so close

Hannah is super close to coming home. She passed her car seat challenge, feeding tube test, hearing test, and she’s had no apnea while resting for over a week. We have her one week doctor check scheduled, her next ROP exam at her eye doctor scheduled, and she’s had her first vaccination. We WERE tentatively scheduled for release today (Sunday).

So what are we waiting for??? Little Miss Thing decided she does not want to come home just yet, apparently. I think she doesn’t want to leave her nurses or her baby buddies.

Hannah is eating great from the breast and the bottle. Once her feeding tube came out, however, she started to get overwhelmed while eating…Meaning she stops breathing and cannot recover without assistance. Yes, Scary!! She has had at least one spell a day for the last three days. So I put her back on the monitors while I feed her to help track what she is doing. She just needs a little time to master pacing while she is eating.

We are monitoring her today. If she does well, we may go home tomorrow. If she keeps being a preemie stinker than we’ll keep hanging loose here. Breathing while eating is a super difficult task for preemies to master. They still aren’t even supposed to be eating yet…so sometimes it takes awhile to outgrow.

Hannah is SEVEN weeks old tomorrow (37 weeks gestation). She is 5lbs 3oz. And 17.5 inches long. Because Hannah was born so early she is in the super grower category, which means she gets fortifier in her milk and protein to help her grow faster. That is how she was able to pack on weight quickly. Even still, Hannah is “petite” ranging in the 25th percentile for growth…against other babies born the same time as her. She has a NICU buddy that is the same gestational age. They’ve gone through everything here together. They used to weigh the same, gaining about the same amount every night. And then…he just took off. He is about 10 oz bigger at this point. Hannah tried to keep up, but she pooped out on the race a couple of weeks ago. She has dipped down a couple of times to the 10th percentile, but is currently doing better. She’s pretty much awesome! Fighting all the way.

Hannah has been very fortunate. She is not plagued with many issues NICU babies sometimes deal with…a testament to the prayers of her family and friends, no doubt. She is Lactation’s rockstar and the current princess of the palace. (She has had only boy roomies for practically the whole time). She is, however, still very much a preemie in terms of growth and development. We’re okay with that. It means we get to snuggle her tiny little body for longer. It may be our only chance!