When I called in to check on Tera last night, I got some very exciting news. The nurse had given her the second bottle of the day, and Tera drank the entire thing in 15 minutes! She kept Tera in the bed during the feeding, cranking it up to a more elevated position, and Tera just sucked away. The nurse said she did a great job, and I was thrilled for her. She also reported that Tera's weight had gone down a few grams. Not that we were expecting this, but it definitely isn't a surprise. Yesterday was kind of a rough day for Tera, what with taking her first bottle and getting the eye exam. It's not surprising that she burned a few extra calories. Not to mention the fact that the night before, she had a record-breaking weight gain, so at this point, nobody's worried about the loss of a few measley grams. She weighs 1775 grams, 3 pounds 15 ounces.
I arrived about an hour before Tera's meal time, hoping that I would be able to give her a bottle at the 11:30 feeding. The nurse told me when I came in that the Speech Therapist had already been called and was making plans to be here at that time to give me some instructions and feedback on my feeding technique. MyGoo and Doc made it in time to enjoy our little bottle-drinking phenom as well. When the Speech Therapist came in, she began making preparations for the meal. She dimmed the lights, and we all began talking in softer tones. This is important for keeping stimulation at a minimum so that baby can concentrate whole-heartedly on her suck-swallow-breathe routine. The nurse got her all bundled up and in my arms.
I asked the Speech Therapist about a Sideline hold that my sister-in-law told me about. I had tried it the day before but, because of all the extra equipment, I wasn't quite able to balance her on her side. The Speech Therapist held the oxygen for me today so that I had more arm strength to keep her tilted sideways. We started off with a pacifier to get Tera "organized." She had been deep asleep when we got her out of her bed, but she needed to be more alert to be able to eat efficiently from the bottle. The pacifier helped get Tera's sucking motions in motion, and it also woke her up a bit.
Once we were convinced she was alert and ready, I took the bottle and stimulated her lips to test whether or not she was ready for it. She was, and the bottle slid into her mouth naturally.
For the next half hour, I sat once again amazed at how well this too-tiny child was able to accommodate all of these new requirements at one time. Doc moved about the room taking our pictures, and MyGoo sat quietly and seemingly as amazed as I was. The Speech Therapist stayed with me and gave me pointers as to what to look for when Tera seems stressed and how to handle it when she is. After about 25 minutes, Tera showed signs of tiring out. The Speech Therapist explained that it was ok to continue feeding her when her eyes are closed as long as she is engaged - still sucking, swallowing, and breathing. At about the half hour mark, Tera disengaged. She wouldn't open her mouth to accept the bottle.
She had taken 13cc, and we were all very proud. We talked about focusing on the quality of the feed and not on the amount she actually took in. Even though she drank an entire bottle last night with seemingly no effort, it is no reason to be discouraged by the amount she drank today. Tera had shown us that she is developing the necessary steps for gaining oral nutrition, and she is doing it several days sooner than any of us thought she would.
I tried to hold her while she got the rest in her feeding tube, but her de-sats became increasingly severe, and the nurse and I decided she might be more comfortable in her bed. MyGoo, Doc, and I decided to go have lunch ourselves, so we walked down the block for a quick bite. When we returned, we spent some more time talking and looking at Tera before it was time for them to head back home. Now that Tera is drinking from a bottle, which means that I have more opportunities to engage with her, we also made some tentative plans for Canon to spend a couple of days with them in the coming weeks. He will also spend a few days with Nonna and Poppa next week. This will free me up to have additional feeding times with Tera while not completely neglecting Canon for weeks at a time. The balancing act continues.
Shortly after they left, Tera had scooted herself into an awkward position, as she often does. The nurse encouraged me to help her find a comfortable spot. I first tried her on her side and wrapped this bumper around her.
It looked pretty comfortable to me, but within seconds of me walking away, she had kicked the whole thing away and was sprawled on her back. Her de-sats alerted me that she was uncomfortable, so I tried again.
This was actually an attempt to get her on her belly, but she wouldn't let me turn her hips. Those preemies are strong!
I left then to pick up Canon. Barry is coming back into town today, and I wanted us to be back at Lydia's when he got here. Canon had a good day at school and was in good spirits when I picked him up. We're trying to work on him not pushing other children. Anytime another child has a toy he wants or even just sits down beside him, he gets physical with the child and pushes them away. He has gotten in trouble with this in Dothan and now at OLS. I caught him doing it this morning when I dropped him off, and he got a good scolding for it. Not sure if it worked in the long run. When I picked him up, there was an accident report taped to his cubby. Another child had bitten him, and I can't help but wonder if it was because he pushed the child first.
When Barry finally got here, we went to dinner with some friends, then it was off to bed to get some rest for our big day tomorrow. Josh, Mary, Kyle, Mandy, and their boys - Colt and Luke - are driving up from Dothan tonight so that we can take all three kids to see Thomas the Train in Calera! They are all fairly obsessed with this Choo Choo. Barry is certain that Canon will have some kind of seizure from the pure joy of seeing Thomas. During their trip tonight, our friends stopped in Montgomery to get some ice cream. I'm not sure of the details of the story, but Colt ended up with some very bad burns on his hand. Who better to be with when your child burns himself than two doctors? Kyle bandaged him up and got him some meds, and they were finally on their way to Birmingham again. We had hoped to see them tonight, but as we have all learned, some things just don't work out as we expect. They will come to the hospital tomorrow to meet Tera, then we'll all head to Calera for some Choo Choo fun. I can't wait to see the look on Canon's face.
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