Baby steps

I'm back!  I had been typing up my posts while Troy drove back to the house each night, but I drove myself last night, as Troy was back to work.  I was so exhausted last night, I fell asleep before I had a chance to update.

It's been a really good day!  Keragan is up to 4 lbs 15 oz, which is exactly a pound more than she was when we got here 11 days ago!  She should reach 5 lbs tomorrow, which is crazy. She seems so big to me now, until I see another baby come in who was born at 9 lbs.  Then she looks tiny again.  All of her weight has been in her cheeks, I think!  She's only grown an inch since she was born, so we're just fattening her up at this point.

Another big step, she was taken off of scheduled feedings and moved to "ad lib" feedings.  Basically, we don't wake her up anymore, just allow her to eat when she's ready for it, and as much as she wants to eat.  I was a bit worried about it, as she seems to sleep through half of her feedings already, but I had no reason to be worried.  She took all three feedings since the change like a champ... she's required to take 41 mL, and she took way more than that each time.  One time she even emptied the 60 mL bottle!  I think she would've eaten more if the bottle had been bigger.  She did so well that they're planning on taking out the feeding tube tomorrow, as long as she doesn't have any major issues tonight.

Despite all of the "big steps," we can't seem to get past the biggest hurdle of her consistently breathing and her heart beating on their own.  We have to go 7 days without an episode, and she's averaging 2-3 per day right now.  Some days are better than others, but we've rarely had a day with no episodes.  So the thought of 7 whole days seems impossible.  But we'll keep on praying, and when she's ready to come home, she'll stop having episodes, I guess! 

I'll post some pictures later tonight... I can't believe how different she looks from last week!