She was in an incubator that would sense her temperature and adjust based on her temperature. She was on a feeding tube so they could give her my milk, she was on caffeine to help to "remind" her to breathe, she was given fat to help her grow and gain weight, and she was on an IV that was basically a "multivitamin". When she was 7 days old they did a cranial ultrasound to check for a brain bleed (protocol for preemies since they are at high risk for a brain bleed). Praise God, no brain bleeds for her. By this point she was on a low flow cannula, which means she was getting the least help possible to help her breathe, just a couple of steps from being independent from breathing help.Her daddy got to hold her for the first time when she was 6 days old. He did skin to skin with her. She was soooo tiny that her little hands would grab handfuls of his chest hair and pull it haha. It was a special moment for him and it was so precious seeing that tiny little baby enveloped in his large, strong, protective hands. It is definitely enough to melt a momma's heart. There's nothing like seeing the love of your life holding your baby, his daughter, for the very first time.
At one week old we had her very first professional photos taken by Capturing Hopes, a photography organization that takes photos of kids and babies in the hospital for free for their families. It is a wonderful organization and we were so blessed by their photos they took of our daughter.
When she was close to two weeks old, Hayley finally surpassed her birth weight. On October 27, Hayley had her very first setback. It was a very scary morning that started with the hospital calling me at home (you know something bad is happening when the hospital calls you) to inform me that they had to make a lot of changes so that I wouldn't be alarmed to find all of that when I got there. She started having a lot more bradycardia episodes, had to be stimulated a lot (usually they tried to let them bring their heart rate up themselves, and if they didn't they would barely touch their back or something to stimulate them and their heart rate would come back up), they had to put her on a CPAP machine instead of a nasal cannula, she had to have an IV put in (they had just pulled out her central line a couple of days before), she needed an antibiotic and a blood transfusion (it is common for preemies to need blood transfusions because they can't regenerate their own red blood cells yet, and they need a lot of blood tests in the NICU, so they can get anemic). It was very scary watching her heart rate drop like a sled on the monitor and watching her turn almost gray while they had to actually pick her up to get her heart rate back up. Thankfully the blood transfusion did a world of good for her and she started doing much better after several hours. She had to stay on the CPAP for about a week after that before she could breathe well enough to go back on the nasal cannula, but this time she was on the high flow, which took a long time to get her off of it.
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| Our very first family portrait, taken by Capturing Hopes |
At one month old Hayley graduated from NICU 1 (the more critical end of the NICU) to NICU 2. She also was put in clothes for the very first time (they have to be able to hold their body temperature up a little to wear clothes). She looked so cute and teeny in the little preemie outfit they put her on, and it was huge on her! They told us that she tried to crawl out of them 3 times the night they put them on her and she was dubbed a "wild child" lol. At this point she was on the verge of 2lb. I actually had a meltdown that night because she had been hovering close to 2lb for 3 days and hadn't gained anything yet (like I said, the NICU is full of ups and downs). Thankfully she hit 2lb and 2 oz the next night!
Meanwhile, Hayley had to start getting regular check-ups on her eyes. I can't remember but I think it was 2 weeks to a month when they started doing that. She was diagnosed pretty early on with Stage 1 ROP (the most mild stage of Retinopathy of Prematurity, an eye condition that preemies can get that can cause leaky vessels to develop in their eyes which can cause scarring and detached retina in extreme cases. They regularly check their eyes in an attempt to treat any they see early on to save their vision). Because Hayley had stage 1, she had to be rechecked every two weeks until 3 months after going home when the eye doctor finally cleared her of it.
She tried a bottle for the very first time on November 14, at just over a month old. It didn't last long but it was a start. It takes awhile for a micro preemie (a baby born less than 700-800 grams, Hayley was around 620 grams) to learn to suck, swallow, and breathe all at the same time.
By November 22, she had been drinking from a bottle well for 3 days (eating over half of her feeding via bottle once a day) and had reached 2lb 9oz! We were getting there! There was still a long ways to go but we were getting there! Thanksgiving came and went in the NICU. She was moved into an open crib, which was one big milestone down. We were dealing with a lot of setbacks with her bottle feeding, though, since she had reflux really bad (common in preemies, generally they outgrow it as they get bigger). She had to be on continuous feeds for awhile to help it, and we were finally able to get her put on prevacid and added cereal to her milk to help the reflux. Her progression with bottle feeding improved after that.
A week or so into December Hayley had her repeat ultrasound which showed great results. She also had an echo cardiogram which showed a normal heart. She had her 2 month vaccines administered at 2 months old, which caused a slight setback, but it was a short-lived one. She was slowly working her way along with growing at this point and she reached 4 lbs on December 15. By now we were hoping she could come home by Christmas, but she didn't meet her milestones in time.
On Christmas Day, she surprised us by taking her cannula off of herself and she no longer needed it! It was so wonderful to finally see her face without stickers all over it! It was a Christmas spent in the NICU, but time cuddling my baby girl was more Christmas present than anything else I could have gotten. The next day she pulled out her feeding tube, and they decided to try her without it (meaning she takes all of her nutrients via bottle, she had to drink a certain amount to stay off of the feeding tube) and she did great! So in two days' time, she reached two major milestones! No more cannula and no more feeding tube!
She met the last one a day before New Year's Eve, so she was finally able to discharged on New Year's Eve, 5 days before her due date! Before she could come home they had to do a car seat test with her where she had to sit in the car seat for an hour with the monitors on. She had to not have any bradycardia episodes while in the car seat or she would have had to come home in a flat car seat bed. She passed it with flying colors! And they did a hearing test the day she was discharged which she also passed with flying colors!
While we were waiting for them to discharge us (an 84 day stay requires a lot of prep and paperwork, meds from the pharmacy, and a lot of instructions, AND we were waiting on her last eye exam before we left), the nurse asked us how we'd like a wireless baby and took all of her leads off. The silence was so scary after 3 months of relying on the monitor to see how she was doing, but it was nice at the same time to have a baby with no wires at all. Leaving the NICU was the most amazing feeling after practically living there for three months!
Finally we were discharged and put her in her car seat for the first time. It felt so amazing bringing her home. We spent New Year's Eve snuggling under blankets in warm sleepers at home <3 It was the most amazing New Year's Eve and was the best way ever to ring in the New Year!
Looking back, our daughter still amazes me! Everything she went through so early in her life just shows what a little miracle and strong little fighter she is! We love her so much and couldn't imagine life without her! I know that not every story of micro preemies born so early end this well, we are very blessed and very thankful for our happy, healthy little three year old.
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| Our Beautiful 3 Year Old |
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