Olivia is over four pounds! Woo hoo! This is one of three requirements needed to leave the NICU. We knew this wouldn’t be what would keep her here, but it is still a milestone for us to celebrate! Besides that, not much else has changed. She is still on the ventilator and doing well. The strategy that they changed to 10 days ago has been good. Not sure when the next time they are going to try to extubate and try the CPAP bubble machine again. Could be later this week, just depends on how the doctors feel the progression of her lung growth is. She is still feisty, pooping through multiple diapers in one changing sometimes, and still making everyone fall in love with her.

Today’s Nurse Spotlight is Ariel. She was the second primary that joined Team Olivia 🙂 Ariel likes to travel, going to Kings games, playing games with her boyfriend, and came across a murder scene in Iceland (I know, intriguing, right?). She has been with Olivia since week two. What sealed the deal for Ariel being one of our primaries is she advocated for me to get to hold Olivia while she was still on the jet ventilator. It is more difficult when a baby is on a jet because there are more contraptions but she made it happen. Ariel does ALS, which means she is in a leadership role where she handles serious cases and also helps with transports of babies from different hospitals. So, she doesn’t get to be bedside with Olivia as much as some of our other primaries, but she always makes sure to request her pod when she is helping with breaks for the nurses and she stops in as much as she can to check on her. We are so lucky to have her be a part of Olivia’s journey and in our lives!

I thought I would also highlight some cool things that they do here in the NICU. I will sprinkle them throughout some of my updates.

First is the fabric scent hearts. When babies have to go to the NICU, moms and babies do not get to take advantage of the “golden hour” of bonding immediately. For me, it was such a disappointment. I had an idea of what that time would look like and it was torn from me. And to add to it, not only could I not hold Olivia right away, sometimes we couldn’t even touch her because the stimulation can be too much for little babies. So, at the NICU, what they do to help with bonding are fabric hearts. So, I take a fabric heart that they provide (a volunteer makes them) and place it in my bra, so it picks up my scent. Then when I get to the NICU I am able to place it in Olivia’s bed. Most times the nurses use it to cover Olivia’s eyes when it is bright in the room so it can help her fall asleep better. With it being so close, she is able to smell my scent, so when I am able to hold her, there is that connection. And she can smell and connect with me when I am not there. Below is photo a while back of Olivia holding the heart. Her little hand. So cute.

Lil’ Liv’s Numbers:

• 69 days old
• Gestation: 35 weeks and 3 days
• Weight: 4lbs and 1.6oz

Until next time…