Day of Life: 53 & 54
Saturday
I got up early this morning to get to the hospital for Tera's 8:30 bottle. My friends, Allison and Amanda, were meeting me there to see Tera for the first time. Allison was waiting in the lobby when I first arrived. She had a gift for us, a preemie cloth diaper covered in owls! We were Chi-O's together at Birmingham-Southern, and the Owl is our mascot (Hootie Hoot!). As soon as I'm able, I'll be putting this on her for a photo shoot.
Amanda arrived soon after, and they both got to watch me give Tera her bottle. Last night, her nurse used a regular nipple (instead of the Slow Flow that we've been using) and reported that Tera drank from it with no problem. In days past, Tera has had trouble with this size, I think because it was pouring out too quickly for her. I used the regular nipple this time with the same results as last night. Tera drank all 35cc in less than 15 minutes, and even had some energy left to stare around the room for awhile.
I continued to hold her while Allison, Amanda, and I caught up on old times. We were only there an hour before we all had places to be. Both Allison and Amanda had to relieve their husbands from Baby Duty, and I was headed to a baby shower for another Amanda friend. There, I caught up with even more Chi-O's. Many of them have been keeping up with Tera through the blog and have been so impressed with her fight. I have to admit, she truly is amazing! I even met a friend-of-a-friend who knows all about Tera and has been praying for us for weeks. It's a strange thing to be in a crowd of people that I haven't seen in almost a decade, knowing that they know pretty much everything about me but I know next to nothing about what's been going on with them. I tried my darndest to get caught up, but the conversation usually tilted back to Tera. Not sure if it was my doing or not (probably so). To all of my friends reading this now, I really do care about what's happening in your lives, and I hope to hear all about it soon.
After the shower, I went back to Lydia's where I took a much needed nap. Canon had been with our friend, Emily, all morning. She had taken him to play with some children in town (apparently, they have an amazing backyard), so Barry had the morning off to do what he wanted. Among other things, he took my car to get cleaned - inside and out. Emily brought Canon back while I was asleep, so Barry laid him down for a short nap so that I wouldn't be disturbed. When Canon woke up, Barry took him to play in the park so that I could go get a little bit more time with Tera.
One thing I have been meaning to tell you about is her birthmark. At least, we assume it's a birthmark. I noticed it in maybe the second or third week we were here. I'm not a very observant person, so it's highly possible that she's had this mark the whole time, and I just missed it. I'll have to go back and really study her pictures. A few days ago, her nurse tried to get a close look to determine exactly what it is. From a distance, it looks like a scratch or possibly a mole. I've been too scared to touch it on the chance that it is an open wound, and I don't want to unintentionally infect her with germs. The nurse examined it (with gloves on) and reported that it's not raised nor scabbed, so it must be a birthmark.
Tera is still doing amazingly well. She gained another ounce last night (I reported this yesterday actually) and is at 2044 grams, or 4 pounds 8 ounces. Her oxygen needs are still the same at 23%. She did have one bradie today. It happened when I wasn't there, and when the nurse ran in to check on her, she found her curled up at the bottom of her bed. She's such a squirmer, or Scooter, as one of the nurses once referred to her as. It's still too early to tell how she will react to not being on any medication, and to determine if she is able to gain weight without the double fortifier. The docs increased her feeds to 37cc, so that should help.
She looks strong to me.
Barry and Canon came by after playing at the park. One of the things I was really worried about when I was pregnant was how Canon would transition into being a big brother. This is yet another positive outcome from this experience. Canon has been able to slowly fall in love with Tera instead of being forced to love her just because she lives with us. Since she was born, he has gone from just being able to say her name to actually wanting to come see her. He already knows to be careful around her (because we freak out on him anytime he gets close to her bed), and he knows that she is an important person in our family. Over the last two months, we've been able to talk about her and go see her when we want to, but also show him lots of one-on-one attention. I'm hoping that by the time we get home, he'll be so used to her being talked about and visited, that it won't be that big of a deal to have her living in his house.
Now, if we can just get him out of his crib.
Sunday
My midnight call to the nurse last night reminded me that medicine has been assisting Tera in her fight from prematurity to maturity. The nurse reported that she had not gained any weight (but she hasn't lost any either!), and she has been de-satting a lot (but her oxygen is still as low as it has been!). She told me not to be surprised if Tera ends up going back on the Aminophylin. Most babies born as early as Tera do go on and off the medicine at least once before their tiny bodies adjust to doing everything on their own. "It's not a setback," she assured me. She said, though, that Tera really is doing great and that I needn't worry. To be honest, I'm not so much worried as I am just realizing how important these medications really are. I've been leaning on the fact that Tera hasn't been on many heavy-duty machines (only the ventilator for only a week) and hadn't needed any surgeries (like for her PDA), but I had neglected to realize the important role the Aminophylin and the extra calories were playing in her steady progress. We're about to see what she's really made of.
We went to early church with Sae and Leslie this morning, then breakfast/lunch at Cracker Barrel. Canon took a nap almost as soon as we got home (he had a late night after dinner with Barry, myself, Lydia and Christian and didn't get to bed until almost 11:00). Barry and I also rested for awhile before he decided it was time to go. I've been trying to encourage Barry to spend some extra time with Tera when he can. He's always taking care of Canon so that I can visit her, but I'm realizing how important it is that he get to spend plenty of time with her, too. I just want him to be convinced of how great she's doing. He is always reassuring me that he knows how great she is, but I still want him to be there. Luckily, he actually wants to be there. After leaving Canon and I at Lydia's, he spent about an hour at the hospital with Tera before going back to Dothan. He took lots of pictures of her like a good Daddy does.
Once Canon awoke from his nap, we also went to the hospital for a quick visit. It only lasted about thirty minutes, but it was worth it. Canon mostly watched Thomas the Train on my iPhone, but it was enough to keep him occupied so that I could reach in and rub my daughter's head for a few minutes. Her nurse reported that she had had very few de-sats throughout the day and had taken her bottle very well again. Now, if she'll just start being a little more alert during meal time, we can start giving her more than just one bottle per shift. Hopefully, that will begin to happen soon. It all depends on Tera.
When Amanda visited yesterday, she left a gift for Tera. Canon helped me open it, and we found a beautiful pink blanket. Canon grabbed it and ran it over to Tera's bed. He had seen the blankets that I have been putting over her Isolette, and he wanted to replace the one that was there today with this new one.
I think it was a good decision. She'll get plenty of rest under this!
After our much-too-short visit, we took a much needed trip to the grocery store before starting our normal night time routine at Lydia's. Canon's teachers suggested last week that Canon might be sleeping too late in the mornings because he hasn't been good about taking his naps in the afternoon. I have to admit this is all my fault. I kept him up later than usual and, when he didn't wake me up in the mornings, I took an extra hour or so to catch up on some sleep before waking him up as well. But this week, we're going to be back on our regular schedule. He was in bed before 8:00, and my plan is to get there before 10:30. We'll see!
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