December 29th

It looks like tonight is Mike and my last night alone. (YAY!!!) Miss Katen is still on track to come home tomorrow. She passed her carseat check, hasn't had any measurable episodes, and had her IV removed completely today. She's weighing in at about 5.5lbs and will go home in her preemie clothes that we ran out and bought after seeing her swim in newborn sizes. So cute! She did have a major regurgitation last night and spit up about 50ml of formula. (The entire bottle) but she ate really well for us all day and has really caught the hang of opening her mouth and sucking on the bottle. She looks like a hungry little bird straining her neck and opening her mouth for that bottle. I can't tell you how precious it is and what relief it brings me. lol!

December 28

Guess what! We're preparing to bring Katen home!
We're still on our countdown to 5 consecutive days without Bradycardia or Apneic episodes and so far so good! Katen has taken her bottle like a champ for two days now and is making it almost all the way through before tiring out. We could not be more thrilled!!!! Her IV is coming out tomorrow and glucose was stopped today. Her blood sugar levels looked great after that so we just need to continue without episodes tomorrow and complete our carseat test and then we can take her home on Sunday. Katen will wear a Respisense monitor at home when she sleeps to monitor her breathing. That will at least give me some peace of mind that she won't stop breathing while I sleep.
We are going to ring in the new year with our Daughter at HOME! (or we're pretty sure anyway.) We feel so blessed.

December 27

What a great day! Katen has had her feeding tube removed and now only the IV and vitals lines remain. They're going to allow her to eat as much breast milk as she'll take as well. If that works for all feedings today then they'll continue but if she starts regurgitating it then they'll go back to limiting feedings to an ounce. There were no Apneic episodes or Bradycardia last night so we're still on the count down to taking her home. Her last episode was December 25 so if she continues without any more we can look at taking her home on New Years Eve. If she does have another then the 5 day countdown starts over and she'll have to stay longer. She was very sleepy today during her 3pm feeding and we had a hard time getting her to eat all of her bottle but you know what? She's sucking on a bottle which is good and she kept it down which is also good so I'm definitely calling today a win. :) Hopefully at some point she'll be able to nurse. One thing at a time though. I feel kind of like a Dairy cow right now using the pump but if it doesn't work out that's fine too. I'm just glad she's getting what I can give her. It doesn't really matter how.

December 26

Katen is looking good today. Her jaundice is better so she's no longer under the lights. They finally put some clothes on her and she just looks like such a little lady. She remembered to breathe all night last night after an episode during the day so there's one good one in the books. We just need 4 more good nights. She also figured out that sucking on a nipple is good news so there's another hurdle down. (She's smart like Daddy) My husband fed her from a bottle tonight and she ate her ounce of milk like a champ. This is a vast change from even yesterday when she'd forget to swallow or get too tired to suck any longer half way through the bottle. She's still on IV but we're increasing breast milk and lowering IV levels each day. They've also moved it back to her head. Katen was fairly alert today and was moving her head toward Daddy's voice when he talked to her. All in all it was a very encouraging day. One step ahead and one step closer to coming home. Those prayers are working!

Christmas 2007

Katen is still under the lights today with her cool little shades. She's still having Apnea and bradycardia episodes where she'll stop breathing, her heart rate dips under 100, and nurses have to be stimulate her to get her to breathe. Although she was born at 36 weeks and at a good weight, she's responding like a younger preemie with regard to feeding and lung function. Our NICU nurse explained that Katen needs to be episode free for 5 consecutive days before she can come home so best case scenario - she'll come home in 5 days provided that the infection clears and she begins feeding better. Her neonatologist gave Katen a supository today and she was able to have a bowel movement. She's still regurging her milk but they're increasing her feedings.
It was difficult going to Christmas celebrations today without our little one. It felt strange traveling out of town and not being near her. Our wonderful NICU nurse did let us hold her though today even though Katen was not supposed to be removed from the billy lights. That meant a lot and Brianna is a very special nurse to us for that.
We're so ready for our baby to come home. We're also glad that the NICU is taking good care of her and making sure that she's stable before sending her home. It breaks my heart to hear reports that she's stopped breathing and it kills Mike to hear it too. We both hate to see her struggle.