Fattening Up

I suppose in terms of full term and preemie, the idea of fattening up is very different.  For our small fry, Marlo, it would be appropriate to say, we are fattening her up, especially since in the past week she has managed to gain a whopping 11oz.  She's a chunkin up.  :) 

It was a huge milestone met this week....She was able to break the one pound weight gain barrier that seemed so elusive. It only took 6.5 weeks for her to gain a whole pound, but she finally did the other day.  Today she is weighing in at 2lbs 13oz.  Only 3oz away from 3 chubby pounds!!!

She is back to being fed, and they are raising the amount she gets by 1cc every 6 hours.  As of the last feed tonight she was getting 5cc's.  They are trying to take it slow and see how she tolerates it.  So, once again we are on poop watch.  It always comes down to bodily functions.  :) 

For the past several days her veins are protesting the IV's, so they are having trouble keeping a good line without needing to start a new one, almost every day.  It's hard because her little tiny veins are tired, and they blow when they try to find new ones.  She is all bruised up, which of course breaks my heart.  I am hoping that there will NOT be any need for IV's after this next couple of days.  She needs a break, and it would indicate all was going well if the IV's go away.  You cannot imagine the amount of times in a day that she has been poked with needles, it's awful. 

She is still having lots of A's and B's (apnea's and bradycardias)  It is so very frustrating, but they assure me she will outgrow this.  Apparently she has been listening to this and thinks it's funny to prove them wrong thus far. Two days ago as I was holding her, she had a big one, so I flipped her over and had her laying on my lap looking up at me...she was holding her breath, trying to turn the color of a blueberry (obviously trying to impress me with her amazing ability to turn blue) and blinking her little eyes at me as if to say, "Hey Mom, I do what I want".  Mommy won out and bugged her enough that she kicked back into gear.  In a battle of wills I usually win, in fact if you look up my name in the dictionary, it says stubborn as a mule...according to my hubby.  :)  I think Marlo has my stubborn spunk, actually I don't think it, I know it. 

This week is big for her, she has a big job.  Tolerating her feeds, digesting them properly, and keeping her little cute self from developing anything that might resemble that horrible NEC.  If all goes well this week, she will be ready to start trying to "nipple" as they call it, which means, eating from breast or bottle. 

Of course this would require, Eating, Breathing and Swallowing at the same time.  Let's go Marlo!!