Saying Goodbye for now

Sunday was the last day for my boys to see their baby sister until she gets to come home.  It's officially RSV season, so nobody under the age of 14 is allowed in the hospital. period. no exceptions.  I remember back in January 2010 when I had Lautala, it was RSV season then too....and my boys didn't get to meet her until I took her home.  It kinda sucks, but it's necessary to protect the little babies from getting sick.....because them getting RSV, or really any sickness could mean death because they're so small!  I'm so grateful that they allowed my boys in the NICU to see their sister for the almost 2 months since she's been born.  She's really going to miss them reading and singing to her.  They sure do love their baby sister!

A couple days ago when my boys were with me to visit her, I got to hold her.  That was the first time they'd seen her out of the incubator, and they got to kiss her little shoulder.  That's been something that Makai has been bragging about since it happened.  That's the only time they got to touch her, and it was just a little kiss.  Usually they've just sat by her incubator looking at her....they've never had the chance to really touch her, or hold her hand.  Stacey was her nurse that day and she asked them if they wanted to hold her hand.  They jumped up and screamed 'YES'....they were so excited!  She told them they had to scrub their hands again with soap and use the hand sanitizer.  Makai was the first to touch her.  I almost started crying.  He was trying to grab her hand, but she was being irritated, so I told him to just rest his hand on her arm....these pictures kind of show how small she is since my boys hands are small, and they are huge compared to my baby Katea.  I'm so glad I captured this moment on film.  Priceless!

After Makai had his turn, Filimone was anxiously waiting for his turn.  Stacey lowered the incubator so he could reach right inside.  He was so excited and a little rough with her, so his turn was cut a little short......but he was so excited and glad to have gotten to touch her.

After they got a chance to touch their little sister, they sat around her incubator singing.  Mone was singing his alphabet song and Makai started singing the medely from Shrek....they've been stuck on that movie lately....the nurses were laughing so hard when they started singing 'I like big butts'....hahaha  It was a great day and I was so glad my boys got to spend this moment with their baby sister.  As we were leaving Makai started tearing up, telling her he loved her and would keep praying for her until she gets to come home in January.  I love my kids, and I especially love how much my boys love their little sisters!

I talked to the NNP about the holes in her heart.  They decided not to do anything about it right now and hope that it will close on it's own.  She told me that it's really small and it's not causing her heart to swell, so we're just going to wait it out and pray and hope for the best.  One of our primary nurses Charise was telling me that the medicine to treat the PDA comes from Japan, and ever since the tsunami hit there, theres been a shortage of that medication.  So basically what she was telling me was that if her PDA didn't close on it's own.....surgery was the only option.  Praying so hard that it will close on it's own!

She's been doing so good since being back on the ventilator, she's been able to rest, which I am so happy about.  They were able to lower her title volume to the lowest they could, so they switched the way they were ventilating her, back to the one that gives her breaths....she started with 30 breaths when they reintubated her....today she's down to 26.  They're planning on weining from 2-4 breaths everyday as long as she tolerates it....and hopefully they'll extubate her again in a few days.  I'm so happy with her progress and how well she's been doing....I just want them to make sure she's really ready so that this will be the last time, and she won't have to go back on it.

Her blood gases still look great, she's moving the oxygen and CO2 around her body like it should!  The only changes they've made over the past couple days is that they've up'd her feedings.  Once they started her feedings again after the blood transfusion, she was getting 22ml every 3 hours, fortified to 24 calories.  (That was on Friday)  Saturday they went up to 23mls, Sunday 24, Monday 25....and today she's up to 26ml every 3 hours, fortified to 24 calories....and they are adding protein to help her grow.  She's been gaining weight pretty well with the up'd feedings, but she hasn't really been growing in length...so they're hoping the protein will go to her bones and help her grow that way.  She's up to 1500 grams as of tonight, which equals 3lbs.5oz.  These are the better days I've been waiting for!  Good job baby girl, I'm so proud of you and I love you so much!

Here's just a couple pictures I took of her today, you can totally see her chubby little cheeks!  My tiny 3lb baby has such chubby cheeks....who would've known!