Eleanor's birthday gift to Mommy is .... 3 pounds 10 ounces!! Best gift ever!
-Robert
Monday, May 23, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
May 19, 2011
Eleanor has reached 3 pounds and 7 ounces!!! She is now one pound bigger than her birth weight! She is gaining slowly, but steadily and that makes us happy! She had her monthly measurements taken today. Eleanor is now 16.5 inches long (born 12 3/4") and her head is now 11 inches in diameter (up from 9.5")!
Eleanor has gotten better with breast feeding and we are starting to use the bottle less. The doctors say this should help with her reflux.
The nicu's March of Dimes volunteer, Evelyn, is starting to work on a new campaign that will promote fathers holding their babies skin to skin. She asked if she could use a photo of Robert kangarooing with Eleanor for an island-wide released poster. We are happy to support the March of Dimes so Robert and Eleanor may be the poster daddy/daughter for Puerto Rico! We'll let everyone know if it works out.
Eleanor has gotten better with breast feeding and we are starting to use the bottle less. The doctors say this should help with her reflux.
The nicu's March of Dimes volunteer, Evelyn, is starting to work on a new campaign that will promote fathers holding their babies skin to skin. She asked if she could use a photo of Robert kangarooing with Eleanor for an island-wide released poster. We are happy to support the March of Dimes so Robert and Eleanor may be the poster daddy/daughter for Puerto Rico! We'll let everyone know if it works out.
All for now,
Emily
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| I almost have it ... |
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| ... Got it! Satisfaction |
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| Mommy |
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| Daddy |
Friday, May 13, 2011
May 13, 2011
We have been doing something a little different in the nicu this week. Eleanor's incubator is now in the only "private room" inside the large nicu room. The doctors asked us if we would stay with Eleanor more often to hold her, talk to her, and feed her. We have gone from only being able to visit her at 12-2 and 6-8 to having the nicu open to us at all hours. The doctors agree that this will help her to gain weight.
It is working! Since Tuesday we have spent most of the day with her and she has gained an ounce a day!!! This is exactly what she needs. She sleeps better and longer and she is sucking/feeding better with less reflux! We are so happy. Today she weighs 3 lbs. and 5 oz. She gained 37 grams overnight! She looks bigger! We are thrilled!
It is working! Since Tuesday we have spent most of the day with her and she has gained an ounce a day!!! This is exactly what she needs. She sleeps better and longer and she is sucking/feeding better with less reflux! We are so happy. Today she weighs 3 lbs. and 5 oz. She gained 37 grams overnight! She looks bigger! We are thrilled!
Please pray for all the other babies in the nicu.. one in particular who needs all of your prayers right now.
Emily & Robert
Sunday, May 8, 2011
May 8, 2011
Eleanor is continuing to grow. She is 3 lbs - 2 oz. (1425 grams). She is however, extremely slow to grow so the doctors are now letting her take as much breast milk as she likes. They fill her bottle and we let her go. She has been taking 45 ml at most of her feedings.
We are happy that she is taking more milk and growing, but she has a serious reflux issue. She will vomit, stop breathing and turn blue at any moment - without warning. It scares us so much because the doctors say this is common in all preemies and that she can have this issue for the first six months to three years of her life. We are taking a special preemie CPR class soon. We will have to watch her constantly and know how react and to get her to breathe again all on our own. We can also try to limit the episodes by the way we hold her. She will need to lay at a forty-five degree angle when she sleeps and she needs to be held upright for at least thirty minutes after feeding. I am hoping that when Eleanor is discharged from the nicu, we will be sent home with an oxygen saturation monitor. The doctors say we will get really good at reacting and eventually she will out grow it. ...
We are happy that she is taking more milk and growing, but she has a serious reflux issue. She will vomit, stop breathing and turn blue at any moment - without warning. It scares us so much because the doctors say this is common in all preemies and that she can have this issue for the first six months to three years of her life. We are taking a special preemie CPR class soon. We will have to watch her constantly and know how react and to get her to breathe again all on our own. We can also try to limit the episodes by the way we hold her. She will need to lay at a forty-five degree angle when she sleeps and she needs to be held upright for at least thirty minutes after feeding. I am hoping that when Eleanor is discharged from the nicu, we will be sent home with an oxygen saturation monitor. The doctors say we will get really good at reacting and eventually she will out grow it. ...
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| I look just like Daddy |
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| Sweet Love |
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| I love being in Daddy's arms |
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| Mommy feeding me |
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| Cute shot... she makes us laugh |
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
May 4, 2011
Eleanor is still 3 lbs 1 oz. She gained two grams (1392). The docs are actually really happy! She is not loosing any weight during her transition to breast and bottle feeding. We are happy too!
I had my first time to bottle feed Eleanor. We both loved it.
That is really all the news for today.
I had my first time to bottle feed Eleanor. We both loved it.
That is really all the news for today.
Trying to get a video to load for this post. Will get it up soon.
-Robert
May 3, 2011
No more feeding tube! Robert and I arrived a little bit late to the nicu Monday afternoon and much to our surprise, Eleanor was (being held in a sitting position in her incubator) being fed by one of the nurses with a Bottle!!! We were so happy! She told us that the whole nicu was waiting for us, but that she decided to just go ahead with the feeding. The doctor determined that she is now ready to eat by bottle and by breast feeding. This is a gigantic step in her progression!! She is doing great with the bottle and is doing pretty well breast feeding too. A few of the other nurses came by to congratulate her on her success. She is currently 3 lbs and 1 oz.
One of the doctors told me that because Eleanor does not have a respiratory problem and her only issue now is her size, she thinks that I should stay past the end of visiting hours to kangaroo and feed her. Holding Eleanor longer will be beneficial for her. I am not sure if the other doctors will agree, but at least I know that I can stay longer on the days that that particular doctor is in the nicu. Today, I stayed one hour past visiting hours.
Eleanor also had her first of a series of eye exams late this evening. They are looking for a condition common in preemies in which the ventricles in the eyeball grow too fast and irregularly. This can cause retinal detachment that leads to blindness. The doctor told us that this is caused by a disease and is usually found in preemies who are sick and on oxygen for a very long time. We are not concerned about the condition of her eyes, but we will feel better after having the ophthalmologist's report. Eleanor's next exam will be for her hearing. We know that her eyes and ears are working now because every time we take a picture her eyes are bothered by the light and when a nurse slams a cabinet door she jumps at the sound.
Also, her Step One screening came back negative for all fifty disorders!
-Emily
One of the doctors told me that because Eleanor does not have a respiratory problem and her only issue now is her size, she thinks that I should stay past the end of visiting hours to kangaroo and feed her. Holding Eleanor longer will be beneficial for her. I am not sure if the other doctors will agree, but at least I know that I can stay longer on the days that that particular doctor is in the nicu. Today, I stayed one hour past visiting hours.
Eleanor also had her first of a series of eye exams late this evening. They are looking for a condition common in preemies in which the ventricles in the eyeball grow too fast and irregularly. This can cause retinal detachment that leads to blindness. The doctor told us that this is caused by a disease and is usually found in preemies who are sick and on oxygen for a very long time. We are not concerned about the condition of her eyes, but we will feel better after having the ophthalmologist's report. Eleanor's next exam will be for her hearing. We know that her eyes and ears are working now because every time we take a picture her eyes are bothered by the light and when a nurse slams a cabinet door she jumps at the sound.
Also, her Step One screening came back negative for all fifty disorders!
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| Bottle Feeding in my green cap from March of Dimes. Thanks! |
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| Here I am in my hat from my Great Aunt Lynne. |
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| Daddy calls this my Elf picture. No feeding tube! |
-Emily
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