This little lady is one month old today! She has gained one whole pound since birth and now weighs 3 pounds 4 ounces. She has also grown one inch and is now 15 inches long. They finally took out her breathing tube and she is now just using a nasal cannula, which she is totally rockin'. As you can see in the photo above (sorry about the poor photo quality), it is way too big for her tiny little face & nose but it's doing its job and she is liking it a lot more than the breathing tube, which she was always trying to pull out.
Here's Carly making her video premiere (this was taken about a week ago before her breathing tube was removed):
They have finally started allowing me to do skin to skin with her, which has been so, so huge for me. I spend an hour every day snuggling her and it has been just what I've needed to finally bond with her and feel like her mommy. She totally digs it too.
Mike got to hold her for the first time a week ago Saturday. This is Carly's amazing nurse and respiratory therapist getting her positioned just right.
One proud papa.
Here's another picture before the breathing tube was removed. They started her on a very small amount of breast milk via a feeding tube, but unfortunately her remaining small intestine didn't absorb/digest any of it and it basically just went right through her and into her little stoma bag. So they've switched her to a more broken down "elemental" formula which she'll hopefully be able to digest better. They are still monitoring her heart murmur. They said it use to be a "moderate" heart murmur and now it's just a "small" one so it's improving and will hopefully resolve itself. If not she may need another small surgery to correct it. Overall, she is progressing really well and the goal right now is just for her to stay healthy and to GROW so they can sew her intestines back together in a month or so.
Bryson loves the playroom because he gets to play video games (which we don't have at home) and he also gets to play board games with the volunteers or with Mike. This kid loves Battleship and is a Monopoly genius.
Lilly loves to proudly show her cousins around the playroom when they come to visit. We always love having visitors.
Favorite quote this week:
"Live for a purpose greater than yourself."
Life rules!
