Doing well on breast

My wedding rings on her arm two months ago...

My wedding rings on three of her fingers present!

"Mother what are you doing to me?"

Ciara is doing very well again today weighing in at 3lb 1oz. She had lost a couple of ounces but she is now on her way back up. On Monday I breast fed her during one of her three nipple times. She did not do so hot and I don't believe she got much. Then I got to bath her. Bathing her is so wonderful and definitely something you take for granted. When your baby is home you can bath her whenever you want, so I look forward to her bath time. My mom was there during her bath and she enjoyed it as well. After her bath we checked to see if my wedding rings would fit on her arm like before. Well we couldn't even fit four fingers in it! How wonderful to see her progress!

Yesterday I breastfed her again during one of her nipple sessions. This time she did wonderful! She got 15cc from my breast and then drank 12cc from a bottle. She is progressing so well. I am very proud of her. I do believe that we are going to start to let her nipple per ques. So whenever she is routing or sucking during her feeding time they will let her nipple. But we have to be careful that we don't wear her out. If she is sleepy or doesn't look like she wants to eat they will just put the feeding down her tube. Overall Ciara is doing so well. The prayers are definitely working!

Bottle and no oxygen!

Aaliyah and grammy

holding on to poppa

Aaliyah and her daddy fishing

bath time

Ciara is doing well again today weighing in at 3lb 1oz! That's right she has officially doubled her birth weight. They have been weaning down her O2 from high flow nasal cannula to regular nasal cannula. She was at 21% at 1.5 liters yesterday. But today they took her oxygen out and she has been doing well. Praise the LORD!!!! On Thursday evening I asked Dr. Hassen when I could start giving her a bottle and he told me some time next week. Well much to my surprise when I went in on Friday morning they told me I could let her "nipple" two times a day. She could either take a bottle or breast feed. I gave her a bottle on Friday and she did so well. She also got her first tub bath on Friday and seemed to tolerate it well. I did not go up on Saturday because we had two birthday parties to go to. We had such a great time at both of them. Corey and Aaliyah went fishing in her Uncle Greg's pond and every time Corey caught a fish she got so excited! She would say good bye to the "shisshy" and then tell her dad to catch another! The nurses fed Ciara her two bottles on Saturday and she did great.

I did go up yesterday and when I got there the nurse had just finished giving her a bottle. As you can imagine I was quite disappointed I missed the feeding. But they let me breast feed her on the next feeding. She didn't do as well as she normally does because she was tired from the last bottle. She is not strong enough yet to nipple every feeding. But the doctor did increase it to 3 times a day. All other feedings she gets through her tube. My mom, dad, and aunt libby came up to visit yesterday and my mom and dad got to touch her for the first time. She latched right on to my dad's hand and I got some adorable pictures. She watched my mom and kept sticking her tongue out at her. Her nervous system is still immature so she does have some involuntary movement. Aaliyah came up yesterday too but she fell asleep and didn't get to see much of her sissy. Please continue to pray for our little one. She is doing so well.

Clothes!

Here are some pictures from last night. They are dressing her now. Because she has clothes on they turned the heat off to her bed. If she can continue to keep her own temperature they will continue dressing her. I haven't recieved report yet so I don't know what she weighs today. Enjoy!

Sleepy girl

Nakky baby!!

Sleepy baby

Ciara is doing well again today weighing in at 2lb 13oz. She was just recently taken off of her diuretic and they are carefully watching her weight gain. She has been gaining anywhere from 60-70 grams a day and they want to make sure it is not fluid weight. They have been slowly weaning her oxygen and today she is at 3.5 liters at 21%. They had her down to 3 liters but she required more oxygen. I have not been able to breastfeed the last two days because she slept through my entire visit. She must be growing! One of her nurses yesterday was going to let me bath her but she kept desating so she decided it was not a good day. Please continue to pray for our little angel.

Weaning the oxygen

In daddy's hands.

Nursing session

Ciara is doing well today weighing in at 2lb 8oz. She is still on high flow nasal cannula 24 hours a day. She has been doing so well on 5 liters that they are slowly weaning her oxygen down. She was down to 3.5 liters today and they will decrease it .5 everyday as long as she keeps doing well. If she hits a spot where she needs more oxygen they will stop for a bit and let her body rest. I breastfed her again today and she did quite well. She was wide awake and nursed for about 10 minutes. Not continuously of course, but she kept latching back on. They are also going to start slowly weaning her off of some of her medications. They stopped her diuretic and they will carefully watch her weight to make sure she is not retaining fluid. After she was finished nursing today she kept choking and she would stop breathing. She did this a couple of times and then I called the nurse in. They believe she was refluxing and said it is very common among preemies. If it continues to bother her she may have to be started on some reflux medication. Unfortunately we are very familiar with these medicines because Aaliyah was on every single one of them. It took the doctors a long time to find the right ones for her. I know that it is in God's hands and he will take care of our precious angel. Hopefully, if they do have to put her on medication, they can find the right one for her. My milk production has been much better since I have been allowed to nurse and I am very thankful for that. Please continue to pray for our little girl.

Dinner with mammy and poppa

Hello

Ciara on the breast.

Ciara is doing well again today weighing in at 2lb 7 1/2 oz. The big news lately is that she is on high flow nasal cannula 24 hours a day! No more CPAP for this one! There is always a possibility that she might have to go back on it, but let us hope that it is for good. I have been attempting to breast feed everyday. Yesterday she wanted nothing to do with it and slept through the whole session. Oh well. She is still getting fed through her tube at 9cc per hour so I wasn't too concerned. On Thursday night my mom and dad brought Aaliyah up to see her sissy. We all attended the bradysmile dinner that they have once a month. They cook a home cooked meal for all of the NICU families. It was very nice and my parents seemed to enjoy it as well. Aaliyah was her wild self and wanted to touch her sissy. Right now she thinks that sissy is great but I have a feeling that will change when she comes home! Please continue to pray for our little angel.

Breast is best

Look at those cheeks!

Ciara is doing well again today weighing in at 2lb 6oz. Her feedings have been increased to 9cc every hour and is tolerating them well. Her nasal cannula time was also increased to 18 hours and her CPAP for 6 hours. Today was a special day for me because I got to breast feed her. My milk production is not the best, but I have been pumping now for 7 weeks with no infant stimulation. She did well for a preemie. She latched on a total of 4 times and sucked 2 or 3 times while latched. She was VERY tired afterwards and she desated and had 2 apneas. As long as she is doing ok tomorrow we will try again. It is very awkward holding her and trying to nurse at the same time. She is so tiny and I have to hold my breast just right so she can breathe and eat together. It was a wonderful experience for me and I hope I can do it again tomorrow. She did have to get a blood transfusion last night and hopefully that will be the last one she has to receive. Please continue to pray for our angel.

Bath time with mommy

Nanna sent up a hat that fits!

"I find an egg!"

Sitting in her new swing eating chocolate from the Easter bunny.

Happy Easter!

Mommy love

Getting lotion

She loves her binkie

Washing her face

Giving kisses

Ciara is doing well again today weighing in at 2lb 2oz. She is still on rotating 12 hours of nasal cannula and 6 hours of CPAP. She is doing very well with the transition and is running on about 25-30% oxygen. Today was a wonderful experience for me. I got to bath her for the first time. It was so wonderful. We bonded so beautifully. I just talked to her and she responded by staring me down. Honestly I found it more enjoyable than kangaroo care. I do so very much love to hold her but I actually interacted with her tonight. We really connected and as a mother you yearn for those moments. Please continue to pray for our little Ciara and while you are praying praise the Lord for giving us this wonderful angel.