Echo update (update update update)

Leah had her echocardiogram this morning and the holes in her heart have neither grown nor shrunk. The cardiologist who read the echo also suggested that Leah’s pulmonary valve looks small, but Leah’s doctor suspects what the cardio might be seeing is excess blood from the holes flowing through a normal-sized valve; she thinks it just looks proportionally small because of the excess blood. They will keep an eye on it either way. We’re relieved that the holes have not grown, but would have liked to hear better news about shrinkage. But I guess we’ll take what we can get. The docs started Leah on Lasix and her breathing rate has already improved a bit. She definitely seemed a bit more calm today – or at least less agitated.

Not too many pictures today as I spent half of the day holding Leah and most of the other half out in the NICU waiting room with a loaner baby while my BFF Auntie Z visited with Mandy and LeahBug. Baby Ry Ry (a.k.a. the monster truck baby) and I had a good time in the waiting room. We chilled, took selfies on my iPhone, watched “The People’s Court,” played “no, you can’t have my glasses,” and took a nap. Well, Ry took a nap. I tormented my back learning how to use a Baby Ergo. It was good times. When Mandy came out so I could have my turn visiting with Auntie Z and Leah, I set him down on the seat next to Mandy and he got a giant grin on his face, as if to say, “Hey, I know YOU!” He loves Mandy. Well, he loves both of us… but Mandy smells like milk.

003
Auntie Z and BabyBug

photo (3)
“Where’s Ry Ry? There’s Ry Ry!”

At long last, a pictureful post!

Our sweet baby girl was a little fussbudget today. I don’t blame her – she was a gassy little mess and was having trouble pooping most of the day (hey – you come to a blog about a baby, you get a blog about a baby), so her tummy was hurting and distended and she was making little straining faces and turning red all day. Someday she will hate me for this post.

We did get a chance to talk to the doctor today. They are going to start Leah on Lasix to help her with her breathing, and they will do another echocardiogram tomorrow instead of next week to check on the holes in her heart. Here’s hoping they haven’t gotten any bigger!!!!

On the bright side, today baby Leah got a visit from her cousin Kim, who was sick for several weeks (i.e. in exile from the NICU) and therefore hadn’t seen Leah since before Mandy was released from the hospital. Cousin Kim used to babysit me and bring me to class when she was in college and I was a teeny tiny infant, and I used to babysit her kids when they were tiny – and for that matter, Kim’s mom used to babysit my dad when HE was little, and I’m pretty sure my dad used to babysit Kim… You see where this is going. Anyway, Leah and Kim had a lovely reunion and Kim was very impressed at how much Leah has grown, even though she’s still a wee bug.

189
Cousin Kim and LeahBug, together at last

068
The cutest feet on the planet

197
Beautiful precious doll with beautiful precious hair

185
Another photo for proportion’s sake, and also because it’s cute.

040
“I’mwideawakeIdon’tknowwhattodowithmyselfbutI’msoverywideawake.”

041
“Oh noes, I think Mama saw me! Quick, self, pretend to be sleeping!”

I’m late, I know!

I hope this was worth the wait:

IMG_4237
Silly girl!

Baby is at 4 lbs 11 oz this morning – about the same as yesterday. She’s gained 5 grams since her last weigh-in. Leah’s breathing rate has been measuring pretty high, so they took her in for a chest x-ray yesterday as well as some labs. Things seem to look okay right now, although her heart looks a little big. They are going to do another echocardiogram next week; the last one was taken soon after her birth. The doctor wants to put her on Lasix, though – we’re going to talk to her soon and hopefully I’ll have more of an update. Keep sending those positive thoughts and prayers, please – hopefully Leah does not have to deal with major heart issues on top of her digestive tract malformations.

Long day!

We had a long day in the NICU today! Mama Mandy and Gran stayed with LeahBug this AM while Mama Lisa went to the ER again (come on now – this is getting ridiculous). Later in the day, Aunti Staci came to visit, and then this evening, BabyBug got to meet her cousin Zach! Didn’t take too many pictures today but this is my favorite – Zach was asking about the glowy band wrapped around Leah’s foot and the nurse explained that it measures her oxygen saturation level. I noted that for grown-ups this would usually be attached to our finger, and then commented that our fingers probably aren’t that much smaller than Leah’s foot. And then this picture happened. Itty bitty baby feets!

feetsies

A month and a day

Slow day on the picture-taking front, largely because Mama Shutterbug was feeling L-for-Lousy. Leah is still hovering around 4 lbs, 9.5 oz, but we think they’re probably going to increase her calories-per-feeding tomorrow, so hopefully we’ll see some more weight gain. BabyBug had a nice long visit from her Uncle Ralph today, but otherwise mostly just kicked back, relaxed, and pooped. ‘Cause she’s a baby and that’s what she does.

015
Whoever invented the Boppy is brilliant. Makes snuggling with SwaddledBug so much easier!

023
Wee baby fingers saying hello to Mama Mandy

003
Because I know you have all been very anxious to see BabyBug meeting her great-grandparents. So anxious that several of you have demanded the photograph by email. Hehe.

Happy one-month birthday, BabyBug

Today (technically yesterday, June 8) was Leah’s one-month birthday! It’s so strange that a whole month has passed, and yet it’s so strange that only a month has passed.

Baby Leah met her other great-grandparents today (again, technically yesterday). We had a great visit and I’m awaiting permission to post a picture. 🙂 Leah also gained back the weight she lost the day before yesterday. She’s 4 lbs and a little over 9 oz.

005 (2)
GoofyBug! She looks so funny in hats that are too big for her. She will grow into them!

Promised photos, delivered in full!

WHAT A DAY! Little bug lost 0.3 oz last night, but we’re hoping she’ll have gained some back tonight. I don’t know though – she had a rough day. Early on the day wasn’t so bad – she had a nice visit with friends Cathy and Gene, and was held (in full swaddle) by both mamas. But her afternoon was pretty hard. They’ve started putting gauze over her g-tube to cover it up while we do kangaroo time. I think today was the third day they did it, and the nurse used a particularly huge piece of gauze this time. Well, while I was holding Leah she was really squirmy and fussy even after she was fed, so we put her back down to see what was wrong. As it turned out, the big piece of gauze was stuck to the g-tube and had edged it out of her tummy about half an inch. No wonder she was squirmy! Resolving the issue was even more uncomfortable for her, especially since they had to take the tape off and reposition the tube. It broke our hearts to see her crying so hard. Thankfully once it was back in place she seemed to calm down a bit, and was thoroughly tuckered out after that ordeal. I’m sure she got a great nap after that.

Thank you to everybody who has wished me well before and after my procedure this past Wednesday. I’m pretty much recovered from the procedure itself, but it may take a few days (up to a week) before I’ll know whether it actually worked. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Not much else to say today. We’re still stunned over the mass shooting in Santa Monica today. This one really hits close to home, literally but also figuratively. I hope you’re all safe tonight, dear LA friends and family! I hope the worst thing that happened to you today was that you got stuck in traffic because of the President’s motorcade.

Now for the pictures I promised!

135
This is how my little bug looked when I saw her for the first time in over 24 hours.

080
That really is a normal-sized finger. She’s just an itty bitty finger-thief.

083
Baby kangaroo

040
The almost-thumb-suck. She’s kind of gnawing on the knuckle. Really she’s just doing her impression of her Uncle Ralph posing for a picture.

013
Blankie of the day

149
Requisite scrunchy face

003
Dreaming of dancing pacifiers

010
This is the “I know you’re there and I want to open my eyes but it’s too much work” face.

007
Content little bug

022
Wide awake!

150
BabyBug is starting to sprout real non-invisible eyelashes! Any day now her eyebrows will grow in too…

123
Visit from Pammi

049
“People, I had a hard day. You don’t even know.”

061
There’s a baby in there somewhere…

Mostly pictures today

Not much to report today, largely because I didn’t get to go to the hospital at all today. 🙁 I had my procedure this morning and then came back to RM House to recuperate / sleep off the anesthesia. I’m still a little groggy, but otherwise okay.

Mandy spent the day in the NICU with Leah, and reports that she is just over 4 lbs 7 oz today. She is now getting all of her food via “bolus feeding,” which means that she feeds every three hours and when she feeds she gets all of the food at once instead of having it spread out over a period of time (yesterday she was getting her food over half an hour).

Still a little loopy so I’ll get right to the pictures!

018
Sleepy precious bug

047
Sweet babydoll

012
Angry baby!

013
Magically calm baby! And look how cute our shirt is!

022
Baby resists sleep

055
Adorrrrbs

016
Toesies

072
New shirt

071
Cross-eyed baby

093
“But I don’t wanna go to sleep!”

Can a baby have a bad hair day?

BabyGirl is 4 lbs 6 oz today! Go Leah!

009
“Hurrah! Go me!”

Not too much else to update. We had a nice quiet day in the NICU today, just Mama Lisa, Mama Mandy and a tiny, tiny BabyBug.

Now for some more pics!

011
Toeses

091
Babygirl was having a rough hair day. So emo.

056
BabyBug and her awesome hair post-costume-change.

015
Sweet peaceful bug. I tried to comb out her hair and this is as good as I could get it. It must have dried sticking straight up after her last bath. This, I can forgive… but I’m going to be very suspicious if we walk in there tomorrow and find her with a faux-hawk. Aunti Staci, are you sneaking in at midnight to do Baby’s hair?

024
“Oooh! Oooh! Mr. Kotter!”

031
“Let me just tell you about my day, Mama…”

070
Thumb wrestling. Somehow I think Mama Mandy still has the upper hand.

059
Baby Blintz

076
The Little Mermaid. Something about this swaddle just isn’t right. Mama Lisa needs practice.

081
“Live long and prosper!” (Did I get it right that time?)

084
“Same thing we do every night, Pinky! Try to take over the world!”