Status quo

Here we are, status quo, just kinda' doing the same ol', same ol' day after day. And while the monotony lacks much in the way of excitement, it sure does feel good for a change to not have the daily worries we did with the girls.

The only thing that really changes is Allessandra's weight...and it's going UP! She is now 4 pounds, 10 ounces and gaining each and every day. Her feeds are up to 47cc (a little over 1.5 ounces) over 30 minutes, every 3 hours. She is still having all her feeds via gavage, but we will attempt nippling from a bottle again tomorrow at 34wk3d (attempt #3 that is) and hopefully she will do well enough to be nippling once a day after that.

She is also becoming a quite mobile baby. With only the feeding tube (which is disconnected between feeds), two leeds (heartrate and respiratory rate), and her oxygen saturation sensor, she is fairly easy to disconnect, swaddle, and hold/walk with. It's not something WE are doing, traipsing around the NICU with our little girl, but something the nurses like to do with her. We think she likes it too. There is nothing more satisfying than walking in to scrub up and be startled when you turn around and the nurse has her all bundled up to say hi. A mobile baby, is a stable baby, a healthy baby. LOVE that.

As for this mama, I haven't seen my sweet girl for two days now. TWO days people. TWO. I managed to wake up with a lovely little cold bug Thursday morning and I 'm trying my darndest to just get well. Robert has been visiting at night, but mommy is strangely absent. After being will her each and every day for 223 days...hearing my voice, my heartbeat...I am suddenly gone. It hurts me to think about it and I sure hope she doesn't feel abandoned in any way. I know that's a bit extreme, but to be suddenly disconnected like this...hurts. I am making sure to send my fresh pumped breastmilk for her feeds so that she benefits from my antibodies to this lttle bug because I am sure I exposed her to it in the days leading up to Thursday. Nice mommy.

We are praying that Alle continues to do well and figures out this whole suck-swallow-breathe sequence...soon. She's got the "suck" part, but then just sits there with the milk in her mouth, holding her breath, trying to figure out what the heck to do with it. Once she swallows, she then has to catch her breath because she held it for so long. AND the vicious cycle starts all over again.

Here's hoping for a good bottlefeed report tomorrow!