Gram by gram, ounce by ounce, our little Lauren is growing bigger every day! Each day that we visit her in the NICU, it looks like she has a little more baby fat on her body. It's been amazing to see how quickly she has ramped up on her feedings, and it's been very satisfying to watch her quickly wean off of her IV fluids. She's now up to 19cc breastmilk every 3 h0urs and continuing to increase. She gained another ounce yesterday - just packin' on the weight!
We're still probably 2 months away from taking Lauren home, but she's making great progress toward the three criteria required for her to be dicharged from the NICU: 1) She must be able to maintain her own body temp, 2) She must be able to breathe on her own and go at least 5 days without any apnea or bradies, (although it's almost guaranteed that she will be on oxygen for a few weeks at home), and 3) She must be able to eat well and regularly on her own. Apparently the complex skill of sucking, swallowing and breathing is something babies can't do until they're at least 34 weeks old.
We continue our daily kangaroo sessions, and it feels like Lauren is beginning to expect them and enjoy them, as am I! She sleeps well and her stats remain very stable when I hold her, and even after I put her back in her isolette, she continues to sleep comfortably for many hours afterward.
We're beginning to establish a daily routine of hospital time, Connor time and work toward moving (we close on our new house next week!) But just as we get comfortable with that routine, it will soon change again. Grant is already back to work full time (gotta get that real estate biz going again for 2007!) I will be going back to work 1/2 time from mid-Feb until Lauren comes home, at which time I will hopefully have the opportunity to take a few months off again to be home with her for a proper maternity leave. Of course I'm a little nervous about how we will care for her properly without the help of our fabulous team of NICU nurses and monitors, but we will learn!
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3 comments:
Dear Kaia, Grant, Connor and Lauren,
It just struck me how WONDERFUL it is to read about "taking her home" and "packing on the baby weight" and all the good words and news of the rest of this posting!
What a difference in just a week.
With Love, Prayers, and Smiles,
Nora and Dean
everything sounds like lauren is doing great, which rules. and something tells me that you guys will be able to figure out how to do anything that needs to be done and do it well. i'm not sure i knew you guys bought a new house (the Good Buddies produce A LOT of e-mails!) so congrats on that news as well!
Dear Kaia and Grant,
Hello! We LOVE your notes and the photos. And now we're so happy to know that Mike and Dede are having the meaningful good time we hoped for them. I'm just SURE that Logen will come to see us at Seasons and we'll all cry! Congratulations on your new home. And hurrah for both of you. We'll be home in May for a month, hopefully with Lara and Keith and Will so maybe Will and Connor can meet then. They certainly seem to be living similar lives -- Will rides the vacuum cleaner and his red wagon, too. We're so proud of you both. You are working so hard, loving so much, and including all of us in your lives. Thank you and Happy Valentines...you have the most precious little Valentine of all! I know it's a day early...we're in the southern hemisphere. love, Michele
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