Home sweet home ♥

First off, I want to apologize for not posting since we left the hospital! Things have just been super busy and we've been getting adjusted to life at home. Isabelle is growing so much! She weighed 6 lbs 9 oz at her doctor appointment last week. She's 10 weeks old now, and she's always alert and is starting to "talk" to us! She's still having trouble making a BM, so she gets a little milk of magnesia in her bottle twice a day to help move things through. Looking back at my old posts, I'm feeling so blessed to have had such a fantastic support system throughout this entire journey. I'll be sure to blog more often now!!

GOING HOME!

We are offically GOING HOME TOMORROW!! I'm overwhelmed with happiness and relief that we're finally leaving this place! It's been such a crazy journey so far, and it's just beginning! I'm so ready to spend some quality time with Isabelle in the comfort of our own home.

Since we're leaving tomorrow, we've been extremely busy! Izzy had her carseat test, her eye test, her blood pressure, measurements, and her dietitian came in to talk to me, and we've been filling out tons of paperwork! I'm going to pack up tonight so we can leave as soon as possible in the morning!

A huge thanks to everyone for being so involved and being so supportive! You've all helped us through SO MUCH and we appreciate every kind word, thought, and prayer we have recieved.

And props to having over 6,100 blog views! You guys rock!!

Exciting news!!!!

Sorry for the late post, but this is definitely blog-worthy! Tonight, I got to nurse Isabelle for the first time. It took my breath away! There are few greater feelings than being able to directly provide for your child, all the while creating a special, magical bond between the two of you. Instead of the usual anxiety I get while pumping, I felt a kind of euphoria... It was blissfully sweet and fulfilling. I didn't even need the help of a breast shield because she latched on perfectly! I was so afraid that we would have troubles. I get to breastfeed her twice a day for 10 minutes each time.

 
Besides Isabelle FINALLY breast-feeding, she is now up to 40mLwith her bottles, and the formula/breast milk mix is up to 28 calories now. Today, the doctor took her off her feeding schedule so she can now eat whenever she's hungry.
 

The words "going home" have been being thrown around for the past few days, and I'm really starting to get excited. One nurse even told us she has no clue why we're still here!

Oh and I almost forgot! As of today, Isabelle is ONE MONTH OLD and it's her original due date. Happy one month/due date Isabelle! :)


The waiting game continues, but I have a feeling we've got the lead and Izzy's ready to finish it off with a slam dunk! 

Improvements!

Sorry it took me a little longer than usual to update! We've been pretty busy around here.

Isabelle's thrush has gone away with the help of monistat, and she's been taking her bottles better! She ripped her feeding tube out, and they put it back in. Now it's back out because she's doing so well!

Her rash around her belly button went away too, after a couple days of ointment treatments.

Last night, they added more special formula to the breast milk to make it 24 calories instead of the 22 she was getting. She's having a hard time tolerating that and she's a bit constipated, but they think she'll be fine as she gets used to it.

Still waiting to go home! We brought the car seat in and everything... Probably at least another week until we get out of here though.

Thanks to everyone for being so involved and concerned! It means a lot and having such an abundance of support helps us through SO much.

Pedaling backwards :(

The past couple days have brought us a lot of setbacks... And our stay here is starting to seem like its going to last forever...

As Isabelle's amount of food increased, her ability to eat all of it without wearing herself out decreased. On top of her having to struggle just to finish a bottle, she was pooping out almost everything she ate! So, the feeding tube went back in...

As if that didn't suck enough, she's got redness around her belly button and her scar. At first the nurses didn't think anything of it, but now they think she might have an infection. So now she's getting an ointment put on that all the time.

But wait! THERE'S MORE. Isabelle has thrush. For those of you who don't know, it's a common yeast infection babies get in their mouth that looks like white spots. So now, she has to get an antibiodic for that, too.

So basically, nothing happy or exciting has really gone on around here. Besides the discharge ladies coming to talk to me, which I suppose means that we won't be here forever...

Ugh!

Sugar, spice, and everything nice...

Isabelle is up to 4 lbs 7.3 oz! And she's eating 35mL every 4 hours now. Today, they started adding a special formula that adds calories to the breast milk. Besides going up in weight and adding more milk everyday, things have been pretty uneventful up here. I really really REALLY want to go home! My guess is that we'll be going home sometime next week...

Anyways, Izzy and I have been getting closer (I think). Since she's not hooked up to a gillion things anymore, and has started to resemble a baby instead of a science project, we've been able to have lots of cuddle time and interaction.

Besides being an exhibit in a little glass box, we're doing alright. Lol. I'm losing my mind a wee bit, but finally leaving this place will be a breath of fresh air.

Almost there...

Isabelle is improving! The doctors say they're very impressed... We started giving her 10 mL of breastmilk every 6 hours... And have moved slowly but surely up to 20 mL every 4 hours! She weighs 4 lbs 4.4 oz now. The doctors have been discussing taking out her PICC line! She's having spontaneous stools (stools without having an enema) and we couldn't be happier. We've been here for 2 weeks now, and it's starting to really take its toll on me. I've even been accidently referring to this place as "home"... Don't get me wrong, the nurses are wonderful and the atmosphere is great. They do a lot to ensure your comfort. But the fact is, this isn't where I want to be. I'm not happy here and I can't wait until I get to take Isabelle home.
It is what it is though, and we've been absolutely blessed. My two favorite quotes have been keeping my head up lately...
"This too shall pass" & "you are equal to today's challenge"