UPDATE GO!
Last Wednesday, Emma weighed 7lb 9oz. Today, Friday, she weigh 8lb 8oz. Holy fat baby... I guess we can stop feeding her potato chips now. She stopped getting her Neosure within the last week as we figured she was growing so well that she didn't need the extra calories anymore, so we finished what was left in the can and said "so long" to the preemie formula. I was thinking that her weight gain would have slowed up a bit after discontinuing her twice daily protein shakes, but apparently I was quite far from correct. The doctor (who is British... so every time we see her, I immediately think of Mary Poppins! I'm guilty of sterotyping, obviously. But we love her- she's so awesome with Emma and Emma seems to really like her) said she was very pleased with Emma's growth and that she's "following her growth curve" very well. My miracle is growing... it's like she's getting Miracle Gro for babies ;)
Also, she hasn't had a Brady in three days. THREE DAYS! *happy dance* And for those of you not familiar with my happy dance, it's like the twist with a lot more butt wiggling and grinning. I'll let you visualize that for a second............. anyways, I couldn't be happier with her progress. The neonatologist mentioned to us before Emma was discharged that she would probably be able to come off the monitor around her due date, but over the last two weeks I was seriously beginning to doubt that. But without realizing it, they began tapering off last week and she went from having a few events every day to having one or two that weren't lasting nearly as long. Then, like a light switch, they got dramatically better and she started having maybe one per day, and sometimes going a day without one altogether. I then did a little thinking and realized that she spit up very infrequently when she first came home but was brady-ing like crazy, but now spits up like crazy and brady's infrequently. Ah-ha! The doctor was right- her events seemed to be caused by her reflux. My hunch is that she wasn't able to fully spit up, so it was just coming up into her throat and causing her airway to close. It's either that, or her system is finally developed enough that her airway doesn't close off every time she starts to vomit. Regardless, she's doing so much better. The doctor said she'd like for Emma to go for two weeks without a significant event before she'd feel comfortable taking her off the monitor... but the end is nearing! It'll be nice to take her somewhere without fear of her alarm going off in public and having a ton of strangers look on as I panic and try to get her to breathe. Actually, as I was checking out at the doctor's office, there was a loud beep from behind the counter and my heart skipped a beat before I realized that it wasn't Emma's monitor. I'm going to have PTSD for a little while after having this monitor, kind of like how hubby suddenly becomes very alert when he hears a tone similar to the tones that would go off when he would get a call at the fire station.
I can't wait for her to be off this monitor. I feel a little trapped inside my own home, as she's plugged into the wall and the cord reaching from her little chest to the monitor only reaches so far. We're kind of tethered to the living room, and only one seat on the couch at that. It's so much of a hassle to unplug the monitor, gather the cords, and carry the monitor along with the baby... it's not impossible, but it's usually not worth it. But today, on the tail of her sudden progress, I decided that it was high time that we bust out of this living room and venture into other places together. So while I let the dog out this morning, I unplugged her from the monitor and took her out onto the patio to get some fresh air and sun. I guess she liked it? It's difficult to tell with her...
LOL! She's so fat now. After her doctor's appointment, I decided it was also time to nurse her in the fancy shmancy Little Castle glider I coveted for so long before finally buying it. The darn thing wasn't cheap, so we had better get some use out of it! I created the nursery of my dreams (well, of my realistic dreams) and right now it's just storage for her stuff as her real nursery is our living room right now. In fact, her glider has only been used by a friend when her son, Emma's future husband, demanded to nurse instead of bottle feed when they came to visit... but I haven't gotten to use it yet! So I used it today. It is so much more comfortable than this darned couch and I like being able to put up my feet without having to recline. It was heaven. Now we just have to put a TV on the wall above her dresser and I'm all set to go!
I've come to the conclusion that I'm not going to kill myself over breastfeeding anymore, but I'm also not going to give up. I've decided to strike a balance- I'll nurse her during the day (or pump while I'm at work) and bottle feed at night. Sometimes she refuses to nurse and if she continues to refuse and doesn't ever want to nurse again, then I'll let myself dry up. I was so conflicted over making the decision to stop breast feeding, but the decision is now hers. I guess that's a lot for an 8 1/2 pound baby, but I'll just follow her cues and see what happens. I feel much better about it now, although I'd love for her to exclusively breast feed or take breast milk from a bottle. There are pros and cons to both... so I guess it's not all that bad that we're doing both.
So much for respiratory distress syndrome. This kid can cry. And cry she does... she definitely doesn't want us to forget her when she's hungry. Her cry is so much different from what it was when she was in the NICU. It's crazy to think that I watched her struggle to breathe only a matter of weeks ago, and here she is screaming at me when she wants to eat.
I just saw a tiny hummingbird flying around the hibiscus plant next to the patio. That's a pretty big deal in this part of Florida. Random interjection complete.
No wonder this kid is so huge... hubby is feeding her right now and she keeps demanding more. She's already downed four ounces of formula and is working on ounce number five. She has had a few days of being very, very, very fussy and we thought it was the Similac Sensitive that we had been giving her. In retrospect, I think it was the Fenugreek supplement I was taking for my milk supply, so I've stopped taking that to see if she feels any better. If she doesn't get better, then I know that it's not the supplement. This whole parenting thing is a lot of trial and error... but we're all getting much more comfortable and confident and I'm finally getting the hang of maneuvering her car seat and getting it in and out of the back of my car. I bought my car four months before I found out I was pregnant, thinking it would be a great family car and that the leather seats would be wonderful with a kid. I was right about all of that, but didn't realize that the roof line would make it a little difficult to get a car seat in and out, even for someone as short and petite as me.
It's amazing how sleep deprivation can really ruin your whole day. Hubby ordered me into bed last night and stayed up late to feed her, despite having to be up at 6am to go to work. I've been getting about four hours of sleep per night lately, and I managed to get three full hours in prior to her middle-of-the-night feeding last night. Add in a cup of coffee this morning, and I was practically dancing around in the
The dog punched Emma in the face today... I put Emma in her pillow (newborn lounger. Where she doesn't sleep. lol) so I could get her car seat ready for our big trip to the doctor. While I was kneeling next to her, the dog got so excited about me being on the floor, that she tried to jump up into my face. In the process, she used Emma's face as a step stool. Yep. Dog paw directly on the mouth and nose. I think Emma wasn't quite sure what had just transpired, but she did fuss for a second afterward and seemed generally annoyed by the sudden presence of a furry foot on her face.
PICTURES!
Her new Boppy newborn lounger. But she's not sleeping in it... sleeping in it is illegal.
Riley thinks it's her pillow.
Emma took it back. These two are going to have an all-out brawl over this pillow one day.
Sleeping with her feet propped up on 8/29.
She's like Chris Christie fat.
Way too cute!!
ReplyDeleteIf she vomits a lot ( more than just spit up), you may want to have her get an ultrasound to check for pyloric stenosis. They do an ultrasound while she is eating, so it is painless. They checked Z for this, but all of his vomiting was due to his asthma issues.