First Outing

After not leaving the house with Bean for three weeks, we decided it was time to get out of the house. Our first trip was to the library 2 weeks ago. I thought this would be a good first destination because no one would really bother us, it's cleaner than a grocery or retail store (at least in my head) and I really needed something to read because the TV was on WAY too much in our house.

The trip started off well and Bean slept the whole 5 minutes it takes to get there, but started going down hill from there. Once we arrive, I get Bean situated in her stroller pretty easily, but it was so windy she woke up. As we strolled in I thought she was going to go back to sleep, but she had other plans for mommy.

As soon as I get into the library the librarian notices my carriage, but resists coming to look because she thinks Bean is sleeping. Then without warning, Bean starts fussing in the EXTREMELY silent library. YIKES!! I tried the paci, but Bean wasn't having any of it. Her fussing quickly turned into cries and I'm starting to sweat.

She immediately stopped crying after I got her out and held her....sigh. So here I am trying to look at the new releases, holding Bean, pushing her stroller and having to stick extremely close to the stroller because her apnea monitor is in the bottom and somehow part of the cord got wedged between the car seat, so it looks like I'm pretty much hugging my stroller.

Now that Bean is out of her stroller, she quickly becomes a magnet and we get approached by a sweet older lady who thankfully doesn't try to touch Bean. (I'm a little paranoid about germs now - especially with a preemie since she's more susceptible to illness than the average baby). This brings me to my next awkward situation. The sweet lady asks how old Bean is. I'm conflicted as to what age to give this lady. Do I give her actual age of 3 months when clearly Bean is not the size of a 3 month old or do I give her adjusted age of 1 week to keep things simple? (side note: adjusted age is gestationally how old she would be if she was born on her due date and is used a lot of preemie parents with their childs developmental stages) I'm never going to see this woman again, it would be easier to just say 1 week, but I panic and for some reason feel the need to explain to her that Bean was a preemie and is 3 months, but the size of a newborn.

Now the librarian gets in on the action and comes over as well. I was a little nervous, but both ladies were great and didn't get overly close. The librarian even tells me that her now has a 200 lb preemie who was only a pound when he was born.

From there I quickly find 3 books to read; which has to be a record for me. I manage to wheel over to the check out, get my library card out of my purse with 1 hand and I'm in and out of the library in less than 15 minutes. Bean finally agrees to get back in her car seat in the lobby where I don't really care of she complains.

By the time we get back to the car, I am completely covered in sweat and Bean falls alseep. (figures)

Upon reflection, perhaps bringing Bean to the quietest place on earth wasn't the best idea, but at least I got a few books and a little fresh air. Each outing since has gotten a little easier for both mommy and babe, though I'm still a little afraid to step foot in the library again.

A few of my favorite things

Since bringing our little bean home I have a new list of my favorite things:


1. Fisher Price Rocker/Sleeper - The least expensive "swing" is Bean's favorite. It doesn't take batteries, has to be manually rocked and doesn't make any noise, vibrate or play music, but has the ability to put Bean to sleep and stay asleep the longest.



2. Oxi-Clean - this girl likes to spit up - A LOT! Bean has reflux and likes to projectile spit all over herself and whoever is feeding her - especially after her iron vitamin; which is a nasty shade of swamp green. So far all her clothes (and mine) have come out clean after a pre-treatment of Oxi-Clean. My poor sister got it pretty bad last week when she came over for the day and needed an entire wardrobe change. Sorry Sissy!!

3. The Swaddle - The nurses in the NICU were pros at wrapping Bean in a swaddle with a regular blanket - Mommy - not so much! I sort of forgot I had a Swaddle Me for the first week and once I discovered it in her drawer, I noticed how much faster she fell asleep with it on.

4. The Breast Pump - My pump has been my best friend since Bean was born - especially since I couldn't nurse her for the longest time. I now have a HUGE stash in our freezer, so much so that we had to buy a deep freezer. Anyone need any breast milk?? My fear is one day it will stop working since I use it a million times a day. If that happened I think I'd seriously cry!

5. Bean - Maybe I should have lead with this one, but seriously can't get over my little girl! She is so precious and really is such an easy baby - especially since all the preemie books keep saying preemies are fussy and can be difficult. We have really been blessed with this bundle of sweetness. We started calling her Little Bean in the hospital and the name has stuck. I figured it would be nice to have a little nickname for the blogsphere, so Bean it is.

Home at Last

Easter Sunday was a very special day for us this year. We were finally able to bring Lydia home after 9 long weeks in the NICU! It was a very joyous day for us and one I'll remember always.

In the week leading up to Easter we were so hopeful we'd have her home soon since she hit her 8 bottle requirement on Tuesday, but Wednesday marked her 2 month birthday which resulted in her first round of vaccines. Don't ask me why the don't delay vaccines for preemies, but my poor little 5 lb baby was just exhausted from her shots in the days that followed.

As a result, she wasn't able to come home when we expected, but I'm glad she was able to remain in the hospital for care while she recovered. It would have been pretty scary for me if we waited for the vaccines after we came home and she had the same reaction.

Saturday they gave us a glimmer of hope and told us that she *might* be able to come home the next day if she had a good night. We were so pumped and sure she'd get to come home until we called to check on her Saturday night. During her daily weigh in she had lost 3 grams and we were so afraid this would once again delay her homecoming. Her weight gain had somewhat stalled out in the past few days because they removed the extra calories they were adding to her feedings to prepare her for coming home. As a result, she went from receiving 24 calories each feeding to just 20 calories. This doesn't seem like a lot, but multiple that by 8 feedings a day and that adds up to 32 less calories a day.

When I called Sunday morning to check on her our day nurse confirmed my fear that the Doctor most likely wouldn't want to discharge her since she lost weight over night. I mentioned to our day nurse that she was weighed pretty early in the night and was wondering if it would make a difference if she was weighed again.

Our sweet nurse weighed her again after we hung up (which she totally didn't have to do) and discovered she had gained 5 grams. The gain was small, it was still a gain, so we became hopeful again.

We arrived at the hospital after church and were on pins and needles waiting for the Doctors new orders to come through. That was probably the longest 3 hours of my life. Finally at 2:30pm our nurse came in and told us we were going to be discharged today and to come back at 4pm after they completed the paperwork to take our baby home!! We couldn't believe it and were so thrilled to finally get the news we had been waiting to hear for nine weeks.

She was sent home on an apnea monitor; which monitors her heart beats and respiratory rate, but we didn't care (and to be honest is actually very reassuring when we sleep).

At 4:50pm we were wheeled out the door and started our journey home for the first time as a family of three.

Lydia in her going home outfit with Mommy

Lydia in the car for the first time

She has been such a joy and we love having her home. More to come on her first few days home, but overall she has adjusted well while mom and dad are still adjusting the lack of sleep that comes with a newborn.

Hopefully Optimistic

I think our stay in the NICU may be coming to an end soon! Lydia has made fantastic process and all signs are pointing to a discharge sometime next week, or so the Drs tell me. She still has a few milestones to reach, but the Drs are optimistic that she'll be ready by this next week.

I can't believe we'll have our baby home with us soon. That excites me and also terrifies me, but know they won't send her home before she is ready.

She is now...
- Up to 4 bottles a day and is able to nurse 1x per day
- Off her caffine
- Making faces at Mommy and Daddy
- Sucking on her fingers when hungry
- FIVE POUNDS!!

We can't wait to have our little bean home and are thrilled to be in the home stretch!

Answered Prayers

Since Lydia's early arrival we are learning how to fully rely on God to take care of our little girl and has been neat to see Him answer all our specific prayers. Think this is the first time I ever prayed for poop or for someone to gain weight :)

Lydia has made a lot of progress in the past week for a preemie and we have been able to witness first hand how God answers prayer.

She is now off her nasal cannula; which means she's breathing completely on her own and doesn't need the cannula to keep her airways open!

We had another first today and Lydia was able to take a bottle from me. We weren't sure if her sucking skills would be developed enough, but she did a fantastic job and was even able to take breaks and breathe without help; which I'm told is another developmental hurtle. She ate like a champ... or like an Edwards as I like to tease Kyle.

The last piece of good news is that she is getting weaned from her heated isolette! She started wearing clothes today and should be able to move to an open bed in a few days!

We are so proud of our girl and the progress she has made. God has been with us every step of the way and is neat to see Him strengthen and help Lydia grow each day.

Here is a quick shot of Lydia right after her nasal cannula was removed on Friday!

Heavy Weight

Our little girl has been doing so well in the NICU. She is such a fighter and has made so much progress since she arrived 3 weeks ago. She has been called a heavy weight in the NICU; which makes me laugh because she's so little, but there are a lot of other babies that are even smaller. It's a good reminder of how well she is doing. So far she hasn't had any setbacks and has continued to do so well. She is being bathed in prayer and truly believe that's why she is doing SO well.
So far she has:

- Gained .5 - 1 oz per day and is now up to 2 lbs 13 oz (getting sooo close to the 3 lb mark)
- Moved from the ventilator (most invasive) to the CPAP (Continuous Airway Pressure) and is now on the Nasal Cannual (least invasive) for oxygen to keep her airways open
- Been named the NICU Princess and is known as the easy baby since she doesn't set off the alarms that often
- And most recently, she was moved from the NICU to "Intermediate Care" which means she gets a room all to herself; which is quieter and is one step closer to coming home!


She still has a lot of hurdles to overcome. Below is our current list of prayers for Lydia while she's in NICU:

- Continued Weight Gain - once she gets to 3lbs she will mostly move to an open isolette and can wear clothes
- Lung and Breathing Development - As her lungs develop, she will be able to come off all oxygen
- Ability to Suck - We can't feed her by bottle until she is 34 weeks (2 more to go) and pray she'll be able to eat and breathe at the same time when the time comes for her to try and eat by bottle

The arrival of Lydia Susanne Edwards

Before I start telling the story of Lydia's birth, let me just say that this may be the last time I pre-schedule blog posts since it looks like I was blogging about my shower the day Lydia was born - ha!

Miss Lydia arrived 11 weeks before her due date on February 20, 2011 at 6:25pm weighing 2lbs 5 oz and 15.2 in. long.

We were not expecting Lydia to arrive early at all as my pregnancy was progessing normally and besides the typical morning/all day sickness, I was sailing through without any problems. I had just recently passed my gluclose test and was feeling pretty good as I entered by 3rd trimester.

The weekend before we had visited the Edwards in FL and had our first shower. The week after we got back I started having back pain in the middle of my back that wouldn't go away. After calling the Dr. in the middle of the week, they gave me a perscription for a muscle relaxer since I thought I had pinched a nerve,  but nothing seemed to help and I couldn't sleep at all because of the pain.

On Sunday my parents came over since I was still not feeling well. We decided to call the emergency line to see what else I could do because I really couldn't handle the pain any longer. When the Dr. called me back she told me to come in because it could be kidney stones and she wanted to see me in person to rule it out.

I took more Tylenol before we left and had a few moments of relief by the time we got to the hospital. Once I started feeling better, I was feeling a little silly and Kyle and I joked that they'd probably be sending us home soon.

They ran a few tests and felt like the nurses were working at warp speed. Before too long the nurses came in and dropped a bomb on us that I wasn't expecting. I had pre-eclampsia. I was floored and didn't quite understand what this meant at first. I was hoping there would be a quick fix that would allow me to continue on like normal. They explained to me that the only way to cure the pre-eclampsia was to deliver the baby. The back pain I was experiencing was coming from my liver and my platelet level was extremely low. If I didn't deliver now, I would be at risk for full on eclampsia; which can lead to seizures.

Needless to say, we were in a bit of shock and I did not want to have my little girl enter the world before she was ready, but the nurses kept reassuring me that 29 week old babies do great -- especially little girls!

Kyle was amazing through all of this and was my rock. He kept reassuring me everything was going to be okay and helped keep me calm as I headed into emergency surgery. I last looked at the clock on the OR wall at 6pm and 25 mins later Lydia Susanne was born!

Lydia has been doing quite well in the NICU for the  past 12 days. The NICU has its own language and terms that can seem overwhelming, but Kyle and I already feel like preemie experts as the nurses and doctors patiently explain what every test, wire and machine is used for. Lydia has started gaining weight and has now surpassed her birth weight. :)

Each day is filled with another victory and we can see her getting stronger and chubbier. We have experienced such an outpouring of love and support from our friends and family near and far. It has been so uplifting to read everyone's encouraging and prayerful notes. Through this experience, we've also been hearing more stories of other families with preemies that have gone on to have perfectly healthy children; which is so encouraging and helps me remember that these short months in NICU will one day be a distant memory as our little girl grows.

We'll continue to update the blog with Lydia's progress in the coming days/weeks until she gets to come home.