Tuesday, March 10, 2009

2 weeks, 5 days old

Hi everyone,
Josh headed back to Houghton yesterday and my friend Emily came down and spent last night. It was good to have her here; I have to say, it made me feel a little more normal. She went back this morning, so I'm on my own for a few days, which is just fine. I'm completely "able-bodied" now and am trying to walk to and from the hospital (rather than drive) and take the stairs rather than the elevator here at the beacon house. It's amazing how your muscles just disappear if you don't use them for a few weeks- my legs look like toothpicks.
I went and had a good long visit with Willow this morning. She seems to be stable now. They had her ventilator turned way down as far as the number of breaths it takes for her, and also the percent of oxygen it gives her, which was down to 21 percent again (room air). Her oxygen saturataions were very stable while I was there (she wasn't "desatting"), and at 10:30, they hadn't given her any sedatives since 1 AM and she was still doing well and not thrashing around. They took away the "bili blanket" again because her jaundice level was down to 1.5. So now she doesn't look blue anymore. :) They took out the IV in her arm too, so she was lookng very normal with no blue color, two free hands, no hat and no shades. Of course I forgot the camera again though. Hopefully I'll remember it tonight. She's up to 2 pounds, 6 ounces now too! I was surprised that she's still gaining weight steadily even though she's only getting IV nutrition now and no milk.
So, it's pretty much all good news today. Her nurse let me help take care of her quite a bit this morning too. I changed her diaper, took her temperature, swabbed out her mouth, and helped flip her over onto her tummy. Laying on her tummy with her butt in the air and her legs tucked under her is Willow's favorite position. Last night I also got to touch her without a glove on. Her skin is very soft, and the fuzz on her head is getting more noticeable. When she was first born it looked black, but now it's looking a little lighter. The nurses say she has very feminine features. I can't really tell that, but I guess they've seen a lot more babies than I have!
Until next time,
Lindsay

6 comments:

Kathy said...

Hi Lindsay, glad to hear your little Willow Warrior Princess is doing well. We check daily on her progress. Thanks for keeping us updated. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Lois Bell said...

Linds. I look for the baby blog several times a day. Thanks for keeping us all informed. Sounds really good today. How fun that you get to help take care of her sometimes. Love to you Jenson girls. G'ma and G'pa

Chris and Alyssa said...

We are so glad to hear that she is steadily getting bigger! Way to go Willow!!!! We continue to cheer and pray for her.

All the best,
Chris.Alyssa.Rozzi

June Schmidgall said...

Lindsay & Josh So neat of Charles to send me this email so I can see how Willow and you all are doing. First of all Congratulations. When I heard you had the baby I was SURPRISED but then I called Grandma Lois and Your dad Charles. But wanted you to know you are all in our thoughts and prayers. Glad to see she is gaining weight and you got to help take care of her. The pictures were GREAT keep them coming. We will be cheering for you all. Love June

Lisa D. said...

Hey Linds,

Thanks for the update. I along with everyone else check the blog several times a day so I am always happy to see a new posting. Sounds like you are getting back to normal and getting stronger; I'm glad to hear that! It sounds like Willow is also making great strides. Wow, she is a little fighter! The blizzard here keeps rolling, the wind is really something right now. Scott got home from Dallas b/4 the weather set in....hooray....now I don't have to do the shoveling!!! Take care of you....we'll be in touch!

Love to you all....Lisa.

Ruth said...

Hey guys!
Just letting you know that we're still thinking of little Willow every day and that we are so happy that she is growing bigger and healthier with each passing day. We "Hope" that each day is good.
Love: Ruth and Chad