3 Months!

Day 92

Emma is 3 months old today!!!  It feels like time has flown by these last few months, but at the same time we are anxiously awaiting Emma's homecoming.  She still hasn't gotten the hang of the bottle yet, unfortunately.  She is still having good days and bad days with it.  They brought in a speech therapist to see if she could help with the feeding, and also debated whether to have an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist look at her too.  Right now, they are holding off on the ENT doctor since it would be a little invasive to do the exam, and her doctors think she just needs some more time.  So we'll continue to wait and see - we're hoping one day it will just click for her! 

Emma is still on the nasal cannula at around 25-28% oxygen.  She's still getting 40 mL every 3 hours, and she's up to 2210g, which is 4 lbs., 14 ounces!  Almost 5 pounds!!  She is looking great and staying nice and chubby.  You'll notice in the pictures below that Emma is now in what we call a "shoebox."  She was put into a smaller crib, but not really for any specific reason.  It is much smaller so it may keep her a little snugglier and warmer. 

Emma also seems to be getting held "hostage" by the doctors and nurses.  There is a part of the NICU called "special care" which is essentially the last stop in the NICU before discharge.  Emma has been eligible to be moved there for some time now, but the nurses don't want to let her go!  There is really no difference in care or treatment in the special care room, so we have no problem keeping her where she is.  We know all the nurses in the room she's in and they obviously are quite attached to Emma and take great care of her, so she may just stay put until she's ready to go home.  Emma has quite the fan club going! 

Another very important milestone that Emma reached this weekend was her very first projectile spit-up!!!  Emma's Memere and myself were "lucky" enough to be witnesses of this, and also directly in the line of fire!  It came as quite a surprise but was really just pretty funny.  As Emma was getting gavaged (gravity fed), she had a little sneezing fit as I was holding her.  Her sneezes are adorable as it is, so I was laughing and probably jiggled her just enough to send some food shooting out.  Next time, Memere and I will wear a raincoat! 

This is what Emma says about the spit-up:

Nya nah nya nah na na!

Aunt Lindsay helping with the gravity feeding!

The nurses are starting to transition Emma into sleeping more on her back, since that's how she has to sleep once she comes home.  It's much safer for babies to sleep on their backs, but since she's still hooked up to the monitors in the NICU, it's fine for them to be on their tummies since they usually prefer it.  But no more tummy sleeping for Emma!