Journey to Fatherhood

No pictures today, but a little video. Hope everyone enjoys!

Exciting!!

We received some exciting yet somewhat frightening news yesterday. We were told by the medical staff that princess Tekla may be coming home in 7 -10 days!! They also moved her from her isolette to a regular crib (so far she is maintaining her temp), they increased her bottle feeds to 4 times a day and they stopped her caffeine (they give it to premies to prevent slow heart rate and slow respiration episodes). She is also up to 4 pounds 3.5 ozs.

Now we have so much to do in order to get the house ready!!

Christmas time

A couple of pictures from Christmas eve and Christmas. As you can see, she did not like the elf outfit, but she enjoyed her little red outfit that her Pawpaw got her.

She hit her benchmark last night. She is now 4 pounds! Doing better with her bottle usually takes 1 full bottle once and about 1/2 a bottle once. As this improves they will let us try more often.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Valuable lesson

I've been thinking back about this experience, mostly about how Tekla decided to come early and the wonderful people we have encountered along the way. The unrelenting, unexpected support from strangers and the valuable life lessons I've learned. One of the most remarkable people I met was April.

While we were at the previous hospital, Greg and I often commented how there seemed to be so many babies who's parents / family didn't visit, or visit very often. Not knowing each babies' situation it is hard to judge why they had few visitors. However there was this one lady I saw on a regular basis, entering or leaving the unit. The baby she was visiting was in a different area so we didn't get a chance immediately to talk, but whenever I saw her, most times she always managed a smile. One day I saw her come in, looking very stressed the the ward clerk rushed her back. This was the first time she wasn't smiling.

The next day we were entering the unit about the same time and we took the opportunity to strike up a conversation. We both shared our stories, only bits and pieces that first day, but enough for me to gain an appreciation for her plight. As time unfolded and we talked more her story inspired me.

She was pregnant with twins with a seemingly normal pregnancy when at 21 weeks she developed complications and ended up delivering. A boy and a girl. The little girl unfortunately didn't live but 3 days, but her son initially did well. He was small, but making progress. The first week or so went very well. Soon after he began to experience all the problems premie's can have, respiratory issues, unclosed PDA's, GI issues, etc. Since that time he had a rough time and was getting worse. She shared with me towards the end that she didn't expect that he would make it.

As we neared time for the transfer home we became closer. She would often be at the side of her baby, looking very tired, but always smiling. Greg and I would offer to bring her food or whatever she needed so she could be with her baby. She was so appreciative when we brought her a simple cup of coffee and a cookie. We met her husband the day we were leaving and she told us how happy they were. In my mind I'm amazed at this, I'm thinking "how can you possibly be happy with what you are going through".

She must have seen my puzzlement on my face. She smiled a huge smile and told us that they only had their daughter for 3 days, at least that if they lost their son, they were able to spend 2 months with him.

This holiday season, let's all be thankful for what we have around us. Take the time to let everyone you know how happy you are that they are in your life. Hug the ones closest to you and pull them closer!!

'Git along little dawgie

We had some fun with Tekla yesterday. The nurses at UC Davis were saying they expected a picture of Tekla in a cowboy hat since she was going home to Texas. We went to "Build a Bear" and found a little denim dress and cowboy hat. After we bathed her yesterday afternoon, she was wide awake and interactive (as interactive as a 33 week old premie can be) so we put her little dress on her, then her hat and I sat her in my lap. She was a hit... all the nurses were having a fit over her and her cowgirl outfit. We started taking pictures and she actually seemed to enjoy all the attention she was getting.

As the pictures show, she is gaining lots of weight, about an ounce and half each day. She is now 3 pounds 11 ozs. At this rate, she may make 4 pounds by Christmas. A good bit smaller than your average Christmas turkey, but a good size for her.

We also heard from the nurse practitioner that we could try to bottle feed her 2 times a day now. At noon today she did wonderfully! She managed to take in 25cc's of her 30cc feeding. The best by far that she has done.

Keep you eye out for pictures of her in the elf outfit we found for her.

Just just keeps growing and growing...

We had fun last night. We got to give her a "real" bath for the 2nd time. She wasn't to keen on the soaping up part, but when we sat her in the tub of warm water, she seemed to like it. Maybe it reminded her of being in Melinda's tummy...

She is also up to 3 pounds, 7 ozs. She has gained 1/2 pound in a week, which is pretty impressive.

The nurses have been encouraging us to do "skin to skin" or "kangaroo" with her. Basically they give us some privacy and one of us removes our shirt and basically we cuddle with Tekla next to our chest with her in nothing but her diaper. She certainly enjoys this. Her heart rate and respirations go down and she totally relaxes... and I must say that it relaxes me as well. I find myself almost falling asleep when I do this.

I also gave her a bottle again last night. She did really well. Every time I thought she was tired and I took the bottle away, she quickly let me know that she wasn't finished. She only took about 10cc's, but it is a start in the right direction.

The docs told us yesterday that she would be in the hospital for 3-4 more weeks.

Gains and such...

Sorry, no picture today. I must download the latest from my camera so I can share. Little Tekla has settled into her new temporary home nicely. She continues to gain weight, she is now up to 3 pounds 4+ ozs. We have begun attempting to give her a bottle, although she hasn't been very receptive yet. She tries, but premies this young have a difficult time, due to neurologic development, coordinating the "Suck, swallow, breath" that most babies due naturally.

I was told yesterday that she actually meets the requirements to take her out of her isolette and move to a crib, but we are in no hurry. She prefers the quiet isolette now and in fact, like most premies, gets upset with to much stimulation.

We have been bombarded again with family and friends who want to meet her, but were doing our best to filter the number of visitors due to her needing less stimulation at this point.

The staff at Children's hospital at this point has been wonderful, however the place is so big (largest NICU in the nation) that we never have the same nurse twice. We were spoiled by the continuity of care at UC Davis and in fact got a phone call from one of the fabulous nurses from UC Davis yesterday to check on Tekla.

I actually returned to work today, although Greg is holding out for a few more days. We both work at hospitals next door to Texas Children's so it is easy for us to drop in and see her. I need to save my off time for when she gets discharged home.

BTW.. I miss Melinda..LOL. I still trying to come up with the words to fully express how we feel about her so I can dedicate a post just to her.

Welcome home

Friday afternoon we were greeted by the "Kangaroo Crew" from Texas Children's Hospital. They were great. They loaded little Tekla up in a incubator just made for plane travel, loaded us on a jet and brought us home.

Tekla handled the trip very well. She had some minor resp. issues at high altitude, but nothing that wasn't expected. She is now tucked into her new home at the hospital where she continues to gain weight. She is now up to 3 pound 2 ozs. We even have started trying to let her take a bottle, but she hasn't quite figured that out yet.

We are just happy to have her here where we have lots of support of friends and family.

Goodbye UC Davis

We found out about noon yesterday that Texas Children's Hospital is sending their "Kangaroo Crew" to pick us and Tekla up. We are so happy to be returning home, however we have received excellent care here at UC Davis from not only the medical team but from the nursing team. We have really bonded with certain members of the team and are thankful for the wonderful care they have provided not only Tekla, but us as well, in this highly stressful time.

With Greg and I both being in the medical field, it is easy for us to be overly critical of the care someone receives so for us to feel so confident about the care here at UC Davis is quite phenomenal. We commend them for their professionalism, expertise and unbiased care of our family during this time.

Last night we also had to say "see you later" to Melinda and Shawn. I'm not going to post much on this subject at the moment, this deserves it's own separate post.

Thanks for nothing...

This is the way I feel towards our insurance coverage at the moment. We have been trying to get a transfer to the Children's hospital in our area for well over a week. She is looking at another 4-6 weeks in the hospital, plus being a premie, she will need very close followup in the specialized premie clinics and there is a chance she may have to go home on some type of monitoring.

Insurance, in their infinite wisdom, has denied paying for the transfer. So when our baby is discharged I'm just suppose to put her on a commercial plane and take her home? What if she is on a monitor? The airlines certainly will not let her on board due to liability. Again, thanks for nothing.

We have contacted several private companies and Texas Children's Hospital directly. We will have to pay for the expensive transfer ourselves but it is in the best interest of our daughter for her future health care. We are in planning stages with the "Kangaroo Crew" to handle the transfer. Hopefully we will be back in our home town in a few days.

In the meantime, Tekla surpassed her birth weight and continues on the way up. She is over 2 pounds, 13 ozs. I can't weight for the 3 pound party.

Milestone

When I arrived back in Sacramento yesterday, Tekla had made so much progress since I last saw her 3 days ago. Her color was better, she had clearly gained weight and she is beginning to learn how to smile. It is amazing how this girl can melt your heart with her facial expressions.

The big milestone was last night when we weighed her. She is now up to 1260g (2 pounds 12.6ozs) which is up from her birth weight.

We are still working on a possible transfer back to Houston. Hopefully we will hear something from the insurance companies. That would make a wonderful Christmas present to have her in her home town.

Baby Withdrawals..

I had to head back to Houston for a couple of days to take care of some things around the house. We left so urgently when all this began we had a lot of things that were left unfinished. I'm missing Greg and Tekla horribly.... I'm relying solely on updates from Greg at this point.

When I left yesterday, Tekla had made another big move. She was moved from the "Special Care" nursery, to the regular nursery. She is the smallest baby there, although she is gaining weight. One of the nurses knew I was leaving so she made me a little card with Tekla's footprints for me to take with me.

One exciting event happening this weekend, Greg's mom and aunt flew out to see Tekla for the first time. I hate that I missed seeing the look on their faces the first time they saw Tekla.

I find myself watching her intently when I'm around her. She is now having REM sleep and I often wonder what she is dreaming about. One thing I do know, she isn't dreaming about hate or meanness. She is so innocent at this point.

Is that supposed to happen??

Princess Tekla continues to amaze us. She is now discovering her world more, becoming more active. She will turn her head towards our voices and definitely let you know if something upsets her, but surprisingly, she isn't much of a crier. She is behaving much the same as a normal baby, she is just so small.

She is having these bradycardia (low heart rate) episodes that are frightening. They resolve pretty quickly, but the scare the crap out of us when they happen. We keep getting reassured this is normal for a baby of her age.

Moving on up... (or down)

We got word that Tekla will move out of the ICU tonight into the special care nursery. We are nervous, even though we knew she was doing to well to remain in ICU. She has received such excellent care we hate to see her change. They reassured us they are putting her in the "penthouse" room... the bed with the nicest view. If only her little eyes worked well enough to enjoy the view!

She now weighs 2 pounds 4.3 ozs. She has lost quite a bit of weight since birth, but has slowed down the amount she is losing. It is common for all babies to loose weight after birth so we aren't to alarmed, we are just ready for her to start going up consistently.

She is tolerating her feedings through her tube very well. In fact they are going to stop her IV feedings tonight.

Talk is continuing about the possibility of transferring her to Children's hospital near our home. While it will be great for us we are torn because she has been getting such good care here.