july 16 -18- projectile poop, and catching up

isn't alliteration funny?

this poop was amazing- really! [i find it amusing that bowel movements are the topic of discussion regarding the very old and the very young. ever notice that? i would never talk about my poop...(except for on the blog, while pregnant- which doesn't count.) you probably don't talk about yours... but over 70 or under 7... it's fair game for the dinner table.] anyway, a few days ago uncle rob was changing her diaper, and bam! she shoots poo about a foot, covering the end and top of the isolette. that's my little champ... power pooper. (the nurses were not amused... but we did clean it up. :)

in other news:

breathing
her sprinting is going grand. sometimes better, sometimes worse. last night she sated fine, but needed between 70-90% to do it. not good. we decided to put her back in bed, and as soon as the nurse put her back she went to 100% and stayed there. we tried it out, and got her down to about 40% sating fine... on her belly in bed. please tell me that term babies are not so particular! i want to be held, i don't want to be held, it's too loud, it's too quiet... blah blah. so picky! :) anyway, she ended up staying on 40% for a while to finish out her sprint.
today she did fine, but required 60%. i posed the question: which is better, to be in bed sating fine on 40%? or to be held needing 60%? the RT and the nurse said it's about the same... holding is so important, and she should be much more comfortable on the cannula. i definitely feel closer to her when she's on it. she face plants into our chests and is happy as a clam. (except when she doesn't want to be held. :)
oh! and today she was sating well on 35% on her back! positioning is everything in her little world. so i'm really happy that she did well on her back. and tonight she is on 34% on her back again!

(the discoloration on her nose and upper lip are duoderm, a protective adhesive to keep her skin from breaking down.. not a mustache thadd.)

her skin gets more translucent and her eyes look bruised when her hematocrit gets low

holding her kangaroo today

big yawn!

she ALWAYS face plants on our chests. i think she likes the freedom from the cpap. "look what i can do"...

eyes
she had her ROP (retinopathy of prematurity)exam. so far so good. they said her eyes are still "premature". to which i reply, "of course they are". i thought that this meant that they still couldn't tell if she was developing ROP. (in which case it seems absurd to keep doing the exams until she gets to her due date.) but, i got a clarification today, and really, this is more of a diagnosis best stated "her eyes are premature, and we see no retinopathy yet". they fully expect that she will develop it. several of the nurses and the doctors have made that clear. according to the odds she will get some stage of it. we're hoping for stage 1, self correcting, if she has to get it.
i didn't intend on being there for the exam. (i have an aversion to eye things.) but it just happened that way. and i was going to wait until her turn, then put her down and leave. (i'd been holding her.) i just couldn't justify leaving her there alone for my own comfort. they dialated her eyes several times, and about an hour later the doctor came by. he clipped her eyes open with metal paper clip looking things, then rolled them around with a metal tool that had a round hole in the end so he could look inside. it was unhappiness. she cried the whole time. luckily they were cool with me containing her. (which apparently they pay some private to do. hehe.. poor guy seemed like a fish out of water to me. holding down babies.)

dilating her eyes

getting ready

the exam

her poor eyes


blood
her hematocrit levels are going down again. she's at 27 according to the results from last thursday. i talked to the fellow, and he said they really don't want to transfuse her again. they're hoping her bone marrow will kick in soon and she'll make her own. he said if she gets down to about 23 they'll consider it. (she was at 20 last time they did it.) there are pros and cons. apparently she'd probably need less support in the way of oxygen if she had some blood. i guess it helps. but, they'd have to back off on her feeds because the little ones can't handle so much fluid at once. so, we'll see what monday brings after her lab work.

weight/food
over the 3lb mark! yesterday she was 3lbs 2oz, and tonight she is up 20grams to 1430grams! yay! 1500 is typically clothing time... so we're super excited... or at least I am. :) clothes just make me feel like i have a more "normal" baby. the cpap may hold her back for a bit. we'll have to see what the doctors say. but she is definitely requiring less work from the isolette to maintain her temp.
(the isolette has several settings. the setting she is on now has a probe on her body that tells the isolette her temp, and it adjusts to keep her at a preset temp. the next setting is one that just has adjustable temp control for the air inside the isolette- this is the setting that they can wear clothes/be swaddled on. and the last setting has the top up with just a warmer... so it's more like an open crib, with just a little help.)
she's on 28ml every 3 hours over an hour. hopefully they'll start shortening that hour period soon.

me&thadd
my day off yesterday was SUPER productive. you'd be amazed what freedom it gives you to not get online! :) of course i came back to many messages, and emails to be returned... thank you all for your support. i didn't go up to the hospital, which i feel guilty about, but decided to take yesterday to recoup. i went for a mile jog with mady, washed myself, her, a load of dishes, 3 small loads of laundry(AND put them away! :)... wrote about 10 thank you notes, straightened up the house, washed my bottles, took out the trash, pumped twice, made up the beds, packed up some boxes to ship to friends and family... all after 1pm. (i also slept in until 1pm. :) believe it or not, that actually felt good emotionally.
we looked through max's stuff last night and had a nice time together. also, spent several hours up at the nicu with wren. we sure do wish he was here with us. looking at the pictures we can see they would have looked so much alike.