what a fatty

i'm not the only fat one in the family anymore....
wren is weighing in at 12lbs 2oz!
here's a little comparison:

the day we left the nicu, her feet barely reached past the harness

and this was a few weeks ago, her feet touch the end!

(you'll see this one again. it was from our trip to taos, nm.)

day 70 in the nicu- my little weed

let me tell you about how my little 1lb 11oz baby now weighs in at 4lbs 5oz! her 13.5inches has stretched to 17! what a big girl.

june 26

august 9

i breastfed her twice today for about 20 minutes each time. she had a little spit up, but they've decided she probably doesn't have reflux. her poo is still super mustardy, watery, so the doc decided to go ahead and lose the hmf. YAY! whew... now i can sleep more soundly at night. (i hope that was the problem and that in the next few days she'll get it all out of her system and be ok.) she still continues to be restless with stooling, but she cries less while doing it. (but you should hear her when we try to change her diaper- she's miserable! there's a broken down spot on her tushy and on her labia. she's really uncomfortable most of the time. i can't imagine what diaper rash must feel like!) anyway, hopefully the absence of hmf will get her stools back to their normal seedy consistancy and lessen the aggravation to the diaper rash.

so, now for the notsogood news- she's back on cpap almost full time. last night it looked like she was retracting and she had been having short bouts of tachypnea as well. they took a blood gas and it was 60, which is a little high. her chest x-ray showed that she was expanding her lungs to 8 ribs. (9 is perfect) so, it wasn't a dire, save her life, emergency. however, it will be easier for her on the cpap for a bit longer. i was super bummed about it. but i'm starting to resign myself to this life. (what else can i do?) everytime the roller coaster comes up, it will go down. so, i've decided to just go ahead and pass on this next little bit. i'm going to exit the ride, and instead make active choices and think positively about where we're headed. the attending said that i could go ahead and feed her twice a day. she wants a few days to evaluate how wren's doing, and then she's going to determine what to do about sprints. i'm just happy she can have the cannula time when she feeds. she tolerates it just fine when she's on it. but maybe just gets tired after being on it for days at a time. (she made it about 48 hours this last time.)

her rop exam is scheduled for thursday... and next week will hopefully be picture day. :) (i found a great photographer on www.picturesofhopefoundation.org.)

july 23- hanging in there

our bestest, auntie katie (who also happens to be a nurse.)

one of the nurses suggested today that i separate my hind milk out to enrich my milk. apparently when a mom has a large supply it dilutes the milk more. so to beef up our little one we're going to start giving her mostly hind milk. it makes sense- right?
wren is now 3lbs 3oz! yay! and only about 20 grams away from wearing clothes. i'm so happy! i just can't wait to have that "regular baby" feeling when she's in clothes.
her breathing is going well. she's been in the low 30's on oxygen when she's on the cpap on her back. and in the 40s during the day on the cannula. (mostly because she behaves for auntie jeanette- one of her primary nurses.:) at night she's needing more oxygen on the cannula.. up to about 60. i think this may be because she's such a night baby. she wiggles and squirms around all night long! (mostly because she's trying to drive auntie katie nuts. :) i think this will resolve when she can be swaddled. she loves it SOOO much! so far the 3 on, 3 off is working out alright. cross your fingers and say your prayers!