Free At Last

Things over the last few days are clearly moving in the right direction, and we are seeing some positive developments. So awesome! While we are nowhere near out of the woods by any stretch, optimism is growing and things are improving.

We'll get right to it-



Sara holding Ashlyn 1st time

Ashlyn:
The big news is little Ashyln is making huge strides in the right direction. Today, her 2nd chest was removed!! After seeing no fluid overnight, the doctors decided to pull the tube.....

FREE AT LAST!

This comes with several important ramifications. First, it allows her to sleep on her side and on her tummy (a more natural position for a little preemie, and she seems happier)....Second, and by far the biggest....

MOM got to hold little Ashlyn today for the first time! She is 16 days old today. Mom was THRILLED and was feeling very good about her sweet little girl for the first time after a 2 week hiatus. She looks like a little rhinoceros with her SI-PAP machine on, and is very cute.



Rhinoceros Ashlyn

 The doctors are going to be weening her Fentanyl (her pain medicine) now that she has no chest tubes, and are talking about reintroducing feedings on Monday. Cautiously optimistic that when her feedings are reintroduced, her chylothorax fluids won't restart.

With all the good news, comes a little bad...She scored low on her Thyroid test, (borderline as the doctors say), and they are starting her on a 4-6 week Thyroid medical treatment. They tell us not to be alarmed, and that many preemies in the NICU have similar readings. The hope is that the Thyroid hormone comes back to normal levels and that the treatment can be discontinued down the road.

Given where we have been and how far we have come, I'm not going to worry about this Thyroid issue.

All in all, we are very pleased with Ashlyn's progress!




Daddy & Hanna



Hanna:

Hanna continues to do good things, and is trending well. The big news with her; After some heavy pressure from Sara and especially from the nurses, I held Hanna. It wasn't that I didnt want to hold her, but I was waiting for Mom to get her fill....

It was really great! She's a little squirrel, and fell right asleep on me after a few minutes. She slept on my chest  for about an hour which was nice bonding time. Her heart slowed down nicely when she was on me. She is up to full feeds now, and everything is looking pretty good with her.



Julia



We got a new "resident" who is in charge of our girls for the next month...Her name is Julia, and she is a bright girl from Portland. She explained the girls situation to us today, and seems like she will be a good addition to team tiny mights.

So things are starting to get better....We've been told to not be disappointed by "two steps forward, 1 step back". We have had several steps forward in the last few days, and I'm hoping for none back for now....

Thank you for all the food (everyone is bringing us lots of yummy food), cards, flowers, calls and emails. We are blessed to have such great friends, family, and community.