Kayleigh is having another great day today. She has moved on up to 7ml on her feeds today and has been tolerating them very well. I could tell she was getting hungry today while we held her because she was starting to get really cranky. Once they started her feeds through her tube, she laid in my arms and slept like a baby. ha! She was having more desats and brady's last night where they had to increase her flow back to 4l, but she's breathing room air today (21% oxygen). Kayleigh's growth is moving right along as she weighed in tonight at 983 grams (2 pounds - 2.6 ounces) Woo hoo!
Our Occupational Therapist came in today and we learned some techniques on how to massage Kayleigh's belly to help move her food go through her system since she is having troubles pooping. It worked too because when I changed her diaper, she dropped a big stinky one. She also taught us how to exercise her arms and legs so it will help with her range of motion. The biggest part beyond all the massages and exercises, our main goal was to show Kayleigh that not every "touch" is a bad one. What I mean by that is most of the time the nurses have to touch Kayleigh, it is to draw blood, insert needles, stick tubes in her throat, etc... So, we don't want Kayleigh to associate that all touch is bad. One thing I have noticed is that Kayleigh sleeps so much better when she is in our arms. Everyday that we do this, she will start to bond with us and get used to the good feeling of being comforted by us. Although, I know it is going to bite us in the butt when she comes home because she will never want us to put her back in the crib. Ah, that is okay though. I can't see Aimee or I ever wanting to put her down anyways. We are already fighting over who gets to hold her more. I already have a disadvantage of holding her because I don't have boobs to feed her :) ha-ha.
I want to draw attention to some friends of ours that we met on our journey right after Kayleigh was born. Her name is Rachel and her husband is Ryan. They had a preemie named Carly who unfortunately passed away 4 months after she was born in the same NICU nursery that Kayleigh is in. Kayleigh shares some of the same nurses that Carly did. Rachel is pregnant again with a little girl named Hannah and she is currently 21 weeks now. Rachel and Ryan had their ultrasound appointment today to find out that Hannah is growing almost a week behind. Let's all pray for Rachel and Ryan that their little girl is going to get plenty of nutrients through the placenta and grow fast enough to skid past any danger if she were to come early. They have another appointment on September 21st, so they won't know how much has changed until then. Rachel's blog is: http://hannahkathleanelliotte.blogspot.com/ so please stop by and let her know that we are here for her and praying for her.
Thanks a million!
The Freemans :)
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