ROP stands for....

Retinopathy of Prematurity
Read about it here:
http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/rop/rop.asp#1

The girls had eye exams and the Dr. was a little concerned about Peyton's eyes. He would check the following week and see how it was progressing. See, in preemies especially, the retina is still growing and sometimes it starts to grow in instead of around. The Dr. then will need to laser those vessel to grow in the correct way. by no means is that a medical definition, but that's what i understand from it. Anyways, the next week, Peyton's ROP progress quickly enough that they decided to do laser eye surgery that very day. She came through it well, despite it being hard to intubate her. She was heavily sedated, too. Because of where the opthomologist had to laser, Peyton now has a little less peripheral vision. If that's all that's wrong, then i'll take it! I'm glad she is on her way to NOT being blind. thing can still happen, they already have: Addison might need laser surgery in one eye.

2nd Level Graduates!!

Peyton and Addison have graduated! They were downstairs in the NICU for about 2 months, but have since been moved up to the Continuing Care Nursery. Visiting Policy is still the same, although we did sneak in some friends on Conference Weekend! The Upstairs Nursery is still technically a NICU but its for the more stable babies!! We are so glad that the girls are doing well, even if they aren't out of the woods yet. The Drs. and nurses talk about them being home more and more!

Addison

Peyton

Reunion of '10

After bath time, the girls were placed in the same incubator!! They loved it so much and their vitals and stats did so much better!! After 5 long weeks apart, they were reunited!! The nurses said that they de-sated a lot less because they were always hitting each other and reminding them to breath! They also loved pulling out each others feeding tubes!

Water and Soap

The girls get sponge baths, and this is the first time that Toby and I got to bathe them! They did so well! They especially loved getting their hair washed!! After baths,we got to hold them!




Mom and Dad soaping up Peyton










Clean baby!!





Dad is holding Peyton while Mom bathes Addy








gotta have a clean back!!







Best part of our night!!

Peyton in Boise

You're probably wondering why Peyton got stuck in Boise. Well, she had a P.I.E. in her lung which prevented her from flying because she was too unstable. I'm not going to even try to explain what it is so here is a medical definition:

• pulmonary interstitial emphysema (PIE) - air leaks and becomes trapped between the alveoli, the tiny air sacs of the lungs.

This can cause a pneumothorax, basically a collapsed lung. So, you can see why this is serious enough not to fly her, because if she needed a chest tube in the air, it is very dangerous. Her PIE resolved itself with help from heliox, helium and oxygen mixed so its lighter than air and easier on the lungs. Then, she couldn't be transported on the heliox so we had to wean her off of that, and THAT took just as long!! She arrived back at EIRMC 4 days shy of 1 month!!

Whats up with Mom?

Well, after a wonderful week in Boise..... I hitched a ride home with some friends who were in town for the weekend. It was Valentines Day weekend and i didn't get to be home with my Toby baby. However, I did ask Ben to be my mini-Valentine and he said yes!! Being away from my family was probably the hardest part, not to mention that it was still just two weeks since my c-section. I probably shouldn't have even been out of bed! Anyways, I planned on bringing my mom (who was in town to help us out) and Ben back to Boise with me until the girls came home, however my body had different ideas. One day back and I come down with horrible aches and chills. Toby couldn't even touch me, I hurt so bad. Diagnosis: infection. Start on antibiotics because we don't know where the infection is.. my incision doesn't hurt and isn't red at all. I start to feel better, so about 1 1/2 weeks after i leave Boise, we head back. (Sidenote: Addison flew home the day I got back, Peyton is still in Boise). I feel horrible for leaving Peyton, although my Aunt Wendy was good about visiting her! So, we're in Boise and I start to feel really horrible and my pain meds aren't working anymore. I feel swollen and it hurts so bad!! This causes a late night/early morning to the Dr. who orders me to the ER. They diagnosis it as "just and infection" and start me on new antibiotics. oh yeah, the ones that make your mouth taste disgusting and make you not want to eat. Head home, without Peyton. I go all week on the antibiotics and its gotten worse! I couldn't even stand up straight because my skin was so stretched and swollen. We head back to the Dr. office on Saturday and i'm diagnosed with an abscess. Basically, a large pocket of infected pus is right underneath my incision. So, with lortab (pain killer) and valium (sedative, though not enough) they cut me back open on the table, and squeezed the pus out. It wasn't pretty and my eyes weren't even open. Wanna know some pain, try that one on for size. However, i can't complain too much, I immediately started feeling better. Back on narcotics meant I couldn't drive and so we asked my Aunt Wendy to come help us out for a week, as my mom had already flown home to be with her sweetie. Everyday i had to visit the hospital for Physical Therapy wound care. I have to say, it didn't hurt a bit! They had to take q-tips and clean it out then pack it with gauze. (btw, it wasn't opened up all the way, just about 1 1/2 in.) It even healed up pretty quickly!
Two downsides: I couldn't take a shower or a bath with an open wound. I had to sponge bathe for 2 weeks and wash my hair in the kitchen sink!! I savored a shower when I finally got to take one! Other downside was the fact that the VERY day after i completely closed, i got sick with a nasty cough and cold so i couldn't go see my girls. I am doing better and see them all the time now!

PDAs in Boise

My last update on here was the day that Peyton had her PDA ligation. Well, the very next day, Addison was flown into Boise to have the same ligation on her PDA. Apparently it isn't uncommon for it to open back up. We say that it "broke her heart" to have Peyton leave so she decided to join her. Addy's surgery went well and also had no complication! Addison was flown back to IF the monday after she arrived. It took Peyton a bit longer.
Here is what their scars looked like:








But now, they're all healed:








To find out what a PDA murmur is, and what a PDA ligation is, click here:
http://www.musckids.com/health_library/cardiac/pda.htm

a TON has happened.....

I'm going to post a bunch of small posts instead of one really long one, but I just want to say thanks to everyone who has prayed for my little (well kinda big) family!! I appreciate all thoughts, prayers, meals, calls, text, notes, posts, and words or comfort!! The Dossett Family loves you!