Emily Update 3/18/09

Today was a really good day for our little fighter. She is doing an awesome job. Emily is just getting enough help from the ventilator to be actually doing some help. She has been very stable while on the ventilator. She is eating 19 cc of milk every three hours. And has moved up to 24 calories per ounce of milk. Tomorrow she will be getting 21 cc of milk. Soon enough she will be eating from a bottle. Yippee!! She got to get her PICC line removed. Since there was no use for it, it was becoming a source of possible infection. Her lungs still are nice and clear. All her lab work and blood gases have been good. Starting today they are doing nutrition labs on her. This will check her iron, protein levels, and calcium intake. If these are lower then they would like them, they have to add more of the human milk fortifier to her milk. As of today she weighs 2 lbs and 5 1/2 oz. Just keep sending prayers and good thoughts our way.

Emily Update 3/16/09

Today Emily had to be out back on the ventilator at around 6:30 am. This wasn't a bad a thing, the doctors just want to give her a break, and allow her to build up some energy. She is getting very minimum support from the ventilator, she only gets 25 breathes per minute. Anything over that she takes on her own. Also while she is on a break they are hoping that she puts on some more weight. They have added human milk fortifier, which is giving an additional 22 calories to her milk. This is to help build up her iron and protein levels. Also it will help with calcium development. She now weighs 2 lbs and 4 3/4 oz. She also had to receive another blood transfusion at 10:30 am this morning. Again, this isn't a bad thing. She was getting to close to anemia and they wanted to stop it before she got to that point. With her being on the ventilator they stopped all caffeine doses, due to the fact that with the all the extra help she is getting the caffeine would result in negative results. In other words, make it look like she is doing a lot better then she really is. They have determined that the problem with her breathing episodes, aren't her lungs, but her airway. They are beginning to thing that it is to small and becomes restricted around her voice box and vocal cords. Her feedings are going to stay the same for today, just to make sure that she tolerates them well with everything else that is going on. She still hasn't been put back on phototherapy. Besides just being a little tired of working so hard on her own, Emily is doing fantastic. So just keep praying for her.

Emily Update 3/14/09

As of today Emily is still on the NIPPV (similar to the CPAP) but is back and forth on the verge on being back on the ventilator. The only reason she may end back on the ventilator is just because she is tired, and may need some help. They took her off the photo therapy at least for the moment, but that isn't uncommon for her to be on and off it for a while. She is eating 14 cc of milk every three hours and will be moved up to 16 cc tomorrow. Last night her tummy was a little big and hard so they did an x-ray on it, but it was just air from the NIPPV, because the excess air has to go somewhere. So they are venting her feeding tube in between feedings. In a couple of days they are talking about removing her PICC line, since there is no reason they need it in. All in all everything is doing good. Keeping our fingers crossed.

Emily's updates as of 3/12/09

AS of today Emily is off the ventilator and has a c-pap on getting 21% oxygen Labs are good and she is doing very good on her own without the ventilator eating 12cc of food every 3 hours.

Emily's Beginnings

Just thought we would let you know in case you haven’t heard as of yet. We have little miracle in our family. Sydney found out around the first part of November that she was pregnant and scared and not sure what to do next, keep it unannounced. Then Christmas time came around and she and I were out shopping after the holiday and she had a big problem. A trip to ER, and I find out about baby and she finds out about twins, so a big shock to the systems. But we get thru that and then on Dec. 29 back to the hospital and find out Baby A is coming out, so she has to deliver, it is a little boy. At this time he is only 18 weeks. Unfortunately he was too young to be on his own quite yet. Then this is where it gets very complicated. The placenta from Baby A decides to stay, and she closed up so Baby B, and the placenta is still there. After a week in hospital she comes home on bed rest weekly trips to the DR. Never knew getting blood drawn once every week and a sonogram the next would be so much fun, just getting out of the house. February 9^th transferred to Saint Lukes down on the Plaza for two weeks and was starting her third week down there and then by now you guessed it, contractions started and when in to labor. Had to have an emergency C section and now Baby B turns out to be a baby girl, Emily Marie Hendrix, but only 26 weeks along so we have a long road ahead of us. She weighed in at 2lbs 3oz and 14.5 inches long. At the time of birth and to present doing very good for her age. She was ventilated early Monday morning 3/9/09. Dr’s have high hopes for her. She did have to have a blood transfusion on 3/5/09 and still doing very good on her on. She is in the NICU at St. Lukes. That is about all I have for now. Just keep us in your thoughts and prayers.