Making Progress

Mini-milestones

All of the baby books are designed to help parents remember to capture the significant markers in a child's life (smiling, crawling, 1st haircut)...funny when you have a preemie there are a great deal of mini-milestones to add. Here's a few from our week.

Lunch Time

Neriyah has begun feeding by bottle two times per day. It is not a perfect science as some days she is more sleepy than others requiring a gavage (feeding through the tube) but she is making good attempts which is a great sign. Today, I was able to bottle feed her during my first visit (she didn't take much and ended up being gavaged). During my second stop, the nurse had me put her to breast while she was being gavaged to begin giving her the association with breast and milk. It is difficult to articulate how much I am looking forward to breastfeeding. I remember this being some of my favorite bonding moments with Gabriel. And to be quite honest...the mechanical breast pump lacks the same inspiration at 2 a.m.

Looking less high-tech

Neriyah's first week in the NICU required that she be hooked to numerous lines responsible for everything from breathing to feeding. She was beginning to rival the hook-ups of a state-of-the art stereo system. She is now down to just a feeding tube as yesterday, they removed her PICC line because her arm began to swell. We were told it was not an infection and that the line was no longer a necessity. This was a great step as it allows her to be more mobile for us to hold and it reduces her risk of infection (each time the PICC was opened it allowed room for germs to enter).

Temperature Control

Whether you live in frosty Minnesota or Sunny California...everyone loves to talk about the weather. My daughter must have wanted in on the conversation as her body temp dipped this past week a couple of times causing some question as to whether she would be able to regulate her own body. As of the past couple of days, her temperature has been steady (thank you for praying on this one) which means that she will be moved to an open crib (versus the isolette incubator).

Our Live-In Help

We have been so fortunate to have great help in this time of travel back and forth to the hospital. My mom just returned to Minnesota on Tuesday morning after being here for Neriyah's birth and my aftercare. We are hoping she can return again this winter when our daughter is home. Our dear friend Elizabeth flew out on Sunday and just returned home (also a MN girl) today. Having her here allowed us to focus on our hospital trips, pumping, and generally getting settled as she provided consistent care for Gabriel.

Big Brother

Some of you have asked how Gabriel is doing in the midst of all that has gone on in the past couple of weeks. Overall, I would say he is doing well. There have been some moments where I can see that he is anxious about where mom or dad has gone (even if we are only in the other room). He is still a bit confused about this baby sister he keeps hearing about. He was used to the idea of her being in my tummy but now is able to see her in pictures where daddy or mommy are holding her...hmmm. He is very excited about pumping and even has his own set of flanges with bottles attached so he and mom can pump together (not sure what he is getting as he usually places them on his belly...maybe mac-n-cheese?). To attempt to keep things "normal" we bought a Christmas tree and a Polar Express train that runs underneath. Gabriel wakes up asking to play "chooch" every morning and loves to take our breakable ornaments off the tree and throw them on the floor (I guess that is what you get for decorating with items that look like balls...little boys will treat them as such)

Thank you for keeping our family in your prayers. We cannot wait to take her home and realize that feeding well is going to be the determining factor of when that happens.

Hugs,

The Kings