Starving Super Model

I'm famous and starving all in one day! Give me some food and I won't be so crabby!

Instant fame came my way yesterday when my picture made the front page of the Sunday edition of the Everett Herald! Yippee! I am frowning because I knew something would be up on the day my story was published, but I'll get to that in a second. The story is pretty accurate about me and my Mommy, although I assure you, I was born on May 16, not on April 16. But don't blame the reporter, the captions are written by the young man who photographed me. If you were to look up the article online (http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080629/NEWS01/636718911/0/FRONTPAGE), you will find an additional picture of me smiling! I guess they wanted that one posted only online, for, as you know, I will not have a clue what newspapers are when I am old enough to read! The Internet or some other electronic material will be streamline at that time! Mommy's friends say that she looks obese in the printed article, so take a look at the web version, it looks better. Besides, I'm sure they wanted to catch how small I am by choosing the picture that captures Mommy looking a little bigger than in real life.

Okay, so I really am a starving model. I knew I wasn't getting any compensation for my big day, but to remove all my yummy food? Come now. One should never starve a cute little baby! So why is this being done? I'll tell you what my medical family says. They are taking all necessary precautions for an infection because I had a bloody poo Saturday night. Thankfully, my Daddy caught it (ha ha! not literally!) and informed my beautiful nurse Janay (who I just adore. Well, actually, I'm just a bit upset with her right now because she draws my blood, pokes needles in my heels, shoves tubes through my nose and mouth, suctions out my tummy contents, AND doesn't let me eat! She used to give me my yummy bottles, and now she only holds me when I scream! I miss the nice Janay.) Anyway, I'm not allowed to eat anything for 48 hours unless something is actually wrong, then it may be a week or more. Oh! I can't believe this!

The good news is that I don't have C-diff or rotavirus, my blood work came back normal, and I'm still adorable! The bad news: my tummy X-ray hasn't been up to par each time it is done, which is twice a day. The news that is making me and my family (both medical and biological) so anxious is the blood culture which should reveal the worst or the best news late tonight (Monday). Worse case scenario: 1) I have necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), click the following link for more info http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/digestive/nec.html, or 2) some big word I can't write, but it basically is like the intestines become just like bubble wrap in which the lining fills with air bubbles. Both of these obviously scary diseases are life threatening. Okay, enough about all that. I will let you know if either of these is the case in the days to come.

I have to get going now. My Mommy's work is celebrating my birth and putting on a shower in my honor today, so I must get prepared. (Yeah, I know I am not allowed to attend, but I can still dream, can't I?)

I really can't wait to meet you all who care so deeply about me and my family. I do hope that the news that is revealed to me will be good. Keep praying and thinking about me, I really do appreciate it!

Until next time, your little superstar baby,

Danica

Happy Birthday!! (6/17/08)

Hi Everyone!!

Can you believe that I celebrated my 1 month birthday yesterday and my Mommy hasn't helped me update my blog since I was born? I think she is very naughty! She says she'll get around to it soon in between pumping, cuddling me and changing my stinky diapers! I got her back yesterday by peeing all over her when she attempted to put a new diaper on me!! (Although it wasn't anywhere near as funny as when I shot a poo across my bed!)

Well, lots of things have taken place since I was born. Mommy says she'll help me write about them more in detail later, but just in case she doesn't, I'm going to list a few of the highlights.

When I was yanked out of Mommy's tummy, I screamed and hollered and got real upset that I wasn't nestled in my comfy amniotic fluid. So, I never needed any type of respiratory support, not even a nasal cannula!! I've been on room air ever since, and I plan on keeping it that way! I was placed in an isolette (new term for incubator) and I'm still in it. I could have graduated to a crib about 2 weeks ago now, but my friendly doctors and nurse practitioners say that I would be lost in a crib :) I am chubbier than I was before. I'm proud to say that I weigh a hefty 3lbs 13oz!! I am now 15 inches long and my pediatrician told my parents that my vertical growth is no where near as important as my weight gain! Take that all you sickly skinny models and wanna be's!

I got a delightful introduction to caffeine! (Mommy thought that to be ironic as she stopped drinking coffee for my sake last summer!) I was getting a nice double tall latte every morning to help my heart rate and breathing remain steady, but apparently I don't need help anymore. I think I have an awful withdrawal headache!! Now I get only my dose of iron in the evenings. That is not at all as fun as my latte!

What else...I was on an IV for 1 week only. I was able to tolerate Mommy's milk through my NG tube really well from the beginning and now I'm taking 1 oz for 30 minutes every 3 hours. This makes me get pretty fussy just before my next feeding which is disturbing Mommy. She thinks that it was a little nicer when I was getting continuously fed and always content. Ha ha Mommy! You have just a small taste of how I will be when I get to come home!! Oh! I can't wait to go home. I adore my nurses, they really love me so much, but they aren't allowed to kiss me without fear of getting fired! It really tickles when my parents kiss me--my eyes jolt right open to see what this oddity is and who's doing it. Then I calm down and remember that it's my darling Mommy and Daddy so I smile and cross my eyes.

Oh yeah, back to eating (I love to eat!!)... I have started to nipple a little. My night nurse helped me drink an entire bottle (1 oz) 2 nights ago at 3am! My pediatrician could hardly contain himself when my Mommy told him that. I've been told I'm a superstar before, and now it has been repeated.

Talking about stardom, I had a photo shoot on Father's Day for the Everett Herald, our local newspaper! The journalist came to meet me the following day and thought I was such a cute big girl! She was interested in Mommy's story about her pregnancy and why I was so early. I would say it's because I wanted to know what all those noises were and what was going on outside my nest that Mommy would laugh so much or talk to so much and I would rarely hear another person talking to her. Now I know that she was talking on the phone!! Imagine, a 34 weeker (gestational mind you) learning so quickly about the phone. Even my nurses use them. Anyway, I was a model for an article about low birth-weight babies and how they are becoming more common in Washington. Sharon, the journalist, said the purpose of the article is to hopefully help the general public become aware of the need for prenatal care. Mommy understood that! She said that our time together during pregnancy was terrific--no morning sickness, no signs/symptoms of high blood pressure, no swelling, really no external symptoms that she was sick. She wouldn't have even gone to a doctor until the next day about her liver pain since it just felt like a severe case of reflux. And you know what that would have led to...

My article will likely be published this coming weekend. I can't wait for Mommy to read it to me!! I will ask Daddy or my Uncle Perlock to add a link to it on my website so you too can read it and see how adorable I am!!

Hmm...I know my Mommy's favorite event is: bathing me! I've taken 3 baths since birth and I REALLY love them! I took my last one Saturday in preparation for my big photo shoot. My nurse taught Mommy how to massage me from fingers and toes to back and heart! Ohhhh, that was so wonderful! I closed my eyes and put out my foot for Mommy to repeat! Now my standards have become that much higher! Sorry Mommy, but you can't let a good thing pass you by.

Okay friends and family, I will really scream hard next time so Mommy will actually help me update my blog sooner. You can see I'm going to be high maintenance, just don't let her know. Thanks to all of you for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers. I greatly appreciate it. Please also remember my friends here in the NICU who don't have it so good. Thank you also for the great presents! I'm working hard of catching up on all my thank-you cards, but sometimes I'm just a little too groggy and then they make me do more work.

Hope to see all of you soon!!

Love,

Danica

Hello World! Here I Am!! (Week of 5/11/08)

Wow, what a crazy, fast-paced week Mom and I had! My Nana came on Monday, 5/12, to help my Dad by taking Mom and me to my MD appointments (remember, Mom is on bedrest and not allowed to drive) since there were going to be 3/week and they last anywhere from 2-3 hrs/each. So, Monday evening, we all took a tour of the Providence Everett Medical Center Pavilion for Women and Children, where I was going to be born. The birthing suites were very nice and new, with wood floors and your own bath/shower. The rooms on the west side of the building had beautiful views of the Puget Sound, the port in Everett and evergreen trees.

On Tuesday, Nana took us to my ultrasound to measure the growth of my head, belly, arms and legs. Apparently, I had been working really hard to keep things in balance and my belly had shrunk to way below average and I was sending all my blood to my brain. The MD told my Mom we would be admitted to the hospital right then for 48 hr monitoring. Later that day, the NICU MD visited Mom and said she needed to get a series of steriod shots for my lungs and respiratory system to develop as I would likely be born within a week. My Mom's OB/GYN also came and said Mom would stay in the hospital on strict bed rest until I was delivered. A lot of news all in one day!!

Wednesday came along and the blood flow in my brain and umbilical cord were again measured. The MD reported that we would not do another ultrasound Thursday as no significant change had occured. Mom was sad because she always received pictures of my parts to keep whenever she had an ultrasound. I also didn't have to have my heartrate monitored constantly.

During the day on Thursday, nothing eventful occured, Mom just had to stay in bed. Her MD expected her to have cabin fever by this time, but Mom just loved the care of the nurses (her day nurse was Kelly and night nurse Mary Ann) and MDs who were in and out of her room. That afternoon, a couple of Mom's good friends visited her (Eleanor, Jen, and Uyen) and all of them brought food! Yum! (The hospital food was also tasty, but homemade and Thai food are always good.) Mom started to feel like she was getting reflux again (not uncommon these last couple of weeks) and was not able to eat too much. That night, she threw up for 1 1/2 hours, convincing the nurse she was relieving the acid in her esophagus. Well, an hour later, the area just below her sternum became too painful so the nurse called the on-call MD who ordered blood to be drawn. Now, Mom had done a 24 hr urine sample again during this admit and her protein was 900+, not good! When the labs came back, Mom was told that I would be born in 6-12 hrs as her liver enzymes were 884 (they should not be above 30!). Mom called Dad at 4 am and told him I was coming soon, but he could go back to sleep--which is what he did.

At 8 am, Dr. Sharmahd came in and told Mom she would be having a c-section at 9 or 10 am and that she should call Dad if she wanted him to be present. Fortunately, Dad and Nana were already awake and made it in time!! Dr. Wear, my anesthesiologist told my Mom step by step what would take place and was very honest when Mom asked what would happen if I was not removed immediately by saying that my Mom would die since her liver would rupture. Nana and Mom's friend and former co-worker Crystal were present for the c-section (Crystal took some great pics of my birth!) and Dad got to go with me to the NICU and watch me get prepared for this new life.

I was born at 10:08 a.m. on 5/16/08, was 2 lbs, 3.1 oz and was 14 inches long (although my Dad was told 13.5 inches). You should look at my pictures and see how cute and teeny-tiny I am!

A Busy Week

My serial non-stress tests started this week--I have 2/week. These monitor my heart rate to see if it will go up 10 beats/minute two times in an hour. My heart rate was about 145 baseline, but it plummeted temporarily to 70 on Tuesday and 90 on Thursday, so my Mom and I were admitted to the hospital both days for further monitoring. No further decline occurred while in triage. Mom's blood pressure is now considered "labile" or temperamental as it was as low as 87 and then 101 a couple hours later. Apparently, she's on the largest dose of medicine possible, so not much more than bed rest can be done at this time. Mom also had many contractions that she couldn't feel during hospitalized monitoring, so the MD isn't too concerned since they aren't strong enough for her to feel. Mom now has to drink as much fluid as possible and tally my movements every hour that she's awake. Mom also takes something to do each visit now in case we are admitted again!!



But I'm doing great! I love to kick and stretch and make my Mom wonder what I'm doing inside that makes her tummy sort of roll around. I still love it when Dad's around and get so excited. My activity is so strong now that you can see Mom's belly jumping around! I'm good at kicking the monitors too and making them move!!



My Nana is coming next week so my Dad can actually get some work done--he spent a lot of time at the hospital this week so he has to make up work. Nana is going to come look at me during my ultrasound on Tuesday which will show if I'm growing. Dad is going to go to a "new dad's class" to learn that he's not the only one who is concerned about having a little sprite like me enter his world!!

Notes from the Womb: 4/29/08 (Click here)

My Mom and Dad saw me via ultrasound on 4/23/08 and the doctor said I weigh 1lb, 11oz! My femurs are still really little (thanks to Dad!), but I can still kick Mom real hard! In fact, I just love to get fiesty and wrestle in my Mom's tummy.

My Mom and Dad have a lot to deal with already, and I'm still 12.5 weeks from my due date! The MD said Mom has high blood pressure so she has to take medication and lay on her side for 4 hours during the day. She can't drive or work at this time, so Dad has to take us to our 33 scheduled MD appointments starting next week! Thanks Dad!! You are so generous, especially when your job needs you to be working overtime to get deadlines met.

I love that my Mom is on bed rest! I am more active and love it when I hear Dad's voice when he gets home from work--I start to kick and squirm more than ever!! Dad can feel me kicking, but nobody can see my movements yet just looking at Mom's tummy.