thursday, july 18th:
welcome to the world liza june! born at 1:57am. we were overjoyed and so excited to finally see our sweet baby! we spent about three hours together while they monitored her, and then around 5:30am, the decision was made to move her to the NICU.
throughout the day on thursday, liza's breathing was monitored, she was hooked up to an IV (since she was unable to nurse), and jeffrey and i met with what seemed like a million doctors and nurses.
friday, july 19th:
liza's sisters came to visit! they weren't able to hold her, but libbi and laney were at least able to come visit in the NICU.
liza had an ultrasound of her heart to determine the cause of her heart murmur. the cardiologist did find a small hole in her heart, but we were relieved to hear that he felt certain it would close on it's own.
she continued to receive fluids and antibiotics via her IV. jeffrey and i went down to the NICU as many times as possible, but were able to hold her during "touch times" three times a day.
saturday, july 20th:
liza started feedings via a tube. we were so excited since this meant we were one step closer to "normal feedings" and to going home! she wasn't thrilled with the tube that went down her throat, but she tolerated it. i would pump every three hours or so and we'd transport it to the NICU where they would put the milk in a syringe and feed it to liza through the tube. i was also able to hold her during these feedings so even though it was exhausting to trek down to the NICU every 2-3 hours, it was well worth it. even at 12am and 3am. :)
before each feeding, we would take her temperature, change her diaper, and the NICU nurse would draw blood from her heel to check her blood sugar levels. it was difficult maneuvering around all the wires and tubes, but again - well worth it to be able to hold our baby.
after each feeding and before the next, the nurse would insert a syringe into the feeding tube and check to see if there was any of the previous feeding "leftover" in liza's stomach or if she had digested it all. the goal was to have her digest it all knowing that she had tolerated the tubal feeding so we could begin nursing as soon as possible. we were thrilled that she tolerated every feeding.
i was officially discharged from the hospital on saturday, but we were so incredibly thankful that our hospital has such a generous "room in" policy. as a courtesy to us, as long as our baby was in the NICU and as long as there was an open room, we were allowed to stay so we could be with her. although the hospital accommodations were not ideal, and i'm sure jeffrey would have much preferred a bed to a futon, we were so grateful for the blessing of being able to stay with our baby.
sunday, july 21st:
when we arrived in the NICU early that morning for liza's feeding, we were so excited to see that the tube had been removed (thanks to liza - ha!) so they decided it was a sign that she was ready to try nursing! i was able to hold her and nurse her for the first time! she did great :)
it was a long and tiring process for sure, though. we would go down to the NICU every 2-3 hours depending on when liza was ready to eat. we'd check her temperature, change her diaper, and wait for the nurse to check her blood sugar. then i'd nurse her, and when we were done jeffrey would hold her while i pumped to keep my supply up. it was about an hour long process, so by the time we finished up
and headed back to our room, it was basically time to go back again.
the cultures from liza's bloodwork came back on sunday and were negative for an infection, so they were able to stop the antibiotics. they were also slowly weaning her off of the other IV fluids throughout the day.
we did have to start treatment under the lights for her jaundice levels on sunday. they weren't quite as high as what would normally need the lights, but the doctors didn't want her bili levels to be the only reason we couldn't go home. so we proactively started treating it on sunday. that was probably her least favorite. she'd rip her little glasses off all the time and just was not happy to be under the lights.
monday, july 22nd:
at 12:30am on monday, the NICU nurse took liza for her carseat test. she had to sit in her carseat for
90 minutes while her oxygen levels, heart rate, stats, etc were monitored to make sure nothing was elevated. thankfully, she passed! who knew that our girl would be such a good test taker at all hours of the morning?! ;)
the last step to going home was for her biliruben levels to come back at a level the doctors were comfortable with...and they did! we were discharged for HOME around 11am monday morning. and we couldn't have been happier!!
tuesday, july 23rd:
her sisters were THRILLED to have her home. they literally can not get enough of her. they want to know where she is every minute of the day. it is just about the sweetest thing i've ever seen.
wednesday, july 24th:
both of the big sisters had camp today, so it was just me and liza.... she spent a lot of her time sleeping, eating, and even practicing a little whistling ;-)
thursday, july 25th:
liza is one week old today! we celebrated with more of the same... sleeping, eating, and lots of love from her sisters.
we have never been more thankful for a week of progress, promises, and possibilities. Praise God our sweet baby is home and we can start adjusting to life as a family of five! thank you all for your prayers, comments, texts, messages, and phone calls. we are so blessed to have so many friends praying for us!
