Updates

Wow, a lot has happened in the few days I haven't blogged.  A LOT!  A lot of progress for baby Katea, a lot of huge steps forward!

Saturday January 7th
Baby had a good day.  That was the day I got to start breastfeeding her, and she did really really well!  That was also the day she was able to kick the high flow and switch over to just the regular nasal canula!  I blogged already about what happened on the 7th, because that was the day her and her twin sister were actually due.  I did forget to mention in my last post though that she had visitors that day....her Uncle Misi and Aunty Pola stopped by to see her, and got to hold her for the very first time!

Sunday January 8th

This was Lautala's 2 birthday.  (Another post)  Baby Katea had a good day, she was pretty sleepy all day long.  I wasn't able to make it to the hospital to be with her until later in the evening, so she was just pump fed all day until I was there to breastfeed her.  She struggled a lot feeding this time....it was difficult for her to coordinate the suck, swallow breathe concept....and she coughed and gagged quite a bit.  She would suck, suck, suck.....hold it in the back of her throat....swallow, and forget to breathe....so she'd end up having a bradicardic event.  I felt like I was drowning her, and I didn't have any control over it.  Not fun!  We ended up having to stop to let her recover...and eventually just stopped all together.  She wasn't awake enough to focus on what she was doing, so she ended up getting that meal pumped into her stomach as well.  Sunday she hit 7lbs.1oz!!  Can't believe she's gained almost 6lbs. in the 3 1/2 months she's been alive.  She's amazing!  Oh, and she had some visitors again on Sunday....The relief society president (her Aunty) Tina and her counselor Sela Toki....and her Aunty Alisi.

Monday January 9th

Monday was a scary day.  I got to the hospital and Stacey had told me they had just done an echo cardiogram.....I just assumed it was to check if the PDA was closed, but then I heard that they were checking her heart because she had mild PPHN. ??  That was the first I'd ever heard about her having any issues with her heart besides the PDA opening again.  I was scared.  They ordered an EKG to check the rythum of her heart, and some bloodwork.  They mentioned something about a murmur or a small aorta, or something like that....I didn't really understand....but it definitely worried me.  The nurse came in to do the EKG and I can't believe how many little monitors they had her hooked up to. 

Stacey drew some blood from her little foot.....the lab said they wanted more to confirm the results they found.  Stacey had to draw some more.  The lab said she didn't draw enough the second time around so they asked for some more.  How irritating that they couldn't just use all the blood they'd already gotten!  Don't they know they can't take huge amounts from these small babies.....anyways, the lab ended up sending someone down to get more blood themselves and it took the 2 hours to fill the vile.  Poor baby :-( 

I was a lot worried about all the tests....why were they doing all of them all the sudden? ....had something happened that made them worry?  What was really going on?  I started asking questions, and Stacey had the NNP come in and talk to me.  She calmed my nerves a lot and told me not to worry.  They didn't see anything that alarmed them or made them worry, they were just taking precautionary measures to check her heart because what they have noticed is that preemie babies tend to develop heart issues later on in life, and they now check all preemies to see if they see any signs that they can treat before any issues occur.  Thankfully all the tests, the blood work and the EKG came back completely normal AND her PDA closed!!  Yay!  Her little heart is perfect!

Monday was actually a really busy day for her.  Besides all the heart scares, we decided to have the developmental specialist come in and try to bottle feed her.  That would have been the first time for her to drink out of a bottle.  They usually would just only let her breastfeed for the first few days, but since she latches on so well....and I had worries about drowing her, we decided to try the bottle....with a very slow flow nipple....and the ability to see how much she was getting and to pace her by tipping the bottle out of her mouth if she sucked and swallowed to much and forgot to breathe.  They put her full feeding in the bottle 51ml and the developmental/speech therapist Jen fed her.  She would let her suck 5-6 times and then tip the bottle so she could breathe....after she took a few breaths, she would tip it back in to let her suck....the tipped it out to let her breathe again...over and over again.  Baby Katea did so well with the bottle, and because she was being paced by Jen, she didn't brady or even desat once.  Yay!  She drank 41 of the 51mls in the bottle, and got the other 10 pumped into her stomach!  Yay for eating with her mouth, and yay for doing such a good job at it!

Her first time drinking a bottle...with Jen...and Stacey

She cannot soley breastfeed....she has to have some bottles, because she still needs the fortification and protein added.  So we were thinking of doing every other one.  We were a little unsure about how the feedings were going to work because we weren't sure how much volume she was really getting.  In order to get somewhat of an idea of how much milk she was really getting, they did a test weight.  What that means is that they weigh her right before breastfeeding, and again right after...and if she gained any weight, the amount of grams gained would equal the amount of mls taken in.  It's not an exact science, and who really knows how accurate it is....but what it does tell is if the baby gains weight after breastfeeding, she was getting milk!  Monday night Anjanette did a test weight.  I was nervous to breastfeed her, just because of how many times she de'satted and brady'd the last time I fed her.....she struggled a little bit at first, but I really think the bottle feeding helped her learn to pace herself, because after not to long she got comfortable and paced herself.  Suck, swallow, breathe....suck, swallow, breathe!  She did amazing!  She ate for a total of 20 minutes on both sides, and when she was done, she gained 50grams.  Yay!  She did it, it was working.....what great progress!!  :-)