I woke up this morning thinking about when I needed to go wake up Canon, and then I remembered I didn't get to do that today. Instead, I used the time that I would normally spend with him taking a short (and slow) run. I still haven't gotten back into my old comfortable jogging pace, but I haven't been practicing very much either. I did call Canon's daycare to check on how his first day back was. His teacher told me that he had not cried when Barry dropped him off, and that he was happily sitting in his chair and eating a snack. My heart is singing!
Then, it was off to the hospital to start my day. Tera hadn't made any gains in the weight department. In fact, she lost 5 grams, but I really don't even count those. She's still 5 1/2 pounds (1510 grams). I think I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that Tera's red blood cell count was lower than it should be, but they were holding off on any transfusions in the hopes that Tera would start making her own blood at a fast enough rate. They took her blood twice last week to see if the plan was working. After testing it again last night, we found that slowly but surely, Tera is making her own blood, and it doesn't seem that she will need a transfusion. Isn't it ironic that we have to take blood from her to see if she has enough blood?
Since my discussion with Tera's pediatrician last week, I have taken a new outlook on Tera's journey. I think I wrote then that her pediatrician is a very slow mover - the people here call her "conservative." She doesn't make hasty decisions, and she lets her babies do most of the talking. While I am still excited about the prospect of a crib and our impending discharge from the hospital, I'm making it a point to show Tera's nurses that I'm not trying to rush anything. I want her to stay in The Box as long as she needs to. If it takes two weeks to get all of her vaccinations, then that's how long it takes. I'm adopting the philosophy that slow steps forward are better than fast ones when those fast ones are accompanied by backward steps as well.
Isn't it perfectly fitting, then, that as soon as I adopt this philosophy, Tera starts making giant steps forward. Last night, the nurse reported that she alternated Tera's bottles with the feeding tube, as we normally do. Tera took both bottles not only completely but also quickly and with only minor de-sats. When her day shift nurse got here this morning, she did the same again, sucking down her bottle in about 15 minutes. At 11:30, I was planning on holding her while she took her milk through her tube. Tera had other ideas. She was wide awake and rooting around, trying to find something to suck on. She took another whole bottle! This afternoon, she slowed down a bit - taking only half of her next two bottles - but she was still alert and ready to try when Meal Time approached. Things seem to be starting to click.
Another giant step that Tera is taking is tolerating laying on her back. In weeks past - even days past - Tera would de-sat quite frequently when she was in any other position but on her belly. She might spend a few minutes on her back, but she usually ended up wanting to be turned over. These days, however, she is spending more and more time looking up.
In other excitement, Tera got the Big Bad DTaP today. I was there for the injection, and I was proud at how well she took it. She let out the expected cry when someone pokes you with a needle, but nothing more than that. Oh, please let this response behavior last as long as possible. Even though she didn't seem that upset, the nurse and I both insisted that she needed to be held in order to soothe her from such a traumatic experience. We'll use any excuse!
When the doctors came around, there was talk of adding more HMF (the extra calories) to her milk. She's already on a single packet of it, and she has to be completely off before she can come home. After talking with them about her weight gain (she's gaining about 1/2 pound a week now), they decided instead to just increase her feeds instead of adding extra calories (yay!). She will now get 50cc in each bottle. Though her PDA is still small and not causing any problems, Tera is still considered to be "fluid restricted" to ensure that the PDA doesn't become a problem. The doctors have been slowly but steadily increasing her feeds over the last few days, so hopefully this means they are confident it won't be causing any problems in the future. After reviewing Tera's records, the Neonatologist casually said, "She's looking good. Maybe another week or so." I'm only even writing that as a record that it happened. I am not in any way dependent on that timeline, nor do I truly believe it will even happen. Tera is the boss, and only she can decide when she's ready to go home. I still have a feeling that when she is ready to go home, it's going to be quick and sudden. One day we'll be at the hospital minding our own business, and the next day we'll be on the interstate headed home.
I left the hospital in the early evening and went by myself to see a movie. It's the first one I've seen alone since my Christmas Break, and I was so excited to go. I saw I Am Number Four at the Dollar Theater. It was worth a dollar, but no more than that. When I got back to Lydia's and told her that the most exciting thing about it was the lead character, we started Googling cute celebrities that are our age. You wouldn't believe how old a lot of these people are that I assumed were closer to my age. Paul Walker is almost 38! I'm not saying that 38 is old, just that he wears 38 very well. (Am I still allowed to talk like this, now that I check the "30 with kids" box?) FYI: Celebrities that are my age include, but are not limited to Ryan Gosling, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Channing Tatum. Oh, you wanted to know the girls, too: Jessica Simpson, Venus Williams, and Christina Aguilera.
What About Barry and Canon?
Barry called in the middle of our Hot Celebrity conversation, and he put in his dibs for Pippa, Princess Kate's sister. I wished him luck.
He also sent me this picture of Canon:
Barry didn't have to lay down with him tonight! He cried for a few minutes, but quickly settled down and fell asleep all on his own. You might remember how hot our house was on Easter Sunday. We thought it was due to a window being left open. Barry found out the next day, when the house never got cool, that our air-conditioner is broken. Canon will be sleeping in his diaper until things cool off a bit.
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