Eleanor Update April 7

Thats my Tia...she is new to me

Eleanor took a break from writing yesterday but she is back at it tonight.


Yesterday was a big day. She had her first visit from her Tia Mari.  Eleanor gave her a squeeze of the finger and a wonderful look with her eyes wide open. They bonded.

AHHH Stretch

Yesterday Eleanor also started a different feeding schedule. She is feeding 23ml every three hours. The Docs started feeding her by gravity instead of the machine. They put 23 ml in a tube, connect it to her feeding tube, hold it above her head, and let gravity take it down. It fills her tummy faster and it simulates a natural feeding with mama.  


Last night Emily and I were visiting and Eleanor was moving all about. She would start off laying in her bed normally and as our visit went on she managed to wiggle herself 90 degrees from her original position. Her head was towards the side of her bed. She did this twice while we were there. She is strong. These wiggles are a mix of dramatic stretches and lifting of her body with her upper back and legs.


It is so hard to leave her.

I LOVE DADDY

Today MaMare and Emily went at the lunch visit. Eleanor was doing well, but she did loose one ounce (2lb 4 ounces).  The Docs want her to gain weight so they added a calorie fortifier to the breast milk which will give her about 7 more calories than just the milk which has about 20, total: 27. They will use the calorie fortifier with all her feedings.


Eleanor has tolerated all the increases in her milk, and the doc said weight gain may take a few days. Babies who have growth restriction inside mama have a tendency to grow slower than baby's without growth restrictions. The docs are not overly concerned about it.

Me and Daddy

Tonight was my turn to hold her.  I did not kangaroo her, but I held her as she was wrapped in her blanket. We took some wonderful pictures together! It seemed as if she figured out her eyes, she was able to open them wide, look around, and keep them open the longest they have been open. She was able to look at mama and follow her movements.
Just awesome!!

Eyes Open

As I was holding her the nurse came over and started the feeding. I held Eleanor and the syringe of milk. Our first Eleanor - Daddy dinner!!  It was a wonderful bonding experience for us.  A few seconds later we had another wonderful bonding experience as she vomited on Daddy. It turns out her little tummy was not quite ready for the gravity feedings and we went back to the continuous feeding machine.  


She gets a continuous feeding of 16ml for the first hour and then 7 ml over the next 30 min she then eats again 3 hours after she starts.


MaMare and I were talking and we have to remember that she is doing well, but she is still developing and she was not due to be born until the end of May. We all want so badly for her to do well - and she is, but we need to be patient. We are on Eleanor's schedule not our's or the docs'.  The feeding was a perfect example.  She told us, "Hey that's too much milk too fast." It is a day to day process and she may be in the hospital for a month more. However, she is breathing on her own and needs no iv.  All Great!   We see other families in the NICU and we can tell that Eleanor is doing well.  Eleanor is blessed.

sleep

One more pic for fun:


-Robert