(And she's got such pretty lips!)
Emilia was born on May 31, 2011, at 25 weeks and 5 days in gestational age. She came home on October 21, 2011 after spending 143 days in the hospital. Today she's a thriving, happy baby who continues to amaze us every single day. This blog records the journey of our miracle baby.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Dress up day
Today is one of those days that Mommy just feels like dressing up Emilia in something other than a onesie sleeper. Mommy doesn't care if people call it a tacky flower or big-bow head band. She thinks Emilia looks just gorgeous!
(And she's got such pretty lips!)
(And she's got such pretty lips!)
Emilia is seen by an Occupational Therapist
This morning the Occupational Therapist came to assess Emilia's bottling (sucking & swallowing) ability. As expected, she said there was nothing concerning. She is actually an "excellent bottler". So that means we are not going to be referred to the proposed feed study conducted at SickKids because the feed study is where spitter-uppers, vomitters, and babies with serious feeding problems go to. Emilia is not one of them according to the doctors because, for one, she is gaining weight consistently and loves eating. Apparently babies with feeding issues and serious reflux refuse to eat because food causes pain. The OT did find that Emilia goes too fast when she starts her bottle. She sucks on the nipple too fast at the beginning before she starts to pace herself. This sometimes causes the sputtering and choking, which can be prevented by her caregivers like myself.
Any way, while the OT was there with Emilia, I asked her about Emilia's thumbs - her thumbs are always folded (flexed) in her palms and she does not utilize her thumbs much. Even when I extend her thumbs out, they slowly go back into her palms. The OT showed me a few stretching exercises I could do for Emilia. She said it's not serious enough to require a physiotherapy but definitely Emilia should be using her thumbs more. Later I asked the doctor also and she told me the same thing. So, let there be one more routine in her exercise regimen.
Any way, while the OT was there with Emilia, I asked her about Emilia's thumbs - her thumbs are always folded (flexed) in her palms and she does not utilize her thumbs much. Even when I extend her thumbs out, they slowly go back into her palms. The OT showed me a few stretching exercises I could do for Emilia. She said it's not serious enough to require a physiotherapy but definitely Emilia should be using her thumbs more. Later I asked the doctor also and she told me the same thing. So, let there be one more routine in her exercise regimen.
Pictures from this week
Serious face
In car seat, but not going anywhere yet
With my maid, milk delivery woman, baby carrier, who is also called Mommy
Emilia is 19 weeks old actual and 5 weeks old corrected
Emilia is now 5 weeks, corrected age. And 19 weeks old in chronological age.
She now weighs 10.3 lbs (4675g). She is getting ready to come home. We are now waiting for the pulse oximeter to arrive. This machine takes about 3 weeks to arrive from the time we apply for it because I heard it is government funded (75%) and it is supposedly coming from the government. We applied for it last Wed, so hopefully they are processing it right now. We have decided she will be on home oxygen. That seems to be the only way to bring her home soon(er). As much as I hate the idea of home oxygen, I know it will also give me a peace of mind knowing that I will know that her oxygen saturation and heart rate are fine - it's a mixed blessing.
Other than the occasional choking and reflux issues, she is healthy and growing well. I need to put her on her tummy more often but it's not easy to find her in an "alert and calm" state. She is active and calm after feeding time but I don't want to put her on tummy immediately after feeding because it may aggravate her reflux problems.
She certainly is more interested in the surroundings and does not want to sleep all the time any more. She seems so interested in the people who pass by and stand around her bed space. She also looks at the ceiling lights and her oximeter monitor very intently - must be the brightness that fascinate her. She looks at them with such awe. I am afraid they are too bright for her eyes though.
She has one final ROP eye exam coming up. So far her ROP conditions have been improving and stable. The eye doctor said she would do the exam only upto 45 weeks gestation (5 weeks corrected) so I suppose next week is the final exam. I am so looking forward to the end of it because it hurts her a lot and she just hate the exam. Her eyes are forced open with a speculum and the doctor keeps shining bright lights in her eyes and pressing on her eye balls, so it is pretty upsetting to Emilia. She looks really sad after every eye exam. In fact every baby in the NICU hates it. You hear the babies cry from one bedspace to another as the eye doctor makes her round on the eye exam day.
We are counting our remaining days in the NICU. The nurses tell me babies thrive at home, even if they are on oxygen. I can't wait to bring her home.
She now weighs 10.3 lbs (4675g). She is getting ready to come home. We are now waiting for the pulse oximeter to arrive. This machine takes about 3 weeks to arrive from the time we apply for it because I heard it is government funded (75%) and it is supposedly coming from the government. We applied for it last Wed, so hopefully they are processing it right now. We have decided she will be on home oxygen. That seems to be the only way to bring her home soon(er). As much as I hate the idea of home oxygen, I know it will also give me a peace of mind knowing that I will know that her oxygen saturation and heart rate are fine - it's a mixed blessing.
Other than the occasional choking and reflux issues, she is healthy and growing well. I need to put her on her tummy more often but it's not easy to find her in an "alert and calm" state. She is active and calm after feeding time but I don't want to put her on tummy immediately after feeding because it may aggravate her reflux problems.
She certainly is more interested in the surroundings and does not want to sleep all the time any more. She seems so interested in the people who pass by and stand around her bed space. She also looks at the ceiling lights and her oximeter monitor very intently - must be the brightness that fascinate her. She looks at them with such awe. I am afraid they are too bright for her eyes though.
She has one final ROP eye exam coming up. So far her ROP conditions have been improving and stable. The eye doctor said she would do the exam only upto 45 weeks gestation (5 weeks corrected) so I suppose next week is the final exam. I am so looking forward to the end of it because it hurts her a lot and she just hate the exam. Her eyes are forced open with a speculum and the doctor keeps shining bright lights in her eyes and pressing on her eye balls, so it is pretty upsetting to Emilia. She looks really sad after every eye exam. In fact every baby in the NICU hates it. You hear the babies cry from one bedspace to another as the eye doctor makes her round on the eye exam day.
We are counting our remaining days in the NICU. The nurses tell me babies thrive at home, even if they are on oxygen. I can't wait to bring her home.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Video 3: Tummy Time
Video from yesterday's tummy time.
You can check out how hard Emilia exercises...!
When she's really tired and wants to quit, she starts to groan and then cry.
Today she did much better but I didn't have chance to record it.
You can check out how hard Emilia exercises...!
When she's really tired and wants to quit, she starts to groan and then cry.
Today she did much better but I didn't have chance to record it.
Emilia is one month old (adjusted age)
Emilia just turned one month old today. Her adjusted age is counted from her expected date of birth, which was September 8th.
So far, she is just as any other one month old baby. Cries when hungry, pees & poos, and sleeps. Nowadays I am also playing with Emilia to give her exercise & stimulating time as recommended. She gets tummy time, side-lying time, and eye contact time. She is doing excellent on her tummy, lifting her head high and turning her head from left to right and then again from right to left. Her side-lying time is basically just lying on her side and watching the Aquarium (a Fisher Price toy that goes in the crib). She wasn't too interested in the Aquarium until today. Today she was actually intently watching it. Her eyes follow bold black/white pictures when I slowly move them horizontally. She also gets to look around the surroundings when I carry her around her crib as far as her oxygen tube and other cords allow me. I wish the tubes and cords were longer so that I could carry her farther around the NICU. She looks at her musical mobile too. This also just started to interest her only yesterday.
Her growth is still satisfactory. The dietician was explaining to the residents that Emilia is a good example of a baby who became the average size from the 10th percentile when full term was reached. She was showing Emilia's growth chart to them and explained how she progressed last 4 months in her own growth curve reaching finally the 50th percentile.
Starting tomorrow, I am going to seat her in the car seat to get her used to it. She has been sitting in her bouncy chair but she needs practice sitting in the car seat too in order to pass the car seat test before the discharge. It's sort of a... test preparation. I don't want her to fail her first test.
Pictures from this week:
So far, she is just as any other one month old baby. Cries when hungry, pees & poos, and sleeps. Nowadays I am also playing with Emilia to give her exercise & stimulating time as recommended. She gets tummy time, side-lying time, and eye contact time. She is doing excellent on her tummy, lifting her head high and turning her head from left to right and then again from right to left. Her side-lying time is basically just lying on her side and watching the Aquarium (a Fisher Price toy that goes in the crib). She wasn't too interested in the Aquarium until today. Today she was actually intently watching it. Her eyes follow bold black/white pictures when I slowly move them horizontally. She also gets to look around the surroundings when I carry her around her crib as far as her oxygen tube and other cords allow me. I wish the tubes and cords were longer so that I could carry her farther around the NICU. She looks at her musical mobile too. This also just started to interest her only yesterday.
Her growth is still satisfactory. The dietician was explaining to the residents that Emilia is a good example of a baby who became the average size from the 10th percentile when full term was reached. She was showing Emilia's growth chart to them and explained how she progressed last 4 months in her own growth curve reaching finally the 50th percentile.
Starting tomorrow, I am going to seat her in the car seat to get her used to it. She has been sitting in her bouncy chair but she needs practice sitting in the car seat too in order to pass the car seat test before the discharge. It's sort of a... test preparation. I don't want her to fail her first test.
Pictures from this week:
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