Friday, May 22, 2009

New Digs


As you can see, if you're reading this, I have Internet access in the hotel. WooHoo! Since Mom and Dad went to see Andrea today, I can manage a post between what they related and what we got from the nurse over the phone. The only downer is that I don't have a picture from today, so I've posted one from yesterday. She's still too cute!

Andrea was moved again, back over to a sunnier location. She's next to a window again, which is a big improvement over the center pod where we were. It's a little frustrating to have her moved so often, because we don't always know where we'll find her when we get to the hospital, but they don't move the sick babies. If the nurses can move her, she's doing pretty well.
The biggest change since yesterday is that Andrea went from eating every three hours to "feed on demand". That equates to eating less often, but she's allowed to eat as much as she wants. Her first time out, she had 55 ml, which is almost twice the 32 ml she was allocated by the doctors. Her second on demand feeding, she ate 72 ml! What amazes us is that Andrea was gaining weight on the amounts of milk she was getting, and obviously she wasn't getting enough. It'll be interesting to see how her weight changes now that she can eat as much as she likes!
We just have to wait for the lungs to catch up, as I mentioned yesterday. Andrea's nurse told
mom that sometimes babies don't have gradual reduction in oxygen needs. It's possible that she'll go from 2 liters of flow and 23 - 25% oxygen (where she is now) to straight room air in one move. It's all just wait and see right now. However, we may have Andrea home sooner than we expected. We were originally told that most premature babies come home pretty close to their due date. (Andrea was due June 4) Then, because she was SO small, we were told to expect something closer to the end of June. Now, she's done so well that she might be home within the next few weeks. Once she's off oxygen, she has to have no desats for 48 hours, and then she's all ours!
Please keep praying for us. We are SO close to the end, and we never would have made it without the help and support.
"Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together."
Vincent Van Gogh

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