The Stink Eye & Other Expressions

(Jen): Matt looked at the last blog entry this morning and thinks the photoshop picture of Kalista is creepy.  What do you guys think?  Please leave us comments...I'd like to hear your thoughts.  If it is...then no more photoshopping heads on random bodies.

Today seems to be a pretty laid back day for everyone....with the exception of Matt (he has to go to work this afternoon).

We went to visit Kalista to do her morning exercises and to see how she has been doing.  Her reflux has spiked a high point and the poor gal has been retching and spitting up more lately.  She has also been suffering from some severe diaper rash and the new creme, Critic-Aid has been working wonders.  Her anti-fungal medication, Diflucan, for the thrush may also be kicking in too and is helping to get rid of her rash.  We were told that most diaper rashes are from yeast infections.  We even had a nurse tell us that the best remedy when Kalista leaves the hospital is to mix Boudreaux's Butt Paste with Monistat and rub it on her butt.  Interesting....

Yes...Kalista's yeast infection has not gone away yet.  Her tongue is still white.  It has prompted the Infectious Disease experts to pay her a visit to figure out what to do and if we are giving her the most appropriate mode of treatment.  We'll find out in a few days if we are on the right track.

We have also been just letting her hang out with her butt exposed.  Matt is doing some photo censoring in this picture.  Can't let the whole world see her naked bottom!

Kalista letting us air dry her bottom

Kalista smiled at us this morning when we paid her a visit...and she was awake and alert this time.  All the other smiles we have captured by photo in the past were taken when she was asleep.

 Kalista smiling at the camera

She is a woman of many expressions.  Evidently, she has been giving the "stink eye" and dirty looks at her new nurse today.  Kalista has three primary nurses that have signed on to take care of her, two during the day shift and one for the night shift.  It means that when that specific nurse is working, then she is assigned to Kalista.  It's been nice since we've gotten to know them really well in the past few weeks and months.  It also helps keep things consistent for Kalista....maybe that explains the "stink eye" she gives to newbie nurses.

 Her infamous "what?" look

Kalista giving the "stink eye" and "stink face"

Family In Town

Jen's family is in town this week to enjoy Comic Con 2010 and to visit baby Kali. The last time her parents visited was the week after Kali was born and those were the tough days when she was hooked to the ventilator. They are so happy to be able to hold her now without all the extra "accessories" connected to her. It is also Uncle Bill's first time seeing Kalista.

Here is a photo montage of our weekend:

We'll start off with Comic Con...

Neat Toy Story 3 Mural

There were plenty of cool LEGO sculptures

Bill and Jen hanging out with large figures

Grab your popcorn: Matt had his own moment at Comic Con

Courtesy of Jen's amateur photoshop job, this will be Kalista next year -WONDER WOMAN!!!

Jen's family with Kalista...

Grandma (Por-Por) and Grandpa (Gung-Gung) holding Kalista for the first time

Bill seeing Kalista for the first time

Adventures In Bottle Feeding-Part III

Oh baby!

We are heading into our second week of returning to bottle feeding and we admit it is frustrating to see Kalista not taking her bottle at times.  We know it is one of the obstacles she needs to overcome before coming home...so it makes us anxious to get her on the right track.

Kalista in her cute bear outfit

We have been working closely with her OT and try to make every experience with her feedings....a positive experience.  We have Kalista play with her pacifier, then with her hands and then with her bottle.  We seem to dip everything in milk before it goes in her mouth just to give her a teaser taste.  We try to make the bottle experience a big ball of fun so she'll look forward to it in the future.  The whole "wooing phase" takes at least 10 minutes and then she is completely exhausted after 20 minutes.  She lets us know she is done by closing her eyes and pursing her lips.

Kalista attempting her bottle feed with mommy, but tires easily

Kalista after 20 minutes of attempting her bottle feeding...wiped out!

The highlight of today was Kalista sucking on her hand.  She has never found interest until now.  She will usually lick her hand if you bring them to her mouth.  Maybe we are heading in the right direction and hopefully, she can transfer that sucking power to her bottle.

She is slowly getting there but it might be a long road.  Patience is a virtue....

Cheese...Picture Time!

Another prime opportunity occurred a few days ago.

When Kalista pulls out her NG tube, we always take advantage of her clean face to take portraits of her and family photos.  So yes....she did it again two days ago in one swift and subtle motion.  We usually see her curious fingers go for the tube, but this time we missed it.  Oh well....the nurses can put one in as fast as Kalista can take one out...so no worries. 

This is our latest family masterpiece:

Adventures In Bottle Feeding-Part II

So adventure continues...


For the past few days we have tried the bottle with a mixture of rice cereal and breastmilk to create a thicker combination.  For some reason, Kalista has been very resistant to taking the bottle.  She pushes it away with her hands and she stretches out her feet in hopes to jump off your lap. We couldn't figure out why since she did so well during her swallow study last week with the thicker liquid consistency.


Ha ha...science never fails us.  Evidently, breastmilk has enzymes and those enzymes break down rice cereal within minutes leading to a thin consistency that Kalista didn't do so well with in the study.  That would explain why she held a protest to the bottle.  Smart baby!!!  (FYI:  Rice cereal can make formula super thick..so it does work, just not in our case)

The remedy is....add in the same stuff the OT used during the study to her breastmilk.  "Simply Thick" is this gel substance that acts as thickener.  It looks like clear hair gel and by golly that stuff works.  The breastmilk becomes smoothie like and within minutes now of taking the bottle, Kalista is chugging away.  She seems more confident and willing.  Now our job is make this activity more enjoyable for her and prevent oral aversion from the previous "bad" experiences.


This whole event tired some folks out....

                            ....especially DAD.

It's My Other Grandpa's Birthday!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Greg (Gung-Gung)!!!

Happy Birthday Gung-Gung!!!

Today was a great day!  It's grandpa's birthday and Kalista has almost mastered the art of bottle feeding.  She can't wait to show Grandpa (Gung-Gung), Grandma (Por-Por) and Uncle Bill in the next week her amazing progress.  We hope grandpa had a great birthday.

Kalista trying to give her toy to grandpa as a gift

Baby No Like Baths

A little nap before her bath

Why do babies smell like some sort of cheese when they haven't bathed in awhile? Mozzarella or sharp cheddar? We're still trying to figure that one out.  Occasionally she forms this whitish colored stuff that hides in her neck folds (we call it "neck cheese") and in her armpits too.  It's just dry skin build up and is easy to wipe off.  Matt has become the "neck cheese" police and ensures that Kalista is "cheese" free.

Because we are talking about Kalista's neck... the latest on the yeasty beasties is that she still has thrush and maybe...just maybe the yeasties have migrated to the cracks and crevices of her neck, making her neck a bit more white, "cheesy" and sensitive.  The doctors put her back on the anti-fungal medication, Nystatin, for her mouth and now the powder form for her neck.  Our goal is to keep the areas clean and dry.  I'm sure the ugly yeasty monster will be defeated soon. 

Because she was smelling just a little ripe, we decided to give Kalista a full sponge bath today, not the wimpy wipe downs with warm bath cloths.  Don't get us wrong, this is not her first bath, just the first one we've documented on camera.  Because of Mr. Bumpy, she is not able to be submerged in a bathtub quite yet. Instead, they lay down a waterproof cover in her crib and scrub her down sponge bath style.

Here are a few snapshots of the big event:

We did well stripping her down to her birthday suit; then after that, it was all downhill.

When the soap and water came into the picture and body parts started getting wet, 

Kalista let us know that she was not a happy camper.

After awhile...it was not so bad after all.

Once we dressed her, we took advantage of her awake time and had some "Me In The Mirror" moments.  That is truly what the mirror is called, "Me In The Mirror".  Her occupational therapist recommended that we buy it for "developmental enlightenment" in the crib.  Kalista absolutely adores checking herself out...maybe all babies do???

So many things to look at on the mirror besides herself

This was truly a great investment from Amazon.  Evidently, this toy is also sold at Target, but for some reason it has a different design (blue spots) and less cool things to play with on it.  What a rip off!!!  We must have the older model and it came with more bells and whistles.  Gotta love Amazon...you can usually find what you're looking for on that site!

Adventures In Bottle Feeding-Part I

It is officially day two of the bottle feeding adventures.  We're starting with baby steps.  The maximum amount she is allowed in her bottle is one ounce (30 mL). That is equivalent to two tablespoons.  That seems like hardly anything.  So far she has taken down anywhere from 8 mL to 25 mL.  Some days are better than others and we will eventually get to our goal of consistent amounts.

They have increased her feeding amounts to 80 mL and kept her calories at 24-25.  The theory of increasing her calories is to promote body fat and quicker healing powers.  It is amazing that the open wound area on her belly is shrinking so quickly and her own skin is growing in its place.  We would post photos but some folks viewing are a bit squeamish...so we won't.

        

        Kalista in a food coma

      She is awake and in another outfit

The only downfall of bottle feeding is that she spits up and we have to change her outfits. We had a record day yesterday and she made it through about three outfits within a 24 hour period.  We are getting pretty good at doing laundry.

Every three hours we do her "assessment"; which includes a diaper change, taking her temperature, changing her dressing (if needed) and feeding her.

         Kalista looks a little annoyed at our digital thermometer

At some point in the day, she ran out of her outfits and this is the hospital dispensed plain white tee...which is still cute.

       She loves the rattle since it makes noise and evidently tastes good too

      

                                    Her toy rings double as jewelry.  Today is purple bracelet day.

       (Thank you Boggs family for the cute socks!)        

       Those toy rings are good handcuffs too 

      (We found her chained to her crib)

         

        In addition to her extensive wardrobe, she has quite the blanket selection

        

T.G.I.F... these are our favorite poses of the day:

         Watch out Pacquiao..here she comes!!! POW!!!!

Ooooohhhhhhh!!! 

 (Matt did this pose a lot during the world cup games)

Rice Rice Baby!

We have some awesome news!  

Kalista had her swallow study this week to see if she can swallow liquids without aspirating.  And (drum roll).....she passed on the thick nectar-like liquid test.  The thin liquid test was another story...but the results were much better than when we did the swallow study last month.

She is no longer aspirating with the thin liquid like before, but the liquid is still "penetrating" the tracheal area of the lungs. It means that the fluid enters the windpipe opening, comes back out and then heads down into her stomach. At the end of the day, it means that Kali can bottle feed now with the thicker consistent milk.  YAHOO!

They are going to start her on the bottle at every other feeding tomorrow and thicken her milk up with more rice cereal than she currently has in the milk now.  How Chinese is that...some sort of rice already?!?

 

Dad holding her before the big swallow study

Dad giving Kalista a mini pep talk

 

Kalista enjoyed her mini field trip to Radiology

        Cindy, the OT, getting Kalista prepped for the x-rays

       Kalista in her bed space after all her good hard work

We are scheduled for another swallow study in four weeks to reassess the thin liquid.  If we pass, then we are definitely one step even closer to Operation Homecoming.  Go Team Lam!!!!

**Oh yes...we have opened up the comments area so everyone can write their thoughts down. We would love to hear from all of you!**

I'm Two Months Old!

Kalista is now two months old.  Happy two months!!!

For her two month celebration, she received her first set of immunization shots (Hep B, DTap, Hib and Pneumococcal).  Poor gal!!  To make it less traumatizing, the nurses numbed the area ahead of time before giving her the shot. They also did the tag team approach and gave her the shots simultaneously in her chub chub thighs. Ouch!!  

You never know what kind of bugs are floating around in hospitals.  We usually have to pass by the children's emergency room in the evening to get to the NICU and we sometimes see kids come out "whooping" away from the whooping cough. According to her pediatrician, it's making a comeback and running rampant in California and we don't want to get it. Yikes!!

On a positive note...here are a few pictures of Kalista on her two month milestone:

        

She enjoys her lazy days in bed, which is everyday at the moment

She loves to suck on that pacifier

She has figured out where her fingers are and plays with them all the time...

even in her sleep

    

We are so proud of our little pumpkin and how far she has come in two months!!!  She is now about 9 lbs, 1 oz and about 21.5 inches in length.  She's growing and getting heavier by the minute.

Our swallow study is coming up and we hope that we get the thumbs up to eat by mouth; then we can get rid of the NG tube that is stuck to her face.  If Kalista gets a thumbs down, then we are looking at surgery time to implant a G-tube in her belly so that she can come home sooner.  The G-tube would allow us to feed her directly to her stomach. We won't go into much more detail about it because we hope she doesn't need the G-tube. All we can do is cross our fingers and pray that she'll pass her swallow study!!!

Video Check..Is It Working?

This is our test video

We were goofing around in the NICU and decided to create this mini video for future enjoyment.  We're so glad that we were able to finally post it on the blog since it has been technically challenging. 

Lazy Sunday

Baby Kalista is able to wear clothes and pajamas now that Mr. Bumpy is smaller and more stable.  We think she truly enjoys wearing some sort of clothing since she likes to have her arms exposed when she is swaddled.  The nurses often worry that she gets too cold.

We saw her this morning and had a chance to play with her while she was awake.  It is really cute watching her stare at herself in the mirror.  Most of the time, she ends up staring at our faces though.

We even played with our rings this morning.  She is getting so much better at grasping and grabbing.  The rings miraculously turn into bracelets when she lets go or falls asleep with them.

Because we can't get Kalista too excited after eating or else she spits up (just like almost every other baby on the planet) we like to sit her up and let her relax.  Thank goodness for the Boppy!!!  It's her own makeshift recliner.

Did any of you notice the big heart on her cheek???  It's the latest baby fashion craze in the NICU. Only Kalista can pull it off though.