Sunday, January 9, 2011

Slow Steady Day

Since going on ECMO, Brigham has settled into a nice slow steady pace. At this point there's not really anything new to report. But no news is good news!

**We did finally find out his length though! He's 20 1/4 inches, exactly the same as Carrie was! They were almost exactly the same weight too; Carrie weighed 6lbs 4 oz and Brigham was 6 lbs 5 oz. Looks like that's "the size" of our kids. Sure makes it easier for me to remember!!**

Both Justin and I were able to get a good night's sleep last night while Brigham behaved. (The only eventful and yet non-eventful thing that happened during the night was that Brigham got a bag of platelets infused into his system.) It was much needed sleep for us!

I've been living on an extended adrenaline rush the last two days and it's finally starting to wean off a little. I'm feeling fantastic with regards to having just had a baby, but I have a few achy back muscles and am a little tired in general.

We've decided that Heavenly Father blessed me with an easy labor, delivery, and recovery because he knew we'd have other things to be worrying about. And if you've ever had a baby, you truly understand how big of a blessing an easy delivery and recovery are! I hope that pattern continues with future children!

Today the nurses switched out the mattress in Brigham's bed and I got to help! (Yes, it took four people to handle everything...)



Justin took a little video of the actual process. The ECMO tech at the head of the bed is holding all the ECMO tubes in place while a nurse and I at his sides each have a handful of tubes and are lifting Brigham while the other nurse is switching out the mattress. Crazy huh?!



So I kind of got to "hold" him today ;)


Afterward, while we still had his isolette lid open, we did a little mouth hygiene; Suctioned out some secretions and gave the inside of his mouth and lips a good wipedown with a moist swab. He loved it :) He tried to lick it a little while I was doing it.

We've already had a few friends come to visit today and one of them offered to take a picture of both Justin and me with Brigham. I know you can't really see Brigham (sorry), but it was the only angle we could really get.

I've been discharged from my postpartum room so we are officially "moved in" to our little space in Brigham's room. We have a couch/futon, chair and a little cupboard for some of our stuff. Tight quarters, but we're happy we get to be so close to Brigham. We're doing great here and as far as we've heard, Carrie's having fun playing with Grandma, Grandpa and her aunt and uncles.

Like I said earlier, not much to report, but we like it that way. We're taking everything by the minute, by the hour, and by the day. As of right now, it looks like his surgery should be sometime the end of this week. That could change at any time of course, but we'll keep things updated!

7 comments:

Jacob & Clarissa said...

Glad to hear that you got some sleep! Just so you know, I so wanted to come see you, but Edward has a really nasty bug right now and I don't want to take any chances of spreading it to your family. Hopefully when he is better we will get to see your little boy. I love his hair, by the way, it's adorable.

Unknown said...

That is great that you pretty much got to hold him.. and that you get to help out there in the room. It must make you feel alot better being somewhat involved instead of feeling helpless on the side. All your nursing experience is coming in handy!

Coleen said...

Thanks for the new post updates. It must be a great feeling to know you can "help" out a little bit. I'm sure you have been going on adrenaline and are going to probably feel exhausted, so please rest as much as you can. I'm sure it is also reassuring to be able to be right there with him.
He's precious. I hope you know that there are more prayers and good wishes for you, Brigham and Justin than you can possibly imagine. He is already touching many people's lives. Love to all of you. Mom

The Picketts said...

Thank you so much for allowing us to stop by today. I really enjoyed chatting with you. And I'm not even kindof kidding - let me know if there's anything I can do for you. Even if it's just more cookies (I have ANOTHER recipe that's just waiting for the right time to be tested...)
Your sweet family will continue to be in our prayers!

Julie said...

I've been following your sweet boy's story, and my heart goes out to you Rebecca. He is beautiful and looks like a fighter! Our prayers are with you and the doctors.

Karissa said...

Oh man! Hang in there! You are so brave to have such a good attitude through this!

Matt and Jayna said...

You are amazing Rebecca. Ever since you had Brigham I've been checking facebook and your blog every day and ALL day long. I'm anxious for every update. You make me smile and I love seeing pictures of cute little Brigham. He is so so cute even with all wires and tubes. :0) I'm so glad you got sleep too.