Audrey is Advanced

Audrey is still doing extremely well. Michael thinks it’s because she’s so smart that she’s more advanced than other preemies. He’s a great Dad and is very proud of her.

I was discharged from the hospital yesterday and we moved a few blocks down the Ronald McDonald house. We are so lucky that this place exists. Parents of children who are in the hospital in Louisville, but who don’t live in this county, can have a room and meals for $15 a night. My mom is here helping take care of me and bringing me back and forth to the hospital since I can’t drive for 2 weeks after the c-section.

Unfortunately it’s a little more difficult for me to update the blog here since the internet in our room is very very weak. But it’s hard to complain when we’re so glad we have a place to stay. I can’t imagine if I had to go home and be an hour and a half away from Audrey. Sometimes I go a little crazy if I’m delayed even a few minutes in getting to her :)

Back to Audrey. All of her bloodwork has been great, except her bilirubin which had gone down, but went back up after she was off the lights for a day. The lights are really effective at bringing her levels down, and her level has never really gotten too high since they are watching her so closely. Her doctor says that usually the levels peak at 5 to 7 days after birth, so hopefully if she’s good in a couple of days she can come off the lights.

We’re also hopeful that she can come off her IV in a few days. She is currently still on IV fluids & vitamins while they gradually increase the amount of milk she is receiving through her nasal-gastric tube. She is currently up to 18 cc every three hours, and should definitely be off the IV by the time she gets up to 29. In the last three days she’s been increased from 10 to 14 to 18, so it shouldn’t take long to get to 29. The reason for the gradual increase is that preemies can have intestinal problems that can be extremely serious so they need to watch her very carefully to ensure that she is digesting her food and not having any trouble. So far everything has been perfect.

Yesterday Audrey’s weight went up for the first time. We were very proud of her! She now weighs 1447 grams. Her length was also measured last night – they measure lengths once a week – and she grew ¼ “ and is now 16 ¼ inches long!

Apart from the IV and the UV lights for her bilirubin, Audrey only has two little monitor wires on her for her heart rate and respiration.

I can’t wait until we can take her home. It was really beautiful outside today and it made me excited to think about taking Audrey out for walks. For now I have been enjoying my kangaroo care time together. On Saturday I held her for four hours and yesterday for five. It’s good for both of us, and definitely makes me feel better. I just don’t want to put her back in the isolette!

Audrey's Big Weekend

Audrey is having a fantastic weekend. Her Papa came up to visit yesterday, and then her Baba arrived from L.A. last night.





Today she was taken off the Bili-lights since her bilirubin levels were back down to 4.5. This made it easier to interact with her.

We also noticed that Audrey was waking up before feeding time, and having feeding behaviors such as sucking and putting her hands in her mouth. So, as part of a progression towards feeding based on her cues, Audrey had her first bottle! The nurse gave her the first bottle to show us what to watch for, and Audrey ate it all! It was great. She is now up to 10cc's of breast milk every 3 hours.





Overall there was lots of cuddling this weekend :)






This evening we did kangaroo care again - and ended up doing it for 4 hours! It was great to have all that cuddling time. It's good for her to be out of the isolette and having that contact, and it's great for stimulating my milk production.

Her weight was down a little again today, to 1447 grams, but with the way she's eating we're hoping that will turn around soon. She is still well within normal limits though.

It's amazing how happy we were to spend our Saturday night in the NICU with Audrey. We are so thankful that she has arrived safely and is so strong. We are looking forward very much to bringing her home soon!

Audrey is doing great!

This morning Michael and I went down to see Audrey first thing in the morning. The nurse was doing the assessment and Audrey looked fabulous. The bili-lights were off so she had her shades off and we could see her face. She had also been weaned from the nasal cannula and was breathing entirely on her own. The IV's had been removed from her hands and she looked so much more comfortable! She still has one IV, but it is in her arm.

The lights helped Audrey's bilirubin level drop below the level which usually requires the lights, but they are being extra cautious and keeping her on them for a while longer.






We were able to hold Audrey THREE times today, I was very excited :) We also got to change diapers and tried to be there for all of her feedings. She is now up to 6 cc's of my milk every three hours. Her weight has dropped about 35 grams each day - weight loss in newborns is totally normal and this is not very much of a concern at all. She now weighs 1477 grams.






This evening Audrey was really alert at the beginning of her feeding. She had her eyes open alot, we can't see what color they are but they look dark (not very surprising!)

Day Two

I'm afraid I don't have too many pictures to add today. We were able to take a fair number, but a lack of cables and chargers has limited how many I was able to upload. We'll make up for it tomorrow.






Audrey is doing really well. Her bloodwork results today showed that her clotting factors were normal, which is great. Her bilirubin was a little elevated - which is extremely common in preemies - so they put her under special lights to help with that.

My recovery from the surgery is also going well, I did have more pain today, but nothing too terrible. And I'm producing small quantities of milk, which is great for Audrey. In fact, they started giving it to her by nasal tube today!

We were shown a few ways in which we could care for Audrey today, as we're very limited in how much we can hold her it feels good to do what little we can. We can take her temp, clean her face, and I got to change her ver first poopy diaper! Who would have imagined how happy I would be to do that :) But it's a fabulous sign that her body is healthy and functioning. And it was an interesting challenge to have to do it while she was still inside the isolette.

We did get to hold her for a few minutes today, and hopefully we can start the "kangaroo care" which involves skin-to-skin contact soon. It's supposed to be great for Audrey, and will also hopefully help me get the milk going for her.

Audrey is also being weaned off of the nasal cannula. She was already breathing regular air, just with a little flow. Hopefully by tomorrow she will be totally on her own with that. It's really exciting how well she is doing. I can't wait to spend time with her tomorrow!

More of Audrey's First Day

Things are still going well. I was able to produce some milk for Audrey, and if she is stable she should be able to have it tomorrow!


Monica and Kyle came to visit. They had a little photo shoot with Michael and Audrey in the NICU...it makes you realize how tiny she is.





And finally I was able to go see and hold Audrey, it was wonderful.

Audrey Peridot Leitao has arrived!

We are very proud to announce the arrival of our daughter, Audrey Peridot.

Audrey was born at 9:20 a.m. this morning. She weighed 3 lb 9 oz and was 16 inches long.

She seems to be doing really well. She came out crying and strong. She is in the NICU and I haven't had much of a chance to see her at all. I will definitely get to go down and see her a little later though.

Audrey is breathing almost entirely on her own - she has a nasal cannula, which is a very minor measure to give her some extra oxygen. Other than that she has an IV and a tube for feeding, but if she continues to do as well as she has been, hopefully she won't need any of that for very long!

Here are some photos of our day so far: