online at the hospital

They just got the computer room remodeled and re-opened at the library here in the hospital, so I'm able to come in here during the day and post some when Stephanie is busy. I don't feel like bringing all the cables for my camera with me, so I'll just post pics when I get home. We're still adjusting to our routine as to what time we'll be visiting her and trying to work it around our (lack of) sleep schedule, rush hour traffic, lunch, the baby's feeding schedule, etc. We've been getting home early evening, but then we're pretty worn out. So it's been hard to find time in the evenings.

Sophie is doing well. Yesterday the Dr told us that the diuretics are working and the fluid retention is going down, although her feet were still a little puffy. She lost a good bit of weight with that, but gained some of it back today. We're not too worried about that because they tell us she's good and the Preemie book we have says they usually don't start to gain weight for 7-10 days.

They are also going to be adding some stuff to fortify the breastmilk she is receiving through her tube. The plan is to take her off the supplemental IV nutrient solution next week and only feed her milk. The milk has all the stuff a newborn needs, but they add a powder of calcium, phosphorous and some other stuff for preemie needs. And today they upped her to 16mL per feeding.

Also, the Xray they took on Wed was just a baseline for future comparison, and not because they suspect she has any bone issues yet.

Today Stephanie got to try a new cool thing they call "Kangaroo Care". Basically, it's skin-on-skin contact with Sophie. You unbutton your shirt and they place the baby on your bare chest and then you pull your shirt over her and they put a blanket on you. Before when we've gotten to hold her, they wrapped her in 2 or 3 hot blankets to keep her warm, and she can't be out of the incubator (baby heating oven) for too long. But with this method, the baby's temp is regulated by the adult's body heat. It was a very nice bonding experience for us. Sophie was fast asleep in seconds and Stephanie didn't look like she was far behind.