35 Days and Counting

It's hard to believe that we've been in the NICU for over a month. It's also hard to believe that Naomi is more than a month old, especially when you still refer to her gestational age (34 weeks).

The past week has been filled with a steady stream of busyness. Naomi has continued to receive increased feedings with relatively few holds. Her biggest struggle seems to be over night, but after some belly time, she usually digests most of her milk. She is up to 7 mL/hr now.

Naomi has also continued to gain weight at a slow, but steady pace. Right now she is currently one pound short of her mom's birth weight. I think mom is planning to celebrate the day she reaches 4-pounds, 12-ounces. On a side note, Naomi does seem to throw a tantrum or two now. It's not quite Uncle Ben worthy, but she is doing her best to get all 3-pounds, 12-ounces into it.

Naomi was taken off caffeine two days ago since she hasn't had any spells. It is another step in the direction towards home. So far she hasn't had any spells, but caffeine has a long half-life, so the true count starts three days from now. If she doesn't have any spells for five days after that time point, she'll have reached another milestone.

Our final hurdle seems to still be digestion. As Naomi's feedings increase they will add fortifier to her milk again. This time though, they are planning to try a different kind since the last kind may have caused all of the problems. We'll never know for sure, but anything we can do to make the transition easier is a plus.

Speaking of transitions, Naomi did finally cut the cheese on her mom's lap. Dad was definitely proud! After another 30-minutes of kangaroo-ing Naomi let two more go. By the time dad got the chance to change a diaper, things were looking good. Hopefully I'll never forgot that a dirty diaper means things are working well.

Last, Ana's friend Danielle came to visit for the week! They both enjoyed the smiles and time together in the NICU and out. It was a fun week of showing off our daughter.

Our current guess as to when we'll be able to go home is around 38 to 40 weeks, which means we will be in the NICU/ICC for another four to six weeks. We'll be happy to transition to ICC when we get a chance and we'll be even happier to take our little girl home. Thanks again everyone for all of the thoughts and prayers. We are lucky to have such a wonderful family and group of friends.