One Month Old!

On Wednesday Adrianna turned one month old!  That evening I was allowed to give her a bath, change out her sensors, and administer her vitamins and caffeine.  (The caffeine is supposed to help with breathing.)

She was so comfortable during Kangaroo Care - she hardly moved at all the entire evening.  The nurse took this picture after she removed the blankets and was about to put her back in her isolette.  I just hate letting her go!

We praise God for sustaining little Adrianna through her first four weeks and pray that she will grow stronger, gain weight, and continue to develop without any complications.  We are so in love with her and are in awe of how much God has blessed us!

Billy is still showing signs of sickness - runny nose, headache, sneezing - nothing enough to keep him home from work but still enough to prevent him from visiting Adrianna.  Last night Joe began throwing up and he currently has a fever.  I'm doing my best to keep the other children well and am refusing to let myself get sick, because that's simply not an option right now!

Hopeful Signs

Adrianna and I had another wonderful visit together Tuesday night.  We Kangarooed for 2 hours and then I changed her diaper.  You may have noticed I was pretty proud of myself the night before for changing her diaper so easily.  This time, however, Adrianna decided to challenge me and made the job a little more complicated!  (I'll let you figure out on your own how she did that!)

Then I checked her temperature.  She has a sensor attached to her body that is connector to her isolette which regulates the temperature inside in accord with her body temperature.  But before and after Kangaroo Care her temperature needs to be taken to make sure she's warm enough.  I've read that during Kangaroo Care the mother's body temperature rises and falls to maintain an even temperature for the baby.  What I'm not sure is if this is a hormone-related thing that wouldn't apply to a non-biological mom.  It doesn't really matter, though, because I kept her warm enough.  Dads can Kangaroo, too, for that matter.  (Adrianna really wants Daddy to get better so he can finally hold her!)

Yesterday morning we had a visit from Adrian's caseworker (who would have been Adrianna's worker but she's moving to a new department - Adrian's and Adrianna's new caseworker is now coincidentally going to be Mikea's old caseworker) and learned a few things that give us hope that things are moving in our favor.  As far as the relative who was brought in to be Adrianna's placement, it is up to her to contact DFPS to even be considered for the placement.  DFPS is not going to seek her out and she has yet to contact them. Placement will not happen until Adrianna is released from the hospital, which in my estimation would be December at the very earliest. The case is also supposed to be "fast-tracked" with parental rights possibly being terminated once 60 days from the last court date have passed. 

So, more waiting, hoping, and praying.  Good thing we have lots of experience with all three!

Mama Kangaroo

This past weekend I was able to begin Kangaroo Care with Adrianna.  Kangaroo Care is holding your preemie on your chest with skin-to-skin contact.  It promotes bonding between mother and baby, and better regulates baby's breathing, temperature, and heart rate, helps them gain weight, and reduces risk of infection. (It also encourages breastfeeding, very important, but clearly not applicable in our case!) One study also showed that during Kangaroo Care, the brain waves associated with contentment and bliss doubled!  Kangaroo Care was started by a doctor in Colombia where there was a shortage of equipment needed to care for premature babies.  The mortality rate dropped from 70% to 30% once Kangaroo Care was implemented.  You may also recall the story several months ago about a mother in Australia (of course!) whose infant was believed to be dead.  She held him on her chest and after two hours he revived!

Saturday evening I held Adrianna like this for an hour, Sunday afternoon I held her for an hour and 45 minutes, and Monday evening we Kangarooed for 2 hours.  Besides being benefical for her, it's nice for me to have some quiet time - time to pray, time to hope and dream about Adrianna's future. Last night I also changed her diaper for the first time, and although it was a little tricky, I think my experience of changing 1000's of diapers over the past 3 years definitely came in handy.  The picture below shows one of her diapers next to one of Adrian's giant size 4's.  (She's actually now wearing one size larger, but those are a little big and need to be folded down in the back and the front.)

Adrianna currently weighs 2 pounds 6 ounces.  Yesterday her doctor upped the amount of protein she's receiving in order to get her to gain weight more quickly.  I'm hoping that between the added protein and the Kangaroo Care, she'll start gaining more weight so we can get her home where she belongs.

Holding Adrianna

This past Monday evening I had the privilege of holding tiny Adrianna for the first time.  I wasn't expecting to be able to and watched in wonder as Kendra, the nurse, took a few moments to untangle and disconnect the various tubes and wires attached to Adrianna in order to swaddle her in a blanket. Once Adrianna was swaddled, Kendra held her with only one hand while she closed up the incubator - it was just as though she were a doll. My first thought when I saw her face up close for the first time was, "She looks like Mikea!", mainly due to her coloring and her dark hair. She was opening and closing her eyes and mouth for the first few minutes of me holding her.  She was also sticking out her tongue, which is no bigger than my pinky fingernail!

Turns out that would be the only time this week Billy or I would be allowed to hold her.  Last night Billy asked the nurse to check with Adrianna's doctor to find out when we can start holding her on a regular basis.  I think right now there's only so much stimulation she can tolerate and they want to make sure she's ready for it.  It's hard to fathom that next week she'll already be 1 month old!

Wednesday evening she weighed 980 grams and last night she was up to 1010 grams, which is about 2 pounds 3 ounces.  In the next few pictures you can see just how tiny she is.

We're staying optimistic but I'd be lying if I told you there weren't times when the sadness of it all gets to be overwhelming.  We're still adjusting to the new routine of taking turns driving downtown every night to visit her and it gets harder and harder to leave her each time.  We love her so much already and we desperately want her to be part of our family forever.