Emma has had a couple more good days since I last wrote on Sunday night. I believe she was on 7.5ml of milk at that time, and as of 8pm this evening, she is now on 12ml of milk every 3 hours. So she's now over a daily total of 3 ounces!! Go Emma Go!! Due to this vast increase in her food intake, she's starting to pack on some weight as well. She's now up to 1 pound 15 ounces, a mere one ounce shy of 2 pounds. Hopefully before the week is out she'll reach that milestone. But again, we'll take this one day at a time.
She was having a little difficulty breathing yesterday so they had to slightly increase the pressure on her nasal cannula. It wasn't a big increase, but pretty much instantly it helped calm her down last night and she went right to sleep. She's still nowhere near the pressure she was receiving on the CPAP. Her little lungs still aren't mature yet. Tomorrow she'll be 32 weeks gestational age, which is where they say the lungs are typically viable. But still, in 2 weeks of life she's been on a ventilator for only 24 hours. That's pretty darn good for someone her size.
This whole adventure is definitely a learning experience. We learn more and more every day. Her heart rate was a little elevated at times tonight when we were there with her and the nurse said it could have been a little reflux. The increase in her feeds is a good thing but again, it's just another example of a necessary evil. They have to increase her feeds to help her gain weight and also to help her get off the IV fluids (which she's still on track for tomorrow at 6pm for that) but she may be having a little discomfort in the form of reflux. Her big sister had reflux as well when she was a baby, so we already know that it's totally normal. But she's still digesting her feeds very well so they're going to continue to increase them per the feeding protocol that she's on. Increasing her intake will help her gain weight, which will help her put some fat on her frame, which will help her regulate her own body temperature. That's the long term goal. Each day increasing the feeds is the short term goal. So we're taking it one day at a time, but we know that the doctors and nurses have the big picture in mind as well.
So the reflux and the slight increase in the nasal cannula pressure are just minor setbacks and we're very encouraged with the progress she's made up to this point. We are sticking strong to our stance of being cautiously optimistic. I don't think any baby has ever had a completely positive experience in the NICU, not one born at Emma's size and age anyway. We are very aware of that, and because of that we are able to keep the positive attitude we have. Knowing that Emma is in a world class facility getting care from some of the smartest people on the planet helps give us peace of mind. And I'm not just saying that because she's at UNC and I'm a UNC grad! These people really are geniuses. They do this each and every day of their life. They're very passionate about their work and it shows in the care that Emma receives there. We couldn't say enough nice things about the folks there.
Finally, we want to say thank you to everyone reading this for the prayers, but especially to our families. You guys have bent over backwards to help us out recently. There is absolutely no way we would make it through this ordeal without you. You've kept us positive, you've kept us sane, and you've been absolutely amazing every step of the way. Emma is definitely going to be spoiled with the love of her entire family when she comes home. So thank you guys so much. We love all of you!!
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