Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Big news!

I fed Addison a bottle! Her nurse tried yesterday and she took the whole thing. Today I asked the nurse whether she would be doing a gavage feeding or from a bottle and she said "we could try a bottle again if you'd like" and then she said "are you ready?" To which I replied "No, but I know I need to be." I had flashbacks to feeding the boys for the first time and due to their breathing issues it involved a LOT of desats, choking and spitting up. I remember the first time I fed Alex I just wanted to quit and go cry in a corner. It was traumatic and nothing like what a child's first feeding should be. I braced myself for this experience again and Addison decided she would take it easy on me. I am telling you we women stick together from the womb. :) She also has not had one big nasty diaper for me however she gives Jared quite a mess to clean up on a regular basis.

She took the full 9 cc's which is her new feeding amount since her belly was distended. She didn't choke or desat or spit it back at me! It was a truly a beautiful experience. It tired her out completely though and she had to be put right back in her isolette. I was bummed not to be able to hold her longer but I knew she needed the rest. I "held" her in the way any preemie parent is used to doing. I had my hands in her isolette one on her head and one on her little butt. I would love to show you pictures of the feeding but I completely forgot to have the nurse take one. I will try tomorrow. I am hoping we will move up to 2 bottle feedings a day so that Jared can give her one at night when he visits. As I fed her it all kind of came back to me except the burping part. I had to call a nurse over and have her remind me how to hold a 2 lb. baby and burp her. I have burped the boys a million times but something about a "fragile" preemie makes you question pounding on their back for a burp. I did fine after a brief reminder and she burped like a good girl. Mission Accomplished!

It is getting hard to just see her once a day but we want the boys to have a somewhat normal life at home too and that is a sacrifice Jared and I are both making. I hope to see her more this weekend and I think Nani and Papa will come so that we can both go together to see her a couple of times. I miss her the moment I hit the elevator each day and from that moment on I want to go right back to the NICU but when I am there I am thinking of the boys and what they are doing. I hope this goes by quickly so that we aren't quite as torn but in the mean time I am SO thankful that she is doing so well again and that is what I will try and focus on.

5 comments:

Andrea said...

What great news! I can't wait to see a picture. It is so hard to imagine a 2 pound baby taking a bottle. What a true blessings. Many, many & many prayers your tiny 2 pound miracle grows fast into a 4 pound miracle, so she can be home with those sweet boys.

Shelly said...

Praise the Lord!! I'm so happy that she is doing well!

Not sure if you remember me, but I am a friend of Stacey M.

Praying for all of you:)

KJ said...

That is awesome! So glad to hear that she is taking the bottle...she'll be home before you know it! Praying for you all; I can't imagine how hard it is to juggle visiting the NICU and taking care of the boys. Much grace to you all!

Kari said...

Glad for the good news. I'm sure it's hard being apart from any of them. What a good mom you are!

Liz said...

That is great! She will be home in no time! So glad things are going well. I'm not sure what I would be doing in your situation. You are doing great though sharing your time! I also have to say I was looking at the pics from when the boys went to the NICU and now that Alex has shorter hair I think he looks like Ryan a little bit. I think we said that when they were younger but I just saw it again in the pic with him and the isolette.