Playing catch up...

Today I played catch up...catch up on sleep that is. Little miss Kamryn kept mommy up most of the night with her gas pains and reflux. Poor baby is just really struggling so I'm going to talk to the pediatrician about adjusting her reflux medicine and switching her from breast milk to formula (at least at night). Thankfully Kiko has been watching her all day so I could take a much needed nap. Lisa has been in the kitchen all day making several meals that we can freeze and reheat later. I love her.

I didn't get to make it to the hospital today as much as I wanted too. It is just so hard with Kamryn keeping me up all night and trying to nap during the day. I'm hoping tomorrow to be able to go up there in the morning so I can hold her. I hate that she can't be home with us yet. As for her update, she's still struggling with her feedings. She hasn't been able to finish any of her bottles yet, so they have to continue to feed her through her NG tube. So basically we are just waiting for her to get up the strength to finish her bottles and then she should be able to come home. Assuming of course she can tolerate the feedings. She is off the PICC line so that should reduce her risk of infections.

Cuzzin Lisa ROCKS!

Ok...my cousin Lisa is awesome! She flew in last night from Mississippi to help us out and she is so wonderful! Not only did she work all day yesterday, she quickly realized how sleep deprived Kiko and I were and took the midnight, 3 am AND 6 am feedings!!! Of course, being the nervous mother that I am, I still got up at 3 am and 6 am to make sure everything was ok and of course, it was. Lisa's a natural. Not only did she do all that, but she also made me lunch and dinner and went grocery shopping! I think I'm going to cancel her return ticket home. It's sad that the mommy needs a mommy right now...and I don't even have Kayla home yet! Hopefully I can get into a routine soon so I can handle both girls when the time comes.

Kamryn is having some fevers still from the immunizations, but doing well. I hate when my babies don't feel well...it kills me when I can't make them feel better with a hug or a kiss. I'm in for a long 18 years.

I got to hold Kayla today...it's been way too long. I miss that little girl soooo much!! She had her test of the kidney function and it shows no signs of reflux which is a relief. She's slowly checking off the things needed to pass before she goes home. She is still having some problems with her feedings, she's not able to finish her bottles in the allotted time yet and she is still having a lot of reflux problems. Hopefully those will get better soon...right now, that is the long pole in her being able to come home.

Anyway, time to go feed Kamryn! Anybody else want to come visit?!?! Yeah right...Aunt Sandy and Cuzzin Lisa are tough acts to follow! But we'll take any and all offers...especially when Kayla comes home!

cranky baby...

Ok, I spoke too soon about Kamryn not having gas...LOL. Oh well. She had another rough night last night (and so did mommy) but we're muddling through. She had her 2nd month immunizations today...she did great I thought. She's had a fever off and on from them so that isn't making her feel very good. The Dr also upped her Zantac dosage to try and help with the reflux. She now weighs a whopping 7lbs 6 oz and is 19" long!!! She's double what she was when she was born!

Still haven't been able to get to the hospital to see Kayla, but I'm definitely going tomorrow. I can't stand not seeing her everyday, but I just don't have the energy to make that drive with being up all night with Kamryn. I will be so happy when she is home with us. They were able to do her kidney test today, but I don't have the results yet, I'll get them tomorrow. Hopefully it is all well. They were able to remove her PICC line today which is a huge relief. She's still having trouble finishing her feedings, so this will probably be the long pole in her coming home. She's only up to four bottle feedings a day and only finishing one of them in the allotted timeframe. Poor baby just wears out too quickly. She'll get better though, I have no doubts.

Looking forward to a visit this weekend from my cousin Lisa! She's the closest thing to a sister I have and I'm so thankful that she will be coming out here to make sure I eat and rest. :).

sleepy baby...

First of all...THANK YOU for all the emails about helping Kamryn with her gas!! Who knew it could be such an interesting topic! I don't know what I did (or if she is just really tired), but she's been pretty much gas free since last night. I did eliminate all dairy from my diet which may have helped and the mylicon might be kicking in...or maybe it was the extra vodka...just kidding. Anyway, she's been really, really, really sleeping well all night and even today. I had to wake her up for all her feedings which is really weird! Usually she is plowing through bottles and ready for more. I'm hoping that she's just doing better because she's not screaming and swallowing a lot of air before she eats and not because she's not feeling well. She doesn't have a fever and she's not irritable so I'll just assume we are doing something right and enjoy the quiet and maybe nap in between. :) And as I was typing I just heard a rather loud sound coming from her direction...think she just left me a present...lol.

Got a call from the Dr this morning with a Kayla update. She still hasn't gotten rid of all the barium in her system from the upper GI they did so they can't do the testing on her urinary tract until Friday so we have to wait to see what the result of that is. They did do a renal ultrasound and detected what might be some small kidney stones...apparantely this can happen when on some of the medications she's been on. So she will have to have a follow up with the pediatrician when she comes home. They are hoping to get her off the PICC line today so fingers crossed that this is the LAST time she has to have one for a very long time!! Other than that, she's doing great!

gassy baby...

Ok, so what's the trick to helping a baby pass gas?? Somebody give me some good old fashioned tricks. Kamryn wakes up usually about an hour or two after eating and SCREAMS like she is in the worst pain imaginable and curls up into a ball like she's trying to poop...this goes on for quite a while. We added mylicon to the mix of meds and it seems to be working a little bit but it breaks my heart hearing her be in so much pain. Anyone?

Our nanny started part time today which was a blessing!! I didn't get any sleep last night so I was so thankful to get a two hour nap while she was here to watch Kamryn. She will really be a HUGE help when Kayla gets home from the hospital...wish she worked nights too! LOL.

The Dr's have decided to keep Kayla on a special formula when she is discharged from the hospital and not try to get her on breast milk yet. I guess they are leaving that up to the pediatrician to decide. Unfortunately, the formula that she is on is not cheap and insurance doesn't cover it. . I'll pay whatever it takes to keep her healthy though...and I'll try to keep Kamryn on breast milk as long as possible to help defray the costs. So far Kayla is doing well and they are starting the process of getting her ready to come home. She's got all the same gates to pass as Kamryn did but they are optimistic that if she can pass them all, she may be able to come home sometime next week!! I hope so, but I'm so petrified that I'm going to be a nervous wreck. With her history of health problems, I know I'll be overanalyzing every cry and sneeze.

Another late night...

I won't bore you guys with how tired I am...but suffice it to say, I'm really looking forward to the nanny starting tomorrow, even though it will only be part time! I'm hoping to catch up on some much needed sleep!

I went up to the hospital tonight to see Kayla. She now weighs 5lbs, 1.8 oz!!! I'm so happy that she is putting on some weight! She looked great and very peaceful. They were unable to do the tests today on her kidneys, so they rescheduled to Wednesday. She also had an apnea episode today, which was her first in a couple of weeks...so I think we'll be having her on caffeine and an apnea monitor also when she comes home also. Here's a pic of my little Kayla...

Sleep? What sleep?

Sorry I didn't post yesterday...we were busy all day and night and it's getting tough to update! I don't know how I'm going to keep my head together once my aunt leaves today. Kamryn has been great since bringing her home...I think she may be getting a cold though. She's been sneezing and a little congested...so I hope it just stays like that and doesn't get worse.

We finally got up to see Kayla at the hospital yesterday. She was looking great and getting fiesty! They started her back up on her feeds again and she seems to be doing well...her only complaint is she wants more food since they are starting it slowly. Right now they are just watching her to see if she develops any more problems with her digestion. Here are some pictures we took of the girls this weekend...The first one is Kayla at the NICU, the rest are Kamryn at home.