An update to a list

1. About an hour after I posted the last blog, Quinn crawled to her walker and tried to pull her short little self up. She fell. She tried again, and totally used every muscle in her body, and made it! I am so happy for her. She stood up to it forever. Later she proceeded to toss a fake bunch of carrots across the floor, crawl to it, and toss it again. She was wild!






2. The surgeon doesn't want to cut off Quinn's extra tube skin. He prescribed a cream (not the clear..ha! That is a steroids in baseball joke, that probably only Dalan and I think is funny, but we repeat it all the time.) She gets her button next week, and the skin problem should go away. Here's to hoping.

3. Quinn still has a rash. It is not the measles. It should go away any time between now and a month! A month! At least it is not itchy.

4. My class raised 234 dimes for the March for Babies in one day. That is so amazing. They are ten. Most of live below the poverty line. Many of them are refugees or immigrants, and have families who speak limited English. It just totally speaks to power of Quinn's story.

5. She slept through the night without oxygen. Here's to hoping the other night was the last time we will ever need oxygen. I probably cursed it again though by mentioning it.

Crazy

Last night was a little crazy. Full of mishaps and accidents. Nothing major or scary, just crazy.

First of all, Quinn slept well, which is wonderful. But I fell deeply asleep and missed her 11:30 feeding. I woke up at 12:45 to feed her, and was feeling a little rushed. Quinn has a pretty set feeding schedule due to her need to take a certain amount of volume each day, and the fact she is sensitive to volume changes, so missing a feeding isn't really an option, and getting too far off schedule can cause her to have to take too much volume in a particular feeding.

I am changing her diaper, and notice her prongs for her oxygen are in her ear, rather than her nose. Next, I notice her feeding tube is starting to come out. I push it back in, and a second later, it is really starting to come out. So, I pull it all the way out and figure I will just start over. This means going downstairs to get some supplies. I take Quinn with me, who now thinks it is time to party, because of all the lights and movement.

I get her tube back in, but can't find the stethoscope to check the placement of the tube. I find the stethoscope, but need a syringe. As I am putting the plunger in the syringe, I somehow pinch my breast into the syringe. Oh man, did it hurt. And bruise instantly.

About this time, I notice Piper has somehow gotten a hold of poopy diaper and is eating it on her bed. There is poop everywhere.

I feed Quinn, and she goes back to bed easily. Thank goodness, despite wide eyes and smiles earlier. I go downstairs, dispose of the poopy diaper parts, and throw Piper's bed into the laundry room, because it is smelly. I was going to wash it, but have since decided to throw it away. It has seen too much nastiness, and I am sick of washing it. Then, I ice my bruise breast, and eventually get back to sleep.

It was a night.

Speaking of crazy....

Quinn is a wild and crazy baby. She never stops moving, and exploring. Our neighbor brought Quinn over a Valentine's gift today, and commented on just how wild Quinn is.

Here is some photo evidence of her craziness.

Photo 1:, she never stops moving. Can she just sit and play? Never, she slides, arches, flips, scoots, rolls, and yells.



Photo 2: She went nuts for some oatmeal and apples tonight. She ate it with great urgency. She had it everywhere. She wanted the spoon. She wanted the container. She wanted more. She ate double what I normally feed her and was covered from head to toe. So, I took a shower with Quinn for the first time. She thought it was kind of weird, and did not love it, but tolerated it ok.


Photo 3: After our shower, it was time to burn off some energy, so she would be ready for bed. She played in her jump up, but really only wanted to touch and lick the walls, and particularly interested in putting her hands in the one place they are not allowed....

Thumb

Over the weekend, I cut my thumb while trying to peel a yam for Quinn. There was an even part on the yam that I could not get to with the peeler, so I pulled out a knife to get the job. In fact, it was our "mystery murder" knife that recently fell out of our couch, even though we had never seen it before. Scary. Anyway, then the baby started to fuss, so I was rushing and totally sliced my thumb. It bled pretty badly, but slowed down eventually. About an hour later, I was defrosting some milk for Quinn in the microwave, so I could add the formula and have a batch for the day. When I went to get it out of the microwave, it totally exploded all over my hands. I cried and cried. It hurt so badly. I ran them under cool water, but it pretty much took all day until may hands started to feel better. Luckily, they never blistered.

The next day, my thumb was still bleeding on and off, so I came up the the "brilliant" idea of Super Gluing the wound together. After Quinn went to bed, I showered, and started my surgery. Well, the Super Glue went all over my thumb, but I still decided to use my other fingers to press it closed. And proceeded to glue my fingers to my thumb. I then pulled my fingers off my thumb, ripped the wound open further, and blood was everywhere. I spent the next couple of hours, trying to contain the bleeding, and get the Super Glue off my other fingers. I could not get it off my injured thumb until the next day due to the excessive bleeding.

Ali suggested that I used tape to close the cut, rather than a Band Aid, and that is working nicely. I think it is finally starting to heal, although it still has not closed up all the way. I probably should have gotten stitches, but alas, I did not. I at least should have contacted one of the many nurses I am friends with before embarking on my Super Glue experience.

(thumb, right before the Super Glue incident)

(thumb, taped up Monday night)

(thumb, last night)

Nursery

Here are some much overdue pictures of Quinn's adorable yellow forest. I am totally obsessed with owls and other woodland creatures right now. They are so cute, just like Quinn! It also should be noted that I have spent many nights/mornings snoozing on the couch, it is not so good on the back, but better than not sleeping at all.






Quinn looked adorable in her new black and white polka dotted vest from Grandma today! As well as emotional! Or maybe a little Snow White and Seven Dwarfs-esque in it. She was happy in it. She was pouty in it. (Her pouty face is getting better and better/sadder and sadder by the day.) And she was sleepy in it.

Woombie

Quinn likes to be swaddled, but we lack a good swaddling blanket. All the ones we have are either too small or too large. Ali found this product, the Woombie, that is like a swaddle/straight jacket for babies. It was a little too much money from the actual Woombie site to try out for my liking, but then it was on babyhalfoff.com a few weeks later, so I got one. We tried it out this week to mixed results. Quinn seemed to like being so snug in the tight, stretchy material, but hated not having access to her hands. It was like torture. I think it would have been better if we would have started it from the beginning rather than 6 months later. I am going to give it one more try, and possibly pass it on to my friend Sierra who is due in two weeks!

Here I'll let the photos tell the true story of our Woombie attempt:

First moments in the Woombie....she is doing alright.

Then, she quickly fell asleep.
You can see her trying to have her hands against her face.

Next, she totally freaked out...no photos of that.

Then she quickly fell back to sleep, unzipped, but still in the Woombie.

So, I zipped it almost all the way up, but left her hands free.

And put her back in her crib....

And she slept for about an half an hour until her hands got stuck, and she freaked out. I got her back to sleep for about another hour until her hands got stuck, and she freaked out. So, I changed her into some normal jammies. We'll try again later this week, and let you know.

Sellers updates

We gave Quinn her second bath today. It was so much fun. She LOVES it. She put her mouth into a little "o" shape, and was ohhing and ahhing throughout the whole thing. She was happy, comfortable, and relaxed. She smelled so good when she was all clean and in her new jammies.








Speaking of smells, Quinn has become quite the smelly kid lately. The extra calories they fortify her breast milk with clog her up, and make her gassy. Poor kiddo. (The pictures below are just cute, and don't really have anything to do with being smelly, just breaking up the text.)



We are loving Quinn's new room, and we are optimistic that we will remain in that room until her discharge. (And no we don't know when that will be...) The natural light is fabulous, and having a private room is really necessary for our extended NICU stay. (See the difference of the light situation between the two rooms....also see Quinn with her best friend, Winnie.)




I swear Quinn is getting cuter and cuter by the day. When we visit, I can't help, but take a billion pictures of her. She is just so cute!



Oh, and what have Dalan and I have been up to? (do people even read this for us anymore????)

Well, beside visiting Quinn, and driving back and forth to the hospital, and still working a full time job. Dalan has been HOT. He hates the heat. But I can't totally blame him, when we left the hospital this afternoon this is the temperature according the the car.


And as for me, I have been pumping, pumping, pumping, spending time with the babe, driving, and trying to find time to shower, I have fallen off the wagon. I am back on the Diet Coke, except this time I am drinking the caffeine free in hopes to avoid kidney stones and I don't want to hop Quinn up on the caffeine either. I love it so much.

Dalan has also continued to be a snack-apotamus. He ate 35 ounces (Quinn weighs 66 ounces) of cheese balls in less than two weeks. He loves them so much!

FOUR

Quinn is now a four pounder! Can you believe it? It thrills me to no end to be able to say I have a four pound baby opposed to a one pound baby (or two or three pounds for that matter). Although, I will always get ohhhs and ahhhs when people ask how much Quinn weighed at birth, and I say, "15 and half ounces." It is now nice to be able to add, "but she weighs four pounds now."

Quinn also got moved to a new room and a new pod last night. It sucks. We left our familiar and friendly old pod, and even though technically we probably over stayed our welcome there (as it is for new, tiny, or sick babies...and Quinn has been none of those for quite sometime), we already miss it. We also seriously had the best room in the place...it was large, private, and with windows. Our room now is shared, dark, and small.....gasp! I miss our old rooms desperately, even her first little room. Sure, it was small and dark, but it was private. At least, it had something going for it. Dalan did tell me that our nurse, Allison, is campaigning to get Quinn back in a room with a window. Let's hope.

I used to be able to tell what day a picture was taken by Quinn's bedding, now I have to pay attention to her clothes....how cool is that????

Quinn continues to be feeling better, and they have started back with her weaning of her oxygen. Fingers crossed that all goes well. We so appreciate all your positive thoughts and vibes. Keep them coming.



(These pictures were taken in her old room...before all the newly born multiples forces us out...thus the natural light.)

Edit to add: Quinn is moving to a new room tonight. It is a little bigger, and has a window. She will still have a roommate, but it better than what we had...hooray for our nurse getting things done!

Edit to add 2: The nurses really worked their magic. We now have a private room with a window in our new pod. I am so happy!

I love pictures of Quinn!

Quinn seemed to be feeling better today after a couple of days of just not being herself. She had a good snuggle session with both of her parents, and was up for two sessions of non-nutritive breast feeding. She was a super star during the first session, and distracted by her rumbling bowels during the second one. She was alert and happy. Her oxygen saturation and heart rate seemed more stable too. Whew! Makes me less stressed and worried.

Let's knock on wood/keep our fingers crossed/whatever other superstitions bring good luck that she stays healthy, and makes lots of good progress. I would love if everyone would send healthy vibes Quinn's way.

I got a ton of pictures today. Enjoy looking at our cute, chubby, round faced little baby!

This one is from yesterday in her cute green jammies.

This is right after Quinn put her binkie back in her mouth ALL BY HERSELF!

So alert. Snuggles and a bink! Pure happiness.

An attempt at a self portrait.

Back in bed, and ready for her afternoon nap.

Daddy putting his babe to bed.

Isn't the blue bow a better accessory than an IV?

Totally posed. Dalan watching Quinn sleep!

So sleepy.

Sucking on her sleeve.

Another attempt at a self portrait. You can kinda see my forehead below Dal's chin.

"Look at my rosy cheeks!"