Like a Weed

Just wanted to let everyone know that Lauren is 4lbs 7oz! She is growing like a weed now. She is looking bigger, but her neighbor who is the same gestational age as her is 6 1/2 lbs and looks huge, so it put things back into perspective for me.

She also took her first FULL bottle for me today! All 38ml's of it...which is a little over an ounce. She had taken almost all of the bottle before this one and the Nurse & I thought she would be too tired to try and take another, but she woke up and was very fussy so we tried it and she took it all like a champ! When I called tonight, she had taken her first night shift feeding from the bottle too! So that is 4 bottle feedings in a row for her. She is really picking up the bottle feedings! They did move the feeding tube from her mouth to her nose so that she could bottle feed easier. When she is able to take all her feedings orally, she can get that darn tube out!

She still surprises me with her strength. I was holding her to burp her after her feeding and she didn't like the way I had positioned her head and she just picked it up and turned it the other way.

The doctor and I talked in person today which was nice. Usually the doc's round in the early morning so we miss them and only talk to them on the phone. Today we talked a lot about her respiratory status and how important it will be for her to try and avoid infections this first year of her life. Because she was born so early and her lungs were not fully developed, she will be at a greater risk for getting pneumonia if she gets sick. It will be very important for us to make sure any visitors don't have any beginnings of colds. No sore throats, runny noses, etc and hand washing before touching her will be a must for everyone. He said if she ends up getting sick and it progresses to pneumonia, she very well may end up in a pediatric ICU and we by no means want that. Adam & I will need to always get our flu vaccines and we will need to make sure any other kiddos she is around a lot have them too.

I keep forgetting to mention that Lauren has an umbilical hernia. Not too uncommon for a low birth weight preemie. Hopefully it will resolve on its own as she gets older, so she won't have to have surgery.

Keep your finger's crossed for her not needing any treatment for her eyes so we can get her transferred to Salem!!! Eye exam is Tuesday...