Brinnlie Update

My mom and Stephanie watched the kids last night so Trevor and I could go spend time with Brinnlie.  Before leaving for SLC we stopped and wished Jocelyn a Happy birthday---I can’t believe she’s 2!  She’s such a cutie and the kids love playing with her.  When it was time to leave, Macie threw a HUGE tantrum, as well as at my parent’s house as we were trying to go;  crying, screaming, kicking when trying to pick her up---my crimaney, what has gotten into this girl!  Just as we've seemed to get Gunnar over the separation anxiety thing, Macie picked up where he left off, and then some.  I don’t know if it’s going to get better or just worse, we’ve still got a while to go and there will be a time that we’ll have to spend more time at the hospital as we ready for Brinnlie to get home.  I guess if it’s not one thing, it’s another.  Day by day, take things as they come and do the best with the situation… Easier said than done though!

Friday afternoon we took a family trip to the hospital with Grandma Michelle, and Great-Grandma Jean tagging along.  This worked out great; no kids throwing tantrums as we left, a babysitter right there at the hospital, and the Grandmas got to see Brinnlie…Great-Grandma was especially excited, being it was her first time to see her name sake!  As the kids were waiting in the waiting room, Brinnlie’s sweet nurse Sue, grabbed some hats, gloves, masks, and cotton balls to take to them.  They were so happy!  Sue talked to them about the things and told them all about taking care of their baby sister---it made their day!  The kids keep asking about when they can go into Brinnlie’s room and she her.  It’s hard to tell them each time, not yet, and try to explain tot them why they can’t.  We take pictures and show them, and Broxton especially love to look at them and watch the video of her crying.  It’s fun to see them get to know her and ask about her and you can see the love they have for her, even though they haven’t officially met her.  Hopefully as RSV season gets over, they can have the opportunity to go ‘meet’ her---we’ll have to see.

  

 

Brinnlie is doing well still;  her obstacle is still growth and being small.  Last night I got to do her cares; taking her temperature, changing her diaper, and adjusting her leads.  I helped Sue by holding her hands while she adjusted her tube and placed new ‘dots’ on her face to hold the oxygen and feeding tubes in place, then got her settled in for the night before we left.  I tried to get some pictures, but they aren’t the best being it was dark and we can’t use the flash.  But, it was fun trying…

 

 

 

 

 

I got to put some fun shapes of different colors on the inside roof of her isolette---she loves to look around and will follow voices and sounds…it’s fun to see her do things and ‘act’ like she should.  Being almost 60 days old, she “old, but tiny” as the Dr’s refer to her, so she should be doing these things.  She weighed in it 750 grams---1 lb 10.5 oz, and is still on 22 calorie milk/formula mix.  They tried to go to 24, but she wouldn’t allow it, she likes 22.  Her surgery is still set for the 4th and they say that once she’s put back together, she’ll most likely ‘take off’ and put more meat on.  This is great, yeah, but it scares me to think she has to go through another surgery being so tiny still…another ‘we’ll just have to wait and see’.  Oxygen wise, she went back to the high-flow receiving 1.5 liters and sits between 21-25%.  Room air is 21%, so she’s really good with this;  she still has her moments of desat but is able to recover herself and so far the caffeine citrate is helping with the apnea spells, she hasn’t had a ‘real bad’ one for a bit.  It’s amazing how far she’s come and how much she’s changed in the last little while---I’m still anxious to get her in my arms!