We survived our first night alone with the baby. Marcus and I even managed to get a few hours of sleep between feedings. Gabrielle got up every 3 and a half hours to eat. She is a little piggy taking 2 oz at a time. Today during the day she took 60 cc and then woke up an hour later and took 25 more. She will be 4 lbs before we know it. The visiting nurse came today and she weighted 3 lbs 15 oz. She had just eaten 2 oz before the nurse weighed her so that likely adds 2 oz to her weight.
Marcus and I basically spent the day resting and taking turns holding the baby. She still likes to fidget when she is not held. The nurses say this is common with preemies. She settles down immediately when she is picked up. Brie is also getting more vocal. She is pretty impatient when she is hungry. Mommy and daddy cannot change her diaper fast enough.
Today we also went for our first walk. It was a gorgeous day. The walk was brief, but nice to be out of the house.

Gabrielle is Home!

At 50 days old, Gabrielle is home at last. She made the short trip in her car seat at about 2pm today. The cat's not sure what to think of her, and she's generally keeping her distance. Gabrielle has a cardiac and respiratory monitor that has not sounded so far. We're expecting plenty of noisy false alarms, as well as the baby's normal grunting and babbling. In other words, we're not expecting too much sleep tonight. So far, however, the afternoon has been very quiet. The baby has adjusted nicely to her new environment. She's eating well and sleeping soundly. When I gave her a bath late last night and helped to weigh her, she was 3 lb 10.6 oz.

Today was a good day for Brie. She doubled her birth weight and is 3 lbs 8.4 oz. She only had one small episode of dropping her heart rate and the nurse said it was for about 10 seconds. So that is definitely an improvement. They also started her on Zantac today. I think it was to humor me, but I felt like we should try something. I hate seeing her arch her back and the milk come back up through her nose. They are also setting us up for a monitor at home. I think I will feel better having it here. Tomorrow I will spend the night with Gabrielle in the parents room. I will get a taste of getting up with her and feeding her with the nurse just down the hall. Hopefully she will be home by the end of the week.

Today is a brighter day (although it's still raining.) Jen's out of the hospital and Gabrielle may join her in a couple of days. Her last weight was 3 lb 7.2 oz, a miserly increase of only 0.2 oz. When weighed again tonight (or in the wee hours of the morning), I suspect she may exceed 3 lb 8oz. When she reaches 3 lb 8 oz, she will have doubled her birth weight. We don't like her episodic drops in heart rate, however. The doctor attributes them to reflux. The vagus nerve is very close to the esophagus, and stomach reflux can stimulate it. Vagal innervation slows the heart rate. This is apparent when the baby occasionally chokes/coughs when eating, as all babies do. Since NICU babies have cardiac and respiratory monitors, we can see Gabrielle's heart rate drop from 145 to 80 when she has difficulty taking food. Episodes during feeding are not so much of a concern, however. About an hour after eating Gabrielle sometimes has similar episodes, though, caused by acid reflux. The doctor assures us that this problem is common and should go away with time. He also says that antacids, while effective in adults, are typically unhelpful in this situation. We'll have a monitor when the baby comes home, even though we're aware that such home monitors are most effective at treating nervous mothers (and fathers). The good news is that the baby is eating like a champ! With that nasty formula removed, Gabrielle devours 45-50 cc's in 10 minutes at about 4-hr intervals. The nurses generally don't wake her at prescribed times as before, but let her wake on her own when she's hungry (within certain time limits, of course.) I held the baby a couple of times today and escorted Jen around...initially tethered to a wheelchair with IV antibiotics, but later free of inpatient annoyances. Although I had considered going to NJ this morning, I wasn't very comfortable leaving with Jen in the hospital. The obnoxious ice and slush this morning made my decision easier. I was happy to spend the day in Glenside, with frequent trips to the NICU.

Almost immediately after yesterday morning's optimistic posting, the weekend turned sour again. After Jen's late night surgery and brief admittance on Friday, she developed a fever Saturday morning. The OB/GYN surgical group physician instructed her to go to the ER. A mere eight hours after arriving at the hospital, Jen got an antibiotic. After being instructed to dump her milk by the anesthesiologist on Fri (but not by other doctors), Jen sided with caution and complied with the more conservative recommendation. Gabrielle did not like the idea, however. She didn't tolerate the mixture of breast milk and formula but responded with sloppy feedings, smaller consumption, restlessness, lack of sleep, constipation, increased reflux, and greater frequency of her episodic drops in heart rate. She gained no weight. To top it off, she failed her hearing screening for the second time yesterday. It seemed the rain had no end in sight...literally! Torential downpours greeted the optometry students gathering at 7am this morning for the board certification practical examination.

My return to the hospital today finds everyone in higher spirits, albeit still soggy from the weather. After switching back to breast milk, the baby is doing well again. Jen is feeling better. Nanna and Pop Green (Dave and Lee) visited, and Dave will be helping Jen at check-out tomorrow. I'll be in NJ, of course. The baby looks very good tonight. She's taking almost 40cc of breast milk every three hours and sleeping soundly between feedings. After yesterday's foray into formula, Gabrielle is back on her accelerated growth track. We expect Jen to come home tomorrow afternoon with the baby to follow in a few days.

Gabrielle is 3 lb 7.0 oz today. She will probably come home Sunday afternoon, after the final session of my board exam. The doctor said this morning that she'll likely have a heart monitor at home since reflux from feeding causes her heart rate to temporarily drop. We are told that this is a common response occuring when the reflux stimulates the vagus nerve resulting in a slower heart rate. As she grows, this condition should resolve without need for medication. Gabrielle will also have a repeat hearing test before coming home. She did not pass the first hearing test, but the doctor says that this doesn't mean anything definitive. Many babies with normal hearing fail the screening. If Gabrielle does not pass the 2nd administration of the NICU's hearing screening, she'll see an audiologist. Additionally, Jen is recovering from minor surgery today, a procedure linked to the initial C-section. We got back from the hospital at about 1:30am last night, but the late time is linked only to poor scheduling (or disorganization on the staff's part) and not to any emergent situation. She's doing very well, of course, and is looking forward to the baby coming home tomorrow.

No More Feeding Tube

Gabrielle pulled out her feeding tube last night, and the doctors decided not to replace it. She's been doing very well with her bottle feedings. In fact, the doctor told Jen this morning that Gabrielle will likely come home this weekend! Our friend Mike Johnson (very tall guy in my wedding) has already been scheduled to install the car seat and instruct Jen on installation. He's certified in this; there's actually a medical course on this topic! The doctor said the smallest baby he's ever sent home was 3.8 oz, so Gabrielle should be atleast 3.8 before going home. With her average daily gain of approximately 1 oz, she'll be ready very soon. We're very happy about that, to say the least. It will be a busy weekend, however. Jen's spending a part of each day at a continuing education conference on Thurs and Fri to maintain her certification. I'm taking a written examination on Friday and a practical examination on Sunday as the last step of the national board. Since Shelley and maybe Jessica are planning to visit this weekend, Jen just might put them to work helping to clean the house/wipe down all surfaces before the baby arrives!