She lost two ounces in the first few days and was down to 2 lbs. 8 oz. As of today, she is 3 lbs. 1 oz.
Her bilirubin levels were high, so she was under the phototherapy light for a few days after birth. Because the light is drying, she also received IV fluids. On August 23, at only a week old, she received her last phototherapy session and her last dose of IV fluids. Her IV was totally removed the next day.
Like many preemies, she had some apnea spells - when she would forget to breath for a few seconds - during her first few days. Starting on August 20, she received a dose of caffeine daily to stimulate her breathing. On August 27 she received her last dose of caffeine, and I am happy to report that she hasn't had an apnea spell since then!
On August 24, a week ago, she was moved from intensive care to intermediate care.
On August 28, her umbilical cord stump fell off. I noticed it was gone when I was changing her tiny little diaper.
She started eating breast milk through a feeding tube on August 18. She bottle feeds a few times a day now (I get to bottle feed her when I am there, which is every day) and gets the rest of her milk through the feeding tube. Because she is still so young (35 weeks gestational age), she gets tired while trying to eat from the bottle. Sucking, swallowing, and breathing all at once is hard work for a 3-pounder!
She's got a mess of blonde hair, blonde eyebrows, and blonde eye lashes!
2 comments:
Hey! I have been waiting with baited breath for the last installments! What a story. You can't even tell how tiny she is in a lot of these photos, but it's clear in this last one that her body is super tiny (even though she's got that big ole brain case - she'll be a genius!) :)
What amazing progress she has made in 2 weeks. Happy 2 week bday!!
I can already see her changing and growing just from your pictures! It looks like she is going to have that Burr blonde hair!
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