July 30th, 2007

Megan does have a crazy sister, Molly, that she has to deal with. For those of you fortunate folks that are not familiar with Molly, that is our 9 month old black lab. As I am writing my blog this morning, she is ripping all of the stuffing out of her bed and trying to bury it in my living room. Megan is a little familiar with Molly. I'm sure she heard Molly barking while she was in Mommy's belly. In fact, we joke that is why she came out early kicking and punching...she was ready to fight the dog!

Megan had a good night. Her oxygen level is about 25 which is great and we'll see if Dr. Omar will decrease her settings even more. The nurse said that she hadn't worked with Megan since before she was on the oscillator and she can definitely see her getting bigger! She said that she looks like Mommy :)

They did have to retape her feeding tube to her vent this morning because Megan tried to rip that off. I did get some clarification on what she does to pull her vent tube. She doesn't pull out the entire apparatus, just the small tube that is taped onto it. She has such small fingers that she can get a good hold on that tiny tube (about the size of a piece of yarn) and pull it out.

She had 3 poopy diapers overnight which means she won't need a suppository today - whew! It is a standing order in the NICU for the babies to get a suppository every 48 hours unless they poop on their own. There was not blood in her stool and it was green / yellow (normal for babies I guess, but remember I still haven't seen her poopy diaper!) She did have a blood gas test this morning, but it wasn't back yet. We were anxious to check her red blood cell count to make sure it went up from her transfusion.

Our visit with Megan went very well! She is now 2 lbs 6 oz and is 36 cm long! She was peacefully resting on her belly. Both Bob and I stroked her tiny head and she really liked it. Her feedings are going great and the nurse said she had a huge poop today that tested negative for any blood which is great!

Her vent settings were turned down again today. She is expected to change to a CPAP very soon. It just goes in her nose instead of her throat which would be great!

The nurse said that we start some bottle feedings around 32 weeks. At that time she will also nuzzle with me to prepare for nursing. That is only a couple weeks away!! Her red blood cell count was great and her blood gas was excellent.

The nurse said that earlier she was resting her elbow on the vent tube. She would press down to make her numbers crazy and let go when the nurse came over. I am certainly convinced that I have passed on my need for attention to my daughter!

She is doing so well - Bob and I couldn't be more proud of her!!