Update on Kylee

I know many of you, particularly Kyle's and Lisa's families, have been anxious to see more pictures so here they are. I'm sure many of you have already gotten updated information about what's been happening, but for those of you that haven't.....

They discharged Lisa on Friday, but Kylee was having some issues and had to be put in the NICU and she is still there and could still be there for a few more days. It all depends on her progress. They were able to give Lisa and Kyle a tiny room to stay in so that they could be there and not have to travel back and forth from home to the hospital multiple times a day.

There are multiple things going on with Kylee....all of which are not "extreme", but extreme enough for her to be in the NICU. I'm not very smart when it comes to medical stuff and I don't want to given any false information, so I don't want to explain too much....but enough to let people know what's going on. She has jaundice, and her bilirubin levels had been getting better until very recently but then they shot back up again. So they gave her an anti-anxiety drug. It makes her very sleepy, but it's supposed to "stick" to the bilirubin and come out in her poop. Sorry, TMI! Then, she's having some digestion issues, which is not exactly helping with the jaundice. And she's having a difficult time figuring out how to nurse.....which doesn't help with the digestion issues. So it's kind of a vicious cycle. Plus, there were some Rh incompatibility issues (a blood-type issue) that they had to treat. I hope I explained everything well and accurately. Oh yeah, they also had to do the antibiotics for the strep B, and she had an IV for that for like 2 days or longer. They also had to do a PICC line in her head. It's what they've used to give her all sorts of things, including the anti-anxiety drug. So at least it has been used for good things. The poor thing! We went up yesterday and got to see her for the first time. It breaks my heart to see her in the little incubator with all those tubes running in and out of her. But it makes me marvel to see how amazing of a time we live in where they have this type of treatment available to babies. What a blessing! I really wanted to hold her, but no can do. Not even Lisa and Kyle get to hold her very often. When they hold her it gets her riled up and she burns too many calories. They've had to give her something through her IV to give her extra calories. I'm a little torn on my feelings about this. I understand the need to make sure she's getting enough nutrition and calories, but I also believe that the human touch does wonders for sick children. And actually, speaking of human touch and doing wonders, that's the main reason we went up yesterday. Lisa and Kyle had asked Matthew if he would give her a priesthood blessing. They got permission from the nurses and they were able to take the top off the incubator so he could administer it. Lisa and Kyle say that already she seems to be improving. So hopefully it won't be too much longer 'til we get to welcome this new little miracle into our home.

This is her crazy toe. She'll thank you later for it, Kyle! ;)

How precious!

Kyle getting a little shut-eye. I'm sure it has mostly been sleepless nights. This picture was probably a rare occasion.

Check out those "sunglasses"!

Here's the lovely PICC line in her head. Ouch!

Me still not getting to actually hold her....but once again trying to pretend like I am!