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| Aunt Jessie loves her some Baby! |
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| My girl is getting so big! |
It's almost her 4 week birthday! Wow, how time really does fly. Avery had some ups and downs today, but we are steadily learning to roll with the punches. The "downs" really aren't that down at all, but I tend to view every thing that doesn't go perfectly as, ya know, the end of the world, so emotionally speaking, I am drained. But I promise, its getting easier. A tiny bit. The rollercoaster that is the NICU, I mean. I know in the back of my head that speaking from a historical standpoint from our time in the NICU thus far, things tend to right themselves for Avery very quickly. If she had a large residual one touch time, the next one is virtually nothing. If she doesn't take all of her bottle at one feeding, she will suck it down with a vengence the next time. In keeping with this mentality, its been a little easier to weather the storm of setbacks. I also always keep in mind that God will never give us more than we can handle. I truly believe this with all my heart and lean on this promise when it feels like I am more overwhelmed than words can describe. Some things about Avery from Saturday:
- She only took 32 of 40 cc's of her bottle in the morning. Mom was very frustrated, not with her, but at the situation. I just want my baby to eat. I want her to progress. I want everything to fall into place so perfectly so that she is home safe and sound with us like, yesterday. So as I said, the small things tend to cloud my view of how many other AWESOME things have happened for her. Like her weight gain. And getting her big girl bed, and that she is up to 4 bottles a day. Like that she is healthy and pooping and a perfect little baby. All these victories are huge, in their own right. Who was I to diminish these things she has accomplished b/c she might be too tired a couple times to finish a bottle? I felt terrible when I thought about this. And I quickly resolved to only focus on the positive. I promised I would stick with her however long she felt like staying in the NICU, and yet I was getting upset that she wasn't moving fast enough. Hello, impatient Cortney. And another lesson my daughter is teaching me! I need patience. Definitely for when this little one comes home! I think God is preparing me now. And I am so thankful for that! She had 1 cc of residual.
- The next bottle feeding, she ended up taking the whole thing in 25 min! She also pooped : ) As I mentioned in previous post, they did a sono of her bladder/kidneys after she ate.
- She had a 6 cc residual at 5:30 that was mostly her vitamin. This is more than normal, but they don't take notice of it really unless its 30% of her intake. They just re-fed this to her and kept an eye on the next time.
- Baby Girl had a major diaper before we weighed her, and therefore has an official weight of 1905 grams or 4 lbs, 3 oz!! Yay!!!!! She looked like a chunky baby face tonight, and that is the coolest feeling. I can't wait till she gets even bigger and fatter : ) She also took her whole bottle in 13 min!!! She had less than 1 cc of residual. I got to hold her for about an hour after she ate, and it was one of the most peaceful times of my life that I can remember. We prayed and kissed and nuzzled. She is the most precious baby, and I can't believe that God let me borrow her. That in and of itself is the biggest blessing of my entire life.
- She also took her whole bottle at 2:30 AM in 20-25 min : )
- The nurse actually said, "We only have about 13 bottles of your milk left, so next week sometime, you'll probably have to bring some up". Holy Canoli! That's some progress in eating! We thought for sure we'd get sent home with breastmilk. This was good news though, and we have more than enough to accommodate our new hungry baby.
She is getting so big and cute. I am very happy that Aunt Jessie was able to come and visit with her! She doesn't get too many new visitors and she definitely knew that Jessica was a new face and voice. She was following her with her eyes a lot, which was awesome. I can't wait till she comes home and can meet all the wonderful people she has in her life. We are truly blessed with an abundance of loving individuals that I'm so grateful will be integral parts of Avery life. She is one LUCKY girl, I can tell you that with complete assurance.
That's about all for today. She is such a fighter, and I see that character trait more and more in her as the days go on. I'm such a proud Mom in that respect. Well, in all respects really, who are we kidding??
Update: Writing from the future here : ) Just wanted to let everyone know that AG's sono turned out fine. The doc was able to show me her films and explain what he thought the issue was. I think the first problem was the dang nurse! She told me Avery had fluid in her pelvic area and that's about all. That could obviously mean a plethora of things, all of which danced wildly in my head! In reality, the doctor thinks her left kidney that had "a small amount of fluid" in it was just urine that hadn't been let out yet, as she did have a full bladder, and caused it to be larger than "normal". It was really just a tiny bit bigger than the normal range. He said if it was something more serious, her kidney would have been dialated. He wants us to follow up with a repeat sonogram with her pediatrician in a month. Praise the Lord!!! I wasn't able to go to church today, which I hate! But I have been praising him all day. I thank Him so overwhelmingly for delivering a sweet, healthy baby to us and for healing whatever might have been wrong in her. I am so humbled and grateful to God for helping Avery be a perfect, beautiful child that just needs to gain a little more weight and keep eating! I can't believe how close we are to being home-free. Again, I'm trying to not get my hopes up. But a nurse mentioned getting my carseat ready today, and I about died. Much prayer needed that Avery continues to take all her bottles in full in under 30 minutes without spit up and that she does not Brady anymore. This will set us back 5 days at a time if she has one (which she did again today). I would so LOVE if you all could pray that with me! God has continued to be faithful and merciful to our baby, listening to and answering our prayers in the best possible ways. We are undeserving of his awesome power, but we thank Him for it and glorify His name because He continues to show us how in control He is.
Thank you for all your prayers and love! Stay tuned for the big 4 week pictures! xox
That's about all for today. She is such a fighter, and I see that character trait more and more in her as the days go on. I'm such a proud Mom in that respect. Well, in all respects really, who are we kidding??
Update: Writing from the future here : ) Just wanted to let everyone know that AG's sono turned out fine. The doc was able to show me her films and explain what he thought the issue was. I think the first problem was the dang nurse! She told me Avery had fluid in her pelvic area and that's about all. That could obviously mean a plethora of things, all of which danced wildly in my head! In reality, the doctor thinks her left kidney that had "a small amount of fluid" in it was just urine that hadn't been let out yet, as she did have a full bladder, and caused it to be larger than "normal". It was really just a tiny bit bigger than the normal range. He said if it was something more serious, her kidney would have been dialated. He wants us to follow up with a repeat sonogram with her pediatrician in a month. Praise the Lord!!! I wasn't able to go to church today, which I hate! But I have been praising him all day. I thank Him so overwhelmingly for delivering a sweet, healthy baby to us and for healing whatever might have been wrong in her. I am so humbled and grateful to God for helping Avery be a perfect, beautiful child that just needs to gain a little more weight and keep eating! I can't believe how close we are to being home-free. Again, I'm trying to not get my hopes up. But a nurse mentioned getting my carseat ready today, and I about died. Much prayer needed that Avery continues to take all her bottles in full in under 30 minutes without spit up and that she does not Brady anymore. This will set us back 5 days at a time if she has one (which she did again today). I would so LOVE if you all could pray that with me! God has continued to be faithful and merciful to our baby, listening to and answering our prayers in the best possible ways. We are undeserving of his awesome power, but we thank Him for it and glorify His name because He continues to show us how in control He is.
Thank you for all your prayers and love! Stay tuned for the big 4 week pictures! xox
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