Ok, you can take her home! Just kidding, just kidding, just kidding, just kidding....

So, as many of you may know, Fiona was born at 4lbs 9oz at 33 weeks and although they had prepared us for her to be on some respiratory support (nasal cannula/CPAP/ventilator) and/or could need some support for feedings, she came out and was like,  "Child PLEASE, I got this"  (Note the Chad Ochocinco reference.  You're welcome, Dave.)  She was feeding and breathing fantastically on her own.  They prepared us for her to stay in the NICU for approximately 10 days or so depending on her progress, but most likely until she would have been at 35 weeks.  She was right on schedule and really her most pressing issue was her body temperature, which wasn't shocking because she was such a teeny peanut.  She lost some weight after she was born, which was expected, and had gotten down to 4lbs 5oz, and slowly creeped back up to 4lbs 8oz.  She finally passed her cold stress test, and they put her in an open bed, and took her out of the isolette, we watched all of the lovely going home videos-- car seat and sleep safety, shaken baby/SIDS, infant CPR (thanks for the panic attack, NICU).  She passed her car seat test, and they set us up to "nest" with her overnight in a postpartum room.  This just means that we could spend the night with her and have the support of the nurses if we should need it throughout the night, before they discharged her and we took her home.  So, Saturday the 19th we did just that. 

Unfortunately, throughout the night I noticed that she was struggling with a terrible cough, especially between the 1am and 4am feedings.  I didn't sleep at all because I felt just awful for her and I knew something wasn't right.  The nurse/doctor came in at 6am to get her for when the doctor's do rounds in the NICU, and I told the nurse about the cough.  When the nurse came back after rounds at 10, she said that she hadn't heard her cough at all, but she mentioned it to the doctor. The doc then came to talk to us, and said that she was going to keep her for another day at least so that she was at least 48hrs in her open bed before discharge.  I again said something about the cough, and she said she would keep an eye on it, but that she might just have a cold. 

The next day it was apparent that she was coughing repeatedly and was becoming really pokey with her feedings and struggling with her body temp again.  They decided to keep her longer.  It wasn't for a couple of days that they decided to actually culture the snot they were repeatedly having to suction out of her nose, and when they did they discovered she has RSV. 

This put the entire NICU into a tizzy... it's a very serious respiratory virus for preemies, and it's highly contagious, so they had to put her in isolation and the nurses have to gown and glove to handle her and everyone has to wash their hands a bazillion times.  YUP, we're THOSE people. 

This was obviously very upsetting to us, and the literature they gave us was terrifying.  They also told us they haven't had a case of RSV in the NICU at Mercy for DECADES.  Fabulous.  Of course it's OUR child that has it.  It couldn't just be EASY, after all. 

This RSV has kicked our poor little Fiona's butt, but she has proven to be a real fighter.  She's been back and forth on various levels of respiratory support and feeding tubes, but she's stayed strong and is now looking like the worst is behind us and is on the mend, and we are more grateful than words can express.

As many of you know, Fiona is our miracle baby.  She was our fourth pregnancy, and decidedly our last attempt to have a baby.  Our first daughter, Kalista, was stillborn at 22 weeks.  We then had an early miscarriage at 8.5 weeks during our second pregnancy.  We waited 5 years and our third pregnancy was a molar pregnancy that resulted in uterine cancer. I had to undergo chemotherapy and then wait at least one year after my final treatment to even try getting pregnant again.  We waited over two just to be safe.  We had decided that we would try one more time, and if it didn't work, we would accept that it wasn't meant to be because we had been through enough.  

Thank goodness we made that decision, because that fourth pregnancy gave us our Fiona Claire, and she was determined to come out and meet us as early as she possibly could.  She has a fighting spirit and she's a survivor, and we are totally in love with her.  She's the best thing that ever happened to us.  Grateful does not even begin to express it..... Now if we could just take her home...  :)