Day 65: Feedings

Adalyn is doing great! She has now taken 12 full feedings in a row from her bottle. 2 of those feedings were a combination of breast feeding and bottle and she did both wonderfully. It is so amazing to watch this tiny baby that has never eaten by mouth before just latch on and go to town. She enjoys it so much and makes the cutest cooing noises while she eats. As some of you know the requirements for the girls to come home before their due date are: to be 34 weeks gestation, over 4 pounds and holding their own temperature up, off oxygen and any other breathing support, and to take all of their feedings by mouth for 48 hours(16 in a row) and digesting well. Abi and I talked to the doctor today because Adalyn meets all of these except the feedings and she appears to be well on her way to 16 in a row now that she is at 12. The doctor said that because Adalyn is only just 34 weeks gestation the standard 2 days will not be enough and he is looking for more like 5 days in a row instead. This is just to make sure she doesn't tire out after a few days. Having the word HOME come up in our conversations is really weird/exciting after 9 weeks in the NICU and 14 weeks since Abi was put on bed rest. We have now begun to prepare for Adalyn's departure from the hospital and have everything ready at home. We also have had all our education and training except for her meds because we are unsure of what she will come home on. Her weight tonight was 4lbs 12oz. Please pray that Adalyn continues to do as well as she has been and that she doesn't tire out with her feedings. Please also keep Abi and I in your prayers as we prepare to have one child at home and one in the NICU.

Emma is also doing great! She has now been off the high flow nasal cannula for 3 days and is have fewer alarms. As Abi wrote yesterday, the doctors decided to pull Emma's NJ back to an NG today.(nose to intestines=NJ/nose to stomach=NG) She has done well all day but seems to continue to reflux a lot. She has not had any major spit ups and the Zantac seems to make her much more comfortable. If she continues to do as well as she did today they will probably start compressing her feeds again on Sunday. Abi and I are worried about her reflux and are praying that this doesn't cause her to stay at the hospital too much longer than her sister. Emma's weight was 4lbs 2oz tonight. Please pray that GOD takes away her reflux, she looks so uncomfortable when she does this and it breaks our hearts to see her have that pain. (It reminds us of dry-heaving) Please also pray that she continues to do well off of the nasal cannula and CPAP so that she can put those things behind her. Also pray that she continues to tolerate the NG feeding tube. GOD, thank you for all the many blessings You have showered upon our daughters. We know that You are in Control! Amen.