Emilia's foot July 23
Emilia's foot September 12
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.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
She's a Newborn Baby Now
Sometimes I forget how little she used to be. She was one of the littlest babies in the NICU. Now she's the biggest one.
Emilia's foot July 23
Emilia's foot September 12
Emilia's foot July 23
Emilia's foot September 12
Emilia is 15 weeks old
Yes, she is 15 weeks old. It no longer makes sense to count her age in gestation but the hospital somehow still counts her as "40 weeks and 5 days" baby. I would rather count her as 5 days old in corrected age.
She now weighs over 3.5Kg. She is so heavy that now my wrists hurt so much for holding her all day long. I am going to start using the baby carrier. She no longer fits in preemie size clothes. It wasn't too long ago when even preemie size sleepers were too big for her.
She requires only 15-20 cc/min of oxygen right now, which is a big improvement from last week. The doctors are now considering weaning off oxygen before her discharge.
Sometime this week or next week, I will stay overnight in the hospital and try breastfeeding her around the clock, which they recommend to do before taking the baby home to see if the baby can eat by breastfeeding exclusively. Right now she is breastfed during the day and bottled (with my breastmilk) overnight.
It looks like she will be discharged pretty soon - within next few weeks. The only thing that is keeping us in the hospital is her reflux problem, which doesn't seem to be remedied or alleviated by the meds she's taking.
Yes, I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel... but honestly I feel like I am running on a treadmill in the dark tunnel, endlessly running toward the light that is out of my reach. Yes, I do know that this shall too pass but I am frustrated that one third of my maternity leave will have been gone when she comes home.
(Emilia in purple sweater and hat - gift from Judy)
She now weighs over 3.5Kg. She is so heavy that now my wrists hurt so much for holding her all day long. I am going to start using the baby carrier. She no longer fits in preemie size clothes. It wasn't too long ago when even preemie size sleepers were too big for her.
She requires only 15-20 cc/min of oxygen right now, which is a big improvement from last week. The doctors are now considering weaning off oxygen before her discharge.
Sometime this week or next week, I will stay overnight in the hospital and try breastfeeding her around the clock, which they recommend to do before taking the baby home to see if the baby can eat by breastfeeding exclusively. Right now she is breastfed during the day and bottled (with my breastmilk) overnight.
It looks like she will be discharged pretty soon - within next few weeks. The only thing that is keeping us in the hospital is her reflux problem, which doesn't seem to be remedied or alleviated by the meds she's taking.
Yes, I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel... but honestly I feel like I am running on a treadmill in the dark tunnel, endlessly running toward the light that is out of my reach. Yes, I do know that this shall too pass but I am frustrated that one third of my maternity leave will have been gone when she comes home.
(Emilia in purple sweater and hat - gift from Judy)
Friday, September 9, 2011
Emilia is 100 days old
Emilia is finally 100 days old (actual) and 40 weeks in gestation, meaning 0 days old in corrected age.
Emilia couldn't have the traditional Korean 100th day party or cake, but Mommy and Daddy dressed her up for a photo shoot in the makeshift photo studio (ie. her hospital crib).
Bonus:
"FEED ME!!!" (밥줘!!)
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Pooping is a huge task!
Emilia seems to strain a lot when stooling. Her stool is always soft/loose so I don't know why she strains so much as if she is constipated. Even her oxygen saturation rate drops when she stools. Is it that hard??
Some pictures of Emilia pooping... (I wanted to capture her funny facial expressions)
Fist in the air
Agonizing
Grimacing
Phew...relief :)
Some pictures of Emilia pooping... (I wanted to capture her funny facial expressions)
Fist in the air
Agonizing
Grimacing
Phew...relief :)
Emilia is 14 weeks old
Yes, she is now 14 weeks old (just 2 days shy of 100 days old).
Time has gone so fast. I cannot say it's always been a happy time but I don't think it's always been too difficult and sad either. This little one has given me a lot of grief for sure but also a lot of happiness to balance off.
Yesterday we removed her feeding tube finally. She is fed orally - either breastfeeding or bottling. Even her medicine is given orally, mixed with my milk in a bottle. One less tube on her face! She looks so much nicer... I am so looking forward to the day she won't need any kind of tube on her face, but that will take some time.
She acts more like a grown baby now. When she wakes up, she cries for food. When fed, she falls asleep. Repeat the cycle.
Her respiration has not changed. Still needs extra oxygen via low flow, around 100-125 cc/min.
She still has the reflux problem. She still gags and coughs...and gets a spell. By the way she needs to be spell free for one week before she can come home.
Just chilling, in my bouncy chair
"Give me food!!!!"
Time has gone so fast. I cannot say it's always been a happy time but I don't think it's always been too difficult and sad either. This little one has given me a lot of grief for sure but also a lot of happiness to balance off.
Yesterday we removed her feeding tube finally. She is fed orally - either breastfeeding or bottling. Even her medicine is given orally, mixed with my milk in a bottle. One less tube on her face! She looks so much nicer... I am so looking forward to the day she won't need any kind of tube on her face, but that will take some time.
She acts more like a grown baby now. When she wakes up, she cries for food. When fed, she falls asleep. Repeat the cycle.
Her respiration has not changed. Still needs extra oxygen via low flow, around 100-125 cc/min.
She still has the reflux problem. She still gags and coughs...and gets a spell. By the way she needs to be spell free for one week before she can come home.
Just chilling, in my bouncy chair
"Give me food!!!!"
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