Nitty and Gritty

Today, Annie is still on one bottle a day. She only wanted to eat 29 of the 31 mL today, but the OTs consider that a finish. She started with me, then continued with Angela (the OT), then me again, then Lydia. There were a lot of babies getting P.O. feedings. She started eating like a champ with me for a 5-10 minute period, but still has a lot of work to do.

Her red blood cell count is still low and she is still very anemic, but they have not needed to do a blood transfusion today. Her nurse, Angela, said that her retik (sp?), which is how many new red blood cells her body is attempting to make is good. That means that although her red blood cell count is low, her body is showing that it is working hard to make new ones. Because of this, they haven't found a need to give her a blood transfusion, but it doesn't mean they won't need to. (Keep praying!) I talked to the Neonatologist who said that Annie is doing great on the 1 bottlefeed, her weight gain, etc. and there are no new orders.

After her bottlefeed, her and I snuggled for a little while when I felt something wet on her back! She had pooped so much it leaked out of the top of her diaper, through the blanket and got on my hand! Yuck! :) It was time to change her and let her relax. She was not happy when she got into the isolette, so I turned her on her side and let her suck on her pacifier. She was happy, but she wouldn't go to sleep. I turned her on her tummy let her soothe herself to sleep before I had to leave. I gave her a kiss and let her know Daddy and I would be back to snuggle later.