Another One Bites the Dust
Ok... after writing the title of this post, I realized that it may appear insensitive or have connotations that I did not intend. Sorry. Believe me that the post title is meant as only a positive thing.
That being said, I can't believe I haven't posted since Tuesday. That being said, I have barely seen Emma since Tuesday because Liz and I took a trip to visit Liz's family and our friends in Omaha. It was great seeing Mark and Sarah (along with Gavin and their new addition Maya Jane) and Tyler and his son Carter (we'll see you next time Nicki!). In addition, some of Liz's mom's friends threw Liz a baby shower this weekend, so that was nice. Unfortunately, it only pushed us further behind in writing thank you notes (I am embarrassed by that fact, and we are working to remedy it... SORRY!).
Well, Emma has had a big week. First, they upped her feeds over the weekend... she is now eating 38ml / 3 hours (up from 34). In addition, she now weighs 2100 grams (4 pounds, 10 oz). Also, we are going to start trying to feed her sans feeding tube this week! It should be an interesting learning experience for Emma, Liz and I.
As I posted on Tuesday, she started Nasal CPAP and Nasal Canula trials last week. They went very well overall. Over the course of the week Emma continued to go for longer periods of time w/out the CPAP, and instead solely on canula. For those of you who are not experts in the medical field, nasal canula is a steady stream of oxygen that is introduced at the end of the nose. not invasive at all.
Well, Emma has surprised us all. Over the weekend she was going for 16-18 hours, and the doctors decided to push her some... and she has now been on nasal canula since 5am on Sunday morning... so, for about 30 hours from the time of this posting. more impressively, the doctors took Emma's ventilator away. there is no turning back now... only nasal canula and room air!
So, Emma has now accomplished two of the three tasks required to go home - maintain her own body temperature, breath on her own (although she still has some work to go on the breathing part... she is currently at a rate of one liter per minute with 45% oxygen... although that equates to ~ 30% oxygen once it gets to Emma's lungs; we'd rather take Emma home w/out oxygen if at all possible). The only task left is maintaining / gaining weight by eating solely via breast / bottle, and as I stated earlier in the post, we are starting that this week. Pending on how quickly Emma picks up eating, she may be home soon. Smart money is she'll be home around or before her due date (March 21).
So, in the spirit of so many different pools, etc, I am encouraging everyone to post their guess for the date in which Emma will come home. There is no prize at this time, aside from me noting in the blog that you guessed correctly. I'll go first, and I'll be aggressive because I want Emma to come home soon... so, I'll guess March 5.
And now, some pictures! My apologies for not having recent pictures... they are all from Wednesday or Thursday last week. I'll get some new ones in the next day or so.
The reason Emma looks so mad here is that she has learned something... when Mom and Dad hold her, everything is good... but, when we put her down, it is time to put the nasal CPAP back in (which she hates... luckily she doesn't have to deal with this anymore).
That being said, I can't believe I haven't posted since Tuesday. That being said, I have barely seen Emma since Tuesday because Liz and I took a trip to visit Liz's family and our friends in Omaha. It was great seeing Mark and Sarah (along with Gavin and their new addition Maya Jane) and Tyler and his son Carter (we'll see you next time Nicki!). In addition, some of Liz's mom's friends threw Liz a baby shower this weekend, so that was nice. Unfortunately, it only pushed us further behind in writing thank you notes (I am embarrassed by that fact, and we are working to remedy it... SORRY!).
Well, Emma has had a big week. First, they upped her feeds over the weekend... she is now eating 38ml / 3 hours (up from 34). In addition, she now weighs 2100 grams (4 pounds, 10 oz). Also, we are going to start trying to feed her sans feeding tube this week! It should be an interesting learning experience for Emma, Liz and I.
As I posted on Tuesday, she started Nasal CPAP and Nasal Canula trials last week. They went very well overall. Over the course of the week Emma continued to go for longer periods of time w/out the CPAP, and instead solely on canula. For those of you who are not experts in the medical field, nasal canula is a steady stream of oxygen that is introduced at the end of the nose. not invasive at all.
Well, Emma has surprised us all. Over the weekend she was going for 16-18 hours, and the doctors decided to push her some... and she has now been on nasal canula since 5am on Sunday morning... so, for about 30 hours from the time of this posting. more impressively, the doctors took Emma's ventilator away. there is no turning back now... only nasal canula and room air!
So, Emma has now accomplished two of the three tasks required to go home - maintain her own body temperature, breath on her own (although she still has some work to go on the breathing part... she is currently at a rate of one liter per minute with 45% oxygen... although that equates to ~ 30% oxygen once it gets to Emma's lungs; we'd rather take Emma home w/out oxygen if at all possible). The only task left is maintaining / gaining weight by eating solely via breast / bottle, and as I stated earlier in the post, we are starting that this week. Pending on how quickly Emma picks up eating, she may be home soon. Smart money is she'll be home around or before her due date (March 21).
So, in the spirit of so many different pools, etc, I am encouraging everyone to post their guess for the date in which Emma will come home. There is no prize at this time, aside from me noting in the blog that you guessed correctly. I'll go first, and I'll be aggressive because I want Emma to come home soon... so, I'll guess March 5.
And now, some pictures! My apologies for not having recent pictures... they are all from Wednesday or Thursday last week. I'll get some new ones in the next day or so.
The reason Emma looks so mad here is that she has learned something... when Mom and Dad hold her, everything is good... but, when we put her down, it is time to put the nasal CPAP back in (which she hates... luckily she doesn't have to deal with this anymore).
posted by Chadwick at 9:46 AM
7 Comments:
Is this Price of Right style? I'm going to go with March 6.
Jon Wrolstad
Grandma goes with March 11th, but I'll be thrilled no matter what the date is! Grandpa Bob says March 17th - St. Patrick's Day.
Marti
I was going to say that picture number 13 is the cutest ever, but then I saw 15 and 16 and the second video clip. Oh man, is your baby cute! I'm going to guess... March 7 - Braxton's birthday. Liz, it was so nice to see you this weekend. I hope your trip home was a good one.
Chad says March 5, so I go March 18th. Don't tell anyone, but I secretly hope Chad or Jon wins.
march 15th. the ides of march. she is getting so big! its great to see and to hear about her progress.
I'm going with March 14th - it's my birthday, along with Albert Einstein and Kirby Puckett. Great things happen on that day....
I'm going to go with March 11th, which I think is Johnny Appleseed day. :) I picture Emma being a big apple fan someday.
But I hope Chad's right-- March 5th sounds wonderful!
It was great seeing you guys this last weekend! I'm so thrilled for you all. Emma is just gorgeous, and WOW in this last batch of pictures (the blog post after this one)-- she is getting SO big and strong! I can't believe how alert and active she is!
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