And the Snowball Rolls On....

We're not so sure what we're going to do if things continue to go this way other than run down the street flailing our arms about squealing for joy.  We know it's probably not wise to get so excited, but whatever.  

Preface:  

Before we get started, there is a poll up for naming Karsie's new belly.  We just couldn't make a decision because they were all so good, so we put up a poll and will let you all decide.  At noon on Saturday we will take the highest voted name and that will be what we call it.  We decided since Bob was the first name given to it, and us being all about gender equality, we would put up girl names (or references) to vote on.  However, even though we could only put up five, we absolutely loved the other names too!  You guys are so creative!  We'll make a special post dedicated to all the names submitted because they were so great!

Chapter 1:  Bottle Feeding

What could have been a struggle ended up a triumph of gluttony.  She INHALED her food and did wonderfully on it.  She did so well that what was supposed to be one feed a day starting today was immediately increased to two feeds today and further increased to three tomorrow.

Chapter 2:  More Feeding

She is up to 11mL and hour and 5mL TPN.  Starting tomorrow they will go up 1mL a day instead of .5 so she will be getting more feeds faster.  At this rate, she will be where she needs to be within a matter of days, and then they will start to try and bulk her feedings into 3 hour increments.  Meaning her goal at this point is to get to 16mL an hour breast milk.  Once that happens, the goal is to lump it all together, slowly, to getting 48mL every 3 hours....like a normal baby would.  They are also going to start to try to dry breast feed next week.  

Chapter 3:  Discharge Estimate

Yesterday we had a family conference and Kevin asked if they had an estimate for when she would be able to go home.  The doctor said that she would need to conference with the surgeons, other neonatologists, nurse practitioners, and nurses and get a rough estimate.  It is understood that this estimate is completely dependent on how she continues to progress.  It could go quicker, and it could go slower.  But they did give us an estimate.  Ready?  6-8 weeks!

Chapter 4:  Breathing

They are starting to try and wean her off of her nasal cannula.  The only thing they can wean her on at this point is her flow.  She is currently on 2 liters of oxygen flow.  She will be weaned to 1.5, then 1, and so on.  Our guess is that if she continues to do well, they will just go until she has no flow, which means they take it out.  We'll update you guys on when they start to do this.

Epilogue:  

Prayer request.  While Karsie is doing well, Kevin started to feel very slight signs of getting sick today.  He took off half a day of work to nip it in the bud and rest, but if he continues to feel sick tomorrow after work he will most likely not be coming down this weekend.  We're hoping it's just allergies or rest that is needed.