Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Updates: Judah, Sophia and Abbi

To make my life easier I'm posting the latest on all of our health issues.

Judah:

Is doing great. He's eating 45ml every 3 hours and has been taking some (or all) of each feeding from a bottle. He's been moved to a crib for a little over a week now and they have adjusted him to just being swaddled and laid on his back to sleep without the additional "comfort" items. He still has his feeding tube and that will remain until he is eating at least 70% of each feeding from a bottle consistently. It could possibly come out over the weekend.

He has been having a lot of "brady's", short for bradycardia, which is a drop in his heart rate. It's totally normal for preemies and I've gotten used to him having them. But - he has to be without them for several days before he can come home.

Sophia:

A little history: Sophi has had a limp for about 3 weeks now. It first started following several days of a low-grade fever and it was initially diagnosed as a viral joint infection. After two weeks of waiting it out, she had made very little forward progress so her ped sent her for new x-rays and blood work. Her blood work revealed only small signs of infection - but nothing that would explain her limp. Her ped then referred her to an pediatric orthopedic who we saw today.

The pediatric orthopedic thinks that she has injured the joint, and that we are dealing with inflammation, not infection. They are still watching her for signs of valley fever but since she is improving incrementally each day, there is no reason to suspect infection unless she gets worse again. Hello large doses of advil.

Abbi:

I think the hardest thing for me to balance is my desire to be in the NICU with Judah and getting the rest my body needs to recover. I think I would actually get more rest if he were home, even though right now I can do 4-5 hour stretches of sleep which I won't be able to do once he's home. However, I don't have the option right now to "just take the baby to bed" with me and sleep when they sleep. Add in there all of Sophia's dr's appointments, Maddi's 6th birthday on Thursday, and getting Maddi and Izzi ready to start school next week. Yikes...not much rest for this very tired mama who can fall asleep at the drop of a hat.

They prepared me for it to take 1-3 months to recover from the Valley Fever and that didn't take into account recovering from having a baby as well. Honestly, I don't even feel like I just had a baby, I really feel like I have Valley Fever. I can't pinpoint specific symptoms other than the extreme tiredness - my respiratory pneumonia feels much better overall but still has it's moments (especially with the heat/humidity).

How to pray for us:

* Praise! Always we are praising God. For his provision during this time, for the large number of people who have and are helping our family get through it, for another day we get to bring Him glory. And for new opportunities - I never thought I would have hours to sit and chat with NICU nurses and now I do. Since they try to keep the nurses consistent I've gotten to know a few of them.

* Continued healing for myself and Sophia. That I could find moments to rest.

* Patience and endurance for Jeff when he feels like he's doing all the work (cause he pretty much is).

* That Judah would continue to improve each day. I'm anxious to have him home but want him fully healthy before he is so if that means longer in the NICU, then I'm ok with that.

Thank you everyone for your prayers, love and support. We are truly blessed by each one of you.

1 comment:

  1. Abbi I'll definitely keep you all in my thoughts and prayers! It's like you're living in the circus and I hope both you and Jeff can have strength and peace and courage to keep getting through everything! You have such a beautiful family and Judah is no exception. :)

    ReplyDelete