20g weight loss today, so Briony is now on full fortifier with a warning to put weight on or they will have to try something else. Volume of feed has increased slightly from 6mls to 6.5mls every hour.
Her breathing is not as good today as it has been the last couple of days with Briony remaining settled on 26% oxygen, but sometimes needing up to 30% oxygen at times.
Mummy and Daddy didn't spend too much time with her today as due to the poor weight gain (or should that be weight loss?) she is now on a minimal handling regime which means that she can only be touched during her cares (i.e. nappy change) and isn't allowed out of the incubator until she starts to show a more sustained weight gain that they are happy with. No visitors today other than Mummy and Daddy.
Daddy drove to Devon and back this morning to buy a car.....with the result that Briony now has a choice of cars between a BMW and a Land Rover Defender!
For the first time since she was born Mummy won't be visiting tomorrow as she desperately needs to do some revision for her exams in a few weeks time, so tomorrow's blog will be down to Daddy....
Saturday, 7 August 2010
Friday, 6 August 2010
6th August
Another good day today....
Briony is now wearing a baby-grow and even if it is her mummy saying it she does look very cute! Tomorrow we will take the camera to get some pictures of her in her new clothes.
No weight gain today but no loss either, so hopefully things are still moving in the right direction on that one. Certainly Briony was the most settled that she has been in her 15 days on this planet today and spent most of the day asleep. She may have opened one eye at one point, but that was about it. No cuddles today as she was so happy and contented that we didn't want to disturb her any more than we had to.
Even her breathing seems to have improved slightly. She is still on the same support as before, but when her oxygen saturation drops she is now able to right herself without the nurses having to turn the oxygen up any higher (she is currently on around 24%).
Mummy learned how to turn her over and Briony didn't cry when she did it, although she made a bit of a mess of it!
When Daddy visited this evening apparently she was trying to do press-ups on her head!
Briony has had a busy day with visitors - Granny Julie visited this morning and Granny Stephanie and Granddad Tony this afternoon. Hand squeezes and strokes were had by all!
Briony is now wearing a baby-grow and even if it is her mummy saying it she does look very cute! Tomorrow we will take the camera to get some pictures of her in her new clothes.
No weight gain today but no loss either, so hopefully things are still moving in the right direction on that one. Certainly Briony was the most settled that she has been in her 15 days on this planet today and spent most of the day asleep. She may have opened one eye at one point, but that was about it. No cuddles today as she was so happy and contented that we didn't want to disturb her any more than we had to.
Even her breathing seems to have improved slightly. She is still on the same support as before, but when her oxygen saturation drops she is now able to right herself without the nurses having to turn the oxygen up any higher (she is currently on around 24%).
Mummy learned how to turn her over and Briony didn't cry when she did it, although she made a bit of a mess of it!
When Daddy visited this evening apparently she was trying to do press-ups on her head!
Briony has had a busy day with visitors - Granny Julie visited this morning and Granny Stephanie and Granddad Tony this afternoon. Hand squeezes and strokes were had by all!
Thursday, 5 August 2010
5th August
A lovely day today.....
Briony had put on 60 grams which means she is almost, but not quite back at her birth rate. She also seemed more settled today and is managing to breathe a little easier. She is still on the breathing support and occasionally drops her oxygen saturation, but is getting better at righting herself, rather than the nursing staff having to intervene.
The humidity and temperature control on her incubator have slowly been weaned down and hopefully by tomorrow will be off completely.
As she is progressing well, Mummy was allowed a longer cuddle today and Briony was out of the incubator for about 25 minutes....until she told everyone that she had had enough by dropping her heart rate to 32 beats a minute (should be between 150 and 180)....
Granny Chignell came to visit today and says that she looks much better than when she saw her about 11 days ago.
A positive day for everyone. Hopefully tomorrow will bring more of the same! On a slightly different note, Briony's Mum is really proud of herself as she has managed to fit into her pre-maternity jeans today - hurrah!
Briony had put on 60 grams which means she is almost, but not quite back at her birth rate. She also seemed more settled today and is managing to breathe a little easier. She is still on the breathing support and occasionally drops her oxygen saturation, but is getting better at righting herself, rather than the nursing staff having to intervene.
The humidity and temperature control on her incubator have slowly been weaned down and hopefully by tomorrow will be off completely.
As she is progressing well, Mummy was allowed a longer cuddle today and Briony was out of the incubator for about 25 minutes....until she told everyone that she had had enough by dropping her heart rate to 32 beats a minute (should be between 150 and 180)....
Granny Chignell came to visit today and says that she looks much better than when she saw her about 11 days ago.
A positive day for everyone. Hopefully tomorrow will bring more of the same! On a slightly different note, Briony's Mum is really proud of herself as she has managed to fit into her pre-maternity jeans today - hurrah!
4th August
No weight gain again today - a 10g loss. Briony continues on half fortifier and half my milk, but it doesn't really seem to be getting her anywhere.
She is also continuing to drop her oxygen saturations quite significantly after each feed which scares us as it sets all of her alarms off. If it continues, tomorrow they will try something else.
Other than that she has been quite settled and has been asleep for most of the day, including when Mum and Dad visited. No cuddles until she starts to put on weight, so we have asked her again very nicely to just keep sleeping so she can get stronger!
She is also continuing to drop her oxygen saturations quite significantly after each feed which scares us as it sets all of her alarms off. If it continues, tomorrow they will try something else.
Other than that she has been quite settled and has been asleep for most of the day, including when Mum and Dad visited. No cuddles until she starts to put on weight, so we have asked her again very nicely to just keep sleeping so she can get stronger!
Tuesday, 3 August 2010
3rd August
A couple of changes today....
Briony's milk had to start being fortified- she put on 20g which brings her back to where she was yesterday. They want her to be gaining around 30g a day and as she is 2 weeks old tomorrow they really want her to be back at her birth weight of 910g and she is struggling to get back there.
Unfortunately she had started refluxing her feeds too. They were being given to her continuously through a syringe driver down a tube, but have now been switched to every hour so that they can give her some Gaviscon after each feed to try and help her keep them down.
Breathing support continues to be increased and decreased as Briony needs it. At times the oxygen had to be increased to help her and at one point was up at around 40% which is higher than it has been at any point before. When she is stabilised she seems to be on 3 litres of ventiform, at around 24% oxygen, which is again higher than on previous days, where she has managed on 21% oxygen.
Her sodium levels have also dropped, so she is being given some sodium chloride every 4 hours which may not be helping with the reflux situation.
We hope that the fortified milk will help with the weight gain, as currently most of her problems seem to be linked to the fact that she is struggling to gain weight....
Briony's milk had to start being fortified- she put on 20g which brings her back to where she was yesterday. They want her to be gaining around 30g a day and as she is 2 weeks old tomorrow they really want her to be back at her birth weight of 910g and she is struggling to get back there.
Unfortunately she had started refluxing her feeds too. They were being given to her continuously through a syringe driver down a tube, but have now been switched to every hour so that they can give her some Gaviscon after each feed to try and help her keep them down.
Breathing support continues to be increased and decreased as Briony needs it. At times the oxygen had to be increased to help her and at one point was up at around 40% which is higher than it has been at any point before. When she is stabilised she seems to be on 3 litres of ventiform, at around 24% oxygen, which is again higher than on previous days, where she has managed on 21% oxygen.
Her sodium levels have also dropped, so she is being given some sodium chloride every 4 hours which may not be helping with the reflux situation.
We hope that the fortified milk will help with the weight gain, as currently most of her problems seem to be linked to the fact that she is struggling to gain weight....
Monday, 2 August 2010
2nd August
Briony didn't listen to either her Mum or her Dad and has lost weight again - 20g. In an effort to bulk her up her fluid intake has been increased to 160ml/kg (from 150). It seems to be a real struggle to get her to gain weight, but apparently this is what happens with very premature babies as all their effort goes on trying to stay warm and breathing, which they shouldn't be trying to do at this point.
Briony is now the ripe old gestational age of 28 weeks....
She continues to need breathing support and it has had to be increased further to 3.0l/hour, sometimes on air and sometimes with a bit of extra oxygen, especially when she is being handled and having her nappy changed. For this reason we have been asked to handle her as little as possible as she clearly gets upset by it. She's also not allowed out of the incubator until Thursday at the earliest, maybe later depending on how she is.
Briony now has her first dummy, which is something I was dead against until we found ourselves in this position...it's funny how things can change. The dummy will help her develop the suckling reflex whilst they are feeding her, so that she associates suckling with a full tummy. This doesn't develop until the baby is over 30 weeks old, so she needs some extra help.
Towards the end of the week we have been asked to bring some clothes in for her, so she should be able to wear more than just a nappy soon!
Briony is now the ripe old gestational age of 28 weeks....
She continues to need breathing support and it has had to be increased further to 3.0l/hour, sometimes on air and sometimes with a bit of extra oxygen, especially when she is being handled and having her nappy changed. For this reason we have been asked to handle her as little as possible as she clearly gets upset by it. She's also not allowed out of the incubator until Thursday at the earliest, maybe later depending on how she is.
Briony now has her first dummy, which is something I was dead against until we found ourselves in this position...it's funny how things can change. The dummy will help her develop the suckling reflex whilst they are feeding her, so that she associates suckling with a full tummy. This doesn't develop until the baby is over 30 weeks old, so she needs some extra help.
Towards the end of the week we have been asked to bring some clothes in for her, so she should be able to wear more than just a nappy soon!
Sunday, 1 August 2010
1st August
Pretty much the same as yesterday today.....
30g weight gain, which is positive. Liver levels came back right on the borderline of normal so Briony may have to go back on to the phototherapy - they will repeat her levels probably tomorrow and see what these say.
She's still having episodes where she drops the level of oxygen in ber blood quite significantly and has to have support from extra oxygen. They have also upped her breathing support to 2.5 litres per hour rather than 2 litres.
Briony was in a little baby-gro today for the first time - even the premature baby ones are too big for her! We have also started her with a special dummy that will help her develop the suckling reflex as at the moment she is too premature to have developed it. Milk has now been increased to 6ml/hour and is being given to her via a continuous drip straight into her tummy.
Daddy was allowed his second cuddle today and Briony met Duncan - she's very popular and now has a full visiting schedule for next week!
30g weight gain, which is positive. Liver levels came back right on the borderline of normal so Briony may have to go back on to the phototherapy - they will repeat her levels probably tomorrow and see what these say.
She's still having episodes where she drops the level of oxygen in ber blood quite significantly and has to have support from extra oxygen. They have also upped her breathing support to 2.5 litres per hour rather than 2 litres.
Briony was in a little baby-gro today for the first time - even the premature baby ones are too big for her! We have also started her with a special dummy that will help her develop the suckling reflex as at the moment she is too premature to have developed it. Milk has now been increased to 6ml/hour and is being given to her via a continuous drip straight into her tummy.
Daddy was allowed his second cuddle today and Briony met Duncan - she's very popular and now has a full visiting schedule for next week!
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