2/25/12
I was told today by the nurse practitioner that Danika would most likely be going home on oxygen.....I took it really hard. I really believed that she would be off the oxygen when it was time for her to go home. She's not letting them wean her oxygen down. They tried to wean her down to .8% and she wouldn't let them. They had to move her right back up to .9%. At this point she should be down to atleast .5%.

I don't know why I'm so upset about this. I feel dissapointed in her when I know I shouldn't! She is so strong and has come so far! I really thought she would be off oxygen and a feeding tube when it was time to take her home. I'm scared to take her home on oxygen and an apnea monitor. I just have to trust that God has brought her a long way, and everything will work out the way he wants it to work out.

Danny and I took her a bath, and this time she waited to poop until after her bath! We put her in bed with no diaper on yet! So needless to say, we had a mess to clean up! Then I fed her a bottle intil she got so tired that she just kept desatting down to 60. We put the last 10 cc's in her feeding tube.

2/22/12
A whopping 4 lbs 3oz!!!! She's growing so fast now!!! I feel like every day I come to see her she looks so different! Now it feels like she's growing way to fast! Everyone thinks she looks just like Danny.....but I think she looks just like me! :)

Today she is on a new oxygen flow machine. They tried to wean her down on her oxygen again today. They tried to wean her down to .5% but there was no humidifier on the machine so it really dried out her nose. She had a hard time with it. So they put her on .9% on another high flow machine that has a humidifier on it. Aunt Jessie got to feed her today for the first time.

Danika had her 2nd eye followup exam! Her eyes are good and have formed normally. Hooray!!!! She doesn't have to have another eye exam for another 6 months!

The occupational therapist came in and showed us how to do more infant massages. We learned massages for her tummy to help her with her gas. She seems to get really cranky from all that gas!

2/19/2012
Danika's first bottle!!!!! The night nurse tried to feed her a bottle for the first time last night! Danika ate all 35 cc's from the bottle! Go Danika Go!!!!! I can't believe she did so good for the first time trying a bottle! Hopefully if she keeps this up, she can get her feeding tube pulled out! I got to try to feed her a bottle for the first time today. She wasn't able to finish it all because she got really tired, but grandma was there to put the rest of her bottle through her feeding tube. Today was the first time grandma Gurule got to hold Danika. :-) I had to go back to work. I would go up to the NICU durring lunch on days that I worked. That was the benefit of her being in the NICU at GoodSam. The only part I hated was that it felt like I lived at the hospital. If I wasn't working, I was visiting her. Since she did so good with her bottle, their going to give her a bottle once a day and feed her through the feeding tube for the rest of her feeds.

After work, I came back up to see Danika. It was bath day, so I started getting her bath stuff all ready. Jacki her respiratory therapist came in and we were talking while I started giving Danika a bath. I started washing her hands when all of a sudden I heard a fart noise! Me and Jacki looked at each other and I said "No she didn't!" I lifted her up out of the bath and sure enough........she pooped in her bath! I lifted her out of the bath water so fast while Jacki grabbed a towel. I still had her head to wash so Jacki put her head in the sink while I washed it! LOL I'm told that won't be the first time that will happen to me......LOL

2/17/12

Hooray for the first day in a big girl bed!!!! She proved that she can hold her own temperature well without losing weight in the incubator with the top open!!!

We tried to do non-nutritive breast feeding again today but it didn't work that well because she didn't want to stay awake!!!

Today I met the mother of twins down the hall from us. Her twin boys were born at the same time as Danika. Born at 25 weeks. It's awesome to finally meet another mother and talk about our babies and how their doing. My heart goes out to her and her twins. She is a strong woman who's gone through so much more than I have gone through with Danika. They are always in our prayers. She jokes all the time saying so how are my boy's girlfriend doing!? :) lol

2/16/12
I love this picture! It looks like she's smiling at me! When I walked into her NICU room today, it was completely silent in there. As soon as I started talking to Danika, she started screaming! The nurse walked in smiling and said she got excited when she heard mamma's voice! :)

Danika has been desatting a lot. They say that it is probably her reflux that is painful for her and causing her to have so many spells. That's not normal for her. She's been doing really good lately. They upped her oxygen to 2% flow to help her out since she's having such a hard time breathing on her own. It's possible that she could have a cold.

Danika is finally starting to make her own red blood cells! The Epogen shots 3 times a week are helping! They say the shots can be hit or miss, but it's worth a try. The shots will either help her make a lot of blood cells or it won't do anything for her. Hopefully she keeps doing good with that, so that she doesn't have to get another blood transfusion. The more red blood cells she has, the easier it is for her to breath on her own.

Hooray for bath day!!!! She loves bath day if the water is really warm. Taking a bath always makes her so tired! She just passes out afterwards.

Today she weighs 3lbs 12 oz! She is gaining weight like a champ!

2/8/12
I came in at 1:00pm hoping that she had already gotten her eyes checked........but she hadn't! The eye doctor didn't get there until 2:30. So......I ended up watching the eye exam. The eye exam only took 2 minutes. At 12:30 they dilated her eyes. When the eye doctor got there he used this metal device that went under the bottom and top of her eyeball holding her eye open. All you could see was her little eyeball....looked scary. Then the doctor looked into her eye with a bright light that was attached to his head. Danika cried a little bit, but not as much as I thought she would. It was all over really fast.

The eye doctor said that she doesn't show any signs of abnormal blood vessels but the blood vessels are still not fully matured. She will get another eye exam in 2 weeks.

Grandma and Grandpa Reynolds came in from out of town. They came up to the NICU for a little bit to see Danika! We had to keep the lights off because her eyes were still dialted, but I'm glad they came to see her. :)

2/7/12
They attempted to wean Danika's oxygen down more. They put her on .5% flow over night and she didn't do very good. Today was a "one step backward" kind of day. Working that hard really tired her out to where she was just exhausted and they had to finally put her higher than she was before they tried her on the .5% flow. She is now on 1.5% flow. It was really hard for me to leave her today, but I keep telling myself that God has her in his hands. At this point, I feel like she needs the oxygen to much and she's never going to get off it.

Daddy was singing to her today. It seems to calm her. The nurse said that she had a very restless day today. She was more agitated than usual. Me and Daddy got there and she did so much better! She pulled her feeding tube and nasal prongs out today! Nothing new! The other things that seem to calm her are holding onto something like our fingers, putting her fingers in her mouth, hearing mommy and daddy's voices and kangaroo care! :)

The above picture makes me laugh! Jess put her foot back in her little huggie that she's wrapped in, and that's the look Danika gave her. lol The attitude starts early!!! Today Danika hit the 3lb milestone! She is 3lbs 2oz!  Her feeds are up to 28cc's. We tried non-nutritive breast feeding but it didn't work out all that well. She got a little bit of milk and didn't know what to do with it so she choked. She doesn't understand that she needs to swallow yet.

Her Occupational Therapist came in and showed us how to do massage therapy on Danika's hands and feet. It always takes her a little while to realease the tension in her hands when I'm trying to massage them. But her absolute favorite thing is to get her feet rubbed. It's crazy how quick it calms her down. She just sits there and looks around and is completely content to let you rub her little feet!

She has her first eye exam tomorrow to see if she has ROP. The nurse told me that I don't want to be here for it because the exam will really stress Danika out. She has to get her eyes dilated and then they use a metal device to hold her eye open while they shine a light into them. I haven't decided if I'm going to watch her eye exam or not yet.

This is one of my favorite videos!!!! :)

2/1/12
Is it just me or does Danika kinda look like Benjamin Button in this picture???? My little love has pulled out one to many of her feeding tubes! The night shift nurse walked in to her being all over the place with her feeding tube pulled out. So they put her feeding tube through her nose and taped it to her face. Hopefully that's more comfortable for her instead of it hanging out of her mouth. Now her mouth isn't always hanging open.

They weaned her down to 1% on her oxygen. She weighs 2lbs 9 oz and is up to 20cc's of milk. Her length is 1ft 11 inches.

Her morning nurse has never been her nurse before. She said that she went in to give her a diaper change and she had one leg completely out of one side of her diaper and it was still clasped shut! LOL How did she do that!? We need a video camera on that girl!

She got another brain ultrasound today to make sure that she still doesn't have any hemorrhages. Her brain is completely normal! We talked to Dr. Manuel today. He thinks that Danika is on the right track to being discharged at 36 weeks without her going home on oxygen or a feeding tube. He hopes that the PDA that showed up on her echo cardiogram will be completely closed by then. They would like her to weigh at least 4 1/2 lbs before she is discharged.

They will try to wean her oxygen down to .5% next week. If she does good on that, they will see if they can take her off the oxygen all together.

1/25/12

Danika is one month old today!!!!! Pastor and his wife came to see Danika. We all prayed over her before they left. She is having a lot more desatting spells than usual. She doesn't seem to want to be on her side. She does a lot better on her stomach. She weighs 2lbs 8oz. She got the last of her antibiotics last night, so today they started her back on her feeds. They started her with 3cc's every 3 hours. She had her first stool after being taken off the antibiotics and there was no blood in it, so that's a good sign! They started giving her lipids through an IV to help her gain weight.

1/24/12
My love's oxygen got weaned down to 1.5% flow today. The nurse said she is doing good on it. I got to hold her for 2 hours before she started desatting and I had to put her back in the incubator. When daddy got there and started talking, she opened her little eyes and started looking around. She knows her daddy's voice. :)

She weighs 2lbs 7oz. Grandma Gurule and Aunt Jessie came to visit her today. She was peeking at grandma and aunt Jessie from inside her incubator. :)

1/23/12
Today Danika is 3 weeks and 3 days old! She's been doing really good with her breathing. Her nurse today said that Danika is very active for a premi. Totally makes sense! When that little munchkin was in my tummy, I don't think she ever slept! I felt her moving and kicking all day and all night! Only 3 more days left of antibiotics and then she should be able to eat normally through her feeding tube again and then they will take out the picc line. They have to start all over with the eating though. Start at 1cc and gradually move up so that it's not such a shock to her intestines.

She let me hold her for 3 hours. The nurse talked to me about starting non-nutritive feeding. Just to get her use to the position etc. Feeding from a bottle or the breast is hard for a premi. It's hard for them to put all the steps together. Suck, swallow and still remember to breath. The first time we tried, she choked because she had no idea what to do with what was in her mouth......its a work in progress. She'll figure it out! :)

Today I got to put her first outfit on her! We put a little premie lady bug outfit on her, and it was still to big for her! All the nurses loved her lady bug outfit. Now she is known for ladybugs! One of the developmental specialists brought her in a lady bug blanket that one of the lady's from volunteer services made! :)

She goes to town on that pacifier! Were hoping that is a good sign that she will do good with the bottle. She still forgets to breath when she's sucking on her pacifier, so she loses her pacifier privileges often........but she really likes that pacifier! The pacfifier looks to big for her!

1/19/12
Today was a hard day for both Danika and her parents. It started with her doctor calling me at home this morning to tell me that there was blood in her stool. She said that there was a possibility that she could have NEC (necrotizing colitis). This causes a perforation in the bowels that could need surgery to fix it. They took an x-ray of her abdomen and found a "possible suspicion" of NEC. The doctor showed me the spot on the x-ray and they started her on antibiotics through an IV in her leg.

They took another x-ray 6 hours later to see if there were any changes. That x-ray looked normal! They didn't see what they saw on her previous x-ray. It's possible that she doesn't have NEC. Maybe it was the fact that they went up from 22 calories to 26 calories and her intestines couldn't handle it. Or it could have been the fortifier that they started putting in her milk. There are many things that could have caused the blood in the stool. They are going to keep her on antibiotics for 7 days and stop feeding her. She will get all her nutrients through her picc line.

The nurses say she doesn't know she's sick, because she's been acting completely normal.

Later on tonight they decided that her hematocrit red blood cell count is too low. So I consented to a blood transfusion. Daddy stayed at the hospital during the transfusion because I had to go to a bible study that actually turned out to be a surprise baby shower! My church peeps are awesome! :) Danny said that the blood transfusion went well. If she was going to get any symptoms from the blood transfusion, she would have gotten them in the first 5 min. They gave her a little more blood than she needed hoping that they wouldn't have to give her another blood transfusion later.

1/18/12
My princess is still not doing well with her breathing. They put her back on caffeine today hoping that it will help her stop desatting so often. If the caffeine doesn't help, they will have to do a blood transfusion. The problem is that she has a low red blood cell count. Low red blood cells causes her to not be able to pump as much blood to the heart, thus not giving her heart enough oxygen. They would rather give her a chance to make her own red blood cells before giving her a blood transfusion......I just want to see my love do good.....it's hard to watch her struggle.

I brought her in a couple outfits today. They increased her feedings from 22ml to 26ml. She weighs 2lbs 5oz

1/17/12

Today is the first day they put clothes on Danika. A little pink vest that volunteer services made. They said that I can start bringing in premi clothes and she can wear them as long as she doesn't get to hot. The nurse said she didn't have a good night last night. She had a lot of desat episodes one after another so they upped her oxygen from 2% flow to 3% flow. The caffeine helps her to breath regularly. They took the caffeine away because of her heart rate being so high, so now she is desatting a lot. It's a catch 22! Give her the caffeine and her heart rate is too high, but she breaths more regularly. Take the caffeine away and her heart rate will go back down but she desat's alot. She's taken a step backwards, so I hope it doesn't take long for her to get over this hump soon.

Daddy got to hold her for an hour and a half. She must have loved it because she only had a couple of desat spells. After he held her, he "conveniently" went to the bathroom afterwards because he knew she had a big load in her diaper! Mommy changed her! :) Grandma Gurule and Aunt Jessie came to visit her today. They come almost every day. Jess has more pics and videos of Danika in her phone than her mom does! Everytime she eats she gets reflux and the nurse has to suction her mouth out. The nurses say that's normal.

1/14/12
Danny and I got married! It was a busy and hectic day,  but it was all worth it! I'm married to the love of my life who is an awesome father! I couldn't have asked for anything more! :)

Danny and I kept our orange hospital bands on for our wedding. For us, the orange bands similated Danika being there with us durring our wedding. She would have loved the wedding! After the wedding, Danny and I stopped by the hospital to see Danika and take a picture with her. It was important to us that she be part of our special day and take a pic with mommy and daddy!!!! :) All the nurses were clapping for us as we walked down the hallway to Danika's room. I have worked at Good Sam for 8 years and have never seen someone walk into the hospital in their wedding dress!

While we were taking pictures with Danika, the nurse said that she gained more weight! She now weighs 2lbs 4oz. One ounce more than her birth weight! She has been desatting a lot but they think it's because they stopped giving her caffeine. Her heart rate has been to high and the caffeine makes her heart rate even higher.

1/12/12
Hooray!!!!! No more face mask! She is back on the nasal cannula and they put a small gel strip in between the cannula and her septum so that her septum can still continue to heal. It looks so much better! They put a low jack on her ankle today. She is finally starting to gain weight again. She is 2lbs 2 oz. The Occupational Therapist came in and went over the best positions for Danika to be in. Keeping her legs together and bent and her shoulders rolled inward.

Danika is constantly pulling at her nasal cannula and feeding tube. The respiratory therapist had to come in 3 times to fix it! She is tolerating her trophic feeds well. Right now she's eating 12cc's every 3 hours. They are going to take out her picc line and start giving her caffeine orally on a daily basis.

1/10/12
I got to take Danika a sponge bath for the first time today! She can't take a normal bath yet because she still has the picc line in her arm. When that comes out, we can start taking normal baths! She did good and maintained her body heat really well. The nurse said she had a good day today. Her oxygen is at 21%. They are thinking about putting a chin strap on her because she always hangs her mouth wide open. This causes the oxygen that is being blown into her nose, to come out her mouth and then she starts desatting. The nurse tries to keep a pacifier in her mouth but Danika never leaves it in for very long. I think she hangs her mouth open because she hates the feeding tube that hangs out of her mouth. Her daddy got to do kangaroo care for 2 hours today! The nurse practitioner says my little one has attitude and is fiesty. They say she's going to need that to get out of the NICU early!

1/8/12
There is so much going on. Some days it feels like more than I can handle. We got the results of her brain ultrasound and she has no brain hemorrhages!!! :) :) The nasal cannula prongs that she had in her nose rubbed her nasal septum raw, so they had to change her nasal cannula to a face mask. She has to wear that face mask until her septum heals. The face mask can start breaking down her face like the nasal cannula did to her septum. They take off the face mask every 3 hours to massage her head so that it doesn't get mishaped.

Her feedings are up to 6cc every 12 hours. Her umbilicus looks pink so they drew her blood to check her white blood cell count, swabbed her belly button and cathed her to get a urine sample. The tests came back positive for an infection so she is on antibiotics for 7-10 days. Danika has lost some weight. She weighs 2 lbs today.

On the board her respiratory therapist wrote "Jacki loves Danika!". It's the little things, that will put a smile on your face when all you feel like doing is crying.

Daddy got to feed her and change her diaper today for the first time! Today my little princess was opening her eyes and holding daddy's finger! :)

1/5/12
Since Danika had such a hard time with kangaroo care yesterday, they told me it would be better if she just stayed in her incubator today. The nurse opened the top of her incubator and let me kind of hold her in the incubator. I put my hands around her and talked to her and gave her kisses :)

I decorated her room today with pictures of the family! I was a crying mess today when Dr. G came in to do rounds on her. He calmed me down and told me that Danika was doing awesome and that she was a superstar premie. He came back in to her room 15 minutes later with a quote that he wrote down on a 3x5 card. He told me to read it over and over and to have faith that she's going to do great!

1/4/2012
Today I got the results of Danika's echo. She has a small PDA (patent ductus arteriosus). There is a small valve in her heart that isn't closing all the way. This causes her to work harder when she is breathing. Working harder when she breaths causes her to lose weight and we need her to start gaining weight, so their giving her more BPM's (breaths per minute) so that she doesn't have to work so hard for air. They decided not to give her medication for the PDA. They want to wait and see if it will close on its own.

Their trying to get her digestive tract and intestines moving. She eats 1cc every 12 hours. Tonight they will change it to 1cc every 6 hours.

I got to hold Danika today for the first time! They call the program Kangaroo Care. They say that the best medicine for her is skin to skin contact with her mom. Her best sense right now is her sense of smell. I held her for 45 minutes before her heart rate started dropping and they couldn't get her to pick it back up so we put her back in the incubator.

12/31/2011
Danika had jaundice. She put her shades on and was under bilirubin lights for 2 days. Today was the first day they let me change her diaper and take her temperature. I got discharged from the hospital on 1/1/2012. It was one of the hardest things to go home without our baby.

Danika Jordyn Waterman

12/30/2011

2lbs 3 oz



My love, Danika Jordyn Waterman was born on 12/30/2011. She was 25 weeks, 5 days and weighed 2lbs 3 oz. She was born and immediately taken to the NICU at Good Samaritan Hospital. It was that day that our journey began.....