Progress!!!

Well we have had some ups and downs the last few days, but overall things are definitely going in the right direction!!! It turns out my milk came in Saturday afternoon. They were emptying her stomach (by the feeding tube) after every feeding, and the 5pm feeding was all breastmilk! What a relief that was for me! I was so happy considering I had only been pumping for 3 days and also nursing her for 2 of those. Although she was able to get milk from me at every feeding from then on, I still wasn't able to get milk through pumping until Sunday. I was soooo proud to hand them a bag of breastmilk (15ml) that I produced through pumping after I nursed her. I wanted to give them bags of milk to use for her supplementation by feeding tube rather than formula. Thankfully, by Sunday afternoon they said I was giving her enough milk while nursing that they would stop supplementing her. Her tube was removed! I still have 2 bags of milk that I guess we'll take home with us. It was a relief to stop pumping as it really added to the time and energy involved in feeding her to nurse and then pump every time. It's nice to JUST be nursing right now although eventually I'll start pumping again so that there will be milk for Paul and the babysitters to use, but for now I am just nursing her. I also am now allowed to nurse her on demand instead of sticking to their schedule (8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm, 8pm, 11pm, 2am, 5am).

Saturday night (between 8-11pm) she was transferred from NICU to NSCU (special care instead of intensive care) which again represented progress! Then late Monday morning she was transferred to one of their 2 demo rooms. This was VERY exciting as it meant I could finally be with her 24 hours a day. Diaper changes were now my responsibility, LOL! I've changed at least 6 poopy diapers already. It was so nice to be able to just get up from bed to feed her. Saturday night the trip to and from the Ronald McDonald House added 40 minutes to each feeding (which meant less sleep for Mommy) mostly because I am moving VERY slowly and it took forever for me to walk a flight of steps etc. So although I nursed her more times last night than Sat pm - I got a lot more sleep last night.

Other news yesterday wasn't as encouraging. She lost a little weight, and her bilirubin which had dropped from Fri to Sat went up from Sat to Sun. That was definitely discouraging for me as I am so anxious to go HOME having been here at the hospital a full week now. The good news is that her bilirubin went down a LOT from yesterday to today. WOOHOO! She will be coming off the lights sometime today as her number was under 10. This means today will be her first time to wear any clothing. It's about time, LOL! She likes to practically wiggle out of her diaper; I think wearing clothing will help keep her diaper on for one thing. This also means I should be able to cuddle and snuggle her today. YAHOOOOOOO! Nursing is wonderful, but I still have only had one chance to really snuggle with her (Sat pm) for more than say 3 minutes at a stretch.

Right now we're waiting for the doctors to do their rounds. It is at this time we should learn whether she will be discharged today or tomorrow. I am hoping for today but expecting them to say tomorrow. I'd love to be wrong though!!! My mom has stayed with me the last three nights. Thank you, Mom!!! I can't wait to be home with my hubby. Hopefully he's getting a lot of work done on his thesis as he now has less than 3 weeks to finish it. I know he misses us also!! His favorite nickname for me over the years has been "cutie pie" and now he says he has two cutie pies! :-)