Today, December 4, is the day that I was meant to deliver Briella if we hadn't rescheduled the cesarean to last week. Instead, we have a healthy 8 day old who is doing better and better every day.
Briella is improving with oral feedings. Two days ago, she had her first bottle from the Haberman feeder. She didn't take very much but it was a start. Yesterday, I had some frustrations with the hospital/nurses because despite the afternoon shift nurses telling me that they would be consistently giving Briella oral feeds throughout the day, the nurse who was on duty yesterday at lunch told me that they hadn't been doing that.
There are two "visiting times" at the hospital - the first is at 12-1pm, the second is at 3-8pm. Parents are not allowed in the hospital outside of those times. Because of the way Briella's feedings are staggered, if I want to be there for a feed, I need to be there either at 4-5pm, or at 7-8pm. Neither of those times are ideal for me when I consider the schedules of Lana and Maddy (I either miss dinner time or bed time), but I think it is important so I'm trying to be there for at least one bottle every day.
After yesterday's frustrations, I went back up to the hospital in the evening ready for a bit of a fight - however the nurses who were on duty at that time were very supportive of our efforts in oral feeding so it wasn't much of a fight after all! I managed to feed her a bit, however she was very sleepy and didn't take more than about 10-15mL.
Today, the nurses have been more consistently giving Briella oral feeds regularly throughout the day and when I went to give her the bottle this afternoon, I noticed a huge improvement! She now is actively sucking and swallowing, and it was much easier to get her to take 30mL even though she was very sleepy.
I spoke with the doctors today (which hasn't happened very much - I seem to always miss the doctors rounds!) and they were very positive. I asked if we could try 100% oral feedings for 24 hours the next time that the feeding tube comes out and they said they would try that. We did that with Maddy and the first attempt was not successful (she was not drinking enough and after 24 hours they needed to replace the tube) but the second attempt was successful. Also, the doctors said that we should expect Briella to be home within one to two weeks!!
If all continues to go well, they will move her out of NICU soon and into the special care ward - and from there it is only a short step from being home with us. I'm so happy that she has done so well and is so healthy - here's hoping that she continues to get better at oral feeding and she will be home in no time at all!!
(attempting to get a photo of my sleepy girl with her eyes open!)
Briella pictures was touched my heart. She was so cute,innocent and expect love. I know Briella will get the best love from both of you. Although I was away i will support you and your family even if only in the form of a few sentences. I am also very happy to read Briella good progress every day. Hopefully she can return home as soon as possible.
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