Day 11 - 15: Scarlett Jo

Day 11...

Sundays used to be a day I loved, but since being in the hospital myself and then with Scarlett it
seems to be a day that goes on FOREVER, but not necessarily in a good way.  During those long days in antepartum I used to watch the FOODnetwork non-stop, I basically knew the daily line up like the back of my hand. Today I was able to beat the Sunday blues by putting that FOODnetwork TV watching to use by cooking a gourmet meal for the family that was donated by a graduate NICU family through Fig to Fork. Fig to Fork was amazing all the ingredients arrived in a box and all I had to do was follow the recipe which was pretty simple. The best part of Fig to Fork is that all the ingredients are local! Our meal was butternut squash linguine with king crab and butter sauce, and it was very delicious.


Day 12...

Today Scarlett is going to move from HiFlow back to CPAP to give her lungs a much needed break. It is common for preemies to move on and off O2 support devices. Before they moved her back to CPAP, she accidentally pulled out her feeding tube which allowed me to actually see her face much better due to less cords. I can't wait till we have a clear view of her beautiful face every day! Her hair is starting to look strawberry/dirty blonde just like Eleanor's. Since Eleanor was born I have had a true love for girls boutique clothes, especially the brand Matilda Jane. I am on many Facebook groups for Matilda Jane (MJ) and when they found out about little Scarlett many women (whom I never met) started emailing me wanting to send her little outfits and hats to wear. One mama even sent me at least 6 MJ items that Scarlett will be able to wear when she is 3-6 moths old. The overwhelming amount of love for this lady is so amazing! I can't wait to pass along many of the things gifted to us to another Matilda Jane preemie.

Day 13...

Scarlett got to wear clothes for the first time today! I remember asking about this a while back thinking it would be at least a month till I could dress my little one up, but when I walked into her nursery today I saw her tiny body swaddled with a micro preemie shirt (Derek was very surprised that this was not initiated by me, but the nurse did it all on her own).  She is no longer in need of her isolette monitoring her body temp every moment of the day. I also learned how to change her diaper, believe it or not it's much trickier than chasing down her big sister for a diaper change... it's just that her tiny bum and legs are hard to maneuver. Health-wise she is doing great just working on growing & lung development (still on CPAP). I ordered Scarlett's crib blanket on ETSY and it's shipping out today, I can't wait to get it and use it as her isolette cover. The nice lady who made it even placed her name on it so it wouldn't get lost in the NICU!



Day 14...

Today I spent all day at the hospital, but was in good company with lots of nice nurses and my little girl. While at the hospital one of the staff members brought me a very nice bag full of goodies and supplies that will come in handy. This bag was dropped off by one special family (Fiona's Hope) who has walked the NICU journey and also who is walking the fertility journey. It's absolutely amazing how many special people we have met through our fertility circle! Scarlett's plan for today will be moving to full feeds and getting her PICC line out tomorrow.


Day 15...

Today Scarlett did great, her O2 needs remain stable at 24% - 34%, hopefully in the days to come she is closer to 21% so we can switch to less support. Her iron was a bit low so she will have a small dose of that added like a multivitamin. It was Scarlett's second day on full feeds so she was able to ditch her PICC line and the IV tower that has been a constant in our area from day one. It was so nice to see her isolette a little less crowded. Today I was able to hold her wrapped up like a little burrito, it was so nice to just stare into her cute little face (they switched her to a different nose piece so I was able to see her better today). I was also able to scale down on blood pressure meds as my blood pressure is getting back to normal, the only step left is to go completely off of them.