Missy's Moments

Journal entry by Jordan Heyer — 2/23/2016 Yesterday Brielle had another echo done on her heart, it was just to make sure neither of the defects had got any worse. What they didn't expect to find was that one of the defects is no longer present. The Double outlet, that she was going to live her whole life with seems to have repaired itself or by some miracle been fixed. The VSD, which is the one they expect to have to go in a repair is still present. We asked the doctors how this happened and they stated very simply that it is a miracle and there really isn't a medical explanation for it. Beca and I are still trying to grasp this concept, seems to good to be true. But that's what they said. I then asked about the VSD, if the double outlet is gone is there a chance the Vsd could go away as well? According to all there experience and knowledge the answer is no, but they said based upon the things Brielle has done and shown them there really isn't a right answer. It cou

Journal entry by Missy Eagen — 2/21/2016 Brielle's feeds started again yesterday- going in fine but still working on that going out part. Pray for poop people- God's good with our requests and know it's cause we love this peanut! 🙏🏼 Jordan and I were visiting during cares and Jordan got to help - pretty exciting to see that she is now in the 3pound club! I was pretty entertained by watching Jordan change that tiny diaper. Tomorrow is an echo to check her heart. 3.064lbs 💕 Brielle

Journal entry by Missy Eagen — 2/20/2016 Brielle doesn't have a birthday cake yet but she did get to begin feeds again today for celebrate her first month with us. We are praying that it travels in AND out well and in a timely manner. I continue to be amazed at the fact her 10.5 oz gain from her birth weight really shows. Never thought I'd say a nearly 3lb baby looks "big" to me. It's all about perspective! Not much to report- heard her sweet cry today, watched her suck a pacifier which can get tricky for preemies but she was rocking it! Just sat and stared and felt such gratitude for how far she has come. Brielle your tiny self has added big love to our families- happy one month baby girl 💕 Read More of the journal titled "One Month"   (taken from CB)                                     

Journal entry by Missy Eagen — 2/18/2016 Who knew 1/2 pound could make such a difference?! Brielle is 2lbs 11oz now and looks bigger to us! Shawn, Ann and I have all been able to hold her now. Rick is not feeling well and will hopefully get up there soon to peek in on her soon. Jordan and Beca balance trips to the hospital and busy boy Bennett! So much to be thankful for! NEC- so the dreaded suspected NEC infection thankfully ended up being a whole bunch of stool in her bowels- this might be TMI but the nurse practitioner described the stool they are helping her pass as large gummy worm like and a lot of it- poor girl no wonder she was having trouble. So they confirm her bowels are empty and then they reintroduce feeds and start from scratch- small feeds that are watched closely. So how is she gaining weight? Fair question I asked also- the answer is her PICC line is being pumped full of nutrients and calories. The best way for her to grow is to have food in her tummy but

This morning at about 7:30 peds surgery came to check on Brielle and made it very clear that if some bowel movements didn't happen in the next 24 hours or so they were going to almost certainly have to operate. Brielle took there promise very seriously and by 8 o'clock had a nice excrement. She has had two more since then which is fantastic. While we were up there last night the nurse mentioned that they were hoping she became a pooping machine and she sure has. For the physicians involved the operation would have been pretty routine, as her parents we were scared, anxious, almost dreading it. Thankfully as long as she can clear the blockage herself which, she is well in her way to doing, there will be no operation. Not quite sure how much time they'll give her before they start feeding her again but for right now we are just thankful as can be she is taking care of the issue herself. (taken from CB)

Journal entry by Missy Eagen — 2/10/2016 Good Morning- I just spoke with Jordan and peds surgery has been following Brielle with her NEC infection. Her images are showing a possible blockage. They will give her more time to see if it resolves as long as her symptoms don't worsen. (refer back to series of scary things in last post) If time doesn't seem to resolve things she will have to have surgery to clear the blockage if that is indeed the case. Please pray that this would resolve without surgery. We have complete faith in the medical staff there but would love to see her body not have to go through surgery. In other news..... guess who doesn't even have a C-PAP?!? Oh and our little peanut is 3 weeks old today!  (taken from CB)

Journal entry by Missy Eagen — 2/9/2016 Our little peanut is being treated for an infection called NEC. It's an acronym for for an infection that affects her intestinal tract. Basically what I read on Google scared the bajeepies out of me and really most of what I look up does the same. I am learning (slowly) to ask questions and trust that the wonderful NICU staff will help us understand and as Dr. Johnson said before we even met Brielle "they won't keep secrets", meaning on top of caring for these fragile tiny babies the staff is just as patient and loving with our family as I'm sure I sound like my 4 year old grandson Jack with my endless questions. Back to NEC- in regular terms Brielle's digestive system is still developing, inside Mom it isn't asked to move food through and now outside Mom it is being asked to do work it may not be ready for making her preemie body at risk for this treatable but potentially scary infection. Her feeds have stoppe

Journal entry by Jordan Heyer — 2/7/2016 Sorry I haven't been on to update in the last few days, there isn't really too much new information which is great news. This morning during her daily X-ray they did find a pretty significant amount of air in her intestines but the cause is still being determined. Other than that she continues to maintain the stability we've all been hoping for. Thanks again! (taken from CB)

Journal entry by Jordan Heyer — 2/4/2016 Today we had a conference with all of Brielles doctors, going into it we were both scared and anxious. Coming out of it we couldn't keep smiles off our faces. We went over her brain defect which was a huge part of the meeting mainly because it'll be the longest lasting and non-curable defect. Basically we won't know how it's going to affect her until it affects her. Simply put they're treating Brielle, not pictures of Brielle. So just because the signs are all there in images, if she isn't seizing or having abnormal hormone levels there is really no reason to treat. It's another "we won't know until we know" but I think we're a little more at peace with this unknown because it's not life threatening and all the side effects have treatments. The cardiac side of things didn't get to in depth simply because we know what needs to happen it's just a matter of when. Although up until today

Journal entry by Jordan Heyer — 2/2/2016 Guess who is breathing all by herself?! As of about 9:30 last night Brielle is no longer intubated and is breathing on her own. She has some extra oxygen kind of helping her out but there are no machines doing it for her. We really hoped this would happen sometime soon but never guessed she would have got to this point in less than two weeks. Such a fighter our daughter is. For respiratory being one of the biggest obstacles this little girl was going to overcome, she sure made it look easy. We talked to doctors and they stated that compared to other 28 weekers Brielle is on pace with a "normie". We are trying not to get to ahead of ourselves as far as being to excited or thinking she is in the clear, however, I think it's safe to say that we are very satisfied with her progress. Now the imaging and testing that needs to be done can be done and the doctors can kind of set a game plan out as for how her care is going to go from th