Some Pig...

Homer Zuckerman: There he is!

Arable: That's some pig.

Avery: He's terrific!

Lurvy: He's radiant!

Mrs. Zuckerman:  Well, he's clean anyway...

Not much to update about little Juliet but in the crazy NICU it's best to make as few waves as possible.  She is 2 weeks old, 33 weeks and 3 days adjusted.  She weighs 4lbs 6.4 oz, above her birth weight!  She is getting 4 bottles a day and 4 NG feeds.  She reminds me of the little runt Wilbur in Charlotte's web -- surpassing everyone's expectations. 

She has continued to make progress every day and hasn't had any setbacks thus far.  The reality of the NICU however, is that no matter how amazing your babe is doing, you are always prepared for a setback.  Yes, she is eating like a horse.  Yes, she has required no oxygen or other medications.  Yes, she is maintaining her heart rate and respirations on her own.  BUT..... She is still only 33 weeks old.  She should still be growing inside her mother for 7 more weeks.  Dr.B never fails to remind us that while she is doing spectacular, she is very, very premature.  Yesterday he told us that many babies her age would still be fed strictly by NG tube so the fact that she is up to four bottles a day is amazing.  He also tells us that if she would need extra time to get used to the increased feeding or would need to slow down and go back to three bottles a day we wouldn't consider it a setback.  She is that far ahead of the game. 

All around us new families were taking their babies home this week.  Very bittersweet.  We can't wait for that to be us, but right now we know she is in the best place she could be. 

This is her MAD face

Jaslyn is still happy with her grandparents and visiting us once or twice a week.  My mom and my aunt are taking excellent care of me and baby Juliet has been able to meet some of her aunts and cousins this week.  The NICU is getting expensive -- I think I have shopped more online while sitting in the rocking chair with Juliet than I have shopped in a store in my entire life. Everyone is surprised by how small she is in person but she is filling out her preemie clothes well and her cheeks look chubbier every single day!  She really is "some pig".  

Though She Be But Little...

Today our sweet bunny is 1 week old.  I tried to remember what our first week home with Jaslyn was like  -- how thankful we would be to wake up every 2 hours to nurse a crying baby.   We are still thankful, just for different things.  Modern medicine, compassionate doctors,  family and friends that opens their hearts and their homes  in your time of need.  Strangers who offer advice or a shoulder to lean on when the NICU itself just becomes too overwhelming.  NICU parents are really amazing  -- a hundred  people have shared their story with us , helped us understand what we should expect , or just offered to be there if we had questions.  Until you've had to leave the hospital without the baby that brought you there in the first place, you just can't imagine.  An instant community that you never expected to be a part of.

Juliet has cruised through her first week of life in the NICU, sleeping snugly in the incubator meant to mimic my belly.  She has lost just 100 grams, expected fluid loss in any newborn.  In the next 3-5 days we expect to start seeing her weight start to climb again.  She is tolerating her tube feedings  and the amount she takes in increases everyday.  She is allowed to try to nurse once per day , although  her doctor has advised me she is still much to young to really eat on her own. Instead the time  she spends trying to nurse is meant to let her learn , explore, and build up stamina for when she is bigger.  Our doctor joked that she makes his job easy.  We are so proud to be the parents of this tiny super human.  

 

 

After 10 days in Morgantown  I came home for the night to replenish my clothes and repack Jaslyn for her week with grandparents.  Jeremy and his parents drove to Morgantown to be with the baby while I was gone.   Jazzy and I got to spend the morning watching Frozen and playing with  Easter eggs then Mimi came over to help get some things done in both girls rooms.

 

 

We sorted through baby clothes and laughed when Jeremy said he couldn't remember Jaslyn being small enough to fit newborn clothes.  I  finally framed one of the new pictures I bought for the nursery and  it couldn't be more appropriate for our new love.  

 

 

Milestones

Today I should be 8 months pregnant.  This week all my maternity purchases came in the mail --bows for Jaslyn and a frilly pink maternity sash for me to wear in our maternity pictures -- all sitting unopened on a table in our living room.  On my phone I have a huge list of "Things To Do Before Baby Two!"  Buying Jaslyn an Easter dress, getting out the swing, washing crib sheets, and buying wall art for the nursery. 



Instead, I have a 4 day old baby girl, who marked her 32nd week this morning by blowing through some major NICU milestones.  After just 4 days, she has graduated from acute care and into the step-down pod in the NICU.  She is the youngest, but one of the healthiest babies in the room. She still has required no oxygen to help her breathe.  They removed her IV this morning.  All that remains is the tiny feeding tube in her nose that delivers fortified breast milk to her every 3 hours.   She is showing signs of hunger and is able to tolerate all they are feeding her, so everyday they increase the amount.  Today she is up to 1 ounce every 3 hours.  Her bilirubin has came down and we were able to remove her tiny Wayfarers and nix the blue light. 

Instead of decorating our nursery I spent the evening buying preemie pants and preemie reference books on Amazon. 

This afternoon they put her in a tiny t-shirt that hung off her tiny frame, a pink hat 4 times too big for her head, wrapped her in two blankets and let me and my mom hold her.  They are slowly decreasing the amount of heat in her incubator so that soon she can move to a regular crib. 

Dr. Barretto, the staff pediatrician is amazing.  Every morning he comes to her bedside and tells me how wonderful she is doing, and that we just have to wait for her to grow. 

Jaslyn is such a trooper.  She of course has absolutely no idea what is going on.  She is having a blast playing with my cousins and is trying her best to talk.  She has babbling conversations with her toys and my dad.  She floats seamlessly from my parents, to Jeremy's, to my Aunt Becky while I am at the hospital.  When I ask her about her baby sister, she still shakes her head no.  I desperately want to be at home with both of my girls. 

Time flies by -- I can't believe how many milestones she has already met -- yet stands still.  I have been here for a week and she for 4 days already.  Best case scenario we will be here another 3-4 weeks while she eats more and continues to grow.  I hate every single minute of it, but am also so incredibly thankful she is doing this well.  Someone is always in a worse situation than you, and we are incredibly lucky to just be dealing with a super tiny baby and not one that is sick or has major health issues.  We will gladly track back and forth everyday to hold our sweet princess and deliver her milk so that she is home with us soon.  I feel like when we finally make it home I may never want to leave again. 

 

And then there were Four

And just like that, three becomes four <3

 

 

 

We had a fairly uneventful night Thursday after my medicine was stopped. Friday I spent in bed, as ordered, being entertained by Caitlin, Laura, Jeremy, and Adam.  I showered and felt halfway normal.  I thought I had a few contractions late in the evening, but nothing showed up on the monitor and we talked about moving me out of a labor room and into a regular OB room to be monitored until 34 weeks.  I fell asleep around midnight.

At about 4:10AM on Saturday morning I woke up having contractions.  They were mild, but worse than I had been having.  I walked around the room, drank some water, tried to read for a few mins to see if they would stop.  By 4:30, they were still coming, so I woke Jeremy up and he tried rubbing my back, again, the goal being that we keep baby in and not try to go into labor.  Within a few minutes, I knew the labor was back. 

Labor and delivery was a mess --- I knew she was coming from the first contraction.  Somehow your body just knows.  An epidural was now out of the question and the really bad news was it was now 7 AM, shift change, and the doctors were in morning meeting.  I told my nurse I had to push but she didn't really believe me until she saw the baby's head.  Next thing I know, there are 100 people running around, trying to push us to an OR delivery room.  Everyone yelling at me not to push and me yelling "I'm pushing!" in true TLC Baby Story style.  We barely made it in -- one push and she was out. 

As insane as the delivery was, praise Jesus the baby was as next to perfect as you can be.  Jeremy got to hold her and bring her over for me to see before they took her to the NICU.  Luckily, I was up within an hour or so and got to walk over to see her as well. 

Everything happened so fast, it is still all very surreal.  She was born at 7:46AM, weighing 4lbs 1.5oz and 17inches long.  She is in an incubator to help regulate her temperature but so far has required no additional oxygen or treatments.  She has a small feeding tube in her nose since she is too small to suck, swallow, and breathe at the same time.  She currently has an IV through which she is getting prophylactic antibiotics and is under a bili light for a slightly high bilirubin.  She is peeing and pooping on her own, big milestones in the preemie world, lol!  We met with the NICU team today and they said other than her size, she is in great shape.  They will start a 48 hour trial wean from her incubator tomorrow and she will hopefully lose her IV in the next 2-3 days.  The nurses said she is "quite the firecracker" and that she "thinks she is a full term baby".  We still haven't been able to hold her, but are patiently waiting.  I was finally able to get her some breast milk today, which should of course help her grow and help prevent her from having a serious infection in her gut that is common in preemies. 

I will likely be discharged tomorrow and will be going to stay with my Aunt who lives in the area.  I'll drive back and forth daily to visit baby and meet with her care team.  Jeremy will be going home to start working on getting the house ready for us to come home, plus returning to work.  He will switch off with my parents and Jeremy's parents in taking care of Jaslyn everyday and trying to keep her routine as normal as possible.  She will also come stay with me at my aunts house so we can spend some time together.  Jazzy came to see me in the hospital yesterday, but she was more interested in playing peek-a-boo behind the curtain with daddy.  She won't be able to see the new baby until we come home, so it will still be quite a few more weeks before she understands her new baby is here! 

Everyone has been so supportive and kind during this very difficult time.  We have been so overwhelmed we didn't even name the baby until about 3pm this evening (Sunday).  We really appreciate everyone's continued well wishes and prayers.  We aren't out of the woods yet and we have such a long way to go, but every bit of support helps pull us along.  We haven't been able to keep up with all the texts and messages, so we apologize if we forgot to reply, we aren't ignoring anyone!  We will try to keep everyone updated on her progress as we can.  

Until then, here are a few sweet shots of the littlest princess, Juliet Todd Wooten <3

** Juliet is named after her daddy's grandma Julia and her granddad Jefferie Todd, uncle Jacob Todd, and her Day who got her entire family calling her mommy Jessie Todd.  <3

Day 2 @ WVU

We had a pretty rough night, lots of contractions and I continued to dilate to between a 4 and 5.  Everything settled down around 330 AM and has been quiet since then.  The baby looks great on the monitor and on ultrasound.  Her kidneys are working great so she is replacing the fluid I am losing and she hasn't shown any signs of distress yet. 

The staff here is amazing, everyone has been so nice and gone out of their way to explain things 2 and 3 times.  I know we are in the best place. 

My high risk OB has explained that we have two goals:  Short Term, we wanted the baby to stay in for 48 hours to get some ABXs and steroids.  As of 1 PM today we will meet that goal.  Long Term, they want the baby to stay in until 34 weeks.  This is less likely, most babies are delivered within a week of water breaking, but still an overall goal.  We got our second dose of steroids and lost the magnesium sulfate at 130 today.  Now, if I go back into labor we will deliver.  If not, they will keep me admitted here until I go into labor or reach 34 weeks, whatever comes first.

We met with the NICU today who advised us to at a minimum be prepared for a feeding tube to give her breast milk, since she wont be able to suck and breathe at the same time and some oxygen though nasal cannula.  Of course there are lots of other possible complications but they advised us it was nothing to worry about until it happened.  Regardless, the baby will have to stay here at Ruby until she reaches full term and is breathing and eating with no problems

I miss my little birdie and can't even imagine what she is going to think when she finally gets to see us.  I'm also used to big fat bambinos, so I'm extra nervous about a tiny baby in the NICU with tubes and wires.  I think I've mentioned it before but nurses are terrible patients.  We are taking it minute by minute and are so thankful for everyone praying for us and this miracle babe.  Hopefully we have some good news to pass along soon! 

And I don't think I mentioned what amazing friends we have.  Cait and Laura have been taking such good care of me while my mom has her carpal tunnel surgery -- they bought me tons of necessities and goodies, and even painted my toes!  Now that's true love.