Day 23 and Day 24

In the past two days it seems that Maddie is getting a little better. Her CRP number, which indicates infection, has been cut in half, which is great news. I think maybe the combination of the third antibiotic along with letting her body rest while on CPAP may have been exactly what she needed. Yesterday I could definitely see a small change in her. She seemed to be coming around - moving around more and letting herself be known when she was uncomfortable. I was happy to see these things because it showed me that she must be feeling somewhat better. The tonight she really let us know that she's getting back to her old self. For the first time, one of us were able to give Maddie her bath. Since it was my turn to feed Melia, Mike was on bath duty with Maddie. As soon as the nurse took her out of her isolette (she's back in her isolette as of yesterday morning) and put her on the scale, she started screaming. Now THAT is the Maddie that we know and love! And then, she peed all over the scale ...haha...and then, she cried through her entire bath. Mad Maddie is on her way back! As much as it usually bothers me to hear her cry, tonight, I couldn't get enough of it. Her crying, expressing her discomfort - and boy was she LOUD - it was a great sign that she's feeling better. A few days ago she didn't have that kind of energy, so her crying the way she did tonight was actually a great thing. Dr. Kamtorn is still stumped as to what this infection is, but she's happy that Maddie's bloodwork is getting better and whatever it is appears to be on it's way out. She's thinking about taking Maddie off of the CPAP tomorrow. Maddie has been doing much better with her apnea/bradycardia since going on CPAP, though she did have a significant episode tonight - but it was shortly after her bath, so I think she may have just been a little too worked up. Dr. Kamtorn said that if all things continue to look good, she'll be able to stop the antibiotics and allow Maddie to eat again come Thursday. Good thing is that regardless of the fact that she hasn't been allowed to eat, she has still gained weight with the help of the electrolytes and lipids that she's getting through the IV - as of today she is 2lbs 10.6oz and 15 inches long. So, all things considered, we're hoping that by the end of the week Madison will be completely back to herself.

As for Melia, she continues to do really well. She's 3lbs 7oz and growing by the day! She's still taking 2 of her feedings per day by bottle and is doing pretty good with it. It definitely depends on her mood at the time of the feeding. She was so awake last night for her nightime feeding. It made for such a great visit with her. She took over 20mls over her 30ml feeding by bottle and then she stayed awake and out of her isolette for over an hour afterwards. She was so alert - it was great to see her that way. It's funny watching her face as she sees new things and hears new sounds - she has a look of confusion and curiosity on her face - she almost looks stressed out by it all, it's hilarious. My favorite part of last night was holding her on my chest and seeing her look up at me. At one point she had this look on her face like she recognized the sound and feeling of my heartbeat (at least that's my interpretation of it - haha). It was just so awesome to hang out with her for such a long time, with her being awake and looking around, looking at us as if she could actually see us and recognize us. Today she did a little reversal with the times - she was very alert and awake during her 11am feeding, and slept right through her 8pm feeding. She's very unpredictable this little girl.

And I'm thinking, this is only the beginning! :-)