She'll be home soon - I mean it this time!

We have a very busy week ahead of us. Veda just needs to stick to what she's been doing and she'll be home by the end of the week.


Getting all her feedings from the bottle - CHECK


No more heart rate drops - CHECK (last one documented is from the 9th)


6lbs 5oz - CHECK


No more heart murmur - CHECK! (she had her final ecco today and it verified that the murmur is gone! What a huge relief!)


She had her first immunization today and will have the final one tomorrow. It's hard to believe that they give these while they're still so small and vulnerable, but I guess it's all about the age, and she is 2 months old! To be honest, I'm relieved that she's still under the care of the hospital for these shots as it can sometimes cause a set back. This way she'll be well monitored.


She has her final eye exam on Thursday. This will result in a follow up appointment a couple of weeks down the road, or an appointment 1-2 years from now. It will all depend on how mature the vessels appear in her eyes.


I'm currently driving around with an empty car seat, I just need a baby to go in it. I may look crazy, but at least I have it accessible for when they ask for it. Her final test is going to be the car seat test, which will require her to sit in it for an hour while being monitored. They want to make sure her saturation rates don't drop while in it. Hurry up and ask for it already!


It's so weird being in this place right now. All of the nurses kept telling me that when Veda was ready it would start to happen fast, and I feel like that's exactly what's happening. For me to see the end of this very long and scary journey is surreal. It just always seemed so out of reach, but it's not, it's here. This will be the beginning to a new kind of worry, for what would I be without worry?

I think Veda likes this new skill of eating

Feed Me!

Juicy burps for daddy

look at that hungry appetite!

I think we've found our answer!

I was able to find the special preemie nipples for the Dr. Brown's bottles and they have been working perfectly! She's not loosing any out of the sides of her mouth and it seems like a much more pleasant experience for her. We were able to use them all day yesterday and I just heard that her evening with them went really well too! Molly, I owe you huge!

She's up to 6 lbs 4 oz! We'll get the car seat dusted of because I know they'll be asking us to bring it in soon!

You can read her like a book!

Hungry!

Sleepy

Good morning!

Grumpy

She's moving forward

The last few days have been all about getting Veda to consistently take her feedings. Two days ago she seemed to have turned a corner. She's hungry for those bottles! It's still quite a workout for her to get through a whole one, but she's doing it. Yesterday we had the feeding tube out and she was bottle fed all day. Last night all of her feedings were with the bottle except one tube feed (she's fed every 3 hours).



We are experimenting with different bottles to see what's going to be the best fit for her. Upon my good friend Molly's recommendation we tried the Dr. Brown's bottle a couple of days ago, and that was the easiest bottle feed I had ever done with her. Previously she would create a vacuum effect from her strong sucking power, and not enough air was making it's way in causing the milk not to flow. The Dr. Brown's bottle has it's own venting system that helps eliminate this. I fed her in 15 minutes with this bottle, including a burp session. It comes out a little too quickly though, and it can be a bit sloppy. They do have a preemie size nipple out there that I'm going to pick up today to try. The night nurse tried her on one of the hospitals standard bottles, to see how she would do now that it appeared she had the hang of it. She said that Veda did seem to loose less milk through the sides of her mouth and she was able to take the whole thing. The jury is still out on which one is going to be best for her right now. But once she's a little bigger and stronger the Dr. Brown's will be a no brainer for us. Thanks Molly!


I brought in a new musical toy for Veda to enjoy during her awake times. She's been waking up about a half hour before each of her feedings, and is very wide eyed and bushy tailed. I thought it would be a good time for her to enjoy the sweet sounds of Beethoven as she prepairs for her meal. It's nice to be able to drown out the white noise of the NICU as well.

Veda is up to 6lbs 2oz. She lost almost an ounce from yesterday. I think it was due to the amount of milk she was loosing through the sides of her mouth. We're going to weigh the wash cloth that I use around her mouth before and after her next few feedings to see how much she is missing out on. The scales we use are down to the gram so they're very accurate. From the looks of her wash cloths yesterday I wouldn't be surprised if they all totaled a full feeding lost.




We're not there yet, but we're close, so close I can taste it. As the doctor would say, about a week (he's been saying this for the past 3 weeks now!). I think he likes to keep us excited :)

Veda keeps things interesting

I just got off the phone with the doctor, he said Veda looked really good during his visit with her this morning. He mentioned that she appeared to be more comfortable and he sensed a positive change about her. I told him not to toy with me - but I believe this could be her week to show us what she's capable of!

To recap Veda's feeding consultation... The PT thought that her issues were a combination of some reflux, slight lack of stamina and immaturity. The immaturity is based on where most 36 weekers are at in their progress. It was determined that she was acting a week or two younger than what she is. Although that's not the easiest thing to hear it's comforting to know that she will catch up. The doctor started her on some reflux medication, we're giving it a test run just to see what happens. He doesn't think the murmur is playing a big role in all this so that's good to hear.

I asked the doctor how he felt about Veda and how she's doing overall. He gave me some great reassurance by reminding me of all the positive things about her progression. She never had to be put on a ventilator, she was on very limited oxygen only for a few days, she doesn't have eye disease, she had no brain bleeds, all of which are real concerns of a 28 weeker. So she's lagging a bit with this last obstacle of concurring her feedings - this I can handle.

I'm off to visit my little peanut now!

Oh ya, she's up to 5lbs 12 oz!

7 weeks and a small step back

I was so sure that Veda would be coming home next week, but it's starting to look unlikely. We've seemed to have hit a wall with Veda's progress. Her feedings were right on track a few days ago, as she was finishing a few bottles a day. Unfortunately the last couple of days she's moved backwards. At the most she's taking only half her bottle feedings and she seems very irritated when doing it. To me she seems to be very uncomfortable, which suggest bouts with some heavy duty reflux. She squirms and turns red in the face, and grunts (and no, I don't think it has anything to do with her being gassy or pooping) then she wants nothing to do with the food. She has been having a lot more spells (when her heart rate drops) in conjunction to her feedings as well. It's so hard for me to see her so miserable, I just feel helpless.

The doctor has scheduled her to have a feeding consultation with the physical therapist tomorrow. He wants to assess her stamina. He's worried that if it's a stamina issue then it could be her heart murmur causing her problems. I think if I had a choice it would definitely be a reflux issue. I just hope there's an easy resolution so that we can get her back on track.

She's at 5lbs 7 ounces. She had a couple of days of weight loss in there, so it's been a slow climb this week. She is starting to fill out those preemie clothes though! Don't you just want to kiss those cheeks?

May my next post bring a little more positive news!