Last night I left the NICU at 10pm and I got back there today around 10am and it was like looking at a whole new baby. She has finished up both of her blood transfusions and once again, it looks like old school Maddie was on her way back. She's back in her isolette now and her feedings have resumed - and not only have they resumed, but she's taking 2 of her feedings by bottle just like Melia. I was worried that we were asking too much of her. She hasn't eaten in a week and she's not 10
0% yet - should we really expect her to exert energy on a bottle right now? I mean, even before she got sick she'd never had a bottle, so this was her first time doing this and I thought it was too much to ask of her. But, Dr. Kamtorn figured we'd give it a shot since she's only getting 5mls (she needs to work her way back up to a full feeding) and apparently she was ready for it because she did great! The nurses always put a few extra mls in the bottle to account for any spillage or dribbles, so there were 8mls in her bottle and she took it all. I don't know if it was because she was so hungry or what, but she took it very quickly and didn't drip a single drop out of her mouth! So her first 
feeding was supposed to be 5mls, but she actually got 8mls. She did a great job! Later on for her night time feeding she did it again, took all 8mls in the bottle. So far, her stomach seems to be handling this very well and hopefully tomorrow her feedings will increase. The bleeding in her stomach has subsided, so hopefully whatever that issue was has run it's course. She'll still be on the Pepcid until tomorrow in case it is an ulcer, and by then her tummy should have enough food in it. So, the bleeding has stopped, the bottle feedings went well and we both got to hold Maddie for a decent amount of time today. What a HUGE change from yesterday!
0% yet - should we really expect her to exert energy on a bottle right now? I mean, even before she got sick she'd never had a bottle, so this was her first time doing this and I thought it was too much to ask of her. But, Dr. Kamtorn figured we'd give it a shot since she's only getting 5mls (she needs to work her way back up to a full feeding) and apparently she was ready for it because she did great! The nurses always put a few extra mls in the bottle to account for any spillage or dribbles, so there were 8mls in her bottle and she took it all. I don't know if it was because she was so hungry or what, but she took it very quickly and didn't drip a single drop out of her mouth! So her first 
feeding was supposed to be 5mls, but she actually got 8mls. She did a great job! Later on for her night time feeding she did it again, took all 8mls in the bottle. So far, her stomach seems to be handling this very well and hopefully tomorrow her feedings will increase. The bleeding in her stomach has subsided, so hopefully whatever that issue was has run it's course. She'll still be on the Pepcid until tomorrow in case it is an ulcer, and by then her tummy should have enough food in it. So, the bleeding has stopped, the bottle feedings went well and we both got to hold Maddie for a decent amount of time today. What a HUGE change from yesterday!
Melia continues to do excellent! She maintaining her body temperature completely on her own now. She's still on nasal cannula, but the air pressure has been lowered from 3 liters to 2 liters because it seems that she's getting better with her breathing, not having had any apnea/bradycardia episodes at all in the past few days. Once they feel that's she comfortable on 2 liters of pressure, she'll be dropped down to 1 liter and then before we know it, she'll be off it all together! She does need a little boost in her oxygen when she's eating, but that's to be expected at this stage. Her feedings have increased to 35mls every 3 hours and she's tolerating this very well so far. She took 22mls of her morning feeding by bottle and took the entire feeding by bottle tonight. She's been awake and alert so often lately, it's so great. It makes our visits so much fun. She came close to sliming me again tonight. She decided to pee and poop as I was changing her diaper. I'm on to her games now, so I was prepared and managed to not allow it to make a mess. I swear this child knows when it's me changing her because she doesn't do this to her father! We managed to get another quick picture of the girls together again today. Not only do the look alike, but they have the same habits already - my girls - catching flies. :-)
