Days 10 & 11

Sunday was quite the emotional day for me! We decided that we should all go to church. I was a little hesitant because I knew I was really emotional and I wasn't sure I was quite ready to talk to people about what's been going on. However, it was fast Sunday, and I just had a feeling that where I needed to be was at church. Of course, about the second testimony was the dad of Kyri's little friend who spent most of the month of February at Primary Children's with RSV. He talked about what a great ward it was to live in and how they truly helped out and supported his family SO much during that time of trial in their lives. Then he mentioned that he knew there were other families in the ward, some suffering similarly (us) and others with different trials. And he encouraged the ward to continue serving and helping those in need (still us). By the end of his testimony I was an emotional wreck! But I still knew I was where I needed to be when I needed to be. The Spirit comforted me in knowing that we have a fabulous support system right here in our own back yard! Our ward truly has been fabulous and we couldn't be more grateful for what they have already done!!

After church we were headed down to Provo to take Kyri and Graysen to Tammy's house (Gary's sister). So, we decided we would stop at the hospital and see Tanzi. Of course, the kids couldn't go in to see her and that made Kyri really sad. She kept asking why mommy and daddy could go in and she couldn't, because she really want to see baby Tanzi too! But she and Gray were great troopers and waited patiently while Gary and I took turns going in to see Tanzi.

Not a lot happened on Sunday. Another quiet, uneventful day in the NICU. (For us anyway)

The day nurses always say how great Tanzi is. She sleeps most of the time and requires very little. I have heard, however, that is not the case at night. This poor girl seems to have her days and nights mixed up! And at night she really shows those nurses just how feisty she can be....that's our girl :)

It seems like we're always talking about "the stuff" that gets sucked out of her Anderson tube. Well, here's a look at what it is! Remember, this is natural body fluid that should be working it's way through Tanzi's digestive system. And hopefully will eventually. We're still not there, but she is putting out less each day and it is getting a little lighter in color. Both good signs!

Monday (Day 11) was a big day filled with a LOT of information. First, I just want to say that they did come and talk to me about the breast milk mix-up. And I am feeling MUCH better about the situation. It was simply another woman's container that was mislabeled with my label, but none of that milk was given to Tanzi. The entire staff at Primary's has been SO great working with us, and I was especially impressed with how they handled this situation! What a blessing to have Tanzi at such a wonderful hospital!!

They turned off Tanzi's central line. AKA the IV she had going into her chest. She still has the IV inserted in case she needs it in the future, but no fluids are going through it right now. This is a BIG step forward. Let's hope she keeps it up!! And she is up to 16mL/hr on her feeds. This is now considered "full feeds" so they won't be increasing it any more. They NP did tell me, however, that Tanzi has not been gaining weight. They will watch her for a couple days without her central line and up to full feeds and if she still doesn't gain wight they will have to increase her calories. They will do this by adding a fortifier to the breast milk. Gary and I think it makes sense that she's not gaining weight because everything is going RIGHT through her!! But apparently she should still be growing.

Today they also decided that she still needs some replacement fluid for the fluid that's being sucked out of the Anderson tube. So, the solution? Put it back in her! That's right. Remember the picture above of that nasty green stuff that's being sucked out? Well, now they are re-feeding it to her through the NJ tube (the one that goes through her nose). The thought of this is truly disgusting. BUT it makes complete sense. This is natural body fluids that are GOOD for your body. They should be making their way through the stomach and into the digestive system. But since Tanzi can not get it past her stomach they are putting it into her digestive system for her!

Also, when I talked to the NP today she told me that the plan is for the surgeons to reevaluate Tanzi after 2-3 weeks to see if the surgery worked. And then we will go from there as to what the next steps will be. It sounds like if her body is not responding as they think it should she may need to have another surgery. We are praying that her body will start healing so that will not be the case.

This little baby of ours just wants to EAT!! She sucks on her pacifier...sort of...it's hard to get a good seal on it with that Anderson tube in, so today she resorted to her finger. Boy, she sure was sucking on that for all she was worth!! It made me laugh out loud, actually! But you can see she's also trying to pull on that NJ tube. They are constantly taping and re-taping those tubes so our little fighter can't actually get them out...but that will never stop her from trying!!

She sort of looks like some kind of little animal, don't you think? She was making me laugh, though, because she held this position for a LONG time, as if she was begging me to take her picture. So I did! I think she's trying to show off her SAT probe (the oxygen monitor on her foot). It IS quite fashionable!!

"How about this pose, mom, does it make me look bigger?"

As hard as it is to just WAIT, we have decided that is MUCH better than taking steps back! We are so proud of our feisty little fighter!

Our two little sleepy heads

Kyri usually has the blanket over her head and ALWAYS has her hands up! And you can't see it in this picture, but her feet are off the side of her bed. Sleep tight!!

Here's Gray in Kyri's pajamas (maybe we should invest in some boy PJs?) on the bean bag NEXT to his bed! But he sure does look comfy!!