December 31, 2009 by Jason.

Today was a fun day with Juliana. I got to hold her for about 2 hours this afternoon. She did really well on the nasal canula and was very comfortable. She peeked her eyes open a few times, but was content to sleep most of the time or occasionally suck on her pacifier. After we put her back in the isolette, Jen got to give her a “sponge bath” in the isolette. We then dressed her up in a new outfit and Rachel, her nurse, swaddled her. She gets to have 3-hour trials on the nasal canula twice a day now. They also increased her feeds to 10 ml per hour. We weighed her today and she has hit 1500 grams! She is gaining weight rapidly. We left her to go home for two nights. We are celebrating New Years with friends and running some errands tomorrow. We’re looking forward to a better new year.

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments »

December 30, 2009 by Jason.

Jen has spent most of the day with Juliana today while I worked at the RMH. I stopped over after lunch to visit and heard some exciting news. Juliana is 1470 grams today and they are going to dress and swaddle her! First, Jen is going to spend a few hours kangarooing with Juliana on a nasal canula, but then she gets to dress her up in her first real outfit! Juliana’s eyes are looking a little better today, though she is still keeping them closed for the most part. She is gaining weight rapidly and doing well!

Posted in News | 13 Comments »

December 29, 2009 by Jason.

Eye surgery was completed this morning. I have not talked with the surgeon yet for his report. She is on bi-phasic CPAP for now to give her a little more support from the sedative. Since some are asking, she weighed 3 lbs. last night. More details later.

The surgeon says it was a difficult procedure because of her small size and estimates a 50/50 chance she may need a follow-up laser procedure. He will check her eyes again on Monday. Until then she will get eye drops twice a day for five days. They took her leg splint off and she really enjoyed stretching both legs straight out. Jen is kangarooing right now for a couple of hours. They will start nasal canula trials again tomorrow. Her eyes are swollen but she is snuggling happily.

Posted in News | 7 Comments »

December 28, 2009 by Jason.

Juliana had another eye exam this morning and the opthamologist found evidence of Stage 3 ROP. We have decided to go ahead with laser surgery to correct her eyes. She will get it done 7:30 tomorrow morning. This evening we will kangaroo with her nasal canula on her face. She is getting brief trials off of her CPAP. She is 2 lb 15 oz as of last night.

Posted in Uncategorized | 12 Comments »

December 27, 2009 by Jen.

Juliana had a lovely visit with her family on Christmas Day. She was thrilled to put on her Christmas outfit (a gift from Aunt Megan) and pose for her photo shoot.

Posted in Fun | 18 Comments »

December 25, 2009 by Jason.

We visited Juliana this Christmas evening with grandparents and aunt and uncle in tow. She has stayed steady with her CPAP at +5 but her feeds have increased to 8.5 ml per hour. We dressed her up in a Christmas outfit and took a family photo. We will post it tomorrow. Juliana also received some Christmas presents! She got a “Daddy loves me” preemie onesy in pink and brown with matching pantsm She got a similar “Mommy loves me” onesy that is a little bit bigger. She got a 3-6 month size Baltimore Ravens onesy with matching hat and booties that she can wear next fall. Pictures of all her gifts will be posted tomorrow.

Posted in Uncategorized | 13 Comments »

December 23, 2009 by Jason.

Tonight we went Christmas shopping for Juliana. She will have a few presents for Christmas that we will reveal here that day. Her PICC line was removed today so she only has two oral medications now. Her feeds were increased to 8 ml and she is doing well keeping it down. We spent a little time holding her head and letting her suck on her tiny pacifier. We will kangaroo tomorrow for sure.

Posted in News | 6 Comments »

December 21, 2009 by Jason.

Jen was able to kangaroo with Juliana for an hour and a half this afternoon. She was very comfortable and had great sats the entire time. They were able to wean her oxygen down to 24%. She still has her CPAP mask on, but pressures may be weaned tomorrow to 4. Her fentanyl drip is on the lowest possible level, so she has another day or so at most and then her line gets taken out. Jen and I left early for a holiday party at the Ronald McDonald house this afternoon. The chairman and his family are making a Greek feast for all the families. We are heading all the way home afterwards to take care of a few things and a very lonely kitty.

Posted in News | 6 Comments »

December 20, 2009 by Jason.

We visited with Juliana for about an hour this afternoon before we headed off to the football game. She is doing well on the CPAP and with her feeds. They decided not to make any major changes to her over the weekend. We expect that her PICC line will probably come out early this week. Her TPN is done and her fentanyl is almost completely weaned. She was stretching all of her limbs out, even her right leg which freaks me out every time. It must be healing up well for her to move it around so much. The Ravens game was awesome and we had a great time. We bundled up like we were heading onto the ski slopes in Colorado. We stayed warm!

Posted in News | 5 Comments »

December 19, 2009 by Jason.

Jen and I slept in this morning and then waded through the snow to the hospital. Her feeds have increased to 7 ml per hour and she is holding steady on her CPAP. They thought her lungs sounded a little wet so they gave her some Lasik last night. She peed 100 ml in two diapers, which is something like 3 ounces of fluid! Consequently, she lost some weight since yesterday. We were hoping she would hit 3 lbs by Christmas but I’m not sure that will happen now.

Posted in News | 11 Comments »