So we're rooming in! We still in the hospital, right across from the nurses desk. She's off the bazillion monitors and only on the one we're taking home with us.
In the few hours we've already been here she won't sleep. In fact she gets upset when we're not holding her. She better not get used to that :-)
Meanwhile pictures that aren't in a hospital environment.
Nora is now just over 6lbs, she has practically doubled in size! She is still practicing hard at breast feeding.
Here's another picture of her sleeping because, well, she does a lot of that.
Hey Nora,
Years from now you will figure out the internet. You're going to use Google (or whatever we have then) to go looking for proof your dad is a goober. Well, just use this photo.
Love,
Dad
The final tests have been done / are being scheduled. She passed her hearing test and the MRI of her brain was normal. Her meds are being tweaked and she did great in her car seat. They spend a minimum of 90 minutes in their car seat, or longer if they live farther than 90 minutes away. We have our bags packed and we are just waiting on the word to room in.
We'll get to spend the night at the hospital in a fancy room; It looks like a hotel room except it has oxygen ports on the wall. Nora will be with us the whole time. It will be a beta test before we go home.
So everyone keep thinking good thoughts. I mean the people are really nice here in the NICU, but I'd rather be updating this from my couch.
Here are some pics I took yesterday. You can see Nora's name tag taped to the bottom of the monitor. It is supposed to be updated every day, but I guess it depends on how busy the nurses are. Whoever wrote this last note was particularly sweet and I wanted to share it with y'all.
And then more pictures of baby :-)
Nora is up to 5lbs 13.6oz. To me she looks bigger everyday.
Some other kinda important news came out yesterday. If we appease the NICU gods, and they are angry gods, Nora could possibly come home sometime this week. I will pause to let you guys finish jumping up and down with joy.
As with the rest of this experience there's some conditions. She will come home on a cardiac monitor. She is still having those episodes of not breathing which slows her heart rate. She has gotten a loading dose of caffeine, which should help her to remember that breathing is important. We will administer her more caffeine in her feeds. So after two weeks of caffeine the doctors will examine the data from the monitor. From that they may discontinue the caffeine and then only 2 more weeks of the monitor.
The nurses implied that they normally don't send babies home on a monitor. They have confidence that Sara and I are capable enough to handle it. Of course the fact that I am a Paramedic helped a little.
So everyone cross your fingers, pour some out, and say some prayers to the great and powerful NICU gods. If it all works out you guys will be getting pictures of Nora and Blue together. I hope instagram can handle that.
