She's a Biggun'

I talked to the nurse last night who said that they just weighed her and she weighs a huge 3 pounds 15 ounces! She gained a whole pound in about a week or so. That is great. I have heard people ask for her weight a lot, and if that matters to when she goes home. There are 3 things that she has to do to be able to go home: 1. be able to regulate her own temperature, 2. be able to suckle successfully on a regular basis, and 3. gain weight on a regular basis. Those are the 3 goals were going for. I took the below pictures at 11pm last night; she didn't move much. She is having to breathe harder for the same amount of oxygen, her hemoglobin may be getting used up. The nurse says that she might need a blood transfusion soon.

Also, my dad came through his surgery successfully, they ended up having to do quintriple bypass surgery, instead of triple bypass. He is on a lot of drugs, but is doing well. Thank you for all your prayers.

Vitals; See the respiratory (the white "71") that is way too high. She may be having to work harder to get the same amount of oxygen from her blood. They might give her another transfusion again soon.

Hope she doesn't get attached to that hood.

A good overall view

You can see me taking the picture in the reflection. Stink.

Didn't get a lot of pics; she really didn't move the whole time except to check out the wierdo taking pictures of her.

closer one eye open

sleeping again

one eye open

closeup.

Nurse, I'll have two hugs...stat!

Here is Angel's "update" email in it's entirety about Savannah's condition:


Okay here it goes-
She is doing good overall.
Her bilirubin is down to 1.2. Dr. Lenhart said it should be under 2, so that is great, and we shouldn't have to mess with the blue lights any longer. It should stay down now. Her respirations are a little high and she is pulling a little harder when she breathes, so he is going to give her another dose of the Lasics she has been done with that for a few days, which should help her and it may be that she is justing getting closer to needing her blood transfusion. He said he would just be making minor corrections with oxygen and lasics to help her out. Her hermaticrit will be checked again monday. He is increasing her feedings some. He will be giving her some vitamin D and extra minerals today because she needs them. (he used a technical term for why that I can't remember) It has to do with her liver and bowels being premature so she needs some extra minerals until she grows some. Also, he said we could still hold her, we just have to hold that blue air tube next to her mouth so she is still getting the oxygen.
He said we might get a letter in the mail that says her thyroid is low, but we can ignore it because her thyroid is fine. They checked it again.
Dr. Lenhart also told me this story about how the babies that get read to and get a lot of interaction when they go home, do much better. He told me about this baby he had 12 years ago that was really sick and had a brain bleed and had 23 heart chest tubes is doing great today because his mom spent a lot of time interacting with him and reading to him, etc, not just laying him down and going about her day. He says it is cool to see how if parents are really involved with there preemies at home they flourish a lot better.
Okay, this email is getting way too long. Also, you should try to hold her today again if you have time between class or if not then maybe tonight after your class. Just tell Sharon that Dr. Lenhart said we could still hold her as long as we held the blue oxygen tube by her face. Okay, I think that is all I have for now.
Angel

Can't be "bothered" to answer his own fan mail? What a snob...

If you've sent me mail and I haven't answered, it isn't because I am ignoring you, or snubbing you, or anything like that. There is a problem with my computer where I can receive emails over my wireless connection in class, but I can't send emails. To send emails, I have to actually trudge over to the library and get a "hard line" for my computer. SO, somtimes it ends up taking me a while to reply, because my schedule allows me only so much free time between seeing Savannah at the Hospital during visiting hours, trying to keep up with my classes, and working at the DA's. So, bottom line, please have patience with your emails. Not that I have had anyone send me death threats or anything, but just in case I miffed anyone, please have patience with me!

Thanks!

Zack

Baby Girlz in the Hood

Well, Savannah has her own "hood" now, her oxygen hood, that is, and she probably couldn't tell the difference. You can see from the pics below that it is fairly annoying to take pictures of, since I seem to always catch my own reflection instead of my daughter. ANYWAY, she is doing well, and we are pleased. If you are reading this, and it is before noon on Thursday, October 28th, please say a prayer right now for my father, who is having heart bypass surgery at this very moment. Please pray that the surgery goes off with no complications, and that he recovers fully and quickly. Thanks!

She has the hint of a smile here.

Overview shot

Another angle

Larger shot

Another closeup

If you look really hard at this picture, you can see the camera in the reflection.

If you think about it, really, that machine is a miracle from God. I am sure they could explain it's scientific concepts to me, but does that mean it's not divine?

Big view of the bubble

View through the looking glass

Side view

Her "leap-frog" position. She loves sleeping like this. It looks so....uncomfortable....

Close up

A back view

A good view of the bubble (the "oxygen hood")

Roll me over rover!

Well, we talked to the nurse at the ward and she said that Savannah rolled over earlier today! That is so cool; babies usually don't roll over till much, much later. We are excited about that. Either she was just lucky, or super-smart. We think she is super-smart! The pictures below are from the digital camera that Craig bought Angel for her Birthday. I think they look much better.

Craig with Savannah

Grandparents...

Me with Savannah

All twisted up

Listening to her heart.

Side profile

Angry at something. Maybe a baby moose in her dream.

A good shot of her

This is the vibrating thingy that gets gunk off the inside of her lungs. (I know, so technical.)

Savannah doing super-good!

As you can see below, Savannah is doing super well. The nurses mess with her about every three hours, to use this vibrator-thing to massage her chest so loose phlegm gets dislodged, and also to move her around and listen to her lungs, and also to periodically give her her Digoxin, her very potent heart medicine. She is off the C-pap mask now (I had mispelled it before, C-pak, until one of the nurses explained it to me.) and is on her Cannula, this prong-plastic thing that goes into her nose. It is MUCH less invasive, and she is doing really well on it. Earlier tonight her pulse-ox (her "Sats", in nurse slang) went down, and we couldn't figure out what the deal was, and I thought maybe she would have to go back onto the C-pap, but then they opened her mouth and suctioned it out, and pulled out the biggest glob of snot that I have ever seen. It was disgusting, and it was also golden footage! I caught the whole thing on camera, I figure I'll play it at one of her birthday parties when she gets older. Really, it was super gross. I gagged a little. Besides that, nothing much happened, which is exactly the way we want it. Now is just the long road to suckling. We will have to wait, and watch, and wait some more. They tell us that when she is 34 weeks or so old they will try suckling, and when she is able to do that, we can take her home. She is gradually coming off of her IV line, and I can't wait till that thing is out of her arm. I have developed a special dislike for all the things that have to be on, in and around her for her own sake. But I know it needs to be done. She is getting so much better, now they are feeding her 10 mililiters (about 2 or 3 thimbles) of milk every 3 hours, and she seems to be eating better and better. So, here's to her getting big and fat in the next month! Thanks so much for your prayers, I thank God for her all the time.

Hello Cutey!

So Cute!

Stretch!

In this picture she sort of looks like one of the flying nuns.

Sleeping away

She woke up and now she is kicking and swinging those arms. It was pretty cute.

Up-close

A good shot of her Cannula. That big thing around her chin is a chin-strap to keep her mouth closed, so she doesn't lose oxygen.

I either have gas, or I'm very happy about my mommy taking my picture. We choose to believe the latter.

Eyes wide open. In one of these she is sort of smiling. Angel shot these pictures; I wasn't even there that day. Maybe I should let her take over, huh?

Hello world!

Hello! That big tube is to provide extraneous oxygen to her while they mess with her. The nurse is massaging her head where her little cap was, so it doesn't get sore.

Grandma!

C-pap close up.

A good pic of scale. If you look on my wedding ring you can see Angel's reflection.

That guy is super-hot. I had to hold her C-pap mask on her little nose because she kept losing pressure and these alarms kept going off. Really annoying; but now she is off, and on to the Cannula!

Mommie's love amidst a forrest of wires and tubes.

I couldn't figure out how to rotate this picture. See her eye open?