Landree's Stay in the NICU: Day 8

April 14, 2012

After the day Landree had the day before, I thought I'd treat myself to sleeping in with the rest of my family. So I did. All of us woke up around 11:00ish. It was very nice. It occurred to me that today marked one week she has been in the NICU. In my opinion, that's one week too long...but that's only because I want my baby home. Not because I don't think she should be there to get the best care she needs. I called them when I woke up to see how her middle of the night and 9:00 am feeding went. The sweet nurse from the day before was her nurse again today. I love it when there's consistency there. The more the nurses are there, the better they get to know Landree and her little story. Fran told me that she took 40 at her 9:00 am feeding. It wasn't quite her goal of 60 ml/cc, but at least it was a TON more than she had been taking, so good for you Miss LC!!

I got AB up, gave her breakfast (or more like brunch, I guess) and then got her ready to go to a birthday party with Laura and Debbie. I was glad for her to get out of the house and do something fun, since she's really into birthdays right now. She knows exactly what they're all about and loves them - even if they aren't for her. She was all set to go!

After Laura came and got AB, Austin and I set off to the hospital to give LC her 3:00 pm feeding. When we got there she was actually on her belly (to help with the spitting up)...I love looking at her sweet little head.

Daddy gave her the bottle for this feeding. She wasn't as alert as we would've liked, but still managed to take 40 ml/cc. Again, vast improvements from the 0-15 ml/cc the last few days. I was very pleased with this progress.

Austin and I were chomping at the bit to get the results from her blood work on her thyroid. We did some researching (bad parents!) on line and found that if a mother has hyper-thyroid that it can cross the placenta and cause the baby to be HYPO-thyroid. This would make the baby lethargic and have little energy to do anything, including eating. All the symptoms fit her to a tee. When the nurse came back with the results we were extremely disappointed to find out her thyroid was fine. How sad is that? I'm at that point; where I want something to be wrong just so we know how to fix it! We stayed and loved on her a while, and then left. Not gonna lie, we left, once again, feeling defeated and frustrated. We thought that maybe, just maybe we were getting somewhere with the reasons for her not eating and sleeping so much. 

After we got home, Laura and Debbie dropped a very tuckered out, played out little girl! She had such a good time she didn't want to come home! After talking with Debbie and Austin and I throwing around some ideas, as well, we started thinking more about the medication I'm taking and the affects it could have on LC. The doctors are all aware of the fact I'm taking medication for my thyroid, but what if this was the cause for her lethargy? Here are the facts:

• the first 2-3 days of her life she only had formula because of low blood sugar, and my milk was not in.
• Landree would stay awake for good amounts of time the first 2-3 days of her life.
• Day 3 is when I started pumping and she was getting both breast milk and formula.
• Day 4 is when things started going down hill with her feedings and keeping her awake.
• Day 5 is when she was admitted in the NICU and they started doing every other feeding gavage. 
• After this is when her lethargy hit an unhealthy point and she's rarely awake.
• Yesterday they started doing every other feeding a formula feeding with gentle ease formula for the spitting up.
• Yesterday is when she started making improvements and staying awake.

What am I getting at, you ask? My breast milk. Maybe my breast milk has something in it that is causing her all this lethargy. My guess: the thyroid medication. Yes, her thyroid results came back fine, but one of the side effects of what I'm taking is drowsiness. And yes, research shows there hasn't been any harmful effects on babies who breastfeed and moms are taking this medication. However, the manufacturer says "do not breastfeed while taking this medication." I don't know if this is what is causing her to be sleepy all the time, but I do know that it wasn't until the every other formula feedings that she started making improvements. Austin and I are trying not to get our hopes up about this, but at least this is something to try. No one seems to want to try anything around here! They just want to wait for these genetic tests to come back because they think something is wrong with her. Ok. Fine. You think somethings wrong with her. I get it. But how about we be proactive and try things in the meantime just so I can get my baby home! Please!!!

So, before her 9:00 pm feeding, I called to tell them we were on our way up to feed her, and I asked the nurse if we could make this feeding a formula one. She said, "sure" and so I felt a little better about it. When we got there tonight she was asleep at first, but then wide awake for us once I changed her diaper and took her temperature. I fed her tonight, and she took about 35 ml/cc (still a great improvement from days past). Also, the nurse pointed out that every formula feeding she has had has been through the tube, she may not like the taste of the formula as much. That could be another reason she lost interest in the feeding. The good news is, it wasn't her fatigue that made her lose interest. She stayed wide awake. 

We had a nice visit with her nurse about everything and she was going to double check with the doctors to make sure doing every feeding a formula was ok. She told us that they would probably push the breast milk just because they think (and they're right...in most cases) that breast is best. I do agree, but what if this time with the medication I'm taking, it's not best for Landree? 

Today big time improvements were made. She only spit up once (hallelujah!!), she stayed awake through her whole 9:00 pm feeding, she ate a good amount and she was sucking on her paci. This makes me happy because the dreaded Neonatologist said she thought she could have an oral aversion. Oral aversion, MY FOOT! 

Anyway, we're hoping these all formula feedings take and we might have gotten to the root of the lethargy. If not, then we think of something else...we meaning, Austin and I - sheesh! We got in some good snuggling time with our girl tonight and then headed back home.

Oh how I hate leaving this little face. I'm so proud of her efforts and I know she's only going to improve. God is in control...not me. Thank goodness for that!