Thursday, November 8, 2007 - Update

13 comments!!! Wow, that warrants another update. It’s called positive reinforcement. Plus, so many things are happening I have a hard time remembering them at the end of the day. Olivia continues to succeed on nasal cannula. She has had about 4 desat episodes since midnight, but that is still less than what is allowed. For those who have wondered, a nasal cannula is a plastic, flexible tube with prongs that fit in the nose and delivers supplemental oxygen. No pressure, no extra breaths. . .just Olivia breathing on her own with some extra oxygen. She is currently on 25 ml per minute. This is down from the 75 ml per minute that she started off on. They also changed her feeding today to 33 cc and instead of being fed over the course of 2 hours, she is being fed over 30 minutes. This is more like a regular feeding will be. And if her respiration rate stays under 60, they will begin nipple feeding by bottle or breast. We told them to be sure to call us when she was ready for that because we want to be there. I’d love to be the first to feed her. I’m not sure how much breastfeeding I will get to do since they have to add special care formula to my breast milk for extra calories. It looks like my relationship with Mr. Pump will continue on. Olivia also gained another 40 grams last night and is now up to 3 lbs 8 oz. And. . .we should be able to dress her tonight!!! Grandma Glunt gave us a few outfits (oh, I can’t wait to show you her pink, butterfly sleeper) and our neighbors, David and Denise Omli (wonderful neighbors) left a present on our doorstep. They managed to find not only a giraffe gift bag, but a sleeper with giraffes on it along with adorable outfits!! Thank you so much. I’m trying to keep up on all of my thank yous, but the overwhelming kindness from so many people is making it difficult.

Boy, it seems like everyone knows this new mother of triplets! I can’t wait to meet her. I believe that one of her babies (a little boy) is in the bed next to Olivia. What an adorable little boy! Olivia might want to keep in touch with him. Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like if I was able to have all of my 3 babies. I feel that in my mourning of Logan, I don’t ever acknowledge the 3rd baby that I lost. I say that Olivia was a twin, but in truth she was a triplet. If you all remember, I miscarried Baby B before 8 weeks. Not that I’m complaining. I feel so blessed for the precious little girl that I have. My father, as many of you know, is a great musician. He is the best piano player I have ever known and he used to write and compose songs. The words of one of his songs rings true for me. “If I never had another blessing, I’d still have all I need.” I hope Olivia grows up knowing how much of a blessing she is to not only her daddy and me, but to so many other people. Oh, and don’t worry, pictures are a’coming.

Late-Afternoon Update: She's had 7 apnea/bradycardia spells since 10:00 am. During one of them, they had to bag her for over a minute to get her back up. Usually, that warrants going back on CPAP, but he believes it may be because of the change in her feeding. She didn't seem to like being fed over 30 minutes. Sometimes, their tummies fill up too fast and their diaphragm pushes on their lungs making it difficult to breathe. They changed her feeding back to the 2 hour schedule and are going to see if that helps.