Merry Christmas!!!!!!

Day 71

Merry Christmas to all!  I apologize for the lack of blog postings over the last several days, but we got caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holidays and have been blessed to spend a lot of time with our wonderful family and friends.  We happily celebrated Emma's first Christmas with her at the hospital and are already looking forward to her second Christmas where she can be home with us. 

I hope no one was too worried about Emma, because she has been doing great lately!  Her settings were weaned down consistently on the ventilator, and last night they went ahead and extubated her!  It was a wonderful Christmas present for Mom and Dad (although the doctors didn't extubate her just because it was Christmas.  They thought she was ready for it, but still, it made our holiday even brighter).  She is now on the SiPAP and doing wonderfully.  They brought the rate down on it some more today and her oxygen level is pretty moderate (around 45%), which is what it has been for awhile now.  She still has her occasional desaturations (but getting much less frequent and she doesn't dip too far) so she needs a little extra oxygen, but she's requiring much less pressure, which is why she was moved onto the SiPAP. 

Another big milestone that Emma reached is that she is now getting small "meals" for her feedings.  Previously, she had been getting fed on a continuous drip through her feeding tube of 10 mL/hour.  Now, she is getting her feedings every two hours, over a half hour period.  Therefore, she is now getting 20 mL through her feeding tube over half an hour, every two hours.  She is gradually getting used to having her belly filled with a little meal and having to digest all of that, rather than just the continual steady feeding at a slow rate.  She has been doing great with this new feeding schedule!  She is a hungry little monkey!  The next step will be moving to every three hour feedings, and then they'll try her on the bottle.  Right now, her brain is just not ready to handle the "suck-swallow-breathe" coordination technique that babies must learn in order to bottle feed.  It doesn't have anything to do with her individual progress, but any baby at her adjusted age would not be ready at this point, and they won't even try it for at least another week or two.  I believe they also want her on the cannula before they try bottle feeding too.  But this is great progress for her!  

Emma has also been doing a great job at maintaing her body temperature.  She is able to be dressed and covered up, and still just needs to grow some more until she can be moved into a bassinet!  She is up to 1500 grams, which is 3 pounds, 5 ounces!  She is growing steadily which is all we can ask for! 

One of the best parts of all of Emma's improvements is that we were finally able to hold her again.  She was not able to come out of her isolette when she was on the jet ventilator, and once she had settled into the regular vent again, she was able to come out and be held by Mommy and Daddy.  Also, since she has gotten bigger and can maintain her temperature, we are able to swaddle her and cradle her in our arms and not just do the kangaroo care.  Don't get me wrong, the kangaroo care was wonderful and special and we wouldn't have traded it for the world, but it is also amazing to be able to watch her face and snuggle her while she's swaddled.  Basically, any time she gets to come out and play is a wonderful time! 

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and was able to spend time with their loved ones.  We are thrilled with Emma's continued progress, thankful for her strength and tenacity, and grateful for the wonderful family and friends that have given us so much support over the last 10 weeks.  We are just starting to see the faintest glimmer of a light at the end of the tunnel for when she can come home with us, and I think it's Emma chugging along in her Little Engine That Could... "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...." 

This her "spa robe":

Held by Mommy:

Held by Daddy:

St. Jude's donated teddy bears to the NICU babies and their families.  Curious needs some back-up anyway; Emma is quite a handful and he's still taped to the isolette! 

 

Merry Christmas Emma! 

Today... extubated!  Back on the SiPAP with an elephant trunk.