Day 19- Woohoo for bottle/breast feeding!!

The car seat & stroller, complete w/ creepy baby doll

Baby taking bottle like a champ!

It did tire her out though : )

Yay for Avery Grace!!

That's right folks, our girl did awesome yesterday! All prayers more than answered... I am so grateful, so thankful, so humbled by God's grace. I'm abundantly happy that we chose that as Avery's middle name. It is fitting for our little one. This day was such a blur, I didn't really have a chance to document everything as I usually do. However, this is what I got:

• She had no more than 3 cc's residual all day/night. Mostly she had 1-2, which is great. We are still at 32 cc's + calories. 
• She's pooping every other diaper change, if not every one. So happy this is still happening! God is working in that girl's tummy and we love it!
• We tried the bottle at 11:30 and right away I asked what to expect so I wasn't too shocked by whatever was about to happen. Nita (one of my other favorite nurses, she is SO helpful and sweet!) said that usually the babies take about 5 cc's and then fall asleep, and not to expect too much from AG today since it was her first run. Well, this little one took 10 cc's and loved every minute!! We were so surprised and Mama was over the moon happy!! She slept really well after this.
• We tried breast feeding at 8:30, but since I am producing so much milk (6-8 oz every time I pump) by time I was ready for her to try to latch on, my "girls" were so full, it was difficult for Avery to latch on. We tried a couple of things and finally she did latch on with the help of a nipple shield and sucked for about 5-6 minutes. She got some good milk in that time! But I did notice that she tired faster with this. I'm still undecided about whether I will directly breastfeed or pump and then feed in a bottle... I have a meeting with a lactation nurse at 11:30 today (the 5th) and I have a lot of questions that will hopefully be answered. i just want to make the best and healthiest decisions for Avery. Overall, everyone was super happy about how she did for the first time trying. 
• They also added a vitamin into her feeding tube once a day that is green and smells gross.This is important because she needs extra iron that isn't available exclusively in breast milk.
• She weighed basically the same as she did last night, which is GREAT! They told us to expect her to lose a lot more since she was exuding more calories in feeding and being outside of the isolette more. So to hear she didn't really lose anything was such a great surprise. Still 3 lbs 11 oz!!
• I got the lowdown on RSV. It is basically a cold (to regular people) but since Avery is a preemie and basically has no immune system, this upper respiratory infection could literally hospitalize and seriously threaten her life. RSV season is from October-April and the nurses said that during these months for the next 2 years, we would have to be very careful about taking her to public places. She will also have to get a shot every 28 days, starting when she's 2 months old, and continuing until.....(I forget) but that will help her ward off this infection. That means no daycare!! (I guess my prayers were answered in that regard, as I really didn't want her in daycare until she was older anyway) But we will have to be EXTRA careful about washing our hands, her things, who she is around, etc. I can already tell you my OCD in this regard is in high-gear. Thank you to everyone who respects this! I promise everyone will get their cuddle time soon enough. 
• The nurse she has today (the 5th) said that after babies "get going" on their feedings by mouth, generally they "graduate" from the NICU pretty quickly.... what a fantastic way to start the day! Let's hear it for being home by Thanksgiving??

I am so very thankful for all the Lord has done for Avery. Can't you see His hands working in her progress every day? All your prayers are being heard, and I thank you for them. I was able to breathe easy yesterday after she took her bottle, knowing that our prayer warriors were sending up prayers for her to do well... and she did!! Avery continues to defy what people expect of her, and I know this is solely due to God's grace and power. There is a new baby in the NICU, I think born yesterday? And as CJ and I listened to the nurses talking to his parents, we heard almost the same things we heard when Avery was first born. I can literally feel their anxiety from across the room. If we could pray for this little baby, that Jesus would lay healing hands on him to quickly progress so that his parents can hold him, and for the little girl I mentioned a couple days ago, as I think she continues to have problems breathing. Also there is a little boy who is almost ready to go home, but he keeps having Brady episodes that prevent that from happening. These kiddos need prayers just like our sweet Gracie does... I feel so incredibly blessed that AG is doing well, but I remember so vividly what living touch time to touch time was like. It's like you can't even breathe b/c you're waiting for the nurse to tell you bad news. Thank you very much!! 

So I'm going in about 20 min to try breast feeding again... if you could please pray that this goes well today and little baby girl latches well and takes my milk, I would really appreciate it! God is good, today and everyday. I praise him for His blessings! Also that she keeps up the poop/pee and that all my milk is absorbed into her body so that she remains healthy and gains weight. 

Hope everyone has a great weekend! xoxo