A lot has happened in the past 4 days. Lots of good things, lots of progress! 4 days ago they turned her oxygen level down from 4.5 liters to 4 liters. She did really well the first day, but struggled a little the second and third days.....she had more periodic breathing which caused her to yo-yo quite a bit more on her oxygen saturations, and she had a couple bradicardic episodes....but the good things was that she was able to self resolve pretty much all of them. I knew we were going to leave her there at 4 for a while, but I wasn't quite sure how long that while was going to be. Today when I got here, I found out that they had actually turned her down another 1/2 liter....so now she's at 3.5 liters of oxygen per minute. Slowly but surely, she's getting there! She's been non-nutritive feeding for a few days now, and doing an awesome job. Sometimes she would get some milk, and she seemed to be ok with it....so I asked the developmental specialist why we couldn't try breastfeeding her right now....why did we have to wait until she was down to 2 liters? She explained things very well and it totally makes sense why they have to wait. 3.5 liters of oxygen is a LOT of oxygen being forced into her little lungs....if we were to start trying to introduce food with that high of air flow, there's a pretty good chance that the force of the oxygen will push the food into her lungs instead of into her stomach.....called aspirating....and we DO NOT want that to happen. That would just cause so much more problems for her little lungs, that are already struggling so bad. They tell me that eating is the hardest thing for preemie babies to learn, and it's a lot of work for them! Being able to coordinate when to suck, when to swallow, and while doing both of those things, when to breathe is a lot of work.....so we need to wait until she's ready. I have a feeling that once we get to that point, she'll take right off, but we need to make sure her oxygen needs are more stable before we even try. So we continue to be patient and wait for her! :)
We hold her pretty much the whole time we're at the hospital now.....she tolerates it so well! We even get to let her visitors hold her now, which has been so nice! My Mom and Dad have come up so many times to visit her and see how she's doing.....so it was a very special moment when they finally got to hold their grand-daughter for the first time after almost 3 months.
Since she's going to be 37 weeks gestation this coming Saturday, she's more awake and alert for longer periods of time. That means that she needs to be out of the crib looking around, the different positions and angles for her are good for her developing eyes, brain and lungs. They brought in a bouncer chair, and tried it out for the first time the other day. They didn't turn the vibration on, they just let her sit in it and the movements she made would make the chair bounce. She didn't de-sat once in the chair, she loved it! That means within the next little while, we'll be able to introduce the swing! Big steps!
She's HUGE now.....the last time I blogged about her updates, she weighed 4lbs. 14 1/2oz. Today when we weighed her, she weighed 2400 grams, which translates into 5lbs.5oz.! She not only hit the 5lb. mark, but she's way surpassed it! She's so big, and she looks like a normal newborn baby now....she's easier to handle, and it's not as scary! The hair that she had on her forehead when she was born has fallen out and the unibrow she had is gone....and her eyebrows have actually fallen out. She was super duper hairy when she was born, and they told us as she grows and stretches, it would even out....it totally did! She still has tons of hair on her head and it stands straight up in the air. Especially right after we give her a bath....it's so soft and fuzzy and sticks straight up! She's beautiful....I know I'm biased because she's my daughter, but I can sit and stare at her all day long.....just thinking how beautiful she is and how lucky and blessed I am that she's alive and doing so well!
She's now getting 40ml of milk every 3 hours, and they haven't changed the formula for how they mix it. It's obviously working and she's growing like a weed! :)
She'll be 3 months old the day after Christmas, I can't believe it's been that long already.....it's truly been so amazing to see her grow from a 25 weeker to an almost 37 weeker...and to get a glimpse of an idea of what goes on during those weeks in utero. That's what the NICU does, they grow babies for us moms who weren't able to grow them ourselves. I'm grateful for them! There are so many people here that are so worried about her, how she's progressing, what will help her progress more, what they need to change or add to help her.....she is very very loved, we honestly feel and see if from everyone who takes care of her, and we are so grateful!
Today was her bath day....and Ova's day to bath her....and after her bath, they are both exhausted and they ALWAYS fall asleep together snoring and all. Precious moments!
We hold her pretty much the whole time we're at the hospital now.....she tolerates it so well! We even get to let her visitors hold her now, which has been so nice! My Mom and Dad have come up so many times to visit her and see how she's doing.....so it was a very special moment when they finally got to hold their grand-daughter for the first time after almost 3 months.
My older sister Leslie came to visit on the perfect night....she was the first one besides me and Ova that ever got to hold her!
Papa and Barbara stopped by to visit her too, and Barbara got to hold her...
She's come such a long way.....from nobody being able to touch her....to only me getting to hold her once a week.....to me and Ova getting to hold her twice a week.....to us getting to hold her once a day....to us several times a day.....and now all day if we want, and if she tolerates it....and visitors holding her! She's made huge progress in the 82 days she's been alive....she's amazing!
She's HUGE now.....the last time I blogged about her updates, she weighed 4lbs. 14 1/2oz. Today when we weighed her, she weighed 2400 grams, which translates into 5lbs.5oz.! She not only hit the 5lb. mark, but she's way surpassed it! She's so big, and she looks like a normal newborn baby now....she's easier to handle, and it's not as scary! The hair that she had on her forehead when she was born has fallen out and the unibrow she had is gone....and her eyebrows have actually fallen out. She was super duper hairy when she was born, and they told us as she grows and stretches, it would even out....it totally did! She still has tons of hair on her head and it stands straight up in the air. Especially right after we give her a bath....it's so soft and fuzzy and sticks straight up! She's beautiful....I know I'm biased because she's my daughter, but I can sit and stare at her all day long.....just thinking how beautiful she is and how lucky and blessed I am that she's alive and doing so well!
She's now getting 40ml of milk every 3 hours, and they haven't changed the formula for how they mix it. It's obviously working and she's growing like a weed! :)
She'll be 3 months old the day after Christmas, I can't believe it's been that long already.....it's truly been so amazing to see her grow from a 25 weeker to an almost 37 weeker...and to get a glimpse of an idea of what goes on during those weeks in utero. That's what the NICU does, they grow babies for us moms who weren't able to grow them ourselves. I'm grateful for them! There are so many people here that are so worried about her, how she's progressing, what will help her progress more, what they need to change or add to help her.....she is very very loved, we honestly feel and see if from everyone who takes care of her, and we are so grateful!
Today was her bath day....and Ova's day to bath her....and after her bath, they are both exhausted and they ALWAYS fall asleep together snoring and all. Precious moments!
Sound asleep with her fuzzy fuzzy hair! :-)
We LOVE you baby....and we're so PROUD of you!
1 comment:
I love the picture of her at the very bottom of your post. She indeed is a beauty! Just like her momma.
I enjoy reading your updates on her. In some ways, it reminds me of when my boys were born. Born premature, they both had to spend a month at the hospital. I feel for you, I remember the drives up to the hospital, the emotions and all of that associated with it. Hang in there, she's doing wonderful and in no time she'll get to go home with you. Love you!
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