Cassie News...

>> Sunday, February 25, 2007





Well Cassie and I survived my first week back to work full-time! Alright, alright...there never really was a question about Cassie being able to handle it, but with me it was pretty touch and go there for awhile!

Overall, she's had a great week. She's still on the high flow cannula, but does have "spells" where her pulse/ox levels drop - dramatically at times! Sometimes there's an obvious reason like she's wormed her little hand in and pulled out the cannula or she's just spit up after her feeding. Usually though it's because she's not always breathing effectively yet. Right now, the "cure" we're looking for is just time and growth - hopefully as she gets bigger this will resolve. In the meantime, she's gotten pretty good at keeping Mom on her toes with those alarms going off. Cassie continues to tolerate her feedings pretty well and she's gaining weight. A little too much though, it looks like she's retaining fluids again so we'll be keeping an eye on that this week, looking for lots of wet diapers etc...

On the amusing side - I do NOT remember being this excited over diapers with the other guys! I seem to remember that it was a dreadful chore and that Mike and I used to expend quite a bit of our brain power devising ways to trick each other into changing them. You should see us now! Not only is every diaper a cause for celebration but we actually argue a little over who "gets" to do it because it's another opportunity to interact with Cassie!

While I'm talking about that I have to send an apology to any of my co-workers who are reading. If you came anywhere near my desk or tried to talk to me about something right before 3pm this week...well, I probably bit your head off and I am so sorry! I won't always be a total b!+%# about leaving right on time, but right now I need to get to the hospital for Cassie's 3:30 care. Even though I do get to hold her for quite a while each day, she is usually sleeping, so the only time I really get to see her awake is during her care when I take her temp and change her diaper right before her feeding. After that, it's right back to sleep for her and the opportunity doesn't come again for another three hours! As she gets older and grows she'll start to be awake more and more and I won't be quite so desperate to be out the door at all costs! I know you all understand...but I still feel like a total jerk for being so snippy - sorry!

5 comments:

Ex Utero February 25, 2007 at 11:15 PM  

Hi Karen,

just caught up on your first couple of posts. Very pleased that all the debate and flying fur on our blogs has been of value.

In the end, every child is unique and no one can predict how they will do with precision unless they are at one of the extremes.

Congrats on your daughter's homecoming and going back to work.

Anonymous,  February 27, 2007 at 11:28 AM  

Welcome, Karen. Here's hoping for the best for Cassie. She's a precious bundle!

I am 18 years into this preemie thing. We kind of had best and worst scenarios with our 28-week twins.

abby February 28, 2007 at 12:50 PM  

Karen,

Congratulations on Cassie's birth. I can relate to every entry on your blog; my surviving twin is about to turn 9 months actual, 5 corrected (she and her sister who did not make it were slightly less than half baked at 23 wks 4 days) and Hallie spent four months in the NICU. These are exciting and frightening times, and, even as you hit some bumps in the road, like several others have said, cherish the small wonderful things (like diaper changing; go figure! This is still one of the things that Hallie enjoys the most, and she is a pretty joyful little baby now). And try to stay sane through the transition back to work and the continuing rollercoaster (because it does continue after homecoming)!

ThePreemie Experiment March 3, 2007 at 1:15 PM  

Hi Karen,

How are you all doing?

Stacy
mom2paige@gmail.com

Karen March 3, 2007 at 4:26 PM  

Thanks to everyone for the well-wishes and for relating and sharing your experiences...

Abby, I don't always remember to enjoy all the small things, but they usually manage to sneak up on me and I'll suddenly realize I'm happy. I'm not surprised that Hallie still enjoys diaper time, in NICU it's almost like "playtime" for the babies and parents.

Stacy - all's well, but it was a pretty long week and I was struggling a little. I decided to take everyone's advice and sleep when I could and it did make a world of difference!

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