May 31, 2008

My mom, dad, sister, and nephew are in town this weekend to see Miss Evia. She is doing great. She has been frustrated by her nose tube lately and took matters into her own hands. The nurse discovered her Friday morning trying to remove the tube herself. She had successfully removed all the tape from her face and was trying to pull the tube out. The doctor decided to remove the tube completely and try all mouth feeds. She had her last tube feeding at 9 am Friday morning. Every one since then has been by mouth. Randy and I were very happy because we could finally take a picture without tubes or wires in it. Here is the beautiful girl. Check out the beginnings of the double chin. Evia is putting on weight every day.
Grams and Grandpa love Evia.

Aunt Haley will be fixing Evia's hair when it grows back in.

May 29, 2008

Evia is doing great! She took 5 nipple feeds yesterday. She finished 3 bottles and two breast feeds. It appears she has turned the corner and figured out how to suck, swallow, breathe. She wakes up when hungry now and will cry or suck her hands. She previously didn't do this. She pulls on her nose tube when she gets hungry. The doctor may remove it in the next couple days so she'll take all food by mouth. It looks like Evia will likely be home by the end of next week. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much, but it's looking really good. Thanks for all the prayers and support we've received in the past month.

May 28, 2008

Evia is getting better each day. She weighs 5 lb 2.9 oz. She now has a mobile on her crib. I can't tell if she likes it, but it makes me feel better because it feels less like a hospital to decorate her room. She gets three bottle feeds a day now and is improving each day. Evia had the consult with the occupational therapist and it went well. She took her bottle in record time. The OT will most likely work with her more. I'm ready to have a picture of her which doesn't have a nose tube.

May 27, 2008

Evia is doing good. She's having some difficulty with the suck, swallow, breathe. An occupational therapist is going to begin working with her Wednesday. That should help her improve in taking food by mouth. She continues to gain weight every day. I was looking at pictures of Evia from her first few days in the hospital. It's amazing how much she's changed. She looks much larger and she is more vocal. She hasn't cried much but has started to cry more the past couple days when she gets upset. Her muscle control is better. She doesn't show as many of the random arm and leg movements. She can get her hand to her mouth to suck and does a good job of kicking mommy and daddy when getting her diaper changed. Her grasp is stronger and she pulls on her nose tube a lot.

Evia gets to meet her Aunt Haley and cousin Bennett this weekend. Bennett is walking like crazy now and I can't wait to see that. I guess I need to do a quick child proofing of my house.

May 26, 2008

Randy and I spent Memorial Day with Evia. She is so precious. She has cracked the 5 lb mark. She weighs 5.08 lbs. She is still working on taking a bottle. Every day she gets better but still can't quite put it all together. She'll get it though. Here are pictures of Evia and me. These don't happen often as mommy is usually the one taking the pictures.

May 25, 2008

I haven't updated the blog in a couple days. Grandma and papa were in town this weekend. Here are some pictures of Evia. I don't feel much like writing but I know everyone wants to see baby girl.

May 23, 2008

Today Evia took a full bottle at noon from mommy. I haven't had her take a full bottle from me yet and I was very excited. Her umbilical cord fell off. The nurses put it in a little jar for us to keep but I was kind of grossed out by it. Does that make me a bad mommy? Baby girl is so adorable that even her new belly button is cute. I was looking at pictures from when Evia was first in NICU. She is noticeably bigger now and doesn't have as many wrinkles in her skin. She is looking more like a newborn baby and less like a preemie. Evia is becoming more vocal. She grunts when unhappy and makes a cute little semi-squeak noise when content. I've enjoyed getting to know her but it's still hard leaving her every night. Randy and I are eager to have her to ourselves 24/7.


My mom sent this picture to me. I love it. It was taken when my parents brought my sister Haley home from the hospital. I can still remember arguing with Meredith over who had to hold the butt end. I won.

May 20, 2008 - Cribs: Baby Evia Edition

Baby Evia here. I am out of the box and loving it! No temperature probes for me. Today I am in my new crib. Let's take a tour. I went with relaxed baby theme for the decor. It helps me chill after a hard day of bottle feeding, pooping, and being poked by nurses. The light blue crib matches the blue in my receiving blankets and I dressed special to match my crib. My outfits and blankets change daily. I like to keep it fresh around here. My pets are also fans of the new crib. Pink poodle, baby giraffe, and teddy bear approve. No episode of cribs is complete without showing off your rides. Check mine out. Super sweet 2008 Graco in the pattern Deco. Dope. Before you know it, I'll be rollin' down the street in my Graco sippin' on apple juice (totally stole that from Daddy).





Thanks for stopping by and Go Pokes!

May 19, 2008

Evia is getting better at feeding from a bottle. She had three bottles today. She completely finished one, half of a second, and about 3/4 of a third. She was doing much better today with the bottles. She gained more weight and is now 4 lb 8 oz. She is starting to fill out but is still small. Evia hates getting her diaper changed. She doesn't cry much but she gets going when you try to change her. Daddy gets big points for today. He got her to eat most of a bottle and changed the resulting dirty diaper which was by far her biggest poop to date. Mommy is still trying to get a video of her burping (burps and poops - I apologize for the disgusting nature of this post). Here's daddy giving her bottle.

May 18, 2008 - Hitting the Bottle

Evia continues to improve in taking milk from a bottle. During her noon feeding, she finished an entire 40 ml bottle on her own. She is going to get a second bottle at midnight. Hopefully, she will be able to finish it, too. Evia also has figured out her pacifier. We had been working some with her with the pacifier but she couldn't really suck on it or keep it in her mouth. Today, we gave her the pacifier and she could hold it herself. She went after it for about half an hour. Randy and I will be giving her bottles tomorrow. We need to practice giving her bottle so we can do it when we get home. Here is a picture of Evia taking the first bottle she finished. The nurse gave me the bottle to keep.


Evia looking cute.

May 16, 2008

Today was a big day for Evia.

She put on more weight and is now above her birth weight by 1/3 oz.

She moved out of NICU and into the Neonatal Special Care Unit. She has her own little room and it has a couch which makes into a twin bed. The visiting hours are 24/7 so Randy and I can spend more time with her now.

She had her first bottle feeding and mommy was allowed to give her the bottle. She is getting one bottle a day. Once she can take one bottle, she will get two and so on until the doctor determines she can get all her food by mouth. At that point, we will be able to take her home. They start with one bottle and work up because they don't want Evia spending all her energy eating. She needs her energy to grow. The bottle has her full 40 ml volume. She eats what she can and the rest she gets through her tube. She was able to take 5 ml on her own today. She could do the whole suck, swallow, breathe thing but not for a sustained period of time. She took what she could and then I burped her. She let out quite a belch for such a small baby. I was startled by it and the nurse heard it on the other side of the room. The eating made her tired though and she went to sleep. I am determined to get a video of her burping so I can post it. It's amazing the things I now find fascinating.

May 15, 2008 - Just Chillin'

Evia was looking very relaxed and sleeping soundly when we arrived.


Evia is now getting 40 ml of milk every three hours. Going forward, they will increase the amount of milk she gets based on her size. She now weighs 4 lb 4 oz. That's 1 oz less than her birth weight. She is improving in regulating her own body temperature. She still needs the incubator, but hopefully only for a couple more days. It will be much easier to hold her when we don't have to deal with the box. She hasn't moved to her own room. We're just waiting for other babies to go home. She hasn't started trying to take milk from a bottle yet. She will suck on a pacifier some but can't do this for very long. Apparently, the ability to suck, swallow, and breath can be complicated to master. She'll figure it out though. I love it when her eyes are open.


She's practicing with the pacifier to get ready to bottle feed.

May 14, 2008 - Project RunBaby

So far, Evia's NICU time has been spent in diapers (comfortable) or hospital issued clothing (boring). Evia is now sporting the latest in super-cute preemie fashions and looking baby chic. She now gets to wear the clothes her cousin Hannah gave her and the clothes mommy bought her.


The IV is gone and she is rocking the mohawk. Fierce.


Evia continues to show improvement every day. She didn't gain any weight today but she didn't lose any either. The clothing actually serves a purpose in that it helps her with her progress in regulating her body temperature. They have increased her feedings to 34 ml every three hours. I was able to hold her for three hours this afternoon. Pure heaven. We fell asleep together in the big reclining chair with her on my chest. I was cradling her head at one point and she began sucking on my finger which was close to her face. We are looking for signs like this and the doctor is monitoring her daily to evaluate when Evia can begin taking milk from a bottle. This requires her to breathe, swallow, and eat at the same time. Being able to bottle feed is a milestone she needs to meet before going home. We are still waiting on a room to open up on the other floor. Once she is moved there, we can stay with her and the visitation rules are less strict.

Here's a picture of Evia and daddy.

May 13, 2008 - Happy 1 Week Birthday!

Today Evia is 1 week old. She now weighs 4 lb 2 oz and is getting 29 ml of milk with each feeding. The IV is completely out now and all nutrition is from the milk. It was such a relief to see her today and not see that IV. They had to shave her head for the scalp IVs. She has fuzz growing in from the first IV shave. Evia needs Aunt Haley to fix her hair pretty when it grows back in. The IV was limiting our baby holding time and we'll be able to hold her more now. She had been in level one NICU which is the most critical unit. She was moved to level two NICU today which is less critical. The plan is to move her to her own room as soon as one is available. If a room had been available today, she would have moved there today. When that happens, there will be a bed in the room so we can stay with her. I don't have pictures today as I spent the visit holding her.

May 12, 2008 - Thumb Sucking Fun

Evia continues to improve every day. Today, she gained 2 oz and tips the scales at a whopping 4 lb. They decreased her IV fluid rate and were just going to let the bag run out. There were no plans to continue her on IV nutrients past Monday night. Her milk was increased to 25 ml and she is fully digesting it. Once she is off the IV, they will keep her on 25 ml every three hours and continue to monitor her. The nurse said they would probably try to start her on a bottle in the next couple days. Being able to take food by mouth is something she must be able to do before we can take her home.

She started getting really fussy around 5:45, and she is scheduled to be fed at 6 PM. She kept putting her hand in her mouth and was sucking on it. She was showing hunger signals and the sucking was a really positive sign that she's getting ready to take food by mouth. When they started the milk in the tube, she also put her hand in her mouth and sucked her thumb for part of the feeding. Here's a video of thumb sucking. Mommy is very proud of her girl.

May 11, 2008 Also for your consideration...

This picture came in one of the packages that Autumn bought, and I laughed when I saw it. Talk about multi-tasking.

May 11, 2008 Hiccups and Squeaks

Autumn had not seen Evia with the hiccups yet, and thus was forced by the laws of motherhood to video it.

May 11, 2008 Mother's day wiggling video

A short video of inside-the-incubator wiggling action, with bonus eye-opening.

May 11, 2008 Autumn's first Mother's Day

Autumn's first official Mother's Day. Evia was put into an incubator box today. I never felt like I got a great explanation for this, but it is supposed to be an improvement over the open table with the heat lamp. Something about it providing a better environment for her to regulate her own body temperature for more of the time and provide a very controlled environment. I'm thinking that it sounds like it would have been a good idea from the start, but what do I know? Anyway, she had a little T-shirt on today, and they told us to bring up some little outfits to put her in. Brenda brought us some preemie stuff from Meredith and Haley, which is so appreciated. Autumn will take some of those to the hospital tomorrow. Here's Autumn reaching in and greeting Evia as we arrived.

We also got to hold her again today. Notice the swanky yellow lab coat thing. I seriously could have Hulk Hoganed that thing into 20 shredded pieces, but didn't want to scare the nurses with my beastliness. It seems like the random rules in the NICU change all the time, as we have held her several times before without the coat on. Daddy even changed a dirty diaper (like a pro, I might add). Autumn is having a great Mother's Day. Milk intake is up to 20 ml per serving and she gained another 15 grams. She's back up to 3 lb, 14 oz now. Keep going girl.

May 10, 2008

Evia had another day of progress. She gained 30 grams since yesterday and is taking 15 ml of milk per feeding now. Also, the oxygen saturation measurement has been removed because she has not had any problem maintaining strong O2 concentration. That generally means that she breathes well and her heart and lungs work well. Good deal. Here's a picture of her doing some cute baby sleeping. The IV is out of her scalp and back in her right hand. That was quite an ordeal. She is a little jaundiced, and is having trouble keeping IVs in her tiny veins. It is also difficult to get them started in new veins. It took a while to find a good spot that had not already been used or attempted. She was pretty calm through the whole ordeal. I think she's going to be a real trooper.

May 9, 2008

Autumn sleeps in this position all the time. We thought it was funny that such a small baby would sleep exactly the same way. You may notice that the IV is in her scalp, but not on the same side as yesterday. They moved it to the other side. She now has a mohawk. I know they have to use the IV, but I was not very happy about them cutting her pretty hair. She's still cute though. Milk is being increased to 10 ml every 3 hours. IV out soon hopefully. Brenda thinks her heartrate electrodes look like she has fried eggs on her chest. Poor baby, being mocked by her own grandmother and only 3 days old. It's a sad state of affairs.

I love this picture. During our visit, I was cradling her in her crib and she woke up and was very alert for about an hour and a half. It was fun to talk to her and get an active response. Autumn, Larry, and Brenda were also able to see her awake, and fun was had by all.

May 8, 2008

Not a lot new today, but some cute pictures anyway. Evia had to have some hair shaved to get an IV in her scalp. The IV is keeping her hydrated and providing her nutrients while she ramps up her milk intake. She gets about 7 ml of milk every 3 hours and she is digesting that completely. As her milk intake increases, her IV will provide less and less nutrition, and can be removed.

These pictures don't give you much of a sense of scale. She's small. Weighing less than 4 pounds today. My hand covers her whole torso. Another thing you can't tell from the pictures is how active she is. She kicks and stretches and wiggles all the time. No wonder Autumn kept me awake every night. Pregnancy is probably hardest on the dads.

May 7, 2008 - Some good progress

Today they took out the respirator tube becuase Evia's breathing was nice and stable. She got a nose canula instead, and it was much less intrusive. Still plenty of electrodes attached to he though. They monitor heart rate, blood pressure, blood oxygen saturation, and external body temperature. The first law of controls: You must measure what you want to control. So they measure. All food is still coming from an IV.

We also got to hold her today. Here's Autumn talking to her.

May 6, 2008 - Evia Grace Sharp makes her debut

Here are some pictures from the day Evia was born. We were unable to hold her when she was born because they rushed her straight to NICU. Randy was able to see her about three hours after she was born but I was not. These pictures are from our first joint visit to our little girl. She is already daddy's princess.





Her mommy loves her, too.

May 5, 2008 - It was ending just like any normal Monday....

Until Autumn called me at about 4 pm. She told me something to the effect of "I'm in labor and I'm going to the hospital in an ambulance." Needless to say, I was somewhat shocked. The baby wasn't due for another 8 weeks, and we were not quite prepared for Evia to arrive yet. Here's a picture of Autumn looking brave as she had contractions.