Day 5 ...
Discharge day, after 5 nights & 6 days in postpartum Heather finally gets to head home. For the past two days Heather has had set backs in regards to her own discharge. First it was high blood pressure, this was remedied by placing her on some medicine (and yet another Mag drip for 24 hours) in the hospital and once the doctor saw it under control she was released to leave. Then this morning right as she was ready to leave she passed something that looked like part of her placenta, the doctor was a bit concerned with sending her home so first she needed to clear an ultrasound to make sure everything had cleared out. Thankfully by mid afternoon all was clear and she could finally go home. Before heading home we went to see Scarlett, she was doing wonderfully and had no real changes (she was under the light today suntanning). Leaving Scarlett in the hospital while we headed home was one of the toughest moments yet, no one really prepares for this moment as it typically shouldn't happen. Heather had a constant stream of tears as we made our way to pick up our other blessing from daycare, but at the end of the day we knew Scarlett was in good hands and she was only a call away! This wonderful hospital will now be our second home for the next couple months.
Day 6 ...
Today Scarlett did not have any major changes with her care, still on CPAP and doing wonderfully. Heather spent lots of time hand hugging little Scarlett today. Pictured below are her cute little feet, however her feet and hands seem pretty large for such a little girl, we are thinking she was on track for being tall like her sister!
Day 7...
Today was a day that Heather has been looking forward to for a very long day, the day of the head ultrasound... When we arrived at the hospital we were pleasantly surprised that the head ultrasound was completed and the results were already in, Scarlett had no significant bleeding. This was such great news to get and this also meant that after a week we would be able to hold our little girl for the first time. Heather thought this moment she would be covered in tears, but when the moment happened all she could do was smile! Today we also got our family badges for the NICU making everything seem very official.
Day 8...
Happy New Years Eve! Today was a big day... Derek finally hand hugged Scarlett! Each day the nurses ask Derek if he'd like to hand hug Scarlett and every day before today the response was, "I'm good, but thank you." It's not that he didn't necessarily want to do it, he was just afraid of "breaking" her or giving her "germs". It was such a special moment to see them together! Scarlett's little nose continues to get better with the nose mask compared to when she was on the nose prongs. The nose mask looks like more O2 support, but it's the same level as it has been for a couple days... just a different way of attaching it to her nose to avoid contact on her little sore. This evening we enjoyed a low key New Years Eve with three of our friends with kids, Eleanor loved playing with her little friends and we enjoyed some much needed adult conversation!
Day 9...
Today when we arrived to visit Scarlett we were greeted with a surprise, she was moved from CPAP to HiFlow O2 support. This movement is a sign of her respiratory needs being smaller. Derek had a bit of a heart attach as right when we arrived Scarlett
decided to have a desaturation (O2 levels were in the 70s, when normally
they are in the 90s), and he also saw the CPAP in standby and thought
this was accidentally turned off ;). The NICU was pretty busy today with the holiday, it was nice to see so much activity as some days we are the only ones in the nursery (there are 7 nurseries at the UofMN). This evening we celebrated Christmas with both sides of the family as Heather was still hospitalized on the normal day we have people over. Everyone enjoyed the food, company, and watching Eleanor open endless gifts!
day 10...
Today Scarlett had a wonderful report from the nurse practitioner, her lung X-ray looked better and she would stay on Hi-flow respiratory support. As of 8pm tonight her feedings are up to 3.5 ml per hour. Heather was able to kangaroo hold Scarlett again, both really enjoyed this, however Scarlett showed it the most with her lower heart rate and decreased oxygen needs. Today was the first day Scarlett could wear a hat, this moment was something Heather was really looking forward to... dressing up the girls is one of her favorite hobbies! Tonight Scarlett will have a little bath.
Discharge day, after 5 nights & 6 days in postpartum Heather finally gets to head home. For the past two days Heather has had set backs in regards to her own discharge. First it was high blood pressure, this was remedied by placing her on some medicine (and yet another Mag drip for 24 hours) in the hospital and once the doctor saw it under control she was released to leave. Then this morning right as she was ready to leave she passed something that looked like part of her placenta, the doctor was a bit concerned with sending her home so first she needed to clear an ultrasound to make sure everything had cleared out. Thankfully by mid afternoon all was clear and she could finally go home. Before heading home we went to see Scarlett, she was doing wonderfully and had no real changes (she was under the light today suntanning). Leaving Scarlett in the hospital while we headed home was one of the toughest moments yet, no one really prepares for this moment as it typically shouldn't happen. Heather had a constant stream of tears as we made our way to pick up our other blessing from daycare, but at the end of the day we knew Scarlett was in good hands and she was only a call away! This wonderful hospital will now be our second home for the next couple months. 
Today was a day that Heather has been looking forward to for a very long day, the day of the head ultrasound... When we arrived at the hospital we were pleasantly surprised that the head ultrasound was completed and the results were already in, Scarlett had no significant bleeding. This was such great news to get and this also meant that after a week we would be able to hold our little girl for the first time. Heather thought this moment she would be covered in tears, but when the moment happened all she could do was smile! Today we also got our family badges for the NICU making everything seem very official. 
Today Scarlett had a wonderful report from the nurse practitioner, her lung X-ray looked better and she would stay on Hi-flow respiratory support. As of 8pm tonight her feedings are up to 3.5 ml per hour. Heather was able to kangaroo hold Scarlett again, both really enjoyed this, however Scarlett showed it the most with her lower heart rate and decreased oxygen needs. Today was the first day Scarlett could wear a hat, this moment was something Heather was really looking forward to... dressing up the girls is one of her favorite hobbies! Tonight Scarlett will have a little bath. 
No comments:
Post a Comment