Well Emma Elizabeth had an AMAZING day yesterday! During the night she was moved from the critical room to the intermediate care room! When we arrived for our afternoon visit we got there just in time to see her get a bath! It was so amazing to see our baby girl without any of the wires or sensors on her and gave us a glimpse of a future not too far away. We were given 2 pieces of great news right off that bat. First, she is completely off of supplemental oxygen! No more! She doesn’t need it anymore and she is completely on room air and doing it for herself! Good job Emma! Second, after being told yesterday that she was going to 6 CCs of milk per feeding, today we were told that they were already bumping her up to 10! She is loving the milk that Mommy brings to her and is digesting it like a champ, even when they increase the volume so often. These are all fantastic signs and important milestones on her way to coming home!
Daddy and I got to help a little bit with bath time, and then after she was all dried off we got to dress her in her first actual pink, fuzzy jammies. She is SO adorable! (I know, I know, I am way biased!) Daddy got to have some great snuggle time with her and it looked like both Daddy and Emma were about to fall asleep together in the chair. That brought back some great memories for me of my Dad falling asleep rocking us in his big easy chair. When it was time to go, the nurse told us that she was going to leave Emma in her outfit and that they were weaning the temp down in her “condo” (it’s called an isolette but we like condo better) in anticipation of her being upgraded to open air beds and giving her a chance to start regulating her own temp. Mastering this would be another HUGE milestone in her journey to her new life in Lake Tahoe! The top three things they need her to do to go home is gain weight, regulate her body temps on her own, and nipple feed successfully. She is well on her way and we are so proud of our girl!
Today Mommy gets to try something called nuzzling, where we start introducing Emma to the act of breastfeeding. I don’t expect her to actually eat yet (although with the way things are going and what a little piggy she is she may yet surprise me again) but it will start giving her the idea about what she is supposed to do when she is ready. And it will be an incredible moment for me as far as bonding with my daughter. I am really excited! Everyday we see Emma reaching these milestones by leaps and bounds and we are so blessed to see it. Yesterday she was a week old and the difference in the baby I saw that first day on 12/2 and the one we see now is truly miraculous! The prayers are working and we are so thankful to you all for continuing to pray for, think about, and love our girl! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Love,
Sara, Matt and Emma E
Hey, you don't know me, I got linked to your blog from Dana. My son was born back in Feb, he was also 7 weeks early and weighed 4lbs 4oz! Just 10 months later our 4 week long hospital stay feels like a VERY distant memory, and our little boy, is doing just great. My point is, I know it feels like all this hospital stuff is never going to end, but it will, and once it does it will just feel like a blur, for now, just keep snuggling with her every chance you get. Your little Emma really is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteIt is so wonderful to read of Emma's progress. The only problem is, I cannot keep a dry face!
ReplyDeleteI know you are receiving abundant prayers, you can really tell by all the progress being made.
Love you all,
Beffy
Emma, Your auntie is VERY proud of you conquering your first milestone, and at under one week old- so proud! You are beautiful and a fighting spirit that makes me smile. You go little lady.
ReplyDeleteOXOXO Jessica