Lorelai is TWO months old

I know I'm quite late in writing this, but what else is new? SO here it goes.

Though she be but little
she is FIERCE

I know I say this every month with every child, but I can't believe another month has gone by. So much has changed, Lorelai has made so many strides in the direction of coming home. It truly feels like we are in the home stretch! and should have her home in NO TIME! 

A few days before the Oxygen came off

Such a sweet face

First and foremost she has come off her oxygen!!! This was such a wonderful day for her! When you have a baby so prematurely you understand that oxygen supplementation is necessary. So the day that she was able to come off of it was glorious!!! She was on 0.5L of flow for several days. They tried her off her oxygen for about 10 minutes when she was 1 month old but she didn't tolerate it well and kept dropping her saturation level in the 80s, so they put her back on it. She just wasn't ready. -- I honestly didn't understand why the MD wanted her off it when she was requiring additional oxygen for the few days prior. Even though she hadn't required additional oxygen for 24 hours. --sometimes things just don't make sense to me.

My Little Joey

Lincoln got to meet her for the first time. Our wonderful photographer {who has practically become family!} had agreed to come take a few pictures of Lorelai while she was in the NICU, and I decided to for her to come when Lincoln could get his 1 visit. The NICU's policy is that children under 2 cannot visit, but children between 2-4 are allowed one visit. It was one of the best days I had had since giving birth to her. To have 2 of my 4 children together brought so much joy to my heart. He loved her, and loved getting to see her. He talked about it for days after! I also think it really helped him understand where I was going when I would leave him.

They dc'd her caffiene. She was on this to help with her bradicardic events. (drops in heart rate) She did excellent with this, not ever having to go back on it!! :)

One of the biggest things that happened this month was so many people finally got to hold her! My sister, my dad, my grandma, Aunt beth and some friends from work! It was such a wonderful moment having all the people who have loved and supporting me through each bad day be here to hold her.

My dad holding her for the first time

A little TT love

We also finally got to try to breastfeed...non nutritively. which meant I pumped, then I would try to breastfeed while they dropped her feeding in through her NG tube. She did ok with it. She would latch, take a few sucks, but it was such a wonderful experience for me. I love to breastfeed and even though I will never be able to exclusively breastfeed her due to her need of increased calories, just getting to do it a little was good for my soul.

She also moved from her incubator bed to a CRIB!!! BIG GIRL!! They ended up needing to elevate the head of her bed for her reflux because she would desat during her feedings. Once they elevated it, she did much better! :)

She took her first bottle on 4/21. This was a monumental moment for her! She was 7 weeks old and about 35 weeks adjusted. She had come so far and had made so many positive strides. It was wonderful for her to be able to finally take oral feedings. Over the next several weeks she was hit or miss with her bottles. Some days she would take a lot, others she wasn't interested. but all was a day in the life of a preemie.

NICU Home 

Her NICU Home

All settled into her new home in the NCC

Another huge milestone that happened was that she got moved from the NICU to the NCC. This was very emotional for me. In fact when her nurse told me I cried. Yes this was a good thing, and YES this was a step in the right direction, but the NICU was practically like home. It was the only place Laynie ever was, it was the only place that both my girls were ever able to be together. It was hard to say goodbye, but the NCC is nice, its quiet, its quaint and with my return to work, it is on the same floor. which is a huge bonus! I can check on her whenever I want!

Once she was moved, PT decided that she needed a halo pillow to prevent her head from getting too flat, it was basically a small donut that she placed her head in to help keep it round. :)

Adam Finally feeding her!

Adam and I also finally got to feed her this month. What a trivial thing that with the boys we took for granted. But being that both of us only got to be with her for a few hours a day, timing our visits around her feeding schedule could be hard. As well as timing Adam's visits period. Being that we are closer to summer he is working LONG hours again and some nights he was just too tired to travel back to the hospital to see her--which I can't fault him for. Plus the NICU/NCC is closed from 7pm to 8pm as they change shifts and it's very inconvenient.

The last thing that Lorelai accomplished this month was decreasing her feeding times. She gets a majority of her feeds through her NG tube (tube in her nose). She had one really significant event where she dropped her heart rate and oxygen level and struggled to bring both up while she was feeding, so they moved her to getting every other feeding through the bottle. When she takes her bottles they allow her to take as much of her volume as she can and then gives the rest through the NG. however every other feeding they just give it to her directly through her NG. Typically they put this on a pump for her and it goes in over a hour...this is to try and help her reflux. However just a day or so ago they moved it to go in over 30 minutes instead of 60!! This is all good news!!!

So this month Lorelai is 5lbs 13oz that means she has gained 2 lbs 8 oz...thats more than her birth weight!!!
She grew 7 cm and increased her feeds by 20 ml every 3 hours!
She's getting to be such a big girl! I'm really hopeful she will come home this next month!!!
She also moved from preemie clothes to NEWBORN clothes and went from preemie sized diapers to newborn sized diapers...we almost have a normal sized baby on our hands

A little weekly progression...she really has grown!

and of course the obligatory monthly photos...

Lorelai you are quite the little miracle. You have made so many beautiful strides to coming home. Though we always knew this NICU road would be a long hard one, you have made it relatively easy on us and we are so proud of you. I just know in my heart you'll be home with us in no time!!

Love you baby girl...keep growing and keep getting stronger!