What a week! I'm not going to assume anyone was biting their nails waiting for me to post, but I'll apologize for keeping you all hanging anyway.
This week has been great for Charlotte. She has been successfully weaned from the SiPAP machine, and is now preparing for a wean from CPAP. She's currently at a CPAP pressure of 8 and they want her to be at a pressure of 5 before they'll try nasal cannula. The current plan is to take her down one pressure at a time every other day (Monday-7, Wednesday-6, Friday-5). We'll see what she thinks of that :)
Charlotte is currently taking 40 mL/3hrs and is still fortified to 28cal/ounce. She's weighing in at 2075 grams, or 4 pounds 9 ounces.
**Warning: Discussion of breastfeeding follows. If that makes you uncomfortable, don't read, but I will remind you: this is a blog about a baby...**
We've also started non-nutritive sucking exercises, on which she has most likely missed the memo. For NNS, I pump and then take her to breast, to give her the idea that she is supposed to breastfeed, but not overwhelm her with something to swallow. Currently, she rolls her eyes and goes back to sleep. Oh well, we'll get there eventually.
We've also started talking about bringing her home!! Scary, and exciting and OH-MY-GOODNESS-I-CAN'T-WAIT-TO-BE-DONE-WITH-THE-NICU!!
Charlotte has two requirements to come home:
1. Be on the nasal cannula w/o any significant consistent desat's
2. Be able to feed orally for 2-3 days straight.
Non-nutritive sucking is the first step in teaching her how to eat orally. Then she'll start "nippling" from a bottle and eventually, she'll *hopefully* latch on.
It's hard to stay focused on her in the NICU when I feel like we have so much to do to get ready for her to come home. We need to get a car seat, figure out where she's sleeping, move furniture, etc. And then, I need to find a happy medium between people who take their babies out in public right away and people who don't let their babies out of the house until they're three (yes, there are NICU mom's who do this. Many of them).
So it's weird trying to figure things out. Is it worth it to sign up for a race? Will I be able to go running? Is it worth it to get the car seat adapter for my stroller? Will I even have a use for a stroller with her? Will I go ANYWHERE? Can I go hang out with friends? When can I go grocery shopping? Can you tell I'm freaking out a little bit?
Having a baby in the NICU? Not so scary (she has nurses!). Bringing one home? Terrifying (she has me!).
Phew. That's all.
Yes actually I was biting my nails waiting for you to post. Haha, don't you know that is what couch potatoes like me do-stalk the blogs of individuals they haven't technically met. Lol.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see the progress and you will know what to do about the germaphobe mania. Personally I am thinking about posting a sign on my front door that says, 'if you breathe you aren't welcome'. Seriously. Ok, not really. But yeah, I kind of am.
I would keep her inside for a bit...not until she's 3, though.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck with the nursing. All 3 of my kids fell asleep while nursing as newborns. In one of their first expressions of free will, they just didn't want to keep to the schedule that was imposed on them. Keep trying, and it will eventually become easy and a great way to bond.
Congrats on Charlotte's progress!
Eve
Amanda--
ReplyDeleteI've been waiting for you to post but remember the days towards the end of our NICU stay being so busy.
#1 Yay on CPAP! High flow feels like such a major step when it happens because it so much less of a contraption!
#2 Breastfeeding-- if it doesn't work in the hospital, don't lose hope. I've been pumping so I put Ellie to breast once a day and for a month she would scream at me when I tried BUT the other night, she latched on (without a nipple shield) and actually gave it a shot. Since then, we've had at least 1 success per day. I've heard from a few NICU moms who said their babies weren't really successful until 3 months
#3 I just bought a new pair of jogging shoes and plan to take Eloise out for runs in the jogging stroller
#4 The carseat could be a challenge. Ellie would get pale if she was in it for too long so maybe run with her in a stroller?
I got the Phil & Teds Sport which has some really cool things a) good for both kids b) you can put a baby reclined UNDER her sibling (I could send you a picture because the website is unclear on how this works) which makes her invisible to everyone except the person pushing the stroller. c) you can get a bassinet for it which is great or a carseat adaptor
#5 We mounted purell dispensers in each room of our house and trained our 3 year old to use it.
#6 We went out 1x per day and it kept us sane but felt right for Eloise. Now she is at work with me which is an adventure.
Hope some of that advice helps!