I know that there are so many who need to be updated and this is the easiest way to do it, while we wish we could call everyone of course you realize that would be exhausting and would also take forever!
Addi is still in NICU and will remain there until the moment she is sent home so unfortunately visitors are still not allowed 
It is a real bummer since Aiden can’t even go see her. Here are some updates on some things that have happened this past week.
On Monday Sept 15th
This morning brought discouraging news Addi went from being in the 13’s jumping all the way up to 15.4 on her blood tests today. Even though she went up though some good things did happen today…
Dr. Judd the cardiologist came and did an EKG and an angiogram to check Addi’s heart murmur. She felt comfortable with everything and feels that it will all go well, that the murmur will heal on it’s own. PHEW
Getting her EKG
Addi’s tests have been changed to every 24 hours. We have come a long way, at first they used to be every 3 hours, then every 4, then 6, then 8, then 12 so once a day is good. They also removed her arterial line that was through her umbilical cord, this will be nice because it makes feeding not only more difficult but more nerve racking because I have to be SO careful with it.
Addi received another dose of IVIG (Intra Vinus Immune Globulin…or something like that) This is the medicine that they gave her when she was first admitted to try to quickly bring down her bilirubin. We were pretty worried because she had a crazy reaction the time before, her heart rate went nuts and they had to ice her face a couple times to bring her down. Fortunately she responded well this time.
As a family we are hanging in there. I have a lot of moments where I feel my strength emotionally is just gone, I have had strength far beyond my own during this and am so amazed at how well I have done. I say this because I have severe anxiety and I am a mommy who cannot stand moments away from my babies, on top of that the stress that comes with having your child not well and going back and forth to the hospital. Not only is it incredibly emotionally exhausting but also physically. I keep saying I cannot wait to bring her home so I can actually rest, which is really opposite because that’s when most start loosing resting time. I will gain it! Aiden is doing ok, he loves living at gramma’s house, but we do all miss home very much. We feel very blessed to be living at Gramma’s house, I honestly don’t know how we would be doing this without her.
The routine is working however it is draining
Between 5:30-6am I wake up to pump. After that I get ready for the day then wake Aiden up, eat breakfast and get him ready for school.
7:30am I leave for the hospital and nurse Addi from
At 9am I go to meet my mom at Montessori to take Aiden to school. Me and Aid spend some time in the hall snuggling and then say goodbye.
11am back to the hospital to feed Addi
2pm again to the hospital
3:15 back to Montessori to pick Aiden up from school, then we go home and spend time together and have dinner as a family. Therefore I miss the 5pm feeding which I hate, in fact it is the longest 5 hours of my day.
5pm Pump milk
7:30pm Put Aiden to bed and leave for hospital
8pm Feed Addi, this time Spee gets to be there.
11pm manage to stay awake until now to pump one last time before bed.
and then we do it all over the next day!
Tuesday Sept 16th
The IVIG did it’s job, Addi dropped to a 12.3 on her test. They removed one of her 4 lights, so now she has one that she lays on and 2 over head. She is completely of IV supplements, she is nursing and taking bottles when I am not there so well that she does not need any extra nourishment. She is dirtying the diapers like crazy! In fact she has a reputation now, she likes to poop right in the middle of changing her diaper or as soon as a clean diaper touches her bum.
Wednesday Sept 17th
Test scores back up Today she got a 13. Dr. Gertsman showed me her chart today to help me understand where we were at, here’s what it looks like.
The red line is her bilirubin scores. The black line is her hematacrit which should not be dropping like it is. The highlighted pink line is the bili score for blood transfusions so if she reaches that she would need them, but we feel like we are in the safe zone now where in the beginning we were moments away from doing it.
Her hematacrit (red blood cells) are dropping and are very low. She should be at about 32-38 and she is right now at a 28, If she gets to a 20 they will have to do blood transfusions. Dr. G thinks she will drop to a 24 but does not anticipate her going lower than that from looking at the charts. Basically her body is making red blood cells but the antibodies from my blood are killing them faster than she can make them. Because she is low on red blood cells this is what causes the bilirubin to go up. SO we want the hematacrit to go up and the bili to go down. Dr. G said that we are not going to see her bili drop to the 10 or lower that we have been waiting and hoping for. He let us know that we have quite a long road ahead of us, we will be dealing with this for the next 2 months he thinks. Of course she is not going to stay in NICU that long, phew! He would like to see her get stable while slowly removing the lights, if she can stay stable then we will talk about going home and doing the treatments from home. So she would still have to live in the lights and he thinks we would have to do that for a month but at least she would be home.
It was a good day however because Spee left work early and we were able to go together to the 2pm, 5pm and 8pm feedings so he was able to see her 3 times today. She loves her daddy! And she looks more and more like him every day!
Thursday Sept 18th
Well it is only 11:20am so who knows what the day will bring but so far it has been good. Addi got a 12.7 on her test which is great especially since she is one light less that she was. Dr. G told me that is she gets another good score tomorrow they will remove one more light bringing her to 2 lights. Then is she can stay stable for 48 hours on 2 lights we can talk about going home!!!! So best case scenario we could talk have an idea of when she is coming home or be bringing her home on Monday or Tuesday next week. By the time I get her home she will be a chubby 2 week old, none of her precious newborn clothes will fit which of course are all the cutest ones. She is getting chunky though, she might have her daddy’s head and his looks but I am positive she has my chub because daddy’s body does not make fat!
She is on demand feeding now so she can eat whenever she wants but we do still have to time it and be sure that she is not out of the lights long. So today after I left the hospital at 9am to take Aiden to school I got on the freeway to head to Lehi and received a call from the hospital, Addi was already hungry again!! She had just nursed for 19 minutes but oh well I got off the freeway and flipped around to give her a little snack, so now she is really off schedule which is no good 
It will be nice to not have to have a timer ticking down the minutes I get to hold my baby girl. Plus Spee barely gets a chance since she nurses most of the time she is out, so he will be exited to hold her, it will be a battle to share her when she gets home 
hehe
This weekend Aiden goes with his dad TJ so we will do all the feedings 8am 11am 2pm 5pm 8pm and maybe even 11pm. Spee will get to see her more since he won’t be at work and we will pray so hard that this weekend will go well with her scores and that the Dr. will feel she is ready to come home!
Addi is such a happy baby, she smiles so much, especially after eating
Love my girl!
And now here is some fun with numbers…
0
Amount of time I have spent resting, relaxing and recovering (and I literally mean this…ZERO)
Amount of worry about the things that need to be done at home. My amazing mother hired someone to clean my house so that I would not have to worry about it. WHAT a blessing!
2
Number of feet I can see!
Hours I get to be with Addi out of the lights each day
4
Minutes Spencer gets to hold Addi each day
5
Hours of sleep I get each night. For those of you who know me you know that this is drastic since I usually go to bed so early.
6
Number of bottles I fill each day with pumping
10
lbs I have lost since birth! Now this one blows my mind because if you do the math WHICH I have, Addi was 7 lbs 9 oz not to mention all the fluids, the placenta and everything else that is no longer in my body. I feel like my body has drastically changed since birth and my tummy has shrunk quickly so the only thing I can figure is my milk machines weigh an extra 10 lbs, HA!
50,000
My guess on how much the NICU bill will be, maybe I am shooting to low!
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I wish I had time to add more but if I don’t leave now I will have an angry and hungry little girl. We love you all and ask you to continue to pray for a sweet little girl. We want her home!!!!
p.s. I realize my spelling and ability to explain the “medical stuff” is lacking so if you know better just laugh and ignore it and keep in mind the fact that I did not attend medical school
Oh and another bright moment to today… While being home to type this blog, my dear sweet friend and neighbor Becca brought me a scruptious treat!
A cookie from smart cookie in AF and it was mmmmmm yummy!
September 18, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Wow Brianna. We are praying for you guys! That has to be the toughest thing ever. I was talking to brad about it and we could not even imagine how hard this must be! If anyone can do it, it’s you! Please let us know if we can do anything for you guys. She is such an beautiful angel!
September 18, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Hey Brezy ! Its Jenni. I am really sry about this whole ordeal. She is in my thoughts and prayers everynight! She is so cute!
September 19, 2008 at 2:49 am
I can’t believe everything you are going through! You are amazing.
September 19, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Hey Bri, Well congrats on the birth of your little girl. I am sorry to hear that things have been so ruff for you guys. I will keep you in my prayers. I finally have a blog set up so I am in the blogging world now. Check it out kaseyandaudrey.blogspot.com. Well I hope that all goes well and you will be taking your little baby home soon. Much love!
September 19, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Congratulations! She is so precious. I hope you get to take her home soon. Chase really misses you at school. We hope all is well.
September 19, 2008 at 9:01 pm
brianna- sorry to hear about the trial addi and your family are having to endure right now. my now 4 year old also had coombs and i know how awful it is to have to leave your new baby that you’re so excited to finally have in your arms under those darn lights all the time! i thought for sure the nicu nurses were going to call dcfs and report me as an emotionally unstable mother because i would just cry and cry every time i got to hold eli to feed him. i hated having to put this new baby who wanted to be swaddled up snug back in that bed with no clothes on and those dreadful glasses on under those bright lights. eli ended up in the nicu for a week and then at home in the “suitcase” under the lights for a few more days. i hated it, but it all turned out okay. i know it will be the greatest thing ever when addi is done with her light therapy and you can hold her all day and night! she’s lucky to have you for a mom and to have tonianne as grandma. you’re in our thoughts and prayers! terah- your fellow montessori student parent, sister to jeremy fotheringham, neighbor (and friend!) to your mom, and any other crazy connections we have!