To Cover You
Well, it's been an exciting 24 hours in the Nally household. I'll start with the minorly frustrating, yet exciting news, that Sarah had another minor little "spell" yesterday when Jim was holding her after her bottle. The nurse came over and was incredibly sad and said... "Well... it'll be at least another 5 days now..." The babies have to be spell-free for at least 5 days before they'll let them come home to make sure they aren't going to do it when we come home. It was a little sad to see her have another one of those spells, BUT the way the nurse said it, Jim and I both looked at each other like... There was a chance we'd be going home that soon?? The exciting part of that is, we're getting SO CLOSE to coming home! The nurses and the doctors have all commented on how well she's doing and it gives us hope that we'll be under one roof in the very near future!
We also went on "as indicated" feeds yesterday, so that means, any time she indicates she wants a bottle - she gets it! And golly, she's indicated every time! Normally they have to eat every meal for 24 hours straight to consider taking out the feeding tube. Yesterday she ate 4 bottles in a row and then pooped out on us at the 8:30 pm feeding. Needless to say, I was completely shocked when we came in today to see NO feeding tube! Apparently, the doctor thinks that part of her reflux issue that she's been having, and that most likely caused her little spell yesterday was due to the feeding tube. So they took it out to see what she does. She's also been put on what they call "ad lib feeds", so they make up a bottle and see if she'll eat it all. She determines how much she eats right now. Usually they mix up a bottle a little more than they expect her to eat and see if she'll eat it. She's been eating a little more than her previously prescribed amount, so she's doing great! That also means if she tuckers out in the middle of a bottle, she is likely just to make it up at the next meal instead of putting the rest of it down the tube like we had been doing.
So... Right now she's at the weight they would let her go home, at 4lbs 5oz. Yippee!! All she has to do is to continue to eat on her own and demonstrate that she can continue to gain weight based on how she's now eating (more like a normal baby). If she can do that... Then... We come home! It will be a minimum of 5 days from now based on her spell... But in light of her accomplishments so far and as excited as she is about eating... There's a decent chance that we might be home as soon as next weekend! Ahhh!!!! I'm SO excited.
Sarah is also having a small procedure this evening. She's going to have a frenulotomy. The frenulum is a small membrane that connects your tongue to the floor of your mouth. Sarah's is a little tight and they think it is causing the issues that we're having with nursing. She will suck consistently for 20-30 minutes at times and not really get anything worth noting, though my milk supply and availability is not the issue at all. They are going to go in and basically snip with scissors which will allow her to move it more and be more able to suck, especially while she's breast feeding. The only use a little sugar water to numb the area and do it right in her bassinet. They say it's not a very painful procedure and she should be able continue eating right away. It sounds incredibly painful!
We also went on "as indicated" feeds yesterday, so that means, any time she indicates she wants a bottle - she gets it! And golly, she's indicated every time! Normally they have to eat every meal for 24 hours straight to consider taking out the feeding tube. Yesterday she ate 4 bottles in a row and then pooped out on us at the 8:30 pm feeding. Needless to say, I was completely shocked when we came in today to see NO feeding tube! Apparently, the doctor thinks that part of her reflux issue that she's been having, and that most likely caused her little spell yesterday was due to the feeding tube. So they took it out to see what she does. She's also been put on what they call "ad lib feeds", so they make up a bottle and see if she'll eat it all. She determines how much she eats right now. Usually they mix up a bottle a little more than they expect her to eat and see if she'll eat it. She's been eating a little more than her previously prescribed amount, so she's doing great! That also means if she tuckers out in the middle of a bottle, she is likely just to make it up at the next meal instead of putting the rest of it down the tube like we had been doing.
So... Right now she's at the weight they would let her go home, at 4lbs 5oz. Yippee!! All she has to do is to continue to eat on her own and demonstrate that she can continue to gain weight based on how she's now eating (more like a normal baby). If she can do that... Then... We come home! It will be a minimum of 5 days from now based on her spell... But in light of her accomplishments so far and as excited as she is about eating... There's a decent chance that we might be home as soon as next weekend! Ahhh!!!! I'm SO excited.
Sarah is also having a small procedure this evening. She's going to have a frenulotomy. The frenulum is a small membrane that connects your tongue to the floor of your mouth. Sarah's is a little tight and they think it is causing the issues that we're having with nursing. She will suck consistently for 20-30 minutes at times and not really get anything worth noting, though my milk supply and availability is not the issue at all. They are going to go in and basically snip with scissors which will allow her to move it more and be more able to suck, especially while she's breast feeding. The only use a little sugar water to numb the area and do it right in her bassinet. They say it's not a very painful procedure and she should be able continue eating right away. It sounds incredibly painful!
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| 7-8-12: First time seeing her beautiful face without tubes and wires. I'm overwhelmed. |
Tonight's song is a recommendation by my wonderful dad. One that he used to sing to me as a little one. It's now even more special to me as I have a little one to sing to. Thanks, Dad!
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