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

So many things to be thankful for...

Today has been another day of progress for Leah. When I got to the hospital this morning, they had already removed her other arterial line. She now only has her food line in her nose and then the sensors to keep track of respiration, heart rate, etc. Leah also had another day under the lights, but they expect the lights to be off soon. So, it was another day of sunbathing for her.

She had a head ultrasound today (standard for premature babies) and the preliminary results were normal. We also found out that her feeds will continue to increase. I started "kangaroo care" with Leah today which is entails skin to skin contact. Leah settled in nicely and promptly fell asleep. It was so relaxing that I could have too.

Big brother also experienced holding Leah for the first time. He did very well and didn't want to let her go. She is 1391 grams as of tonight. So, she only gained a little since last night, but she gained so that is good.

It was another day to be thankful for good friends and family. We have had so many well wishes over the last week in many different forms. Today, came the addition of a beautiful diaper cake from my Sprint friends with gift certificates to restaurants tucked all throughout it. Quin also received a gift card to Toys R Us and is already planning his shopping trip. When we returned from the hospital tonight, we also returned to a freezer full of meals from Social Suppers and cards from friends and family. Thank you to all for continuing to look out for us! We were just starting to have some challenges with the whole dinner thing, so the timing is perfect for food.

It has been a great day. Thank you to all for making it one!

Note: I have new pics of Leah, including Quin holding her, pics of the great gifts. When I went to update the blog, I asked Brian where he put the camera. It was then that he realized that he left it at the hospital. So, new pics will have to wait until tomorrow :-)

Update

Leah continues to do well. Last night she weighed in at 1380 grams (a little over 3 lbs.) so she has now surpassed her birth weight! Brian and I are also getting lessons in converting grams to lbs and ounces.

She was back under the lights for a little jaundice, so she spent a nice day napping in the sun yesterday.

Leah is also tolerating her feeds well. She is going up every other feed as long as she tolerates it and so far so good. So, all of this sleeping and eating should help her plump up quickly.

I am off to the hospital now for the rest of the day. I will get some more pics uploaded soon.

Keep the thoughts and prayers coming, they are working!

More pictures

Finally, an update

Pictures: Leah holding Daddy's finger and Quin holding Leah's hand.

It is hard to believe that it is already Sunday. The last week has been so surreal, I can't get over how much has changed in such a short time.

Leah is doing very well. She has been taken off all oxygen support as of Wednesday. So, she didn't even have to have it for long. They gave her medicine on Tuesday to strengthen her lungs and that has been working great. She is also getting caffeine each day to stimulate her lungs.

She was under the "lights" briefly for jaundice, but quickly moved through that as well. She is continuing to test well and hasn't had them on since Thursday.

She continues to test well on everything else. Really, the focus now is just putting on weight. She is taking breast milk through a tube in her nose and the amount she takes is going up every other feeding (feedings are every 3 hours) as long as she tolerates them. As of last night, she is just about back up to her birth weight of 3 lbs. (just as expected she lost a little and has been working on putting it back on).

Her nurse today, Ashley, gave her a bottle and she did take about 5 ccs through the bottle. Not a lot, but she did some. She has been practicing all week with a "binky" so they will continue to try a bottle as they see signs that she is interested.

You will see in the pictures that we get to take her out and hold her, but she has to be bundled up so that her body temperature stays up. Once she gets some more fat on her, she will be able to hold her body temperature.

We also found out that she will get to start wearing clothes in the next couple of days. She still has a line going into her belly button that is giving her fluids, but as her feedings continue to increase, she will get to have the line removed. So, thanks to all of you that have already given us "preemie" clothes. They have been washed and put in her drawer at the hospital so that she will be very well dressed when she has the opportunity.

She is has moments where she is super alert and you can sit and talk with her for a while. It seems that she is starting to recognize voices. Leah is also great fun to watch sleep. She must be having sweet dreams because you can catch her smiling quite a bit.

As for me, I am feeling better day by day. I got to come home on Friday. I got the option of staying another day, but was definitely ready to sleep more than an hour at a time. I came home with blood pressure medicine, because my blood pressure is still fluctuating. That medicine has made me feel a ton better. Headaches are not as frequent and not as bad. The swelling has gone down drastically. I must have looked horrible at the beginning of the week. I keep running into nurses at the hospital that I don't remember, but they keep telling me how much better I look. I am still pretty swelled, so it must have been really, really bad. My incision is a minor issue compared to all of this other stuff.