Wednesday, October 31, 2007

One whole week

Its hard to imagine that its been one week since Myla made her appearance into the world. And what a week its been. They performed another ultrasound on her head today and everything looked good. She even moved into an isolette - her new little glass condo. The wonderful nurses have been keeping a close eye on her and she is doing very well. I think she likes her new digs. We were also surprised at our visit tonight to find a Halloween card from our girl with her tiny 1 1/2" footprints in it. They are so precious.

The enormity of the week is finally settling in. We have been humbled and amazed by the outpouring of support and love for our little girl and family. There aren't even words to describe how much every prayer and wish means to us. We know that there is a circle of love surrounding us and it truely means everything right now. Tonight we are going to get a good night sleep and get ready for week number two.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Whew! What a day!

Today was a good day around the Washburn household. Myla had another great night. The EKG found that the duct between her heart and lungs is closed - yeah! - they took the IV out of her little head and they are reducing the amount of oxygen from the ventilator. But wait - there's more! They weighed her tonight too and found that she's up to 1 lbs and 8 oz. 8 oz! They are going to discontinue the light for jaundice and if her progress keeps up, she might get to move into a "glass condo" sometime this week.

Myla flashed a big baby smile today when she found out that her daddy was going to become the assistant manager at a new store today too. He will be moving to a store a little closer to home probably around the middle of the month. This is a big step to becoming LP manager at his own store in the Macy's world and we are all very excited at the new challenge.

Did I mention that today was a good day? Today was a GREAT day.

Monday, October 29, 2007

Good going little girl!

One week since Kara was admitted to the hospital and one the day, Myla is doing so well on her own so the nurses took her off the high-velocity ventilator for starters. Then her cardiologist said that she had a perfect little heart, there are no signs of jaundice so maybe wednesday she won't need the light shining on her and won't need the little sleep mask. They are going to see if she can have a little milk and then get her on a regular feeding schedule soon. A very good day for Myla.

Kara was able to walk around a store today too, looking for something crafty to keep her mind and hands busy while recovering at home for the coming weeks. Everything seems to be going so well for my two girls and I'm even getting some sleep at night, at least last night anyway. I'm back to work and surprisingly I wasn't too distracted all day.

We really want to thank all our family and friends and co-workers and friends of friends, everyone who is praying for us and doing great deeds for us during one of the toughest times we will ever have. It's heartwarming to know that we can count on so many no matter the distance that might seperate us and we will return the love to any one of you as well. Thank you!

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Myla - Day 3



Thank you to Uncle Tom for the picture! Here's our little girl!

A note from mommy

I have decided to give our worn-out daddy the night off from blogging. He's worked so hard to keep everyone up to date AND take care of two high-maintenance gals, I think he deserves it.

We had a big day today. They finally released me from the hospital - knowing full well that I'll still be there every day to share time with Myla. Everything checked out good for me, so now its just resting to get back up to speed.

Before we left, the wonderful NICU nurses called to let us know that our little girl had opened her eyes. We rushed down there as fast as we could to see her little blue eyes gazing up at us. She was rustling and moving and blinking... it brought a huge smile to my face. To watch her little personality all glowing there in her eyes...

And so I sign off, the goal to be a somewhat restful night sleep. Sweet dreams of baby blue eyes here I come.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Who knew!?

The feedback on our little blog is amazing! We are flattered and very happy that it is being viewed and enjoyed by so many close to our families. The best I can do with this posting is maybe sum up the day and let the promised pictures be the highlight. (keep scrolling until you see photos ;o)

Little mommy had a huge day! She lost all her IV's, oxygen and even strolled down the corridors behind her wheelchair to see her little one and to top it all off, a well deserved shower to help her sleep...what a day!

We changed rooms and areas of the hospital so now we're closer to the NICU and our little munchkin. Who, by the way, is doing well too. She sleeps, but we caught her trying to escape her little sauna, moving her leg straight up and pushing her foot on the plastic top. She responded well to the trophic feeding too which is a big deal, so every day it's something good.

Come Monday it's back to work for me so I don't know how much blogging I'll get to do but maybe it's Kara's turn to tell it from her point of view and I'll throw something in there when I can. Thank you all for your support, love, prayers, tears and smiles. We really needed it this whole week. Kudos.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

The second day is the roughest...

Everything went off without a hitch, however no good thing is without it's little hiccups, setbacks, or whatever you choose to call it. Considering the abrupt change in plans from Monday and all the accompanying emotional ride, today Kara and Myla had physical difficulties on top of emotional ones which even had a small toll on myself now that I've had time to sit back and evaluate things.


Don't take the tone as defeated but perhaps reflective and analytical because all in all it was a good day. Kara was kept on the IV drips longer than expected and couldn't go see her little girl and just had a hard time from after the surgery which didn't help emotionally and resulted in some meltdowns but at the end of the day there was calm and clarity.

Now, about my super little girl! She started off with a bang and impressed everyone with her reslove to breathe and function on her own and today was no different, although the afternoon she had regressed slightly in her lung function by the evening she was making even bigger strides to breathe completely unassisted and made us all very proud. It may be 4 or 5 more days before she can put on some weight and really digest milk but she'll get better everyday.

I'm actually exhausted right now. The high I experienced by becoming a dad to such an amazing little being still burns in my heart eventhough my head and the rest of me wants to rest, and I will give in and sleep so I can be a great dad tomorrow as early as I may need to be. Love you Myla!

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Myla the miracle baby!

On this day, october 24th 2007 at 6:05 PM MST, Myla K. was delivered by c-section into the very capable hands of the neonatal staff at our hospital (smc). She weighs One Pound, six ounces, measures 12 1/4" long. Not much longer than a "Rockies Dog." Both mom and baby are doing great, getting excellent care and much needed rest. Myla should be off the ventilator tomorrow or at least they should be able to take out the breathing tube and then start feeding in a few days but until then she'll get protiens and calories and fat through the line in her belly button. She is able to grasp at my finger with her whole hand, she is absolutely beautiful!

Kara is recovering and should be able to see her baby tomorrow as well and start moving around more to keep from getting stiff and sore at the abdomen. But she is more excited about being able to finally drink some water and eat some food for the first time in a while.

More to come soon, including pictures and maybe even video if I can figure out how to post all that kind of stuff, with Kara's help of course. ;o)

And so it begins...

Here we are at the hospital awaiting our little girl to come out and play, of whom there will be pictures soon. Picture this, myself playing doctor, so to speak, using their little rolly chairs as my perch within breathing distance along side Kara's hospital bed. To my back the IV pumping machines click and buzz lightly as they dispense much needed fluids through their long, transparent tubes, layering over, an air pump roils and hisses, pumping and releasing air to and from pressure sleeves. Kara, looking akinly to The Borg from Star Trek Next Generation, with tubes, monitoring devices and their accompanying cords laced over and hanging from her extremities and yet she still looks great, but the most comforting sound heard over all things, Myla's super strong heart beating as if a locamotive with something to accomplish. This little train is probly the only reason Kara was able to sleep at night.