Sunday, March 05, 2006

3/4/06 Update: Lily's 1st Birthday Party!

We celebrated Lily's birthday party today. Overall it went over well considering the stress and everything else. We did a garden/ladybug theme. Sean made Lily's cake and I decorated it (pictures below). I think it turned out beyond cute and am quite proud of myself. Lily ended up sleeping through the half part of her party. We had to wake her up for cake and presents. She ended up being fairly cranky from being woken up though. The pinata was a hit again (no pun intended). Caden was whacking the daylights out of it. Even the adults got in on the fun (Come on, how else would it finally break open?) After the pinata, we had cake. Lily cried when we sang to her but her tears ended when she got her first taste of her birthday cupcake. she devoured it! She got some really cute gifts. Her favorite is this alphabet pal she got. She didn't end up taking an afternoon nap so she went to sleep around 6. Slept until 8. Woke up long enough to get her jammies on and head back to bed. Poor baby. All in all it turned out ok. I'm glad we went ahead with the party considering the circumstances because I think I would have really regretting not doing anything for her very first birthday.




We didn't end up getting over to see Emma until late last night (around 9.30 p.m.). I did try to go with Susan and Kym after Lily's Party but we got there during shift change which I totally forgot about. Anyways, We went with Sean's friend Dan. Seana nd I went in first and then I went out so Dan could go see her. The nurse Christina, who we absolutely LOVE, came to the door and told me to go take off my shirt and come back with just my zip up jacket that she wanted me to try skin to skin kangaroo care. Oh my goodness! I couldn't believe it. I was changed and back within 2 minutes. Sean's friend left so I could go back in. I took a bit of preparation just to get ready for me to be able to hold her. we had to set up a heat lamp to help keep Emma warm, then we had to "pre-heat" her receiving blankets, rethread all of her various lines to the outside of her isolette, untangle them. Finally she was laid on my chest with receiving blankets over us and my jacket zipped up a bit over as well with the heat lamp directly on us (man that thing makes you sweat! She had a brady episode and desatted at first but then settled right down. Her stats were even better than before I was holding her. her oxygen went from the low 90's to 97-99 percent. Her respirations were lower and her heartrate was perfect. It felt so amazing to feel her chest rising and falling against mine! I got to hold her for about 30 minutes. Then we wrapped her up and let daddy hold her for about 5 minutes, but she was tired and starting to show it. So Christina put her back in her isolette before doing her cares. We stuck around so we could see what she weighed. She is now up to 2 pounds even. YAY. and still at 2.5 cc/ml full strength breastmilk per hour. Hopefully she'll continue to progress well like she has been these past few days. :)



9 comments:

Kim said...

Hooray for Kangaroo Care!!!! Amazing what happens when she can smell and be near Mama huh??

Anonymous said...

I'm sooooooo happy for you guys...Emma seems to be such a little fighter and doing so good! Still keeping her in our prayers for continued growth and wellness!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

That's great that you got to hold her!
Looks like Lily had a great birthday. That cake is sooo cute. :)

Anonymous said...

You look so happy!!! (With very good reason.) And Emma looks so comfortable. She's really starting to gain, isn't she? She's going to do even better now that she gets to be skin to skin with you.

Anonymous said...

Elaina,
Love the pics of Lily and her Birthday cake! Sean did an awesome job on the cake! I'm glad you had a nice time celebrating even if Lily did sleep through half of her party. :0))
Adorable pics of you and Emma! I'm so happy for you guys that all is going so well with Princess Emma! She is gaining too? WOW! Thats awesome news! Even more answered prayers!
Take care! I'll watch for the next update!
God Bless and hugs to all of you!
Stephanie

wheezeybouncer said...

brilliant update today, silly me, i'm crying over you kangarooing emma :'o) at least they're happy tears huh?

lily's birthday cake came out great! glad she had a good (if sleepy!) birthday :o)

love, geina x

Anonymous said...

Happy 1st Birthday Lily!
Elaina,
I am so happy for you that Emma was able to have skin-on-skin contact. How exciting.
Please know that my thoughts and prayers are always with you and your entire family.
Much love,
Celeste

Tara said...

Awww Elaina.... I am so excited to read about sweet Emma. Congrats on all the great news lately. I can't believe Lily is 1 already!!!! I look forward to reading about Emma everyday. The Kangaroo Care is awesome!!! She is a real fighter....

Best of luck, I will keep checking in on your guys.

(((((Tara))))) - TaraNPhil2 from PIL

Anonymous said...

Our son was in NICU for eight days, and reading about Emma Grace brought back all the memories and worries and joys of those eight days. Our son is fine, and nursing well. The pictures and your description of holding her against your skin is precious. I cried as I read about your precious princess. I will be praying for Emma and for your family.
Your friend in Christ,
Amy