Getting Settled In

Siena's first Dr's appt was Tuesday. She did very well and was a good girl the whole time. She only weighed in at 4 lbs 1 oz, but the Dr did not seem concerned. Last night she weighed in at 4 lbs 2.5 oz. Even on the outside world we need to remember to look at the weekly numbers rather than the daily numbers, but that is easier said than done. We are all getting settled in and used to life with a baby again. We are very fortunate that she is so good and usually only fusses when it is getting close to feeding time. She is still sleeping on the wedge but during the days I have been putting her in the bouncy seat (but not bouncing it of course). It is so great to have her home!!!

Please know that we are extremely grateful to everyone who has helped us out from the fabulous dinners from the MOMS Club and our neighbors to all of those who have watched the boys during our crazy transition period. Then there are those who have contributed absolutely adorable outfits to Siena's wardrobe or sent along other special gifts to keep her safe or to keep her entertained. Many thanks!

As Shayne said last night, "Who knew, all we needed to do was bring home a baby to get Bray to look at the camera and smile?"

All cozy in her bouncy chair.

A very proud big brother.

Brody's first time helping me feed Siena.

She kind of looks chunky in this picture, but I promise, she's not.

More Weekend Pictures

I am surviving my first day at home with all 3 kids(without Shayne). Siena is just hanging out on her wedge, looking cute. We are going through the outfits & diapers like they are going out of style. She has peed on me twice while changing her. Okay, not peed "on"me but onto her new diapers and outfits. I used 3 diapers on 1 diaper change earlier. At this rate she is going to go through our preemie diapers very quickly. She is currently eating every three hours whether she is awake or not. I really look forward to her "care times" (that is what they call it in the NICU) but man, 3 hours comes and goes extremely quickly. By the time I change her (once, sometimes twice), feed her, hold her for awhile so she doesn't spit up, wrap her, gaze at her for awhile and put her back in her wedge to nap she is ready to eat again. Anyway, it's about feeding time again. Here are a few more pictures from this weekend. These VIP guests have all helped watched the boys during Siena's stay in the NICU. :-) Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!

Aunt Tiffy brought over "Big Brother"certificates for the boys.
Brody has been talking about his all day.

Grandpa Pooh (Barnhart) talking pigeons with Siena.

Grandma Pooh (Barnhart) is quickly getting use to having a baby girl in the family.

My Ebay postal scale will really come in handy!

Siena's Artsy Photos

When Shayne arrived home today from church he found Siena and I napping (while the boys napped as well). I don't imagine that he expected to come home to a quiet house. We slept through our first mother/daughter photo shoot. He got fancy with some camera features.

More Homecoming Pictures

Bray gets his first look at his sister.

Brody said "She is so cute".

Uncle Matt had Braydon & Brody duty while we busted Siena out of the NICU.

Our first story time with Siena. (she's the one on the wedge)

I don't know who was more worn out after her first day at home, Shayne or Siena.

Homecoming at Last!!

Finally home!

We picked up Siena today (Saturday)! We will write more tomorrow but we just wanted to pass along that exciting news. Braydon and Brody are adjusting well so far and our biggest job will be keeping them from "hugging her" too much. Bray really wants to try to give her some sweet potatoes because she is so sweet.

Just finished her 3:00 AM feeding and now she is back on her wedge and ready for bed. As Bray says... "man, babies are a lot of work" :-)

Getting ready to load her up. I think Shayne will kind of miss the NICU (his 2nd home)

One of the great nurses, Chrys. We found out today that we are practically neighbors.

All buckled up and ready to go.

Happy Birthday Siena!

Siena is 1 month old today! I got to visit her last night and as I remember it was extremely difficult to leave her there. She looked great and she is up to 3 lbs 15.8 oz. Still sleeping on a big wedge to help with the reflux. That seems to be helping a lot.

Thank you to all for your continued prayers. We hope to have our lil Miss home soon but we do not know for sure when that will be. Of course we will keep everyone updated.

Weight Update & New Photos Posted

Siena is up to 3 lbs and 14 oz! She had 4 episodes of apnea today... down from the 8 or 9/day she has been having, so that is good. Her cold is getting better. They have her sleeping on a wedge to help with her reflux. No talk of a timetable for her to go home. I am feeling better and have been told that I can go see her 48 hours after I have started my antibiotics. That means that I can go see her tomorrow night! My voice is a little raspy still but other than that I am all good to go see her!!! You know I will take lots of pictures to add.

Her new hospital photos are posted on her page. They are very sweet. You will have to click through all of her crazy ones to get to the new ones.


http://www.growingfamily.com/webnursery/hospitals/5774/frame_test.asp?URLID=8550774846

Hospital Photos

Miss Siena's hospital photos are now available for viewing at the following site. The family password is: BOYD in case it asks for one. Shayne thinks these photos were taken shortly after she had her vision screening on Sunday (you will see that her eyes are red and puffy- I guess maybe she really looks like that now. It's been so long since I have seen her). He claims that the vision screening was an awful thing to watch so it is probably good that he was there for that and not me. Anyway, she had her pictures retaken this morning so in a day or so she should have new photos added. I was just so excited to see her site ready that I had to pass it along. Check it out and leave a message so that she knows you stopped by.

http://www.growingfamily.com/webnursery/hospitals/5774/frame_test.asp?URLID=8550774846

I just noticed that many other babies have artsy photos, while Siena is just hanging out in her crib. Hmmmm. Maybe it's a NICU thing. Guess we'll just have to take the artsy pictures ourselves ;-)

Dre's Update

So I went to Urgent Care tonight and it turns out I have Bronchitis. I started antibiotics tonight and hopefully I will be good as new in a few days. Even if Miss Siena is not home yet, at least I will be able to go visit, which I would settle for at this time.

Nothing much to report for Siena. Her cold continues, but is getting better so that is good. The NICU is not really giving us a timeframe for her release at this point. And if they were I wouldn't get my hopes up.

Did they switch babies?

This doesn't even look like the baby that I last saw on Feb 6th.

Her strawberry blonde hair is now red. Surprise, surprise.

Dad taking advantage of his one on one time with Siena. Think she will be a daddy's girl?

Siena sporting her new hat from Aunt Lexy. Handmade with love all the way from London.

We have been told that Siena should be coming home any day now, but her cold is still hanging around and she is now experiencing reflux & apnea. This being said they want to keep an eye on her for a little while longer. My cold is hanging on as well so I am still not able to go visit her. Shayne is visiting her now and will be home later and add a post if he has any updates. Thank you to all for your continued prayers.

Valentine Heart Break

Does everyone remember the presidential election year when the major network news stations declared the presidency, then retracted, then declared, and the retracted again . . . well, it's kind of like that with Siena right now.

She had a couple episodes of apnea yesterday and she needed stimulated to restore her breathing. Both times it occurred while she was eating. The doctors feels uneasy about sending her home and we are being told it will probably be a couple more days.

On the positive side, she passed her car seat test. She continues to gain each day, weighing 3# 8.8 ozs (1610 g). She eats like a champ and she does fine maintaining her temp in an open air crib. Aside from the cold virus that has her congested and interferes with her breathing, she is doing very well and is so close to being ready to come home.

I did not make it to the hospital on Thursday night as I had planned. Last night was the first I've seen her since Monday evening. I went up at 8:45, fed her, took some pictures, and then napped with her in the recliner until her next feeding at midnight. I fed her, changed her, and napped with her again until 2 AM. I had her laying on her belly on my chest. I watched the monitor as her breathing and heart rate synced into perfect rhythm allowing her to rest soundly and peacefully. It was nice to hold her . . . I can't wait until she can come home and cuddle with her Mom, too.

Homecoming!

Just got a call from NICU saying that Miss Siena is coming home tomorrow morning as long as nothing changes! Trying to not get my hopes up but I am very excited that we may be bringing our sweet little valentine home tomorrow!!

Roller Coaster Ride

I just got a phone call from the NICU . . . Siena's test results came back negative for RSV. They are taking her out of isolation and we can go visit her tonight. Well, I can go visit, but Dre still has a cold and is avoiding the NICU. They also expect that Siena will be going home this weekend!

Siena's Update

I'm sorry it has been awhile since we've updated - the days have been a whirlwind.

Siena's virus is working her over in full force.

• The virus has not been confirmed as RSV.
• She has had a slight fever
  
• Her eyes are secreting and junky so the nurses are treating her eyes with warm compresses.
• She is very congested and they are flushing her nasal passage with saline and clearing it with bulb syringe.
• She will occasionally bear down and blow her nose clear independently
  
• Although sometimes shallow, eratic and difficult, Siena continues to breath independently.
  
• She received a shot that is supposed to strengthen infants immunity and protects them from RSV.
  

Like everything else she has faced, Siena continues to battle the forces of nature along with the help of everyone's prayers, especially the kids' prayers (a Catholic school teacher tells me they are the best ), to take claim of her life. She is still in an open air crib. She has been put into an isolation unit to protect the other infants in the NICU. We are not permitted to go see her, especially since Dre is sick and Brody was running a fever on Sunday night. Siena is still eating well and gaining weight every day. As of 9 PM, Feb 11, she weighed 3 lbs. and 7.5 ozs. Her bottom is still irritated and rashy, but she seems to be healing due to the 3x daily medicated ointment treatments.

Monday night Dre and I were talking about how nice it would be to not have to go to the NICU every night . . . as the saying goes, "Careful what you wish for!" We got it and Siena is sick and we can't bring her home, and we can't see her. All we can do is call to get updates. Ugh! I would be lying if I said that this isn't hard emotionally and mentally. When thinking about it rationally, it seems like in comparison to everything else - this is pretty minor.

It's not a setback . . . just a delay. Everything is a drama surrounding this girl . . . I am really dreading the teenage years! ;)

There is a blessing in all of this. We are fortunate because the virus fully incubated while she was at the NICU under the watchful care of the nurses and doctors. It would have been even worse if we brought her home and had to take her back.

Thanks for everyone's thoughts and prayers.

Homecoming Delayed

Siena has been moved to an open air crib and as of about an hour ago, she was set to come home tomorrow night. My excitement was quickly crushed when we received a call from the hospital (about 15 minutes ago) saying that they believe that Siena has a virus and is now in isolation to keep the other babies from getting sick. Sounds like cold symptoms, but obviously a cold can be a big deal when you are only 3 lbs 5 oz. Shayne said that the Dr did not sound worried. They just want to keep an eye on her to make sure she is okay. Since me & both boys all have colds even Shayne is supposed to stay out of the NICU for now. So no new pictures for awhile.

Please keep little Siena in your prayers.

An Exciting Weekend

As Dre highlighted last night, Siena gain 66g and weighs 1476g. That is 24g away from being put into an open air crib. She has gained almost a pound since she was born. It is amazing looking at her now and then at previous pictures! Even at just a little over 3#, she is starting to look like a full term baby and not a preemie.

Siena's bottom continues to be very irritated. the nurses continue to let her rest on her belly with her bottom exposed to open air.

Siena had a great weekend with lots of guests who came to visit and cuddle including her Uncle Tristan, Uncle Mike, Uncle Justin, Grandpa and Grandma Boyd, Auntie Molly, Auntie Tiffy, and my friend John.

Siena's journey this week:


Last Saturday, Feb 1


Sunday, Feb 2 - First day dressed and no feeding tube.


Thursday, Feb 6 - With Mom after Siena's first bath with us.


Sunday, Feb 8 - Clothed, no tubes and almost 1 pound greater than her birth weight!

Getting Bigger

Siena had a weight gain of 66 grams which makes her 1476 grams or 3 lbs, 4 oz. Once she is 1500 grams she will move to an open crib. If she is doing fine after 48 hours, then she can go home. This is very exciting, but scary considering I have a cold and Brody came down with a fever today. I have not been able to visit since Friday morning. Shayne came home tonight and told me that she is starting to look totally different from her earlier pictures. When he showed me the shots he took tonight it made me a little sad because she definitely is looking different. I know that's good because it means she is getting bigger and filling out, but it is still hard to miss seeing her in person when she is changing everyday.

Thanks to all for their continued support.

Uncle Mike (dre's brother) visited Siena awhile ago but wasn't able to hold her then since she was under the lights.

Busy Day

First off, Siena had another day of gaining weight. She gained 34 grams, making her now 1390 grams (that's how they measure everything the NICU), which is 3 lbs 1 oz! Woohoo, over the 3lb mark! Now she just needs to keep that up and we will be busting her out of there before long.


Siena had a busy day today, visiting again with Grandma Barnhart (AKA Grandma Pooh), and Aunt Tiffy. She also met Uncle Tristan, John S & Aunt Molly from Chicago for the first time. Siena is really going to start thinking she is special with all of these visitors. Rumor has is there will be more visitors tomorrow. Wish I could be one of those visitors, but I have come down with a bit of a cold so I will be staying at home this weekend (doing some "nesting" with the help of Aunt Tiffy & Aunt Molly) while daddy gives her hugs and kisses from me :-(

Note: I have added bath photos to a previous post.

Grandma Pooh finally gets to visit Siena again after a long week of helping with the boys.

Uncle Tristan surprised us with a visit all the way from PA.

Aunt Molly in town to meet Siena and help mom get the house ready for her homecoming.

Following in her brothers' footsteps. She loves her ears already.

Sound the Trumpets!!!!

Siena gained 120 grams! She weighs 1356 grams or about 2# 15 ozs. Siena loved her first bath with us tonight.

Our nurse, Jackie, suggested that we bring our bottles in so that Siena can get used to using our bottles. She also told us to bring in a car seat so that they can have practice and get used to sitting in a car seat. Exciting stuff!

She loved her bath. Doesn't this look relaxing?!

We took advantage of the minute without any wires attached to her to get a picture.

All fancied up after her bath. The nurses are so sweet.

(I think it was Jackie that gave her this tiny bow)

Slow but Steady

Siena is still doing very well. She had gone 3 consecutive days with almost a 1 oz gain each day. However, she's slowed the last couple days and had only a 3 gram gain yesterday. She weighs about 1215 grams and they need her to be at least 1500 before they can put her in an open air crib. If she can maintain her temperature and gain weight for 48 hours, then she'll come home.

The doctors actually believe that she could maintain her temperature in an open air now, but want to be conservative and avoid slowing down her pace of growth. With that being said, Siena is kept naked throughout the day b/c they think she is getting too warm in the isolette and burning off her calories.

We will be giving Siena a bath for the first time tonight. Let me clarify that she has had baths already, but we haven't been present so it is our first time giving her a bath.

We'll keep all of you posted.

Bigger Everyday

Siena had another weight gain and she is now up to 2 lbs 11 oz. No real stories to share. It was great as always to see her and we look forward to tomorrow's visit.

Brothers and Pets and Germs , OH MY!

Siena is doing wonderful. Another weight gain today; she is 2# 10 ozs. The nurses had to graduate to a larger diaper for Siena because she poops like a term baby and those tiny preemie diapers can't contain it all. She went through four outfits today.

Speaking of outfits, luckily, a very thoughtful and generous mom, whose twins are graduating from the NICU and going home tomorrow, donated her preemie clothes to the NICU. In turn, the nursing staff is passing the clothes to us. When the time comes we will do the same and pay it forward.

Every time the nurses tell us that it could be "X" number of days until we . . . (fill in the blank) . . . it ends up happening significantly sooner than we anticipate, which makes every milestone so much more exciting. A nurse told us that Siena is doing so well and that it could be 12-15 days that she could be coming home. Siena could be coming home real soon.

I'm very excited to bring Siena home. I'm also very scared. Her environment is so safe, so controlled, so sterile . . . I'm not sure if we're ready to bring her home to 2 energetic big brothers, a dog and cat, and the culmination of germs that come from brothers and pets. I know she'll be fine. The thought of taking her home is exciting and daunting, but I'm not worried.

Tonight a woman from housekeeping was emptying trash and she shared with us that her 3 year old was a 7 week preemie. Now she is bigger than most kids in her preschool. With all three kids, there are a lot of things that we have tried to rush forward such as I can't wait:

• to to take her home.
• until we don't have to get up every 3 hours.
• for them to walk.
• for them to talk.
• for them to be potty trained.

This got me thinking . . . there's no rush.

There is only a limited time to:

• spend uninterrupted one-on-one time.
• change their diaper.
• cuddle and fall asleep together
  
• to feed them a bottle.
• to hold their hands or carry them on my shoulders.

With each moment that passes - it's one less time I'll get to experience that event with the family. Time flies regardless of whether I am having fun or not. Before I know it the countdown will be at zero.

I am committing myself to slowing down and moving to the right lane of traffic from the left lane. I'll have greater appreciation for the dedicated one-to-one evening conversations with Dre during drives between the hospital and home, because soon we won't be making that nightly drive. I'll cherish the time I have at the hospital with Siena, because soon she'll be 30 lbs rather than 3.0 lbs. Soon her preemie clothes will be baby clothes, then "tot" clothes, and I don't even want to think about what comes next. Before I know it, my "tots" will be "big" kids and I won't be able to lie them on their backs, change their diapers, play head-shoulders-knees-and-toes, and then tickle them. With each passing day it will be one day closer to when the kids will not want to hold my hand or ride on my shoulders.

Brothers and pets and germs, OH MY! . . . we're in no rush, so we'll just take our time.

YIKES! my last couple posts have been kind of serious . . . I'll try to share more humor in the next post.

Super what . . . who's playing . . . oh, whatever!

In advance I will state that this post is a little about Siena, but a lot about my reflection and appreciation for everyone who has directly and indirectly touched our lives . . .

Dre and I slept-in to 10 AM this morning. I had a little guilt for missing church and felt more rested than I have in a long time, which made up for any guilt I had. Waking up to the sun beating down on my face, it felt like a special day to me. I took Daisy, our dog, outside and it was almost 50 degrees outside-just like Spring-only making me feel even better by the moment.

We get up to the hospital and Dre goes up to Siena's room while I stop off at the cafeteria to get some coffee. I get up to the room, chat with the nurse, and then look into the isolette. My breath is stolen as I look over my little girl with no feeding tube in her nose . . . Dre just proudly smiles at me. Her smile felt as warm as the sun that woke me up this morning. We knew that within a few days that the tube would be coming out, but neither of us had expected her tube to come out last night.

The last few weeks have been a blur and I barely know the weekday or day of the month. I feel like I haven't seen my boys for the last 3 weeks and have been missing them greatly. It felt wonderful to spend the second half of the day with them.

It was interesting to come home and read Dre's blog "Super Siena". I had the exact same surreal moment of reflection about our journey through the last 3 weeks as Dre when I optimistically walked into the hospital for Siena's 9 PM feeding. A wave of innumerable thoughts, feelings, and emotions flowed over me:

• I thought about all of the things that went "wrong" and how everything aligned just "right". It made me think of a quote that I read on a plaque at Kirklands yesterday, "Faith is not believing that He can; Faith is knowing He will."
• I thought about everyone who has been here walking this journey with us - our friends and family, our doctors and nurses, friends and acquaintances at our parish, and everyone else who has thought and prayed for us who we have never met.
  
• I remembered all the things I have felt - fear, anger, faith, nausea, doubt, love, pride, exhaustion, jealousy, impatience, compassion, optimism, and many other emotions that I don't have vocabulary to describe.
• It made me think about all the little things that have taken greater importance in contrast to how many little things, like some game called the Super Bowl, are meaningless and have been given too much priority.
• I wondered how I will change and grow from everything I've learned and experienced.
• And then I started to think . . .
  

. . . I found myself in Siena's room looking over her . . . my mind stops and I am not thinking about anything any more. I get her out, I feed the bottle to her, and we prayed together.

It was also interesting that Mama Barb commented this evening calling Siena, "Super Siena" while at the same time Dre was writing her blog titled, "Super Siena. I asked Dre if she had seen Mama Barb's comments before publishing the post and she had not. I guess bright minds really do think alike. ;)

Sleep, Sun, Warmth, Family, and Friends . . . Wow!, what a special day . . . Thank you to all of you who have touched our life . . . Thank you God.

Super Siena

Siena had a big weekend. Yesterday she met Aunt Lynette & Uncle Ted. Today she met her great grandma & great grandpa Boyd. She also got to hang out with grandma & grandpa Boyd & Uncle Matt. This morning we were surprised (& very excited!) to find that her feeding tube was removed so she is taking all of her feedings by bottle or nursing now. It was awesome to see our little angel with no tubes attached.

We had the pleasure of talking with the occupational therapist who apparently works with her everyday to make sure that she is on track developmentally. The OT was doing an evaluation and did many exercises with her to test her eye sight (her eyes followed a card with a teddy bear on it), her hearing (Siena crinkled her eye brows and shifted her eyes towards Shayne when he was talking to her). She tested her reflexes & did some strength exercises as well. Siena passed the tests with flying colors and was even more advanced than the OT was expecting. That's our girl!

We spoke with the Dr who confirmed what we already have been told. She is going to be tiny when she leaves the hostible (that is how Bray says hospital). It is not out of the question that she will be as little as 3 lb 12 oz when we take her home. Yikes! She has had 2 days of weight gain in a row so that is good. She is up to 2 lbs 9.9 oz. We were told that we shouldn't be so concerned with the day to day weight changes but we need to look at the weekly numbers. This is easier said than done and we still anxiously await every weigh in.

Today in addition to spending time with Siena we were able to spend some quality time with the boys. They had a great time in Delaware with their cousins & Aunt Lisa & Uncle Dan (in fact they didn't really want to come home). We went to Chuck E Cheese with the boys & Uncle Matt. After coming home Shayne read to them, cuddled with them till they fell asleep then raced off to give Siena her 9:00 bottle. No super bowl for Shayne this year. He would much rather hang out with Super Siena :-)

I am now officially driving (I know... stay off the road!) After Chuck E Cheese I drove back to the hospital to say good night to Siena. It felt great to be out and about on my own for the first time since I was told that I was to be on complete bedrest. As I walked into the hospital I reflected on the path that had led to where we are now. I passed the Maternal Fetal office where we first were sent after finding out that Siena was so tiny. Fear just eminates from that waiting room. I can't help but say a little prayer every time we pass by it for all of those terrified parents and the babies that pass through that office. I pray that all of them have their happy endings. I passed the lab where I had my bloodwork done. I passed triage where I waited for hours, hooked up to machines, waiting to hear how Siena was doing, hoping desperately that they would send me home, back to bedrest so that Siena could continue to grow. We know how that went & thank God that we had great doctors that had the technology and knowledge to know that Miss Siena was better in their care than mine (wow, that sounds pretty sad, doesn't it?) Anyway, we just feel very fortunate.

Shayne just got home... he will get to see the last 2 minutes of the game.

Feeding tube in.

Feeding tube out!

Giving Daddy a high 5.

"Daddy is my hero" onesie.