Morgan Kate

I laughed today more than I have in quite some time. Morgan Kate kept me quite amused all day long. She was very active today, even in her sleep. One minute she pulling her oxygen tube out of her nose, the next minute she was taking off her temperature probe, and the next minute she was trying to pull out her feeding tube. She would not leave all the wires and cords alone. I think she was trying to tell us that she had had enough of all of that. Also, I must have changed her diaper a thousand times today. Every time I would change one she would mess up another. Her nurse, Becky, was really good and let me change her diaper each time. I was so thankful for this because I LOVE to help with ANYTHING.

We talked with the neonatologist, Dr. Coates, today for a long time. (Laura J., if you are reading this, I loved Dr. Coates. You were right - he is wonderful! Laura and Mark's precious angel, Luke, was under Dr, Coates' care for a little while the night he was born and now he is thriving and growing each day and absolutely adorable.) Dr. Coates was fabulous! They have increased Morgan Kate's feedings. They are still increasing the feedings by .3 cc, but now every 8 hours instead of 12. I was talking with another NICU mom yesterday and she told me her daughter was only taking 2 ounces and they just couldn't get her to take more than that. I started thinking and wondering....what was the correlation between cc's and ounces? Well, there are about 30 cc's in just one ounce. Wow! We have quite a ways to go, but I must remember this is a day by day process and we will eventually get there. Also, they are adding a fortifier to my milk to increase the calories. Breast milk is about 20 calories and the fortifier adds about another 4 - so 24 calories total, three times a day. I know....It just doesn't sound like enough, but her stomach is only the size of her tiny fist and they have to move slow. They also took her off of the "gatorade" (a fluid given through the Broviac that contains vitamins and such) and they also took her off of the fat (a lipid that was given through the Broviac. The next step, which will hopefully happen in a few days, is to take her off of IV fluids completely and get rid of the Broviac. Part of me is really excited about this because it's one step in the right direction, but another part of me is a little worried because they just put the Broviac in and I don't want them to take it out and then have to replace it anytime soon. The doctor wants to get rid of it as soon as possible because the less "stuff" she has the less chance that she could pick up an infection. The main focus right now is to continue increasing her feedings and pray that she is able to tolerate it, reduce the chance of infection as much as possible, and to help her gain weight. She is currently still at 1 lb and 13 ounces and the doctor would like to see her start gaining. 

I got to kangaroo with Morgan Kate for about an hour this evening. It is the highlight of my day each time I am able to do it. Tomorrow Travis is going to give it a try. I'm a little hesitant to share my "kangaroo time". I know he is going to love it and I don't want him thinking that he can do it everyday. Ha ha! 

Please check back tomorrow for an update and new pictures!