filling my mason jar: So Tiny

Saturday, October 4, 2014

So Tiny

(Still backtracking)

Sunday, 9/7/14 - Day 2

It's frustrating being an inpatient myself. I had nurses in my room at the U every 2 hours during the night to knead my stomach (Ouch!) and take vitals, then doctors started coming in at 5:30am. It was super restful. :) We got over to see Sara as soon as we could this morning. Today was full of visitors. Sara is a lucky girl. She has so many people who love her.

She almost always has her little tongue sticking out (most likely pushed out by the tubes in her mouth). I think she has Rhett's nose and Reid's bottom lip.

We heard "she's so tiny" or "her hand/foot is so tiny" from everyone who visited. At only 4 lbs, she was definitely tiny compared to the boys birth weights of 8.13, 9.7, 9.9, and 9.2.

I got to change Sara's diaper for the first time, and take her temperature. I helped the nurse do the "cares" as they call it. I loved being able to take care of her as much as possible. It helped me feel like I really am her mother.

Sara has a lot going on to keep her alive. She is still not attempting breaths on her own and is still on the oscillator. She is on Dopamine to keep her blood pressure high enough. She's on PGE, prostaglandin E, to keep her Patent Ductus Arteriosis (PDA) open . It has to stay open so blood can get to the rest of her body, since the left side of her heart can't do it. She's also receiving sugar & lipids through her umbilical. She is on a general antibiotic. She has a skin temperature monitor (the shiny gold heart), O2 saturation monitors on her wrist and foot - one pre-PDA and one post-PDA, and a cerebral oximeter on her forehead to measure brain oxygenation. She has an IV in her left wrist. She also has cardiopulmonary monitors (heart rate & respiratory rate) and Co2 monitor.

Even covered in all this, I think she's beautiful.

Look at how big that preemie diaper looks on her - it's even folded down at the top!

Mom brought the boys up to meet Sara for the first time. It was so sweet. They kept commenting on how tiny she is. I thought they'd be scared to see her all hooked up to tubes and such, but luckily they were just curious. We tried to explain what they were all for and that they weren't hurting her. I could tell they just loved her right away. Rhett had fun squishing my tummy and had me explaining that Sara wasn't in my tummy anymore, that she is the baby in front of us. He said, "baby Sara owie?" as he pointed to her umbilical site. I loved to see them be so enthralled with, and proud of, their baby sister. They were so sweet and gentle with her. They thought it was super cute when she held onto their hands with her fingers. They like how soft her skin is and that she has curly hair.