Morgan Kate

Today I definitely felt like a student. Ha! Matter of fact I think we all did. The day began with infant CPR training. My dad and I already had some experience in this department because we took CPR during our lifeguard training. However, things had changed just a little. We then were trained on oxygen and safety precautions for using it at home. No candles and no fires in the fireplace. After these two sessions my dad left to go home and sleep because he had worked all night. Mom, Travis and I headed to Morgan Kate's room so that Mom and Travis could be OG trained. What an experience! Shoving a tube down your child's throat is NOT easy. It's painful for them and it's painful for you, BUT it has to be done. Morgan Kate HAS to eat so that she can grow. The first time I inserted the OG tube I had to completely separate myself from Morgan Kate. I had to just focus on the task at hand and getting it done. Travis tried his best to do that, but I think it did get to him some. However, he did an AWESOME job and she got her food! Mrs. handled all of our morning training and she was terrific. She is just so patient and thorough. After a short break and some cuddle time with Morgan Kate we headed out for our equipment training. Morgan Kate will be coming home with an apnea monitor, a pulse oximeter (for her oxygen), and an oxygen concentrator. This wonderful guy from the rental place came and explained everything so well. He did a great job and I really feel good about it. It was a lot of information, but it all made sense. Overall, it was a great day of learning and it makes me even more excited to bring Morgan Kate home!

Some of you may be thinking and wondering..."Wow, that sure is a lot of stuff to have and information to remember. Why don't they just keep Morgan Kate until she is off of the oxygen and not requiring OG feeds?" Years ago they would have kept babies like Morgan Kate in the NICU. But today, with all they know and the advances in technology they (Morgan Kate's medical team) think that Morgan Kate will do well at home. That she will thrive and grow and be stimulated in new and different ways. She will also have just a few people taking care of her and she will get used to those people and their techniques. She might be a little more relaxed, and we will be a lot more relaxed. Hopefully, it will be great for all of us. Travis and I love the staff at Baptist, they have been absolutely terrific and they will be missed dearly, but we are so ready to be at home. 

Bottle feeding continues to be a little bit of a problem. My mom and I tried to give Morgan Kate her 9pm bottle and it did not go so well. She just works so hard and gets so tired out. She sucks in a good bit of air and drools A LOT. At times she just doesn't want it and fights it. Her night nurse came in and helped us out tremendously. Thank goodness!  Tonight she weighed in at seven pounds and one ounce and her oxygen was around 25ccs for most of the day. 

We thank God for Morgan Kate's growth, the continued healing of her lungs and the awesome days she has been having!