The Nugget Story ... with Pictures! Updated: 6/17/2008 ... She's officially all ours!

Ack! How cute are baby Gwendolyn's hiccups?? Loving it. And how teeny she is compared to Paul's hands. Crazy!

I think a certain someone might be a daddy's girl...

Not too much has changed since my last update, which I guess is a good thing. Paul and I have kind of settled into a routine here. Right now, Gwen is on a feeding schedule where she eats every 3 hours. We go see Gwen for her 11am, 2pm, 5pm, and 8pm feeding. She is no longer under the lights as of yesterday, which is great, especially since now we can hang out with her for longer periods of time.

 

She is totally off of her IV fluids - she had the IV removed a couple days ago. That's awesome news! That means she's getting enough milk and doesn't need the additional nutrition. They had been slowly decreasing the IV and increasing the milk for the last few days - and yesterday she met her goal. We've got a pretty good eater on our hands! Since the IV was starched into her belly button, removing the tube required removing the stitches and pulling the tube out. I think it was harder on Paul than on Gwen.

 

Monday they also put a tube in her nose to assist with feedings. At times she gets too tired to really finish her feeding, so this was put in in case we can't get her to take her whole meal orally. They had told us from the beginning that this was going to happen, and it's totally a sign of normal progression, but I had a hard time seeing it go in. Basically, she's so little and young that she sometimes gets too tired to suck for an entire feeding. We still will try to feed her orally every time, and on those times she doesn't want to finish she will get the rest of the meal via the tube. The nurses continue to tell us how well she's doing, and that she is WAY ahead of where they'd expect her to be - most "32 weekers" would have had the tube a long time ago. She is doing extremely well with her feedings; the suck/swallow/breathe coordination isn't something that they normally have at this age, and she's been doing great. There have been a couple times where she struggles, or where she just is too tired to work at it - hence the tube. But we're hopeful it won't be in for long! She took her whole 8pm meal directly from me tonight - so she's really doing great!

 

Paul is going home this weekend to get the baby's room set up, and finish a few other items that we had left undone. His parents will drive up from Chicago to help, and bring the crib and items we had received from our baby shower. My dad, as well as some of our local friends are pitching in as well. Some of my friends were able to paint Gwen's room this past weekend, as well as check a few items off of our list, which was a huge help.

 

Right now we still expect to be here until she hits her "full term" date, which is roughly mid to late June. Honestly, we could have been stuck somewhere much worse. It's been sunny and mid-70s lately, which does help the situation. We even had dinner at a friends house the other night; it was great to get a home cooked meal and hang out with their family.

 

I've been taking lots of pictures, and even found a way to take mini-videos on my camera. And Paul bought a video camera today. I think I've also figured out how to load the videos in such a way where I can just give you a link to my "share page" and you can check in any time you want. Also, here's a link to the Shutterfly album where I"ve been loading all of her pictures.

 

Videos: Ann's Share Page

Pictures: Shutterfly Album ~ Gwen

 

 

Just a few more pictures to show off my little preemie!

 

 

 

 

She is doing so well, that's awesome! And cute as can be of course (It looks like Paul is breast feeding in #39, I'm cracking up over here...lol)

 

Where are you guys staying these days? I hope you're close!

it does look like he's breastfeeding - too funny! he was holding her while the nurse changed her bed since she had another explosive poo incident. and then today she ripped one that would have made any grown man proud. seriously - this girl is nuts! i was laughing so hard while trying to breastfeed - she got a milk shake instead!

I just can't get over how huge she is Ann. What does she weigh now. Is she gaining yet?

 

I'm so happy with how things are going. Like you, I'm cautiously optimistic. But, I have to say, things seem to be going really well so far So happy for you guys!

She was down as far as 4lbs 13oz, but is slowly gaining it back, she's at 4lbs 15 oz. now. But at the rate this girl poops, she'll have a hard time packing on the pounds. I think she has Paul's metabolism, which is a good thing. She has a reputation already ... if she has a sign of a poopie diaper, you have to shield the bottom - she can shoot poo like silly string!

That's how I am Sarah - all of the nurses say how well she's doing, and that she's doing everything she should be doing, plus some. The lactation consultants tell me how amazed they are that she's eating so well. I'm just scared to get too "comfortable" that everything is ok ... there's still some milestones she has to meet. And she was a preemie to a diabetic mother - so those are strikes against her. But right now all is well. I just hope it continues!

She looks so good Ann! I was just reading over this thread to catch up on what I've missed. Everything you described in your latest update is completely normal w/ premies. She's just doing her thing and trying to figure out the world around her. I'm glad her coordination w/ her suck/swallow/breathing is coming along. If she does have any apnea and/or bradycardia w/ feeds, thats normal too. She'll grow out of it. I'm so glad the IV is out too! I'm sure holding her has become less challenging. Also, I loved the pic of Paul "kangaroo-ing" her...bonding time w/ dad is always good. hang in there, June will be here and you'll be home soon.

Gwen looks and sounds adorable...explosive poo and all...lol. I'm so glad she is doing so well.