We are just a little over a week away from our 7th March for Babies on April 14th. Some of you may remember the rollar coaster of emotions we experienced when Bailey was born during the 26th week of my pregnancy and the ups and downs of her 85 day hospital stay in Mercy NICU in Des Moines. Whether you were "along for the ride" back in 2001 or someone we have met along the way, I thought I would blog to show you why raising money for March of Dimes means so much to us. While Bailey was in the hospital, my wonderful sister Hope, along with her tech-savvy friend Eric, created a website to keep loved ones informed of Bailey's health. This was before the days of blogs, Carepages and Facebook. Today Bailey is a healthy, happy 11 year old. Her determination, persistence and strong-will from her small start have definitely made her the spirited, spunky and still strong-willed young lady she is today. So far with this year donations, we passed $3,000 raised for Team Bailey. If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation, please go to our team page, http://www.marchforbabies.org/seegers .
A couple hours old: 1 lb. 13 oz., 14"long
Most preemies born this early are born flat because they did not have time to be in the fetal position inside of the mother. This also affected her muscle development so from the age of 1-3 she received physical therapy monthly to work on rolling over, crawling and walking. The skin is also pretty transparent and red. The headband is to block out sound and light so she can rest and get stronger.
The Bad Week
News Update 4/13/2001
Bailey has had a tough week. Her blood gases were getting worse, which means that she was needing more assistance breathing. Some days up to 100%. So she got moved to a new respirator that was supposed to help this. It is a lot bigger and louder, but it seems to be working. She also got an art line in her left arm so nurses could take the blood more easily, rather than doing a stick every time. She gets blood taken every 5-6 hours. Bailey also gets steroids to help relax her lungs, but causes her to retain water. So she is up to 1 lb. 15 oz., but it is mostly water weight.
News Update: 4/20/2011
Bailey is back to her low pressure ventilator and the nurses are talking about trying a C-pap in a week where she breathes as much as she can and if she need assistance, she gets it from the machine. This is the last step before she doesn't have any help breathing. Her swelling has gone down so now she is back to what I like to call her "supermodel" weight. She weighs 1 lb. 12. oz. and is taking in 1/2 an ounce of milk, twice as much as what she had last week.
News Update: 5/7/2001
The last week of April was a banner week for Bailey. She was moved to C-Pap (off the respirator and has a tube in her nose which goes to the back of her mouth). This means she can make noise and facial expressions. Smiling, crying, hiccupping, sneezing, you know, all those cute things babies do. She also got her PICC line out (May 1). And she is wearing clothes! Cute little (I mean very little) t-shirts and onesies. Last week she moved from C-Pap to a nasul canula which was very exciting! Bailey is currently at 2 lbs. 4 oz. Keep the prayers coming!
News Update: 6/17/2001
Bailey is coming home on Wednesday, June 20th! After 85 days and 12 weeks of prayers, Bailey Hope Seegers gets to leave the caring arms of Mercy Hospital and enter into ours.
And now you know why we march....
