12 hour update

I wanted to give a quick update on how my day is going so far. I've been here since 8AM, and I've only fed her twice! It's almost 3PM!! She did WONDERFUL with both feedings so far. At 8, she was starving, ate 60ml (all she needed to get was 48ml) and slept right up until noon! Then I fed her at noon, and she took 53ml! Now she's asleep and I'm just waiting for her to wake up. We are going on 3 hours and she's still sleeping. So far so good! We will see what the next hour brings but I'm hopeful! :) And I'm hoping she'll gain mega weight tonight! I know she's burning more calories with all these back to back feedings but I can hope!

AND it's fajita night in the cafeteria and they have amazing fajitas.. Actually.. they have amazing fajitas according to Clint and my Mom because while I was in the hospital, one night my Mom went and brought back her and Clint dinner and that's what it was. I was still on a "soft foods only" diet and I couldn't have any. :( So I'm excited for tonight! AAAND, we will be going to a movie tonight as we may not get the chance here soon.. And maybe tomorrow night. :)

Feels kinda weird.. especially without a baby

Look at what I brought to the hospital today! :) We won't do the car seat test just yet.. maybe in a day or two. BUT STILL.

It all happens so fast!

Oy.. I have so much to report!! It has been a crazy 2 days here at the hospital.. I guess not crazy. oh well.. ANYWAY. Yesterday for her 8AM feeding, she did awesome! She took her entire feeding and we didn't need to give her any extra! I was super excited! I figured she'd be tired for her 2PM feeding but she did alright. She took about half so I was happy. THEN.. for the 8PM feeding.. she took 1 1/2 times her normal feeding amount!!! She was really hungry. Then.. the nurse fed her a bottle for the 2AM feeding and she took the WHOLE THING!!! So when I came today, I had pretty high expectations. 8AM - full feeding. 2PM - full feeding. 8PM - FULL FEEDING! So because she ROCKED it.. the nurse suggested we do breastfeeding back to back. So 8PM AND 11PM. Mostly to see how she does and if she does well, we will do a 12 hour on demand feeding tomorrow. That means, I come in at 8AM and stay until 8PM and feed her when she wakes up and is hungry. It's going to be a long day but I'm excited.

So right now, Clint and I are sitting in the waiting room watching the basketball game while we wait for 11:00 to come. I'm sure she'll do well because she's had 7 successful feedings IN A ROW. Sorry for all the CAPS. I'm feeling very expressive right now.. if I were telling you this story in person, there would be a lot of hand flailing! I'm very excited!!

SO. After this 12 hour on demand feeding tomorrow, assuming she does well, we go to 24 hour on demand feeding (possibly Friday or Saturday) and assuming she does well with that, we ROOM IN with her.. like she is actually in the room with us and we take care of her as if we were at home (possibly Saturday or Sunday) and if she does well with that... WE. GO. HOME. Possibly Sunday or Monday. I. AM. FREAKING. OUT. This is all assuming she does well.

SO, I'm anticipating at least a week from Friday to a week from Sunday. I don't want to get too excited about this. I think we are still waiting for the ok from Ms. OT to clear us on bottle feeding and she doesn't come back from vacation until next Wednesday.

BUT, the eye doctor came today (and all of the above is based on what he says about her eyes today..). HE SAID.. that her eyes look the same. If not the same, BETTER. That's right, BETTER. Word for word, he said to me, "We will probably be seeing you next week in the OFFICE." That means as an OUTPATIENT. I know right??? I will be going from my house, with her, to the eye doctor. CRAZY. I still can't seem to wrap my head around this. Every nurse that comes by (of course knows who we are...) and says "How's Darbi these days??" and with a huge smile on my face, I blabber on about how AMAZING she is. It's too hard not to brag...

So today, after her 2PM feeding, the Nurse Practitioner (Wendy) came in to do her rounds on Darbi and I could hear her outside of the curtain asking the nurse about me and Darbi and saying that she hasn't seen Darbi before. She came in and the picture of Darbi dressed as a princess was hanging on the wall and next to it, it said "Darbi at three months". She was confused because she left on January 19th to take her maternity leave which means that she would have been around when Darbi was born (January 1st) which means she would have seen her. SO, she was asking me about which bed space was Darbi's when she was born. I started to explain a little bit and I could see the light click on in her dead. Wide eyed, she looked at me and slowly asked, "Is this the same baby who had her esophogus punctured?" I proudly responded "YES!!" She said that she was there the day it happened and was actually watching the procedure and saw the minute they had punctured it. She said she remembered it because it was such a horrible day. She remembered thinking that this little baby was going to be sent to Primary and she knew she would not see her again because she would probably not make it. She could not believe that this was the same baby!! It made her day and gave her chills when I told her about how when Darbi got to Primary, the hole had healed itself (after one extremely spiritual blessing given by Clint). Darbi really is our little miracle.

So tomorrow, I will be hanging out with the Darbster all day and watching a lot of King of the Hill on my lappy, and also taking my CPR infant training course from my nurse. SO exciting!!

She has HAIR!!

When she's far away you can't tell still.. BUT in the right lighting.. from the right angle.. SHE HAS HAIR!!!

Shower #3

My Grandma Linda and my Mom got together to throw me one final shower before Darbi comes home. We had it on my due date (in hopes that she would be there... to look at from a distance). We had a really good turnout and it was a lot of fun to get together with all of my Mom's extended family. It's only every few years that I get to see these women and it's fun to hear them talk about the good old days when they grew up with my Mom and all the fun memories they have of my Great Grandma Pearl. We had a fruit tray, a veggie tray, salsa (super yummy.. it had 5 ingredients and salad dressing was one of them!!), chicken salad sandwiches (my most FAVORITE thing!!), and carrot cake! I got so much stuff to help us with Darbi; TONS of clothes, a bathtub (we don't have a tub in our house so this was perfect!), and our stroller!! I think we're almost ready to bring her home! Just a few more small things and we're all set! I'm getting so excited! I haven't gotten the pictures from my grandma's camera yet so here's what I have.

Being 40 Weeks

It's weird to imagine myself pregnant still. With my due date being yesterday, I've imagined time and time again what it would be like to be one of those women who are pregnant and expecting right around finals. Although I'm not in school anymore, Clint is and we were prepared to tell all of his professors that I would possibly be going into labor during finals week. Just so that we were all on the same page. This was all last October when we talked about how we would deal with expecting a baby in April. It seems like so long ago. We've come so far and it seems like we've never not had Darbi to think about and visit at the hospital.

I was holding Darbi tonight after her feeding and looking at how far we've come and how big she is now and I cannot even fathom pushing her out of me!! OUCH. I admire those women who give birth to 10 pound babies. WOW. Clint was almost a 10 pound baby and if Darbi made it full term, she could have easily been huge. I guess it's a blessing... a bittersweet one. The more I think about it though, I am so grateful that Darbi came early with as little complications as we have had. I have had the chance to really get to know her and Clint has also had that chance. It's something we can both share. We get to stare into her beautiful eyes every night and tell her how special she is and how much we love her. I know that there is that bonding experience that happens in the womb in those later weeks that I will never have with her but I wouldn't change it for anything. She is such a special little girl who has taught us so much and I am so thankful for her.

40 weeks TODAY

How do I look?? :) Today was Darbi's original due date! From here on out, she will now have an adjusted age which is in reference to her original due date and we will be measuring her development from that point. Baby shower pictures to come later tonight!

Darbi's first bottle

Today we skipped our 3rd breastfeeding session to try a bottle. Ms. OT wanted Clint to give it to her so my Mom and Grandma met us there to document it all! Get ready to roll your eyes.. because yes. My daughter is amazing. We all know it. It's hard not to get a big head about it! I'm sorry. She ROCKED the bottle. The bottle had 50cc's in it and she ate 40 of them! We considered that her entire feeding and called it a night. We didn't have to give any through her NG tube. We used a nipple that has a lower flow (smaller hole) so that it didn't choke her. The milk comes through easier in a bottle than it does through me when I breastfeed. She doesn't have to work as hard. I think she only choked twice but we handled it nicely and I don't think we will have any major problems with it! Tomorrow we will try again. So it's breastfeeding at 8:00 AM and PM and bottle feeding at 11:00 PM. We are skipping the 2:00 PM feeding because my Grandma and Mom are throwing me a shower! It's still weird to go and not have a baby and not be pregant but I, at least, have real pictures of my baby at my shower's where everyone else doesn't have that. So it's alright.

Sorry the pictures are blurry again. The lighting is really bad when they pull the curtain around us so it's the best I could do.

Times her birthweight by 5

We have finally hit 5 pounds!! And just barely too. She is 5 pounds .5 ounces. I was brave today and asked one of our favorite nurses (who was charging today) when to expect Darbi coming home. I was thinking maybe 2 weeks? She said to plan on 4, at least. :( That way, if she comes home in 3 1/2 weeks we'll be happy. I was kinda bummed. That means we're into Memorial Day almost and I was sure she'd be home long before then. But, good news, we start bottle feeding tomorrow!! That means she's doing well enough with breastfeeding that it shouldn't confuse her to try a bottle. We will do it tomorrow night at 8:00 and Clint's going to give it to her. He will be doing most of the bottle feeding as I've got the breastfeeding thing down. They eye doctor came yesterday and said that he sees a spot on her right eye that has him concerned it may be turning into Plus Disease but not concerned enough to do surgery so the next check will likely be next Wednesday. I had the nurse tonight take a picture of me and Darbi with my camera phone because my camera battery was dead.. Happy 5 pounds Darbi!!

Smiles for everyone

In a crib FINALLY

Day 110 and we're in a crib! She's doing really well in it too. No fussing or anything and they have her laying on a Boppy to help with the acid reflux. Tonight or tomorrow night she is supposed to have a PCG5 test which will test 5 different things to make everything is doing alright. It tests her acid reflux, and also something to do with Central Apnea. Those are the 2 major things.. but I can't remember the rest. This is one of the last things we need to do before we come home.. also on the list is a CPR class, the Car Seat test, another hearing test, and... I can't remember.



BUT we've got a lot done! The feeding thing is posing problems though. Sunday, we went to 3 times a day feeding. Sunday morning, mom and I came at 8 and she slept through the whole feeding. ARGH. Oh well I said.. We'll do better at 5 and 11.. Did we? Well not for the 5:00 feeding. 11:00 went alright. So today I got up and went in at 8:00 am again.. SHE SLEPT. 2:00 - SHE SLEPT. 8:00 - SHE SLEPT!!!!! Really?? What's going on? I asked the nurse and she said that she isn't sick so they are thinking it might possibly be a growth spurt. Most babies eat more through a growth spurt but sometimes special NICU babies tend to sleep more.

Her hemoglobin levels have been a little bit low lately so that can also cause her to be more tired than normal. The nurse said that the doctor will probably increase the amount of iron she gets and that will hopefully help. I'm wondering if she is just backwards on her schedule; asleep during the day, awake at night. I'll just keep at the schedule I've got going and hopefully she will turn herself around.

And.. eye appointment tomorrow (or Wednesday... who knows, maybe Thursday).

OHHH!! Clint surprised me with a fun present today! :) He told me that since we found out we were pregnant, he's been putting a little bit of money away to save up for a "thank you for having my baby" present and when we had Darbi early, that got put on hold. He remembered the other day and knew I'd been eyeing this diaper bag for a little while.. He surprised me with it today!! I LOVE it!! It hooks right on to the stroller and it even matches the stroller! Thanks hun!

It's the green/brown one. Not the polka dotty one.

Daddy's Ring PART 2

We'll take more soon and ignore some of the blurriness but I had to post this.

This picture is when Darbi was about 3 1/2 weeks old and weighed about 1 pound 5 ounces. Clint's ring was able to fit all the way up her thigh even though the picture only shows it up to her knee.


These two pictures were taken on Saturday (3 1/2 months) and she weighed 4 pounds 14 ounces. We've come a long way. Clint's ring won't even fit around her foot!

Best roommates ever!

Baby shower #2! Seriously the cutest thing ever!! Becky, Cheryl, and Linds (3 of the 6 original 104 A. Richards crew) threw me an "Early Bird" shower on Saturday and everything was so cute! They are all so creative and I have to share some of the dang cute ideas they had.. LOVED IT!! Thank you guys!!!

Acckk! I don't know where all my pictures are! I thought I got them all from my mom but oh well.. here's what I do have!

Cheryl had to leave early for a Final.
Audrey, Linds, Becky, & Grace
The babies of the shower!! They were honorary guests since Darbi couldn't come.

Grace - Darbi's BFF


Crew (he's up to 9 pounds!!) - Darbi's future boyfriend. :)


Those sweet eyes are wishin' they coulda been there!

Hey Quasimodo...

Pregnancy hormones. :( I'm about to be really open... ok not really. I could make this post a lot worse.. this isn't that bad. When I was in high school, I had acne. There, I said it. And yes, Clint knows about it. But luckily for me, it was all cleared up when we met so he didn't know about it when he decided to make an eternal commitment with me. :) So.. all throughout my pregnancy, my face was clear.. then.. I had Big D. I broke out like crazy! It's like I had a beard of acne! Gross.. I know. I'm over being embarresed about it though.. I'm already married! I've already snagged Clint and he's got no way out. :) Sorry hun.. So yesterday I woke up with this beastie!


I'm still being a little pouty. So originally, I thought:

1) Clint beats me in my sleep.. or in his sleep... but, really?? No. He doesn't.
2) I'm clumsy.. also in my sleep... I'm the most graceful person I know! Are you kidding??
3) I've been cursed with the face of Quasimodo... because I'm so awesome! :) Quite possible I think..
4) I've really been cursed with a tortuous BIBLICAL size boil.. because I'm so awesome!!!

MOS'DEF the last one. It's all swollen and painful. I have a pimple headache.. if there ever was one of those. And today, at Becky's house.. I was looking for her router beind a desk and forgot about my forehead land mass and rammed it into the wall. :( OUCH. It better go away.

Yes. I know I need to pluck my eyebrows. Don't judge.


"Or what?" my pimple says?? I got nuthin'.

Heavy Drinker

We are 2 ounces away from 5 pounds! Tomorrow is the night.. I feel it. We will pass the 5 pound mark tomorrow. (I hope..) And I'm telling you.. For being as small as she was, I really don't think there is any baby who has caught on to everything as well and as fast as Darbi has! She is an amazing little boob sucker! Ms. OT said that once she starts taking milk into the double digits consistently, we can try bottle feeding. She's going to be taking 2-3 bottles here at home a day because she needs a few to be fortified with the vitamins that she didn't get during the 3rd trimester. One of the requirements to get her home is she needs to take 75% of her feedings from either me breastfeeding or through a bottle. We are getting closer! So the reason for all of this rambling.. She has exponentially increased the amount of milk she is getting from me!

Yesterday morning: 15 grams
Yesterday evening: 25 grams
This morning: 19 grams
This evening: 36 grams

36?!?! YES!! That is 82% of her feeding!! I just pushed the last 8 grams in myself through her NG tube! She didn't even need the pump because there was so little! Ms. OT was super excited! She's the one who makes the call on when we go to a bottle so this is really good!


This is Darbi's new favorite way to sit after I feed her. She just cries and cries when I have her laying more flat. She's getting the milk in faster than she is used to so of course.. she gets gassy. She burps a lot throughout the whole feeding but I like snuggling like this so it's ok.

The eye doctor came yesterday and said that he will come again to check her in a week. She is still the same and now that he wants to come in a week instead of 3-4 days is a good thing. In his report, he wrote that in 2 weeks he wants to -----------------. He wants to what, you ask??? I have no idea!!! NO ONE can read his chicken scratch.. It's just bad doctor scribble.. it's literally gobs of X's and O's.. It's another language I swear! So I'm thinking if she's still the same in 2 weeks, he will either just do the surgery, or call her good and out of the woods and say we're ok to just have weekly checkups in his office after she comes home. We'll find out next Wednesday what the secret message in Darbi's file says...

Really? I'm getting a bit tired of this...

Grumpy Old Man Winter is trying to kill off Spring. I hate you Old Man Winter.

She's getting so big!

Breasfeeding: We are doing better! She latches on every time and sucks the right way every time! Our only problem with that is she isn't a very strong sucker. Now that she's understands the process, it's just going to be a matter of getting better at it. She's still really little (hmph.. so they say) and it's going to take a little bit more time for her to get stronger. I'm still pumping about 6-8 times a day (who am I kidding.. it's more like 5) but I get from 26-30 ounces a day. Right now she's eating just under 12 ounces every 24 hours so I'm WAY ahead of schedule.

Weight gain: She's still small for her age but she's gaining weight according to the "growth curve chart" so we're happy. I think she's in the 3rd percentile for height and weight! :) She's real small. Her head on the other hand is huge.. not sure on the percentile but.. it's huge. Officially, tonight, she weighed 2130 grams which is 4 pounds 11 ounces!! In 4 days, she has gained about 7 ounces! We almost have a 5 pound baby!!

Eyes: We are waiting to be checked in 3-6 days. The doctor is really pleased that she still hasn't needed surgery! We're not out of the woods yet and we are 99.9% sure she will have the surgery but everyday she can hold off is another chance for her to get bigger which will help her recovery from surgery. It's a constant roller coaster trying to keep up on when the doctor says he will come and when he actually comes so I try not to think about it.

Oxygen levels: She is still requiring between 21 and 30% oxygen, depending on the time of day and what is being done to her. If we are breastfeeding, she goes up to about 30% just because of the whole suck, swallow, and breath challenge and if she's sleeping comfortably, she's close to 21%. The doctors won't let her come home on oxygen if she is still in the danger zones for ROP and possibly requiring surgery. They say that having a high oxygen saturation in your blood can increase the risk of ROP (which we already have but it can also make it worse, faster). So, the battle we fight now is: 1) we have eye surgery soon, she loses her peripheral vision (and becomes a bad driver ), we come home on oxygen and a heart monitor, and we probably come home sooner or 2) She takes her sweet 'ol time working miracles on her eyes and fixing the ROP so no surgery is required, she still needs oxygen, but we have to wait... lots of waiting... and we come home later, still on a heart monitor but maybe no cannula.

That's pretty much my summation of reasoning how soon it will take us to come home. I hope it wasn't too confusing. I'm thinking she won't be home by her due date. Maybe by Mother's Day or Clint's birthday (May 9th) though. Wouldn't that be great??

These are some pics we took tonight of her. She LOVES LOVES being upright on your shoulder. Clint started doing that with her the other night and she just calms right down. Seriously.. we have the cutest little girl! I can't get over it..

The Princess and the Easter Bunny

In my time here at the hospital, I've noticed that the night shift seems to come up with really creative things to do to pass the time. Well.. the other night, Darbi became the object that fueled their fun for the night. While it will never beat this night escapade, I do love how the picture turned out!! Her head is HUGE compared to her little body!! It's such a funny picture!!


Now... Onto the more creepy picture of the day. Darbi had her picture taken with the Easter Bunny yesterday!! I didn't really care either way if they did it but I figured what the heck? I wasn't there when they did it but I found this piece of work by Darbi's bedside tonight and words could not express.. I stopped midsentence when I was talking to Ms. OT #2. I love that they made a cute little page and everything and I love that one of the nurses bribed her daughter into dressing up like the Easter Bunny so that parents could have darling pictures taken of their children BUT... the look on Darbi's face pretty much takes the cake. I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!

She looks so terrified!! I know she had no idea what was going on.. but.. this was awesome. Just PURE awesome.

small updates

Today, we weren't as lucky with the breastfeeding thing.. total ml's received: 5. :( Oh well. I'm noticing that at her 11:00 feedings she practically sleeps through the whole thing and doesn't eat. So tomorrow I'll try her 2:00 feeding to see if she'll do better. She's always awake for her night feedings though.

Darbi had a hearing test yesterday (Megan: do they do this close to discharge? or just when they get close to being 40 weeks?) She didn't pass though. :( The doc said that she can't hear those high frequency noises (he called it "peripheral abnormalities"). He said not to worry though. She probably just had some fluid in her ear that will be gone when they check again and she'll most likely be fine. I know sign language (a little..) so we're covered either way.

She is also still having some apnea spells. She cannot come home at all if she is having any apnea spells so they will try and increase her caffine a little to try and stimulate her little lungs so she doesn't forget to breath.

But.. the best news of all. She had another brain ultrasound today to check her brain bleeds. The doctor said they have completely resolved, they disappeared in February, and her brain looks normal!! SO happy!! It feels good to have that door closed. No more worrying about that (not like I did.. she's the perfect little baby).

Still no eye appointment. I'm so confused about that. Is it bad or not? Argh.

Good & Bad

Good news: Darbi latched on today and got 24ml from my left side alone!! That is half of her feeding!! She's getting 38ml every 3 hours. I was so happy! However, she did have 2 brady spells where I choked her with my supa-strong-flow but she recovered fairly quickly. She's having a hard time trying to suck, swallow, and breath all together so that's what happens when she forgets to breath; her heart stops. Or slows down. She's doing alright though. Meeting with Ms. OT was better today. I kinda started before she got there which made it easier for me to control the speed at which I got Darbi latched on. There was no screaming because we did it my way! Darbi was a happy little girl. I think I have to meet with her again tomorrow night though...

Bad news: Her eyes have gotten worse. :( She's at Zone 2 Stage 3 (or Stage 2 Zone 3). Anyway, the Doctor will be back tomorrow for another check and possible surgery into next week... or tomorrow. We never know.

Other good news: Clint and his brother made some SUPER yummy salsa today that I can't. stop. eating. Soooooooo goooooood.

She loves her Daddy

I can't believe I haven't blogged since Monday! So sorry. We've just been working hard at this whole breastfeeding thing. She's doing better I guess. Some of the OT ladies (Occupational Therapy) kinda stress me out. They are kind of harsh with how they handle Darbi. Today Ms. OT kept shoving me into Darbi's mouth while Darbi is screaming her brains out and at the same time, telling me not to shove but to go at Darbi's pace. I was getting upset because I hate to see Darbi scream like that. It was making breastfeeding not a good experience for either of us. After my session with her, Darbi would not stop crying. I tried everything while I was holding her and nothing worked. We tried putting her back in her bed swaddled real tight with her binky but still, she screamed. So then Clint says "Give her to me." And...

She was out. :) I have to work with OT again tomorrow so hopefully Clint comes with me to use his magic daddy touch to calm her down.

Open bed

Darbi got a new bed today! It's not a crib like we think of one but actually a big plastic tub. They just moved her into it tonight (right after our breastfeeding time where she spit up on me major!) It is not temperature regulated so she's on her own there but she's been pretty consistant on her body temp. I think she'll do really well in this new bed. The only thing that might trip her up is all of the noise that her other bed kept out. She is still at an angle because of her reflux but I think it's getting better.. nobody has said much about it lately and I forget to ask.



Breastfeeding is going alright. It's extremely frustrating. I met with the lactation consultant today and also the occupational therapist. The lactation consultant taught me some more ways to hold her and also some of her triggers that mean she's doing well. It's just going to take a lot of practice and me remembering to have a good outlook. Neither of us know what we're doing so we're learning together.

She also had another eye appointment yesterday and the Doctor was pleasantly surprised! He can't believe she has held out so long and still hasn't needed surgery! Next check: sometimes later this week.

When is she coming home???

With all of these new changes taking place, I want to start a poll. I want EVERYONE to guess the date they think Darbi will come home. I will (maybe) give a special prize for all who guess correctly! If that isn't incentive enough! My due date was April 25th to give you all a date to work from.. Please comment and make your guess!!

Please only guess once and the poll will close April 13th.

Ladies & Gentleman

Please welcome Nursey B's newest addition: Daaaaaarbi Pedersen!!! That's right my friends. We have been moved to the step-down nursery. The last bed spot we will see before we bring her home. The quiet room. The healthy room. :)

Darbi the Poopsmith

Check this out.. While I was trying to feed her today, I felt a mini bomb go off in Darbi's pants. I wasn't sure if she was faking me out or if it was the real thing. Oh.. it was the real thing. It got e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e!! (She got 3 grams of milk this time around.. with the shield)

She is saying "Don't mess with me.. or I'll mess with you" Get it?


She is SO cute! And getting so big! She's in preemie clothes now.

Breastfeeding Day 1

Today when I called, Darbi's nurse Heather said that there was an order to begin breastfeeding! We decided 5:00 would be a good time and I was actually really nervous. They told me to not come with any expectations. So when I got there, Heather had me pump for about 5 minutes (to take the edge off of my eye piercing steady stream) :) and then I had to put a shield on to make it easier for Darbi to latch on.. She has a small mouth you know..

I had her in the football hold and she actually latched on very quickly! I was super excited because she seems to catch on very quickly with everything and I didn't want this to be a bad experience. Before I forget, before we tried the whole breastfeeding thing, we weighed her to compare in case she got some. She weighed 2236 grams (including the blanket she was wrapped in, her outfit, and her diaper). So anyway, she latches on and for about 25 minutes, she stays latched on and sucked for about 50-75% of the time! I was on top of the world! Of course Darbi can do anything! About 25 minutes into this, she falls asleep. We didn't want to overdo it with her so we stopped and got ready to weigh her. 2236 grams again. :( She didn't get ANYTHING. I think the shield is to blame. I won't go into details about it but it didn't really work. I was pretty disappointed but no biggie, right? It's the first time and we've got time.

So we made plans to come back later tonight at 11:00 and try again. Once again, I came in, pumped for about 5 minutes, and starting on the opposite side, tried again. Within 5 minutes, she desated about 4 times and had 3 brady spells.. in 5 minutes. Not good. I was kinda stressing. I really really want her to get this. So Jodi (her nurse) came to check on us as there were many high pitched beeping sounds going off (the bad ones) and we decided to put her back in her isolette for the night.

I know that this will take time and lots of patience from me but it's hard. I want to automatically be good at this right away. So the plan is to try again tomorrow morning at 11:00 but I think we should just take a break from this all and wait until Monday when I can work with Lactation and they can tell me what I'm really doing wrong. But, in my defense, there were a lot of changes made to Darbi's care today. The liters on her Oxygen were moved from 1.5 liters to 1 liter and her feedings were condensed from 36cc's over 2 hours to 36cc's over 1.5 hours. They are also weening the angle of her bed from being so vertical. She needs to be able to lay completely flat before they will move her to a real crib (for her reflux).

I was able to get a lot done at home this weekend though! My brother brought up my bookshelves from home and now I've got the itch to organize! I LOVE to organize when I'm in the right mood! Maybe this is me "nesting". I'm liking it! My house is getting cleaner! Bookshelves make a house seem more home-y!

Big girl binky.. for real

I finally got to go in and see my little girl again today! And HOLD her again! It's amazing how much she has changed since I last held her on Sunday. I think she has gained about 150 grams since then. She weighed 1903 which is 4 pounds 3 ounces. I kind of like this weigh-every-other-day-deal we've got going. It makes it seem like she's growing twice as fast! We went in tonight and gave her a bath (which she of course loved) and then we snuggled for about 30 minutes (it was like midnight..). I swear she smiled at me the moment I got in her isolette with her to change her diaper. I swear!! And now she's really taking a big girl binky. We tried it about 3 weeks ago and she could suck on it but it about choked her. Today she did really well with it. I don't even have to hold it in for her anymore. She can suck on it and it stays there. She keeps it in her mouth by herself like a big girl.

Now: a video to prove it.



Tomorrow's agenda: Antiquing then cleaning then visiting the Darbster.. because I can!

4 pounds and horns

We are 4 pounds 1 ounce tonight! I'm not sure if we will be moving to the crib tomorrow but it will be in the next 2 or 3 days. So funny story: my baby grew horns today as per a conversation between Darbi's nurse and her 4 year old grandson.

Shelley: Good morning (insert a cute little boy's name to be used as her grandson)!

Shelley's Grandson: Morning Grandma! So you know that baby you are taking care of?

S: Yes?

SG: Hurry and go look at her!

S: Why?

SG: Because she grew horns today!!

S: (pause & silent giggle) I know.

SG: (silence)

S: (cute boy's name)?

SG: Um... (more silence) April Fools!!!

I thought that was pretty cute! I didn't have any ideas for a good April Fools' joke today. I think I need to plan a year in advance. I won't get around to it. Meh.
Being sick is still no fun. My head is foggy and I'm tired. I miss Darbi.

[edited] Eye exam last night (4/1) = still no surgery! Next check in a few more days.