A Final Farewell

We would like to start out back thanking everyone who followed and helped us through our long journey.  We are grateful for the support and our beautiful little girl.  At this time, we have decided to bring Our Baby’s Journey to a close.  It has been over two months since our last post and we have found it hard to keep this up-to-date.  It is time we moved to a new phase of this journey and enjoy spending all the time we have as a family.

Aubree has been nothing but a bundle of joy since we brought her into this world.  As parents, it is a great feeling to wake up in the morning to find a big smile coming from your little one.  Rachelle is still currently breastfeeding and we do supplement with formula when needed.  She has learned to roll over in the past month, although she cannot yet figure out how to get back when she does.  The last time we brought her to the doctor, she weighed 12.2 lbs. with her clothes on.  She did contract a slight virus (probably from her sister) which was making our little girl very restless and cough. 

Addyson loves to interact with her, sometimes a little too much.  Once in a while Aubree does get a hold of her sisters hair for a little tug of revenge.  Her hair also gets more red by the day.  She enjoys taking baths and going for swims in the lake.  Aubree has also started doing some kooing and attempts to talk.  When she cries, sometimes it almost sounds like she is saying mamma!

Transitioning into parents with two children can sometimes seem very stressful, but it is something we would never trade.  We appreciate all the support we have received through this long journey.  We hope anyone who has followed us or may view this in the future will find some helpful tips and comforting facts.  Please take the time to check out the most recent photos of our little Aubree and check out the video of her rolling over!

~Travis, Rachelle, Addyson and Aubree Kroll

 

See Aubree rolling over!

A Long Time Coming

Sometimes you just get caught up in life and the last thing on your mind is updating a blog.  We have finally remembered to do a little update our Aubree!  She is now over three months and going strong.  At her last doctor’s appointment, Aubree weighed in at 9 lbs 10 ounces and she was 22 inches long.  The doctor told us that she is healthy as can be and there should be no long-term problems from her issues she had after birth.

We enjoy trying to spend as much time with her as possible.  We have noticed that Addyson does get a little jealous every now and then.  We both feel that now more than ever, we need to make some “Addy time” to let her know she is still just a special to us.  Aubree is now eating around three ounces every time she feeds and enjoys breastfeeding more than mom does sometimes.

We have found that she is the total opposite of Addyson at the same age.  She is very content, quiet and sleeps almost all night if we let her.  She enjoys going for walks in her stroller and it soothes her to be riding in something.  Her hair is also getting more red by the day. 

Here are a few photos from the past few months!

10 Questions with Dr. James Patenge – Part 2

Here is the long awaited second part of my interview with Dr. James Patenge!

Is it ok to exercise while pregnant?

James Patenge, DO, OB/GYN

In most cases it’s ok to continue with your regular exercise routine.  Keeping your heart rate below 140 bmp and avoiding abdominal workouts is a good idea.  I would also recommend lots of walking.

Do I have a choice to deliver vaginally or have c-section?

There is a great deal of controversy around this question.  It is generally recommended to trail a vaginal birth first since it is considered “less risk” overall.  However, there are some that argue a patient should have a choice.  As long as the patient fully understands the risks and benefits of vaginal birth verses a c-section, then the patient should have that option.  Many insurance companies will not pay for an elective c-section because it is more costly.  We have noticed elective c-sections increasing nationally, but it’s still a very small percentage.  The trend now is moving back to vaginal birth after a c-section. 

What reasons would I need to have labor induced?

Labor is induced for going beyond your due date, severe high blood pressure called severe pre-eclampsia, gestation diabetes, fetal growth issues of either too small or too large, multiple births and other less common issues.

Are there test that can determine any issues with my unborn child?

Commonly a quad test and fetal ultrasound is offered to look at potential genetic anomalies.  We use non-stress tests (NST) to check for fetal well-being.  We also use lab work to check for diabetes, pre-eclampsia and other issues.

How long will I have to stay at the hospital after giving birth?

Vaginal births will often stay one to two days and a c-section will often stay one to 3 nights depending on how the patient is doing.

Our Baby: One Month Later!

Happy Spring Time!

We had decided to take a short break from blogging to spend time bonding with our new little girl.  It is a whole new experience having two children.  There are no more “quick” runs to the grocery store or gas station and we are ok a getting ready fast.  There is also nothing like the great smell of newborns poopy diapers and spit up to bring back fond memory’s of when Addyson was a little baby.

Aubree has been such a good baby since we returned home.  She spends much of her day sleeping, eating and pooping, but then again, what else would she be doing?  She is very content and does not fuss very much or cry unless she is really hungry or needs a burp.  She also has some fiery red hair the its really noticeable when you put yellow and orange outfits on her.

As of her last doctor’s checkup, she was prefect in every way and on the right path to being a feisty little child.  She had a weight check recently and we are happy to report she is now 7 lbs 15 oz!  She is now a pound heavier than she was at birth.  When Aubree is awake she is very alert and watches everything and moves around.  She has almost rolled over a couple of times already…

Addyson has been a great big sister to Aubree, helping change her diaper’s, attempt to pick outfits out and help give her baths.  She always goes up to her “sissy” to get her kisses and tell her “I love you sissy”.  We know that Addyson will make a great big sister and show Aubree everything she needs to know and probably somethings she shouldn’t know.

Last night was one of Aubree’s first big messes.  Mom was working on feeding her and heard her poop.  She then discovered that it was coming out of the diaper.  This is about the time I figured out that it came out of the diaper alright, and all down mom’s shirt, pants and slippers!  It was a very big mess coming from one small girl. 

We will try to update the blog weekly once again and when major events happen in her life.  Check out some update photos below!

Welcome Home Kroll Family, Welcome Home!

We had hoped to come home on Friday, but Aubree was unable to take her feeding on Thursday without the aid of the feeding tube.  They require her to go 24 hours before they remove the tube and 48 hours of feeding from breast/bottle before they can go home.

We are happy to announce that on Sunday, March 4, we came home!  We of course had visits from the grandparents and great grandparents along with uncles and aunts.  Aubree has been enjoying the comforts of home like her swing, cradle and help from her sissy.  We are so glad she has finally come home and that our journey from conception to birth has finally brought us a beautiful daughter and a loving sister for Addyson.

To quote Ty Pennington of ABC’s Extreme Makeover:  Home Edition “Welcome home Kroll family, welcome home!”

Aubree relaxing at home

The girls preparing for the ride home

Sister's taking a nap at home

Our Little Hero Almost Home

Aubree has been making great progress.  Since this weekend she has taken most of her feedings through a bottle or breast feeding.  The doctors had increased her feeding to 60 ml which she sometimes could not finish.  We have also found out that she is a very hard little girl to burb.  She has spit up a few times now due to her not wanting to burb and hit dad and mom pretty good with some spit up.  We were hoping that she would be coming home today, but she was unable to take all of her feedings on Tuesday by a bottle.  They require her to feed for 24 hours by bottle before they remove her feeding tube and at 48 hours they will talk about discharge.

Aubree after pulling feeding tube out.

Speaking of feeding tubes, while trying to change Aubree’s sheets on Tuesday night, she managed to grab her feeding tube and pull it straight out!  Needless to say she was a very unhappy child when they had to re-insert the feeding tube about 20 minutes later.  I was hoping they would not have to, but she was much to tired to even try to drink her bottle that night.  On Tuesday, the doctor also decreased her feeding amount since she was unable to finish her 60 ml in hopes she would be able to go home sooner.  That night after weighing her, her weight had decreased to 6 lbs 11 oz, so on Wednesday, the doctor increased her back to 60 ml.

Our stay at the Ronald McDonald House also ended yesterday.  It was very hard for both of us to come home without our little girl and not be able to stay with her all day.  We now will commute and spend half the day with her.  We could have applied for an extension, but after being away from our home for over 10 days, being emotionally drained and not being able to see our daughter Addyson much, we knew it was time to come home.  The Ronald House was great “home away from home” and provided us with a great place to stay when we needed it.  We both have seen first hand, what all that money goes to when you put spare change in the donation box at any McDonalds.

Daddy and daughter time

This morning we had great news after calling to check on Aubree.  She had finished all her feedings by bottle since we left at 3 p.m. yesterday!  The nurse informed us that we need to bring our car seat today for an inspection because it looks like she will be going home tomorrow.  Nothing will make us happier than being able to bring her home for the first time and able to have her and Addyson play together.  We want to thank everyone who has supported us through these last few stressful and long days.  The response from everyone on her and other sites has been overwhelming and amazing.  It is wonderful to know the support system we have out there.  Hopefully tomorrow we can post a welcome home.

Aubree and dad

Aubree sleeping

Aubree on Leap Day

Happy One Week Old Aubree!

Well there has not been too much change in the past couple of days.    We were very lucky to have the same nurse for three consecutive days.  She was very friendly and made our days here even better.  They had increased her feeding to 50 ml.  Usually we noticed that Aubree would open her eyes more at night, but we got a little surprise when she opened eyes and was awake during her 5 pm feeding.  Rachelle was not feeling well on thursday and was unable to visit Aubree until that evening.  They prefer you not to visit if you feel like you may become down with anything.  This helps protect all the babies up in the NICU.  I (Travis) spent the night at the hospital Wednesday and Thursday. I had an alright night of sleep both nights, but nothing is better than a bed!  I was able to awake up when Aubree was a bit fussy in the middle of the night and have quality daddy/daughter time. Grandma and grandpa Kroll came down for their first visit with Aubree.  They were both very excited to see her and expressed how wonderful Helen DeVos is.

We also received a nice note from the Spectrum Security Police on our vehicle.  It seems that someone thought it was a good idea to back into us and smash our tail light.  They also started watching Aubree for necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).  NEC is a gastrointestinal disease that mostly affects premature infants, NEC involves infection and inflammation that causes destruction of the bowel (intestine) or part of the bowel. Although it affects only 1 in 2,000 to 4,000 births, or between 1% and 5% of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admissions, NEC is the most common and serious gastrointestinal disorder among hospitalized preterm infants.

Friday, dad spent the majority of the day with Addyson at the Ronald McDonald House while mom and grandma visited Aubree.  I do have to say it was nice to have a relaxing day with my little girl watching some TV, playing in the play room and doing some laundry.  When you spend some much time visiting your little girl and running to the hospital, you really learn to enjoy those simple little moments.  yesterday the doctor informed us that they no longer had to test for jaundice!  They also decided to increase her feeding to 54 ml every three hours.  Aubree was able to drink 21 ml of milk from a bottle, but her respiratory rate was still too unpredictable to continue.  We did some snow fall down here, driving back to the Ronald House was an experience that morning.  Rachelle’s father and sister came down that evening to pick up grandma and Addyson.  They visited with Aubree for a while and her sister got to hold Aubree for the first time.  Addyson finally fell asleep right before they took her home.  When returned to Helen DeVos for her 8 p.m. care time.  She weighed 6 lbs 14 oz, almost back to her birth weight!  She took her feeding very well and we enjoyed some mom, dad and baby alone time.

Well this morning we both slept in and received good rest.  We arrived i the NICU in time for Rachelle to pump before her 11 a.m. feeding.  The nurse informed us that Aubree was able to take an entire bottle last night!  When Rachelle was changing her, Aubree decided it was a good time to mess her bed sheets as well.  The nurse checked her respiratory rate and gave Rachelle the go ahead to do Aubree’s first breast-feeding!  She latched on right away.  She did not take a lot feeding that way, but she started sucking down the bottle afterwards and we were able to burp her for the first time!  I know we hope this is a sign that we may be able to bring her home soon.

It’s picture time:

Am I Aubree or Addyson?

Am I Aubree or Addyson?

Her little booties

Aubree stretched out!

Aubree with eyes open February 24, 2012

Our Baby’s Journey at Helen DeVos

It has been almost four days since our last post.  It has also been a life changing experience for Rachelle, Addyson, Aubree, myself and our family.  We would first like to start out by saying we could not be more please with the level of care, compassion and outreach we have received over the past four days from the employees at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital and everyone we connect with online and in our life’s.  This experience has made us both appreciate the level of care we can receive her in West Michigan and the charities like Ronald McDonald House that we hear about all the time, but never really think about.

Now on to Aubree.  Her progress has been amazing and we give credit for being such a brave little girl.  On Monday, she was steady at the same level as we had seen her Sunday night.  She was still connected to the CPAP and IV.  She was taking in 40% oxygen through her CPAP.  She was not allowed any milk until her breathing was more regulated.  We spent most of the day at the hospital taking every chance we got to hold her.  It was not the easiest task in the world since she had tubes and wires hooked up to her.  Luckily for use the have a very comfy chair that maneuvers around and the nurses are more than willing to help get her out of the warmer.  We also got good news Monday night that she could be off the CPAP sometime on Tuesday if everything went well.  They still were doing chest x-rays and labs to make sure she was ok.  We are also able to call a number that connects with right with her nurse in the NICU and we have special number we give them before they will provide us with information.  We both find it comforting to be able to check on her anytime of the day if we are not there.

We called Tuesday morning for an update on her status.  The doctors informed us that her right lung was clear and good, but her left lung was now showing a small pneumothorax.  This was causing her breathing to remain elevated and there was a chance they may have to go in with a needle and extract some of the air.  She was also having some low sodium issues and they had to administer her some medicine to slow weight gain.  We visited Aubree for a few hours that morning before heading back home to pick up Addyson and take care of a few things.  We had never seen Addyson so excited to see us as we did that day!  While we were back home, the doctor called with an update informing us they had to extract some of the air that was trapped to help her breathing.  It is a scary thought to know that you are not there by your child’s side when something like that happens.

Upon returning we were able to bring Addyson up to the NICU to visit her little baby sister.  She was well aware that we are going to visit “sissy” as she prefers to call her.  I am not sure, but i think she was slightly scared to see her little sissy hooked up to all those cords and tubes.  They were also able to remove the CPAP and allow Aubree to breathe normal room oxygen.  She was also able to start feeding on Tuesday with a feeding tube!  They started her out a very small amounts since she was receiving some fluid from the IV still.

Today, Wednesday, she had a few visitors!  Rachelle’s mother, father and sister all came in the morning to visit with little Aubree.  She was able visit with them for a little while, but need some quiet time during her feeding and care period.  Lucky for us Grandma was staying the night to help care for Addyson so Rachelle and myself can spend time with Aubree as well.  Today she also tried to feed off a bottle.  The Nurse gave her an “A” for effort, but she was unable to finish the bottle and had to have the rest through her tube.  This was mostly becuase her respiratory rate being unpredictable and not staying below 60.  She has also seemed to start peaking her eyes open around 8 p.m. the past couple nights.  It is such a wonderful sight to see her watching us and we can now see her little blue eyes!  We have not held her as much today because they have increased her feeding amount and we do not want to disturb her stomach too much.

The best part for us on a daily basis is care time.  During this time they weight Aubree, take her temperature, change her sheets and diaper, measure her and feed her.  It gives us a little opportunity to be involved with her care and do somethings most parents take for granted on a newborn.  Tonight I (dad) am staying in the NICU all night with my baby girl for a little alone time.  I have informed the nurse to attempt to wake me for all her care times.  It is nice to sit here and just watch my little miracle sleeping and hope that soon we can do this at home.

We would like to close this post tonight with a little photo time of our baby at Helen DeVos.  Enjoy!

Rachelle reading to Aubree

Dad changing his first diaper!

I see you!

Aubree on Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Helen DeVos and Ronald McDonald

Rachelle and myself are currently at Ronald McDonald House of West Michigan.  Aubree was transported to Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital around 7 p.m. on Sunday night.  Since she was a premature baby at 36 weeks, 5 days, we knew she may have some issues.  After she was delivered through c-section by Dr. Bayne, it was noticed that she was having some trouble breathing and the nurses at Spectrum Health Gerber Memorial immediately moved her into the nursery.  They placed her head under what I called the “bubble”.  They provided her with oxygen and administered some tests.  At this point we were told that it would be 12 to 24 hours before she would be in our room.

They preformed chest x-rays and also ran lab testing.  Dr. Norris came in to review the case and speak with her colleagues at Helen DeVos NICU.  Rachelle and myself were able to visit her in the nursery to keep our little girl company.  After reviewing the x-ray, they had determined that she had a small pneumothorax and some fluid in her lungs.  This was most likely a result of being premature.  At that time, they saw no need to transfer her downtown since she seemed to be improving.  On Sunday, Aubree seemed to have improved enough that they decided to surprise us and bring her into the room.  This was the first time I was able to hold her and for both grandmas.  They had given her an IV the previous night, so Rachelle was unable to breast feed.

We noticed a short time later, that her breathing seemed to quicken again and had the nurses take her back to be watched.   Dr. Byland had come in this day to examine her and ordered another chest x-ray and lab work.  Aubree has started to slightly decline in her condition at this point and they thought it would be best to transfer her to Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital for the best care.  She was found to have a slight tear in her lung that let air into the space between her lung and chest.  Her lungs were also still slightly premature.  The NICU unit came up from Helen DeVos to check her out and transport her back.  We were sad to leave the great care and people of Gerber Memorial, but we knew she would be in good hands.

We called both the Renucci Hospitality House and Ronald McDonald House to find an opening.  We were able to find one right away.  Dr. Michele was kind enough to allow Rachelle to be discharged to come down to Grand Rapids.  After arriving at the Ronald McDonald House, we were greeted by a friendly face and shown were everything was.  I quickly brought our stuff in, since Rachelle is limited after her c-section, and drove us to Helen DeVos.

The reception we received when first entering the NICU was amazing, passionate and caring.  They explained everything to us, brought us up-to-date and provided us with extra pumping equipment for Rachelle.  The doctor on duty even gave them the all clear to let Rachelle hold Aubree.  As of right now she seems to be doing fine.  There is no definitive date on when she will be released; it all depends on her now.  Keep tuned for more updates to come in the following days.

Aubree at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital

Welcome Our New Baby!

Aubree Elizabeth Kroll

 Born on February 18, 2012 at 5:14 p.m.  Weighing in at 6 lbs. 15 oz and 18 inches long!

Aubree Elizabeth Kroll in the nursery