Second Day of Grace

Our baby girl made some wonderful strides yesterday and continues to do so today. She is in her own isolette (we call it her first canopy bed) in the NICU and has a corner suite. Her oxygen is more stable and she's only having a few drops in breathing per day, which is reportedly normal for a 34 week old. She does have to lie under a bili lamp as her jaundice levels her higher than what was desired. She doesn't have jaundice, but they are working to prevent it as it is common for premies. She has lost 4 oz. of weight, but that is normal too. Yesterday she did so well that they removed the oxygen monitor from her leg; 1 down 5 more to go! She also got a naso-gastric tube inserted through her nose yesterday, which is actually a good thing; it means she is starting to receive fluids through her nose into her tummy instead of directly into her blood stream via IV. She started with just small amounts of food and today they doubled it as she was doing so well. Because 34 week old premies are still working on strengthening their mouths and throats for feeding, she and Maleia complete 30 minute nursing sessions every 3 hours. Grace previously had to work hard to latch on and give just a few suckles. She would tire out so fast that she fell asleep after less than 10 minutes. Today she worked hard for 25 minutes with much less help to stay awake. She and Maleia are definitely making improvements. The two of them do a 3 hour routine whereby Grace and Maleia work on breastfeeding for 30 minutes, Maleia pumps for 15 more while Grace receives the rest of her feeding through the tube, Maleia cleans bottles and packs the milk into syringes for another 15 minutes, and Grace goes down for a nap. Maleia then monitors over her for a while and does snuggling for improved body warmth. Afterwards, Maleia has about an hour to nap, eat, or do other things before the cycle starts all over again. The routine is getting much easier and quicker and definitely more fun as Grace has more success and is gaining her strength.
Doug has been just as busy supporting his ladies in their need for sleep and in nesting at the house. He returns to work this weekend and has been busy washing sheets, vacuuming, sorting through mail, reading NICU information, helping Maleia with her physical needs, staining baby room furniture, etc. He could rival any pregnant nesting woman for productivity!
Tonight we will celebrate Grace's first bath. While she can't get a regular bath because of her IV, we will be able to give her a nice sponge bath instead. It's the small things in life that are the big things!