Update 12.8.2010

Greetings from the NICU…and home. Life has certainly changed since our last post. Anna and Lucy are adjusting to home with Mommy and Daddy. Brenna is still in the NICU, but is making positive strides.  It’s been difficult to split time between home and the NICU, but we do it because we have to.

Our last post, we detailed some of the trials Brenna had been facing with infections, and possible tummy issues, among other things. Brenna has been looking and acting like a new girl in the last couple of weeks. After several rounds of meds to alleviate swelling and some steroids for an extra little burst, she is off the vent and back on VapoTherm nose prongs. She gets tired easily, but after a month of the vent doing most of the work, it’s understandable. Feeding is going well, she’s getting 45 milliliters of fortified milk every three hours; the most she had previously was 8 milliliters, so needless to say, we are relieved her digestive system seems to be responding.  She’s gaining weight, 6lbs 2oz at last check, and we feel confident it’s legitimate weight, not skewed by fluid retention. All of her IV lines have been removed and all meds are now being administered orally through her feeds. She is a little jaundiced, but food and getting rid of the IV fluids should help.

All in all, she is vastly improved from just a few weeks ago. She is more alert and awake than we have really ever seen her, and we love every minute of it. She looks right at you with her big brown eyes and we can’t help but smile every time. It’s so nice to see her wanting to interact with you and her environment.  We brought her a swing so she can get out of her crib now and again and sit up, and her nurses were nice enough to find a radio, so she has been listening to Christmas music for the last few weeks. Normally, the rule is no Christmas music until after Thanksgiving, but Daddy will let it slide for now. We are truly amazed at her progress and we pray she continues to improve so she can join us and her sisters at home. 

Brenna Bear

Home life… where to begin? We still can’t believe we have two of our girls home with us now. It was a little surreal at first. In the hospital, they were our babies that we got to visit. Now, they are our babies for who we are completely, totally responsible for.  We knew it was going to be a lot of work, but I don’t know if we really knew how much work it was going to be. For the most part, the girls have taken it pretty easy on us. There have only been a handful of sleepless nights so far. Our days are filled with doctor’s appointments, bottles and diapers. Lucy is still loud, Anna is quiet, but she seems to be learning from her sister. She has been a little more vocal about things the last few days, but it’s not nearly as loud and demanding as Lucy. At their last check up, both girls weighed exactly the same, 5lbs 15 oz, so we may have three 6lb babies by the time this gets posted. We can’t believe how far they’ve come since birth.

So overall it’s been a good couple of weeks. Dividing time between home and the hospital is hard, but all three of our girls need us regardless of where they are at, and we’re going to make sure we are there.  We thank God our parents are close, as they have been wonderful babysitters. Without them, we’d be hauling the girls back to the hospital everyday to see Brenna. They have visited, but leaving them at home with grandma and grandpa really give us some quality time to focus on Brenna, and I feel like it has helped her tremendously.

Anna Banana

Lucy Monkey

That is where we stand right now. As always, prayers are appreciated. We see them working every time Brenna peeks at us with those big brown eyes, or Lucy wails for her bottle, or as Anna snuggles in on our chest for a little cat nap. Having Anna and Lucy home has really made us realize how far they have come, and how far they still have to go. We look forward to getting Brenna home and starting life as a family of five together. Have a good holiday. 

In His name,

Brad, Angie, Anna, Brenna, and Lucy Kamps

Update 11.17.2010

Greetings from the NICU. It’s been a while since our last update. We’ve been busy with growing girls who require more and more hands on time from Mommy and Daddy. Weeks 9 and 10 were stressful for us, but week 11 is shaping up to be a high point on this ride. 

Brenna, as always, has been keeping us on our toes. Shortly after our last post it was confirmed she was in fact battling a urinary tract infection, which can cause many issues with preemies. By the end of the week, Brenna had become very swollen, and all the extra fluid she was carrying forced her back to the high frequency vent she was on after birth. X-rays also showed abnormal gas patterns in her abdomen, which was a cause for concern with her prior stomach issues. She was monitored closely and started on a 10 day run of antibiotics to battle the infection. We are happy to report the infection is under control and she is back eating and tolerating her feeds well. Brenna is still holding a bunch of extra fluid, but she seems to be feeling better. She is a bit more active and will open her eyes when Mommy and Daddy talk to her.  She is off the high frequency vent, but still requires a breathing tube. It’s very apparent she is aware of the tube and she does hate it so very much. Her CO2 levels have been improving slowly, so we pray she is able to get off the vent soon. We think she’ll be a happier girl once that happens. We say it every time, but she is our little warrior. She has more heart than any little girl we have ever met and, we thank God for our little Brenna Bear every single day.

Anna and Lucy have had eventful weeks as well, but for different reasons. Both girls have been breast/bottle feeding for the last couple of weeks. Feeding is one of the hardest things to learn for preemies, and both girls have done outstanding. As a result, they have been gaining weight like crazy. Both girls are well over 4lbs, with Lucy at 4lbs 6oz and Anna at 4lbs 12oz. They were moved out of their isolettes two weeks ago and have had no issues adjusting to open air cribs. Lucy is very vocal these days, and she has no problem letting you know when she’s ready for food/diaper change/attention/etc. Anna is starting to make some more noise, but she’s our quiet girl who waits patiently for Mommy and Daddy.

We are continually amazed at how well Anna and Lucy are progressing at 11 weeks old, which brings us to the high point we alluded to earlier: Anna and Lucy are coming home this week! Last week, the discharge coordinator came to talk to us about starting the process of getting them home. It was first brought up last Monday to start preparing and it sounded like it would be a few more weeks. We got a phone call on Thursday that Lucy was ready and she would be going home this week. Anna had just started feeding so we thought we would get Lucy home, and get adjusted, then bring her sister home. But Anna took to the bottle so well, they made the decision that she is coming home too. She will be on oxygen, but that is a small price to pay to have our two of our girls home. Anna was discharged today, and barring any changes, Lucy will be discharged on Friday. Doctor’s orders are to continue to restrict visitors pretty tightly while the girls adjust to a new environment, so even though they are sprung, it might be a little bit longer before you can all meet them. It’s hard for us to say that, but we are absolutely going to err on the side of caution with our precious babies.

As excited as we are to get them home, we are saddened that Brenna will not be able to join them for a while. With winter coming and the other girls home, it will add another dimension to our already upside down lives, but we’ve said before, “It’s never easy”, and we’ll make it work.  Brenna is improving, but she is still a sick little girl. She’ll have her own room, so she can have the quiet, relaxed atmosphere she needs to get herself back on track. She still has a long road in front of her, but we are encouraged by her progress in the last week.

As always, we appreciate the prayers and ask you continue them for our family. We had thought having one home by Christmas would have been great, but having two at home before Thanksgiving is beyond anything we could have imagined. Thank you for all your support and enjoy the upcoming holiday season.

In His Name,

Brad, Angie, Anna, Brenna, and Lucy Kamps

Brenna's tube is out...time for Paci!

Some new pics of the girls!

Brenna

Brenna

Anna

 

Lucy

 

Greetings from the NICU. Well, here we are almost 8 weeks in. It seems like every day this week has been a day we have some laughs, shed some tears, and then start all over again. The girls continue to amaze, delight, confuse, worry, (and any other verb you want to throw in there) us, but every day we learn something new about who they are. 

We had a long week with Brenna.  Recovery from her PDA ligation has taken a little longer than we had anticipated. She hasn’t been herself; very swollen, easily agitated, and overall just not a happy camper. As if trying to recover from surgery wasn’t bad enough, the doctors discovered a small stress fracture in her left arm, just above the wrist. Babies usually get most of their calcium in the third trimesters, which we missed. And whatever she did get, she had to split three ways with her sisters. They have bumped up her calcium, and we just need to let it heal. The fractured wrist pared with the vent tube down her throat may explain why she’s been so cranky. Much to the relief of her mommy and daddy, her vent tube came out Saturday morning and she is back on Vapotherm (nose prongs) like her sisters. The first 3 hours we weren’t sure she was going to stay on it for long with some high CO2 levels, but we just needed to give her some time to adjust. Her color is looking very good, she’s tipping the scales at 3lbs 2oz,  and there is a night and day difference in her attitude. She seems like our sweet little Brenna again, we missed our little girl.  While she seems to be feeling okay, we've learned there may be some other issues that mis Brenna may be struggling with.  On Sunday, some routine tests came back and they suggested she may be getting an infection (a very scary word for such a little baby).  Preliminary cultures of her spinal fluid came back normal however we are still waiting for the blood and urine results.  Additionally, Brenna's tummy turned bright red early Monday morning.  X-rays were ordered and it appears her intestines aren't very happy right now.  We pray this isn't a return of her earlier stomach issues.  So again, Brenna has had the small amount of milk she was getting taken away until we can figure out what is going on.  Please pray for our tough little girl.  She has had to (and continues to) deal with far more than she deserves and mommy and daddy just want her to get a break from all the surgeries and illnesses so she can catch up with her sisters.  We will keep you posted on what we find out.  This tiny baby is absolutely amazing.

Brenna, now without vent tube!

I don’t know what to say about Anna and Lucy except WOW! During some of our conversations with nurses last week, it’s become apparent they are not acting like typical 25 week babies. Both girls have grown so much in such a short amount of time. Typically, once they hit 3lbs and are able to hold their body temperatures stable, they can move to cribs. Anna is weighing in at 3lbs even, Lucy at 2lbs 14, so they are both getting close. We’ve been dressing them in layers, and steadily decreasing the temperature in their beds to prepare them for jailbreak. Both girls are doing very well on their respiratory as well as feedings. Lucy has been given the go ahead to start nuzzling with Mommy to simulate breastfeeding, and so far she has done very well with it. She may have accidently got some of the “real deal” the other day. Feeding can be an issue with micro-preemie babies, so to see her interested already is a step in the right direction.

That’s where we stand for now. As always, all of your prayers are appreciated. Every time we sit down to write, something else comes up, so apologies on the gap between updates. There doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day between diapers, feedings, doctors and everything else that goes on here. Until next time, God Bless.

In His name,

Brad, Angie, Anna, Brenna, and Lucy Kamps

The girls 4-6 weeks old

Click here to view this photo book larger

Surgery Update 10.12.10

Brenna had her PDA ligation surgery yesterday.  Everything went well although there was a little extra "oozing" at the site that they need to keep an eye on.  She was completely out of it all day yesterday but has started opening her eyes and looking around now.  She is one puffy little girl right now but the swelling should go down in a few days.  We are grateful that everything appears to have gone okay and we look forward to her catching up with her sisters now that the problem is fixed.  We are continually amazed at her strength...she has endured 3 surgeries in the first 6 weeks of her life!  What a little trooper we have in Brenna.  She makes her mommy and daddy very proud! Okay, off to do diaper changes...good night and God bless!


Brad, Angie, Lucy, Anna, and Brenna