Wednesday Update: and Happy Anniversary Rob!

Three years ago today, I married the the love of my life. 

He is generous, loving, funny, and dependable and we are so lucky to have him.  We love you, Rob!

Adeline is doing very well and is growing every day.  We are focusing on feeding.  Because she is so young, she is not yet able to suck and swallow in a coordinated manner.  This usually develops around 34 weeks of gestational age, which Adeline will be tomorrow.  Every day, we work on feeding by using a pacifier or breastfeeding while the milk is fed to her through a tube going into her nose and down to her stomach (nasogastric tube)  We have to be careful not to tire her out or make her burn too many calories, so we only practice by-mouth feeding 2-3 times per day. 
Today, Adeline was alert for almost an hour during her 10am feeding, which was a great demonstration of progress.  As she matures, she should be able to stay awake for longer periods of time.

Every day, the nurses increase the amount of milk given to her each feeding (every 3 hours).  Every day, Adeline tolerates the increase and digests all of it. (They check the amount left in her stomach after each feeding, and so far she's never had anything left!) They will keep increasing the amount as tolerated, which will help her continue to grow and gain weight.

Adeline is maintaining her body temperature well, and all of her vital signs continue to be stable.  She doesnt have to reach a "magic number" in weight to go home, but she does have to take all of her nutrition by mouth.  Currently, she is taking all of her nutrition through the tube.  Once she is able to suck and swallow better, the tube feedings will decrease.  Hopefully this will develop within the next week!

I'll leave you with some pictures....
(the nice nurse last night cut a piece of tape in the shape of a heart to hold her tube down.  If she has to have tape on her face, it might as well be cute... right?!)