Friday Update

Today was good and bad.

First, the good/bad. She had her echocardiogram thing. She does, in fact, have a tiny hole in her heart. This isn't uncommon in premies, we're told. The doctor apparently seems confident the hole will close as the heart grows, but there is also the possibility that the hole could get bigger. We have to make an appointment to see a cardiologist in six to eight weeks. So that'll be good.

She started bottle feeding early in the morning Thursday (by early I mean the NICU nurse called in the middle of the night to see if we wanted to come for her first bottle feeding; we abstained). She's gone from 12cc of formula to 45cc of formula in just 48 hours.

She's also become Jaundiced (liver is having trouble breaking down all the extra red blood cells she had while she was in the womb; makes the baby turn yellow/orange), so they're doing light therapy on her. That means she lies under a blue light with a sleeping mask on and soaks up the rays. For whatever reason, light helps the kid's liver function better.



The downside, apart from turning orange, is her little body is getting fatigued. Pretty much all day when we tried to feed her, she'd fall asleep while eating. Because she did it twice in a row, they had to put the feeding tube back in her. On the plus side, she's eating enough that they've gotten rid of the IV. But on the bad side, she's got a tube running down her nose and into her little belly and is being force fed. She's just too tired to eat on her own.

That said, when it's feeding time, they still try for the bottle first. The nurses keep telling us that this is common and that after a day or so of eating poorly, they get it figured out. So here's hoping.

Another positive, she gained weight today for the first time since she was born. She has to weigh a certain amount before she can come home, so again, good news.

The doc told Steph earlier today (friday) that there's a possibility she'll get to come home on Monday. As much as I want her to come home and have all the leads and tubes off of her, I'd rather she really be ready to do so, so if it's Monday, it's Monday. If it's later, it's later.

We just got back from trying to feed her and giving her a bath. Those kids are slippery sitting in water. She didn't like it for the first couple of minutes, but by the end, she was wide away and calmed down. In fact, that was the most active we'd seen her all day. We're thinking next time she has a bath, we'll bathe her then try to feed her.

I think that's it. I'm working on a post about the arrival day. Some of you haven't heard the whole story, or haven't heard it well because I haven't exactly been in a calm state of mind lately.

Thanks again for all your well wishes.