Leah's Big Day

She did it, Leah hit 5 pounds Monday night! Then on Tuesday, we got the news that Leah was going to get the feeding tube removed. She moved to a different feeding approach where she eats every 3-4 hours, more when she wants to eat versus the scheduled 3 hour intervals. She also has a range with a minimum she needs to eat and a max. So far, she has done well with this approach (it is more on her terms).

Leah also had an eye exam (it came back that her eyes are immature-they told me to expect that) and ear exam (she passed). She is also has to have a car seat test to check her breathing while in a car seat. They have asked me a couple of times now to bring in the seat, so we did tonight (I am taking this as a great sign since that is one of the criteria to get discharged).

So, all she has to do to leave now is bottle feed for 3 straight days (her minimum feeds) and consistently gain weight. The doctor is saying that we are probably only 3-4 days out. It is hard to believe that we are possibly this close. We are definitely ready. Quin is a homebody by nature, so all of these trips to the hospital and only one parent home at a time is really getting to him. He doesn't want be away from Mom and Dad.

This time has gone by fast, yet slow, if that makes any sense. We seem to be in the home stretch now.

Almost 5 Pounds

Last night, Leah weighed in at 4 lbs. 12 ounces and she is about 18 1/2 inches now. She is on her way to the 5 lb. mark. She has had a great week. Today was her 5th straight day of taking multiple bottles throughout the day. She is still getting tired at times, but keeping at it. She has also gone 3 days now with out a "spell" (heart rate drop). So, we are hopeful, that she has turned the corner and on the home stretch.

I talked with the doctor today and she is pleased with her progress. She also asked if her room was ready. I said that we were working on it and trying to get everything else ready for her arrival at home. She said that we better get going on it, because we are probably only a week or less away from going home! Very exciting news. Hopefully, we don't run into any obstacles this week to getting there. In order to leave the hospital, she has to have 5 days without "spells" and 3 days of full feeds by bottle.

Quin is very ready for some home time. He has been doing well with all of this, but really wants Mom and Dad to be home at the same time. Right now, we spend a lot of time switching off so that Quin doesn't have to go to the hospital a lot. I also posted a picture of Quin with the ducks that wondered into our yard not too long ago. There is a pond in the neighborhood and this was a very rainy day. We have never seen them wonder to our yard before. So, we fed them bread and they stayed a while. Quin loved having them around.

Hopefully, I will soon be posting our coming home date. Thanks to all for the continued support, thoughts and prayers.

Weight Gain and New Bed

Leah weighed in last night at 4 lbs. 7.3 ounces. I asked the nurse twice, because I couldn't believe that she had continued to gain between an ounce and 3 ounces each night! As a result of her continuous weight gain and her ability to keep her body temperature, she got to move to an open crib this morning. It literally brought tears to my eyes to see her in her new bed.

She is taking a bottle here and there; she is spending a lot of her time sleeping. The nurses and doctors say that it is a function of her gestational age (35 weeks last Friday, real age 4 weeks today). She knows how, she just doesn't quite have the stamina yet. Hopefully, this week, it will all come together for her and she will be taking more of her bottles.

Even while sleeping, she is fun to watch. She has a great smile! Leah smiles frequently while sleeping. (I wonder what she is dreaming about.) It is also fun to watch her with Quin. Whenever he is around and she is awake her eyes follow him and his voice. Now that she is out of her isolette, she can't kick her feet out any more. She has to wear her clothes in addition to being swaddled in two blankets to keep her body temperature up. She seems to be adjusting well though, because she got mad at me today when I went to unswaddle her.

It is also a little noisy now that she is out of the isolette. (In the NICU, they have 4-5 babies in each of the rooms , so with their monitors dinging, the nurses coming in and out and occasional crying, it can be pretty chaotic.)When we get her home, I think that we are going to have to make it a little noisier around here to get her to sleep!

4 lbs!

Last night, Leah weighed in at 4 lbs. She is doing a great job gaining weight. In the last 24 hours, she has also taken several feedings through a bottle instead of her feeding tube. She is now up to 35 cc's (a little over 1 ounce) every three hours.

They are also going to start turning down the temperature in her isolette so that they can start getting her to room temperature. Once they get there, she will move to an open air crib. I talked to the neonatologist today and she continues to be pleased with her progress.

Little Leah must be getting tired of the NICU and getting anxious to come home with all of this progress!

Big Day!

Leah had a big day today. She nursed and/or took a bottle at four consecutive feedings! It looks like she is getting stronger at eating and is waking up at her feeding times.

We have to give some credit to Shannon, her nurse today. Leah pulled out her feeding tube again this morning and Shannon gave her a little pep talk letting her know that she can have it out permanently when she gets good at this whole feeding thing. (Maybe Leah took some of this to heart.)

Tonight, Brian and I went in for her 8:00 feeding and to see her get weighed. She weighed in at a whopping 3 lbs and 15 ozs. So, tomorrow could be the day that she hits 4 lbs!

We are also seeing her mature in her personality. All of the nurses, describe her as sweet. She has a lot of noisy neighbors (babies on a lot of monitors that beep a lot) and she is not phased by them in the least. She loves to be snuggled up in her bed, but tends to kick one leg out when she sleeps (her brother does the same thing when he sleeps). She can also go 0 to 100 quickly when someone messes with her when she is sleeping. She has startled some of the nurses and doctors, looking so sweet and peaceful sleeping, then crying loudly when they need to assess her. The good news is that she can bring it back down almost just as quickly. It seems that she just wants to make her feelings heard.

As you can see, she is continuing to make great strides. I will get some more pictures uploaded soon so you can see those cheeks filling out!

Bigger and Bigger Every Day!

As of Friday night, Leah weighed in at 3 lbs. 9.6 oz. She is working on averaging about an ounce a day, so she is doing well. You can definitely see it in her cheeks. She did well with trying a bottle yesterday and today. Between the bottle feeding and her first real bath, she is worn out! She is peacefully resting tonight.

She is not seeming as fragile to me; I guess I am getting use to her size. Dad is still a little scared that he is going to hurt her, but he is not going to get out of diaper changing that easy. AND I got peed on for the first time in diaper changing today (I am sure it won't be the last). Quin especially appreciated this incident.

The staff at the hospital continue to praise her progress and say that she is doing everything that she needs to do. When I left yesterday, I talked with the neonatologist and he said, "I am proud of her." Yeah, me too.

Finally, she gets to wear clothes!

It was a good 4th of July weekend for Leah. She has continued to gain weight every day and she is working on bottle feeding and nursing now. As of Monday night she was up to 3 lbs. 5.7 oz. It is amazing that being that small even a small amount of weight shows; you can see it in her cheeks. As a result of her weight gain, she has been given clearance to start wearing clothes. They will continue to monitor her temperature and start weaning her to air temperature to see if she can maintain her own body temperature. It is very fun to see her in clothes. She looks great in pink!

I am still struggling with my blood pressure. I had to go to the doctor yesterday after waking up with a terrible headache that wouldn't go away. My blood pressure medicine has been increased and hopefully it works. The bad news is that high blood pressure can cause the headaches but so can my medicine, so either way I may be stuck with the headaches for a while. I have been ordered to rest more, so basically, I can go to the hospital, but between visits, I am to rest. So, I am trying. On a good note, my swelling has gone down significantly. I keep looking at my feet in disbelief; they haven't looked this small in months!

Weight Gain!

Last night, little Leah weighed in at 1424 grams which translates to 3 lbs. 2.2 oz. so progress was made. Being so small, it seems to really show when a couple of ounces are gained! Starting today they are also beginning to fortify her milk with more calories and vitamins to hopefully speed along the growing as well.

Everything else is going well. No new tests have been ordered or areas of concern identified. The focus is still on gaining weight and maturing.

According to the doctor, at minimum she is going to be in the hospital another 3 weeks. So, we have a lot more hospital trips ahead of us.

Above are a couple of new pictures including her first sponge bath (which she wasn't so happy about).

The Latest Pictures