I Held Kayla For the First Time

On Friday night (8/5) the nurse informed Jeff and me that they stopped Kayla's feedings again due to a backup of food in her stomach. She has not been able to digest food since she was born. They did a barium contrast study on her a few hours earlier and a follow up x-ray that showed her upper gastro-intestinal (GI) tract was not processing her food at all. The doctors ordered a drug to try and stimulate her stomach so they will start feedings again (only 1 tsp/6 hours) and will wait to see how she tolerates it. She still has jaundice pretty badly so they are hoping that she can start processing the breast milk soon which will help the jaundice resolve itself. They are keeping her under a UV (bilirubin) light to treat the jaundice until she is able to eat.

Kayla is still unable to breath on her own but is showing some signs of respiratory improvement. She is still being assisted by a ventilator but hopefully the doctors will begin testing her off of the ventilator soon. Her eyes have not opened since she was born and her face is swollen from the excess fluid in her body. Hopefully, the swelling should go down once she is able to process food again. Kayla's neurologist has informed us that he doesn't believe that Kayla has a genetic disorder. He believes that Kayla's issues stem from her brain and he believes that she has 'central hypotonia' which means that she likely had a brain injury in utero. He believes that Kayla may have had a slow, cronic depravation of oxygen. Jeff and I are so devastated but are holding out hope that the doctors will learn more over the next few days and weeks.

I had a huge milestone on Friday night! The nurse let me hold Kayla for the first time since she was born. It was a little scary at first because she has an arterial line in her umbilical cord that if moved in the wrong way, could cause her to bleed severely and could possibly be fatal. I only felt comfortable because the nurse has worked in the same Neonatal ICU for the last 25 years and was very experienced. She said holding her was good for both of us. Finally holding Kayla for the first time was so magical. I have heard that the love you feel when you first hold your child is indescribable and now I completely understand. It was the best moment of my life! (I added a picture to the photo gallery) Unfortunately, Jeff was starting to feel like he was coming down with something so he stayed home that night. Hopefully, Jeff will be able to hold her sometime very soon.

Yesterday, Saturday (8/6), my Dad, sister Kathy, and my two nieces, Maya and Noelle, left to return back home to Santa Cruz. They were all here to help us for the past week. My Mom will remain here with us at our home in Rocklin until things settle down a bit.

After visiting with Kayla for several hours yesterday (8/6) Jeff and I both feel like she is beginning to move a little more and is starting to show signs of muscle resistance. The doctors still want to see more significant movements before they can say she is improving in any way.

As of today, Sunday (8/7), we haven't received any more results from her outstanding tests so we are still playing the waiting game.

We will continue to update you as things change.

All our love,

Lisa, Jeff & Kayla Vittek