Eat Baby, Eat!

Incoming picture post!!!!!


But first, a quick update on my little trooper: I stayed overnight with Emma and wow, what an experience that was! I felt like a real mommy because I got to participate in her hands-on at 9:30, 1:30, and 5:30 (diaper change, temperature, alcohol on the umbilical stump, and saline wipes for the eyes) and when she was fussy, I was there to help calm her down. Now I must say, her night time nurse was amazing. She loves her job and the babies, and kept saying how much she loves Emma and how beautiful she is. If someone is going to be taking care of my baby, I feel much better if that person actually cares about my baby. Anyways, Emma is fed every four hours through her feeding tube, and before the next feeding the nurse will pull out her stomach contents to see if she digested her last feed. This is when we were finding the green chunky stuff that was not good. At Emma's 1:30 feed, she had a good amount of stomach contents but it was a light greenish-yellowish color and looked so much better than the previous ones. At 5:30, there was nothing but air (she always has that- they say that when the air is drawn out through her tube, it's like she's burping! lol) and a tiny bit of spit, which is normal and good. I was such a proud mommy and I gave her a high five and a kiss! It really was a relief because no one seemed to have a good reason why she wasn't digesting her food and said that she would hopefully just grow out of it, so naturally I was nervous that this would continue for a while longer with no answers. All of her feeds since then have been great and no more green stuff has been seen since yesterday, so the doctor increased her feeds to 2mL every three hours instead of every four. As she continues to eat and tolerate her food, they'll increase the amount she's eating and hopefully we can try bottle feeding in the not-too-distant future. Speaking of which- this tiny little kid can really go to town on a pacifier. They have some preemie pacifiers and Emma just loves those things... she was actually soothed by it this morning when she was really fussy, and once that thing popped out she made it very well known that she was not happy. It was actually quite amazing to me that she was soothed by it, and the nurses have commented that she may take to bottle feeding well because of how well and how much she has been sucking on her pacifier. That kid has some Hoover-like suction going on. Again, that's my girl! She also shows some typical newborn "I'm hungry" behaviors, like putting her hand(s) up to her mouth and trying to suck on her fingers or sticking out her tongue and making movements with her mouth as if she were suckling. Also good signs that she'll be ready for the bottle quite soon. Imagine that- I could be holding my baby and giving her a bottle soon! Woohoo! 


She became quite fussy this morning after her 5:30 hands-on time and had a lot of trouble going back to sleep. The nurse put her on her belly after her 1:30 hands-on because she was fussing and she absolutely loved being in that position, but couldn't relax after her 5:30 hands-on. It just looked like she was bothered and uncomfortable and we figured it was probably her bowels. We thought she had calmed down so I went to pump but she became very fussy again. Actually, down right upset. I hurried to finish pumping and told the nurse I'd hold her if we couldn't get her to calm down. By the time I finished pumping, pouring the milk into the storage bottles, and cleaning up, Emma was calm. The nurse had actually stood there holding Emma's head and butt (she was on her tummy) and applying gentle pressure for about a half hour until Emma fell asleep. Now that is a good NICU nurse. I was so grateful to her... 


By that point, it was already about 6:45am. I slept from about 3:00am until about 5:30am. The day shift nurse came in and was filled in on Emma's progress throughout the night and her fussiness. Shortly after that, as I was planning on going back to bed to get a little more sleep, an x-ray tech came in to get another x-ray of her belly. So he had to pick her up and put her on her back, and then hold down her arms and legs to keep her still while he did the x-ray. So needless to say, my peacefully sleeping angel was no longer peacefully sleeping and we couldn't get her calm again. So I told the nurse I'd kangaroo with Emma to see if she'd calm down, knowing full well that she would. And she did ;) The problem, though, was that I was so sleep deprived by that point that I was struggling to keep my eyes open and it was a losing battle for me. The nurse never came to check on me and I was getting really upset; it's not like I could just shout for her or do anything at all to get her attention, so I just sat there desperately trying to stay awake. I tried reading some stuff online, but I was so tired that my eyes were crossing and I couldn't read anything at all. She finally came back in when the alarm started going off when Emma's IV meds needed to be changed and I told her that Emma needed to go back into her isolette because I couldn't stay awake. Her comment was "yea, that's not safe." Ya think?! I don't really like this nurse- not that she's bad, but she just doesn't communicate much and I was really blown away that she would just give me my kid to k-care with and leave me for an hour and a half without checking on us. Ugh. And then I suggested that she put Emma on her tummy because Emma likes that the best, so she did. Emma was fussing so I went to do the head/butt hold and the nurse left. And then the nurse left the room and went into the other room, so I really didn't know what to do when Emma fell asleep but needed to be strapped down so she didn't wiggle herself out of her comfortable position. So I had to just leave her there after checking on her a million times... but she was comfy. I skipped the 9:30 hands-on because it was already 9:00am by that point and I had to pump and try to get some more sleep.


The doctor came to talk to us and reflected that Emma is still doing really well and he seemed very happy that she has been digesting her feeds now. Josh's mom and grandma then came to visit with Emma, followed by Emma's one and only Auntie Karen. I love showing off my baby... everyone comments on how tiny she is and how difficult it is to tell how small she really is from the pictures. We did the 1:30 hands-on and the nurse gave Emma a suppository to help her poop since she hadn't had a bowel movement in over 12 hours at that point. Which would explain the fussiness in the wee hours of the morning. Emma was then swaddled for the first time ever and her daddy held her all wrapped up and snuggly for a while, then I held her for a little while too. We could just hold her forever- she sleeps so peacefully in our arms and makes the sweetest little noises, and every once in a while she'll look up at us with her pretty little eyes. I brought home the blanket she was swaddled in and have been snuggling with it all night. And we also bought her a receiving blanket the other day that I washed and slept with, and we put that in her isolette so she has something that smells like mommy. I'm just so in love with her. And I'm really glad that I got to be more of her mommy last night than just a visitor... I like taking care of her.


I'm so proud of my big girl- she really is amazing to me. She's such a fighter and has shown us how strong she is. And she's a little stinker too! She glares at her nurses after they bother her and will try to kick or push their hands away when they try to work on her. She's quite strong for her size... I called her Mighty Mouse today because she was making the cutest little squeaks while I was holding her. Gosh, I just adore everything about her. 


So... yea. I'm reaaaallllyyyy tired. Tomorrow is a big day- it's my baby shower!! I had been expecting to either not be at the shower or to have to have the shower at the hospital, so it's going to be a real treat to be able to see all of my friends and family! 


Alright- picture post to follow : )