Helmkamp Family: Time for a change in scenery

Well change in scenery may be a stretch because it was just a change in beds so they really look exactly the same.

I am working on a post to cover things from birth to the present but I had to share some pictures from today!

Abigail has been experiencing episodes called "brady's" her heart rate and breathing start to go way down. It is caused by two factors; first immaturity of the respiratory system and she just doesn't breath, and the second is immaturity of the nervous system sending the signal form the brain to breath. When this happens sometimes she will recover on her own and other times she needs a little rousing from the nurse to get her to snap back. As scary as it can be especially when it first started yesterday day. It is completely normal for a baby so young. It is possible that she will be re-intubated to help her get through this phase. Meaning that they will replace the respirator in her nose with a tube down her throat. The doctor told us this maybe a possibility because she came off of the tube so quickly. At this point there have been lots of other babies in our part of the NICU that have been more pressing than Abigail because we still have not seen the doctor today which is a first for us, other days she was on the top of the schedule. We know things are going better if we aren't first priority.

The real reason I wanted to share a post today was because she had a bed failure. She is in an isolete bed called a Giraffe OmniBed. The bed adjusts the temperature based on a probe attached to her skin as well as a high humidity level. The fan on the bed went out and after restarting the bed it said system failure; which meant she needed a new bed. I got to hold little Miss Abby outside of her bed while they were swapped. (shhh don't tell Dr. Mauer) Before today I only got to pick her up to do her weight check while the bed zeroed about 6 inches above where she lays. Abigail's nurse, Kaylan took special care to ensure that all of her lines (especially her very shallow arterial line which may come out any day) were all tucked in close inside Abby's snuggie during the move.

waiting as her nurse Kaylan gets everything ready

Hi sweet girl

Making sure all the lines, wires, and tubes get back in the right places

Getting everything adjusted. She kept lifting her legs and bottom up.

Also wanted to share how Joshua is doing! His change in scenery is getting back to the normal life of school. As much as her enjoyed all the special attention he got last week from his Mama, Grandma, Papa, and Aunt Rachel, it was time for him to get back to more normal. It is so great seeing him back in his classroom having a blast with his friends and teachers. We love Zion PDO so much!