August 29, 2008 12:30 pm

My first bath in a real "tub"!

I loved my bath!

Saying my bedtime prayers!

Asleep at last!

Hello everyone! The RNICU gave Laurie a big 2 month birthday surprise by moving her down to the Continuing Care Nursery (CCN) at shift change last night! We were expecting this move by the end of the month, but yesterday afternoon the unit got very busy and they needed space for more critical babies. We were blessed to be the most stable of the critical babies! Laurie has had several good weeks and we felt much more comfortable with the move this time.

Since Laurie changed to the nasal canula on Wednesday, she has been having more frequent de-sat and bradycardia (slowing of the heart rate) spells. However, the doctors are watching her closely and giving her a chance to adjust to the nasal canula. She has not quite reached the three pound mark yet, and weighed 2 lbs. 14 oz. last night. We have also been changed over to the nurse practitioner service where Laurie will have the same nurse practitioner and attending for the rest of our time here, rather than changing interns, residents, and attendings each month. Hopefully, this will provide more consistent care for Laurie!

I had the opportunity to hold Laurie again last night and rock her in an actual rocking chair! After rocking, I was able to give Laurie her first "real" bath! She loved being able to sit in the "tub". I realize that these two events are nothing new for most two month olds, but were BIG baby steps for us! I am definitely learning a new appreciation for the "little things".

Thanks for your continued prayers and support! We are seeing prayers being answered each day! Please pray for travel safety for Todd and Cole as they come to Birmingham tonight for the long weekend. As long as there are no changes with Laurie, I will probably not blog again until late Monday afternoon when they go home. I hope you all have a great Friday and a safe holiday!

Love,
Todd, Leah, Cole, and Laurie

August 28, 2008 2:45 pm

Laurie is two months old today! She did not quite make the 3 lb. mark last night, but is very close at 2 lbs. 15 oz. Maybe at tonight's weigh-in she will get that extra ounce! The doctors have increased her feeds again to 20 cc every 3 hours. Laurie continues to do well on the nasal canula, but does still have her usual de-sats. We pray that she will be able to continue to hold her own with the nasal canula! Today is yet another quiet day for her to grow! Please continue to pray for Laurie's lung development and wisdom for Todd and me has we make decisions about her care.

Gabe Sims's surgery has been canceled for now. There is still uncertainty about how to best proceed with his treatment. As you can imagine, this is very difficult and frustrating for his parents. Please continue to remember their family in your prayers.

Love to all!
Todd, Leah, Cole, and Laurie

August 27, 2008

"They're out! Did anyone see me do that?!"

"FINALLY! Nothing on my face!"

"Now, if they would just leave me alone! I can do this by myself!"
(As my brother Cole has already taught me to say!)

"They just won't leave my nose alone, but at least these tubes are shorter!"

"Now I can breathe!"

Good morning everyone! Laurie has had enough of the C-pap and let us all know it this morning! During rounds the doctors decided to try taking her off the C-pap and putting her on a nasal canula. This is simply a small tube in her nose giving oxygen, but with her breathing on her own. Before the orders could be put in the computer, Laurie had pulled out the long C-pap tubes three times. On the third time her nurse decided to leave them out and see how she would handle this. Fifteen minutes later the respiratory therapist came to change her over to nasal canula and realized that Laurie had done most of the work for her! After her first feat of getting the tubes out, she was in the process of attempting to take off the C-pap face bar too. However, the therapist did have to assist her with the bar. As you can see from the pictures, there is nothing on Laurie's face but the canula and feeding tube!!! I know she must feel so much better! She has been fighting with those C-pap tubes for weeks now! In addition to her breathing improvements, Laurie also continues to gain weight. She weighed 2 lbs. 15 oz. last night. She has almost added another pound! We are so thankful for Laurie's continued improvements! God is good!!!

Love,
Todd, Leah, Cole, and Laurie

August 26, 2008 1:15 pm

Hello from wet Birmingham! Laurie is having another great day with no changes. Her doctors do not seem to be in any hurry to rush her off the C-pap. They are just giving her time to become more consistent with her breathing and to have fewer de-sats, although Laurie sure would like to have the C-pap out of her nose. She has learned how to wiggle and push her head back to get them out and has shown us several times already this morning! She weighed 2 lbs. 12 oz. last night. Her eye exam yesterday continues to show only immature vessels, which is good at this point.


Gabe Sims's surgery was moved to Thursday, August 28, 2008 due to scheduling issues for the doctors. Please continue to pray for his parents as they wait! He too still has a long road ahead. I will keep you posted on his progress.

Thanks for keeping up with Laurie's blog and for your continued prayers.

Love to all!
Todd, Leah, Cole, and Laurie

August 25, 2008 2:15 pm

Todd gets to hold Laurie for the 1st time! 8.24.08

Hello everyone! Laurie is taking advantage of the rainy day by sleeping and growing! Todd, Laurie and I had a very quiet and restful weekend! While Cole spent the weekend between Nana's and MeMa's--I'm sure it was not so quiet for them with Cole around!!! Laurie continues to do well and the doctors have made very few changes the past few days. They did increase her feeds yesterday to 19 cc every 3 hours and she continues to gain weight--2 lbs. 12 oz. last night. Laurie will have another routine eye exam later this afternoon.

I was able to hold Laurie twice this weekend and Todd held her for the first time on Sunday! We tried holding Laurie with her receiving oxygen using a nasal canula, rather than blow-by and she tolerated it very well. This was such a special time for us and made holding her much easier (less tubing)! I believe that we are getting very close to coming off the C-pap! Thank you for your continued prayers! We see the results of prayer each day!

Also, please say a special prayer for the Sims family. Amy, the mother of another baby here in the RNICU, and I have become good friends over the past month . She and her husband have also had to make many difficult decisions for their new baby and triplet sons at home. After days of deliberation with many different doctors, Gabe will be having heart surgery tomorrow for a rare heart condition.

I hope you all have a great week!

Love,
Todd, Leah, Cole, and Laurie

August 22, 2008 1:30 pm

Happy Friday! Laurie continues to do well today! The doctors decreased her pressures on the C-pap this morning--slowly weaning her off! Last night while the nurse completed her assessment, I was able to hold Laurie through the portholes of her isolette with only blow-by oxygen (prongs out of her nose). We are trying short periods of time without the C-pap, attempting to get her ready for the next big step-- OE (oxygen environment, where oxygen is blown into the isolette and Laurie does the breathing on her own). She did drop an ounce last night to 2 lbs. 8 oz. Laurie and I look forward to her Daddy arriving tonight so she can "show off" this week's weight gain and breathing abilities. Please continue to pray for Laurie's growth and development. God has blessed us with another great week! Have a restful and safe weekend! Hope all we get back home is lots of rain!

Love to all!
Todd, Leah, Cole, and Laurie

August 21, 2008 1:00 pm

It is always a great day when we can snuggle!

Hello everyone! Laurie has been doing so well this week that I was able to hold her this morning for about an hour! These days are still so few, but all the more special!!! The doctors did not make any changes to her care plan today. She gained an ounce last night and weighed 2 lbs. 9 oz. Late yesterday afternoon, Laurie's nurse did do an eye culture to check for infection because it periodically "runs". We have not heard anything back on it today and "no news is good news" with all cultures! Hopefully, this is just an immature tear duct that has not opened. Please continue to pray for Laurie's lung development and that there is no infection found. Please also pray for safe travel as Todd and Mrs. Judy travel to and from Birmingham tomorrow!

Love to all!
Todd, Leah, Cole, and Laurie