7.20.2009

july 19- sucking soon (what a strange title)



this was day 47 in the nicu. sigh.

but she's making serious progress! she's been doing well laying on her back for a few days now.. only requiring about 35% on her oxygen. and even on the cannula... needing about 40%.
this evening she was on 60%, but on 1.25liter flow. (this is the volume pushed through... from what i understand. similar to the pressure on the cpap... but much less. it doesn't actually inflate her lungs from what i understand.) she has been on 2liter flow since she started. so it's a big step to go down to 1.25. and that was while we were holding her too.
today we got a look at the preemie growth chart. wren is small even for a preemie. some of you may have noticed that she was only 1lb 11oz and some babies are born at 25 weeks weighing that. well, that's true... she's a little one. but her weight is trending up. she's in the 10-15 percentile for her length, weight, and head size. but, that's ok. she's still gaining and genetics does have something to do with it. i think we're definitely going to need more preemie clothes! (we have the outfits from wal-mart about 3 times over now. it's one of the only places to buy them and we have several sets now. no worries, they're super cute! we just need to find another outlet to buy them... if she keeps this up she'll be 6 months old before she's in newborn!)
feeds are still the same. no other changes really...EXCEPT...
she gets to start "non-nutritive" sucking tomorrow! :) (i feel weird saying sucking. it seems strange, so i'm just going to call this nns. k?) this means she gets to basically practice breastfeeding! i have to pump first, then she gets to go for it. i feel like i should take pictures or something! of course, that would be an awkward one for the brag book... "and here she is, the first time she got to suckle..." eeeehhh... i guess i'll forgo that one. (but i am going to wait until thadd's there.) i just feel like it's sorta a big deal. i can't wait until she can actually feed... what a day that will be! she's upped to 3 hours twice a day on her cannula now... so she can do the nns during that time.
our bestest nurse (we love you!) is going to let us do her first bath this week! and a fashion show sometime soon as well. (have no doubt- there WILL be pictures.)

uncle rob holding her for the first time

5 comments:

Meghan said...

do you all have "Once Upon A Child" there by any chance? The baby consignment store? You might see if they have any preemie clothes. I've been meaning to take some of Caden's stuff by there this week...if I make it I'll try to remember to check and see if they have any preemie stuff. If I had more time I'd go crazy in that store--you can get several outfits sometimes for just $5!

Caden is still in the 10-15th percentile in weight--you're right, genetics play a part in that big time. Wasn't Thadd a small baby? I just tell myself some fat obese baby came along and set the bar too high on those charts : ) She's getting so alert! Love the new pic you have up there in the corner--so cute!

Anonymous said...

Gymboree also makes most all their NB stuff in P size. Also, I realized last trip to Ross that Carters makes P size. Every Ross I've been to lately has been innudated with P baby clothes, so if you have a Ross or a Carters store, check there too. :)

Jessica B said...

I think she looks like Thadd! Don't worry about her weight. Hayden has always been just in the 25th percentile on his weight, but he's fine. I agree that there must be some fat outliers that make the growth curve big. Remember that growth curve is for U.S.A. babies. We're a fat people.

wrensmommy said...

yeah... thadd was only 5lbs full term.. i was around 6... so she's not going to be gigantic anyway. :) as long as she's trending up i think the doctors are happy. it's just going to take her a couple of years to even get on the regular growth charts. she's barely on the preemie charts! hehe..

there aren't really resale shops here unfortunately (maybe 1?). i'm hoping that my mom will find a bunch at the convention in september in ar. (i think that's when it is.) we do have a couple of carters outfits... and when we've gone to gymboree they have been out of everything preemie. (one of the downsides to living out here- inventory is ALWAYS spotty!) we have a ross... but they don't really have that much of a baby section to speak of. i'll keep checking back though.

don't tell him that jessica! he's already saying that ALL the time. she gets her ears from his family, she has his mouth, she has his eyes, his baby hair, she has his blah blah blah. you'd think he birthed her himself! :)

Meghan said...

Maybe after all this is over you should start a preemie resale shop : ) Get a new trend going!

Everyone says the same thing about caden--about how he looks like Nick. I think that is completely unfair since I'm the one who was pregnant and did the labor--so he better start working on looking like me : )