The Roller Coaster of the NICU

So people have tried to prepare us for the ups and downs of the NICU experience. But no one can fully understand what goes on in the NICU until you experience it for yourself. 

Mia is making leaps and bounds. She came off of her CPAP ventilator on Monday and has been riding high since. She is up to full feeds now and weighs 3 pounds 1 ounce. She has become a "feeder... grower" as the NICU nurses call it. Mal has gone out to the stores and bought little onesies that Mia is now wearing everyday. The best part of her being off of CPAP is we can hold her more easily and more frequently. Along with Mia making all of this progress is the fact that she is becoming more and more of a princess (like her mom)... more and more she develops and shows her little personality. Simon says that when he looks into Mia's eyes the reality of him saying no to her becomes more and more impossible. 

Brynn is getting better, but it seems that he is the one that likes all the attention. One day he will be doing great and the next day if he feels like no one  is paying attention he will let people know about it (he does this by setting off his alarms). We knew that Brynn's biggest challenge would be his lung development. And so far he has passed all of the doctors expectations. However, he is a little roller coaster. Brynn was making progress and the doctors were pleased with what they saw. We had our game plan set and were working toward our goal. But how the NICU works the doctors switch by shifts and some doctors have different ways of getting the babies healthier. A week ago Wednesday we left the hospital after Brynn had his 8 o'clock care. We then received a call in the middle of the night saying that they were making changes on his ventilator... this is not what the day doctors had in mind for Brynn... to make a long story short we came back to the hospital to find that Brynn had taken a couple of steps back. By that night he was back on track and everything was going well... until the next morning when we called to check on Brynn and the doctor said "I really don't know what is going on with Brynn and we need to make some changes... it could be infection, or that his lungs are sicker... or...." Mal and I went into the hospital and found out that the doctors had changed his ventilator from a conventional vent to a high frequency vent (don't ask me to explain, it would take forever in person let alone on a blog). So this ventilator seemed to do the trick. But along with the change because of how this vent works Brynn had to be sedated. He showed how much of a fighter he is because it took two doses of fentanyl (a form a morphine) to knock him out. The vent was working great until the roller coaster ride began again. Yesterday Brynn decided that he hated this vent and told the doctors that he didn't like it by setting off his alarms throughout the day. So the doctors made the decision to move him back to the ventilator he was on before the move. Now Brynn is doing better and the doctors decided to start a steroid treatment to help his lungs develop more in the hopes that we can get him off the ventilator and onto the CPAP machine. But it is not all bad. Brynn has put on tons of weight... he is up to 2 pounds 5 ounces and is up to full feeds. We are so excited about his eating because this will help him grow and become even stronger. We are hoping to get him back over to OSU on Monday because Mal and I love the doctors he has now and for him to have consistent doctors looking after him would be the best thing for him (the NICU doctors rotate monthly between OSU and Childrens). And the doctors he has now will be over at OSU starting in May.

Have no fear, Simon has taken some great updated pictures of the babies and will post them tomorrow!! he PROMISES

Thanks for all the continued prayers and support!!

LOVE THE FRASERS

Brynn and Mia

Here is a small sample of pictures we have of the kids. 

They are both doing great!!! Brynn is still at Childrens and has recovered from his procedure very nicely. He is slowly getting better and better everyday. Mia is on full feeds right now and is showing off for her mommy and daddy. We can't wait for them to get home, but we know we still have a long road ahead of us. 

Brynn is now 1 pound 15.5 ounces 

Mia is now 2 pounds 13 ounces

and without further ado.... 

Here is BRYNN JOSEPH FRASER:

After he was born they put him under UV lights to help with his jaundice. This is very typical for all babies especially preemies. But like his dad, Brynn loves hanging out under the sun catching some rays with his sunglasses on.... but where is the corona?

One thing Brynn has going for him is the fact he is more flexible than any other baby in the NICU!! Look at him grabbing his foot! Auntie KK thinks he is ready for yoga any day now.

The nurses over at OSU took this picture for us with his eyes open. He has the most beautiful eyes!! Looks Just like Dad. All the nurses say he flirts with them batting his baby blues!!

Typical Brynn... whenever someone is looking he opens his peepers and takes a look.

HAPPY EASTER FROM BRYNN!!!

The nurses put this hat on Brynn so he could look good for the Easter bunny when he made his rounds at the hospital. 

Here is MIA ELISE FRASER:

Here is a picture of Mia the day she was born. Look at her dark hair. She is definitely taking after Mal. She was only on the ventilator for a day before they moved her to the CPAP machine.

This Mia's favorite pose... I think she stole the title of "Princess" from Mal. She loves lounging around... eating and sleeping!!

 

This is what we call Kangaroo time! They take the babies out of their beds and let us hold them skin to skin. Here is our first ever kangaroo time... Mia loved every minute of it. Once she hit Mals chest she was asleep and snoring up a storm!!

HAPPY EASTER FROM MIA!!!

All she could think about is doing the egg hunt next year and eating chocolate bunnies!! Our little princess...

We would all like to thank everyone for their love and support! We have truly been blessed with these two children and we cannot wait to get them home with us! Please continue to pray for our two little miracles!!

LOVE THE FRASERS

Brynn is recovering

Brynn had his procedure done this past monday and it went well. The doctors are pleased with how well Brynn is doing after this procedure and we are hoping to get him back over to OSU Medical Center as soon as possible. 

Mia is doing great. She is loving the care she is getting at OSU and is ready for her big brother to come back over so they can hangout again. 

It has been a long week for both Mal and I going between hospitals and we feel like we can write a book about our experiences with both hospitals. 

We will keep giving you updates as often as we can. 

LOVE THE FRASERS

One Week Later

So it is a week later and we are out of the hospital. We are getting into our new routine of going to the hospital as often as we can. Mal is doing very well and is recovering from the surgery with great ease (because of the drugs!!!). 

Mia is doing very well. She was taken off the ventilator after the first day and is now on a different breathing machine to help her lungs continue to develop. She is for sure our little diva!! she loves lounging around and getting as much sleep as she can. Now the doctors are increasing her food and she is loving that!! 

Brynn is also doing very well considering the elements he had faced throughout the pregnancy. He is still on the ventilator, but the doctors are constantly adjusting the levels and are making progress everyday. He loves all the attention he is getting and he shows it by setting off the alarms whenever someone is not paying him any attention. He is truly our gift from God!!

But now the story is ever growing. Yesterday Brynn had his heart echo and it showed that the valve that usually closes after birth has not closed. This valve supports blood flow to the lungs during the pregnancy but afterward the valve need to be shut so the blood can get dispersed throughout the body to the other organs more easily. Understand that Brynn in not in any critical state because of it.. he is very stable right now. The doctors say that in order for Brynn to continue to develop this valve must be closed. So because of that Brynn has been transferred over to Children's Hospital where they have a team of top heart surgeons that are going to do this procedure. This is a very common procedure for premature babies and this team of doctors is one of the best in the nation.

So now we are going between both hospitals with hopes that we can transfer Brynn back to OSU once he is stable enough to go back. 

Please continue to pray for our little babies and we will keep you posted with any updates.

LOVE THE FRASERS

(Simon, Mal, Brynn, Mia, and Monty)