Week 1 at Home

Wow! This past week has been a whirlwind. I can't believe a week has already gone by. So far so good. Chloe ate pretty poorly her first two days at home so I actually took her to the pediatrician because I was worried she was sick. (Also, her temp was hanging low - a sign of sickness in tiny babies.) She said Chloe's fine, though, and we'll go back in two weeks. We also got the ok to try a faster flow nipple on her bottles. She was just having to work WAY too hard to get the thickened milk out of regular nipples. We got a cool adjustable nipple from Avent and can just rotate the bottle to increase/decrease the speed. It's great because we can start her at slow speed when she first starts eating, the milk is still really warm and viscous, and she's all cylinders. Then we can just turn our wrist to switch to a higher flow when she slows down and the milk cools/thickens. It seems to be working. She doesn't take an hour to finish a bottle and I think that's good. An hour at work on a bottle is way too long for her.

We also seem to have her pooping under control. We had to give her two glycerin chips, to make her poop, when she first got home. Sticking something up Chloe's bottom wasn't exactly the homecoming I'd envisioned for her but ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do, right? Since then I've been sneaking straight (thickened) breastmilk into her diet when she seems stopped up. It seems like she only needs 3 bottles of breastmilk every three days or so to keep the poop coming. Theoretically, straight breastmilk might hinder weight gain because it has fewer calories than her breastmilk/formula recipe but she eats much more after a good poop so I'm hoping it will actually assist in weight gain and not hinder it.

We saw the pulmonologist today. I really like him a lot. He has a super cool African (big continent, I know, but that's as good as I can do) accent and made silly baby noises for Chloe as he examined her. He was tickled when I said I "hated" the pulse-ox monitor because he'd rather we watch Chloe than the monitor. I thought that was interesting since he was supposedly the one who ordered it but he vehemently denied that and said he doesn't like parents to use them because he'd rather then watch the baby. The monitor is supposed to beep when Chloe's oxygen levels or heart rate drop below acceptable levels. It goes off all the time, though, telling me that my pink babies has a 55% (for example) blood-oxygen level or it's not picking up at all because she's kicking her legs. Crappy monitor! It works sometimes, though, so I think I'll keep it on when Chloe's alone sleeping or when we're in the car and I'm not watching her. He's concerned with Chloe's growth, though (join the club), and is NOT impressed with her weight gain since leaving the hospital. (He said 11grams per day but I came home and did some math and came up with a higher number.) She needs to grow new lung tissue and weight gain is an indicator of that. Anyway, no changes for today. We can expect her to stay on oxygen at least though the winter and that's fine with me. Come back in two weeks. He might consult the nutritionist and increase her calories if she hasn't gained sufficiently by then. Yikes!


CUTIE PATOOTIE

Having Chloe home creates many more photo opportunities. She's SUCH a doll! Is it possible that she's even cuter now that she's at home BECAUSE she's at home? I've taken to kissing her a lot lately, too. Being in the NICU creates an extreme sense of germ paranoia. We're still very germ conscious. We keep antibacterial gel all over the house and I have to sneak into Solana's room at night to lotion up her hands because they're getting so dry from all the gel. (She squirts herself every time she wants to touch Chloe, poor baby.) Anyway, I never really kissed Chloe in the NICU. That sounds so sad all of the sudden - 5 months before kissing my baby properly. :-( Anyway, It's like I've found this new joy and she seems to like it too! I don't kiss her on the mouth or anything - more like her cheeks near her ear and neck. She just stared at me in fascination when I was doing it over and over last night. And I swear she was trying to kiss me back afterward (either that or she was just hungry and trying to eat my cheeks.) Whenever I would go in for another nibble at her ear she's open up her little mouth and plant one on my cheek. I LOVED IT! In fact, I can't wait for her to wake up so I can go do it again! Hehe.



Isn't she gorgeous. Look at how tiny she looks next to Dave's hands. Can you just imagine if Leila were here? Oh my gosh - that would just be a ridiculous amount of beautiful babyness!

We were trying out headbands. She can totally rock a headband but I like to keep a hat on her because her temperature's been a bit on the low side since she's been home.

This is our gorgeous Australian Shepherd, Bluebell (yes, I miss my Blue Bell ice cream). She is the best dog! And she has decided that Chloe is her baby. Ever vigilant she's always by Chloe's side. She loves Chloe. Her herding skills will come in handy when Chloe gets mobile. Oh, funny story. I lowered a swaddled Chloe so that Bluebell could sniff her and Chloe farted right as Bluebell started sniffing her. Bluebell immediately started licking Chloe's bootie area as if she were a puppy. So cute!!!

Playing with Daddy. Note Bluebell in the background...

I really do hold Chloe sometimes...

TUMMY TIME!

Chloe enjoys herself some tummy time! This was taken right at the beginning - before the screaming and crying began. I always feel so bad for her during tummy time :-(

Super Girl! She has yet to roll over for us (the nurses swear she did it three times in a row for them a couple of weeks ago) but she's gotten pretty close.

Here Dave is giving her some moral support. It seemed to work. She got busy right after that.

SISTERS

Solana adores her sister. Of course, we've already witnessed a tiny bit of acting out. I'm torn between maintaining a firm hand with her and letting it slide since she really has been neglected the last few days. If you know me at all you've probably already guessed that I've chosen the "firm hand" option. (With a side of obscenely excessive praise for praise-worthy behavior.) :-P Hopefully, we'll get back to a reasonable amount of "Solana time" really soon.

I love Solana's expressions in these pictures.

I think Chloe kind of resembles Solana in this picture. I never really thought that before...

Look at how she looks at Chloe. Love them!

Well, that's it for this week. I definitely will not be updating every day anymore. I'm lucky if I brush my teeth before noon! (And yes, I do believe I had brushed teeth in the above picture. Definitely no makeup, though!) Blogging is definitely going to fally by the wayside. It's been wonderful to read all the joyous comments of our friends and loved ones the past few days. It's so fun to hear Chloe's cheering squad in full force. :-D

Chloe's NICU Video

Check out this amazing slideshow Angela made.

http://www.photodex.com/sharing/viewshow?fl=3161454&alb=0

You have to download an ActiveX Control to watch the video and then click on "January 18..." under the title to start it.

Little note: My mom flew to Ohio from Houston the morning after my water broke. We expected her to help out as I began my hospital bedrest. Instead, she was there for my labor and emergency delivery. She, Dave, and I had the opportunity to spend lots of time saying "hello" and "goodbye" to Leila after the girls were born. When it was my mom's turn to hold her she sang "Jesus Loves Me." It was so sweet and perfect. It makes me tear up just thinking of it. I'm not sure if Angela remembered that when making the video but...well...you'll see/hear.

Home at Last! She's Home at Last!

This has to be really quick. Chloe has, indeed, kept us on our toes these past few days. She's doing well, though, and we are sooooo thankful and blessed to finally have her at home with us where she belongs. I want to share so much of what we've experienced over the last few days but I'm still trying to figure out a way to function with our new addition. Let's just say I didn't do too well the first day. I spent two out of every thee hours feeding Chloe and pumping. Chloe can't really leave our bedroom because we only get 20 feet of tubing for her oxygen (they say that longer tubing won't work with such a low flow [1/8 Liter]) so I rarely leave the bedroom. I've reduced her feeding time to 30-45 minute increments and I'm only pumping every 5-6 hours now. We'll figure it out. We're just glad to have our little angel home and doing well. Home for the time being, that is. We have a deluge of doctor's appointments coming up: We've already been to the Pediatrition (I thought she was sick but she's not), Pulmonologist, Surgeons follow-up, Opthamologists, Feeding Therapist, and the Help Me Grow people already want to come and assess her for the HMG program (a state run program that will assign us a case worker who will follow Chloe until PreK and make sure she's developing and making milestones). This ought to be interesting. We're entering a whole new world of premie development. I'm not even close to ready for this (I've only had 5 months to prepare myself but...whatever..) But we'll figure it out along the way...

By the way, my bff Angla went with us to the hospital on Monday to photograph. She said she took over 700 pictures! I won't upload all... She also made an amazing slideshow of Chloe's NICU time that already made me cry twice. I'll share the youtube link as soon as I get it.

Day 148 - Takin' Care O' Buisness

We have a lot to do. Chloe should be evicted tomorrow.

Day 145 - Puttin' on the grams

Chloe put on 36 grams yesterday - the first day she was allowed to be a big girl and control her own feeding schedule. 36 grams may not seem like a lot but it's a pretty good amount for Chloe. She gained 8 grams the night before and didn't gain anything for 5 days before that. As it turns out, she's really hungry around dinner time and likes to sleep more at night. I'm sure not complaining! She's now 5lb 10.5oz. As my friend, Bev, says, "Praises!"

I can't wait to visit Chloe during Solana's Pre-K today. She's usually super alert during the day for me. I only got to visit her yesterday evening and she was fighting sleep really hard. She finally lost her battle and pretty much snoozed the whole time I was there. She's gorgeous when she sleeps so I'm certainly not complaining but I do love those eyes! Besides, I was simultaneously enjoying her beauty and cracking up at the dad who seemed to be participating in a log sawing contest a couple of bed spaces away. Everyone was laughing at him, poor guy. If only his wife had been there to kick him in shin... Hehe.

By the way, I've completely given up on being cool about Chloe's "eviction."

Please Pray for Ayden

Our NICU has two "old timers." Chloe and cutie pie named Ayden. Ayden is actually older than Chloe. He was born on August 5th at 23 weeks gestation. His parents are super sweet, super involved, and super young. I just adore them and I pray for them constantly. Ayden and Chloe have had a lot of the same problems. (They were even both in Michigan at the same time.) Only, Ayden's medical problems are much worse. Yesterday they got more bad news. I just wish I could wrap my arms around them and make it better.


Will you please pray for baby Ayden with me?


His mom recently started a blog for him and summarized the past five months in her first post.

http://aydensjourney.blogspot.com/

Day 144 - Avoiding The 'H' Word

Chloe's still doing pretty well. She still doesn't want to eat at night but seems to be eating pretty well during the day. They've switched her to ad lib ad lib feedings. This basically means that she can eat as much as she wants whenever she wants. And instead of waking her every 3 hours at night they'll only wake her if she hasn't eaten in 4 hours. Plus, the nurse practitioner said she's no longer concerned with the exact quantity that Chloe eats every three hours (or even over a day). She's more concerned that Chloe is having good quality feeds and that she's gaining weight. (She didn't gain weight for about 5 days while we eased her back to full feeds). She has gained puny amounts the last couple of days so we'd really like her to start putting the grams back on.

I've taken great pains to avoid asking about the 'H' word. It was too disappointing when they said, "maybe before Christmas" and then "maybe before the new year" and neither of those happened. (It might have also had something to do with the fact that those were holidays.) I decided I'm much happier in blissful ignorance - I just want to go in for a visit one day and see Chloe sitting in her car seat and ready to go. OK, maybe that's not so practical but you know what I mean...

Anyway, I was talking to the nurse practitioner yesterday about Chloe's progress. She said, "All Chloe has to do now is keep up her eating enough to stay hydrated and gain weight over the next few days. If she does well this week she could go home on Monday. Would that be a good day for you?" Here's how I feel about that statement:

"Oh Crap! I didn't want to know! Now, I just can't get too excited because that might not happen." / "Monday!?! Yippee!! Hooraay!! I can't wait for my little Princess to come home!!"

Well, at least Chloe is blissfully ignorant...

Day 142 - Come on Chloe

Chloe did great all day finishing her bottles but the didn't finish any of her bottles last night. She still has one more chance to finish a bottle before rounds today. Hopefully, last night was just a fluke and she's over it. Come on, Chloe. You can do it! You don't want that yucky tube back!

Day 141 - No more NG tube (again :-)

Chloe has been eating really well. So well, in fact, that they decided (once more) to remove her NG tube. I've been praying a lot about this amazing turn of events lately. She seems to be doing really well the last couple of days. It ocurred to me that it's really easy to be thankful when things are going well. Not so much when they aren't. It's a person of strong faith who can exclaim, "Glory to God" when things did not go their way. I think I've learned a lesson here - something for me to practice in the future.

So....Um...Can Chloe come home now?

Hehe.

Here's a close-up of chin and cheek support. Middle finger is placed under the chin and gently presses up to help keep her tongue/bottom lip latched on to the bottle. Index finger and thumb gently press up and in on the cheeks. (Too bad Chloe's cheeks are so small and hard to get hold of...) Pressure on the cheeks keeps her mouth in place and sort of reminds her that the bottle is in her mouth and that she's supposed to be eating. This is Chloe's big 2oz bottle :-)

Chloe eats in the "sideline" position. She lays on her side so that the milk flows into her mouth instead of straight to the back of her throat. This way she doesn't have to work so hard to keep the milk out of her airway. I just learned to cross my legs and put her bottom in the little "seat" created for her when I do that. Her back rests on my top leg. Feeling pretty proud of myself - can you tell?
5lb 8.5oz

Day 140 - New Tricks and Techniques

You'll never believe what Chloe did yesterday. I didn't see it so I'm not 100% sure that I believe it but three nurses swear that Chloe rolled herself from her stomach to her back twice. I'm not sure when she's supposed to do that but it seems kind of early for her to be doing tricks. They kept coming by yesterday and asking if I'd seen her new trick but I was there on a feeding mission and didn't have time to try it. They said she'd lift up her little hiney and waggle it around, get mad, then flip over! I'm sure it was spectacularly cute and hope she's in a performing mood today. I'm emptying my camera memory card just in case :-)

She actually had a pretty good day yesterday. She finished most of her bottles and the chicken-bone coughs she usually does were non-existent.

I've learned a few things in the last couple of days, too. On Friday night I tried feeding Chloe and she kept pushing the bottle out with her tongue. I thought maybe she needed to burp (even though she'd only taken 7cc's) but then she started falling asleep. Betty had finished her shift at 7pm and was off to the side charting for a couple of hours. She walked by on her way out the door, saw that Chloe wasn't eating (after a 100% success rate that day), and said, "Oh no [as in, I don't THINK so.]" She put her bag down and sat down to feed Chloe and show me some preemie feeding techniques. As it turns out, feeding a "difficult eater" preemie is a lot more complicated than feeding a full-term baby. As I sat there watching Betty feed Chloe I was simultaneously fascinated, focused on learning, grateful, and humbled. She learned these techniques at a feeding conference and they're certainly not intuitive so I don't feel badly about needing a lesson. But I couldn't help but feeling just a teensy bit stupid. Chloe took her entire bottle for Betty - yeah! Then her day nurse on Saturday mentioned "chin and cheek support." I came in for another lesson. She quickly showed me chin and cheek support (which I mastered with ease) and Chloe proceeded to finish her entire bottle. I asked for more because she still seemed hungry and she took an extra 30cc's!

Right now she's doing a great job taking her feeds and everything seems to be going well.

Someone's outgrowing her preemie clothes! I LOVE this outfit!

Mommy's feeling proud of her little princess. Chloe just finished her bottle!

Day 139 - Milk

Ok - so now that I'm over Texas' loss I can write an update without being such a grump ;-) Actually, I'm quite proud of those guys for doing so well without Colt. And what a class act he was! "Glory to God... God is in control... You can't ask why things happen..."

Chloe's IV went out last night but she seemed to be doing well tolerating feedings (she's still on straight EBM) so they just increased her to full feedings and stopped her TPN. Her newest daytime primary nurse, Betty (I'm greedy and now have two day and two night primary nurses for Chloe), decided to try a plain ol' generic nipple since she's getting thickened milk now. Chloe took all of her 45cc 9am feeding in just 11 minutes! Then she took another five because she was starving. Betty said she didn't spill a drop, gave a good burp, and was happy afterward. She also did well at her 12:00 feed. I told Betty, "I hope you have just discovered the final ingredient to Chloe's eating success!"

And on the subject of milk.... I had to rearrange my milk in our deep freezer a couple of days ago and thought I'd share with you/show off what I've been doing for 20 hours a week since the girls were born.

Here we have one empty deep freezer:

Here we have the recent contents of said deep freezer (147.2 pounds of milk, to be precise):

And here we have one full deep freezer:

I have room for one more small box and then I'll have to start filling our side by side in the garage! Have I mentioned my new nickname? BESSIE!

Blogging - Powerful Stuff

It's interesting - this whole blogging thing. Sometimes I feel like I'm writing a simple log of Chloe's medical history. Sometimes I'm venting. Sometimes I'm figuring things out. Sometimes I'm reporting great news to our cheerleaders! Sometimes I'm begging for prayers (though not so often anymore - thank God!) And though I forget sometimes, I try and remember to share Chloe's beautiful personality.

And then there are the reader comments. Most of the time I'm reminded of all the amazing people who have never met Chloe yet love and pray for her. I hear from Moms who remember their own past experiences through my story and find comfort in knowing that they've been there.

Writing has never been my "thing." I'm more of a numbers person. One of my English teachers, I think it was maybe Mrs. Dozier my sophomore year in HS, always said to "remember your audience." Sorry Mrs. Dozier, I forgot your cardinal rule.

What I seem to have forgotten is that there are people out there who are emotionally invested here. And it makes perfect sense. If you pray for someone for four and a half months, feel joy with then, and cry for them, of course you internalize some of that. This is not the journal that I keep at the side of my bed (Duh!) I think I need to be more careful with my words. Lately, it seems as though I often open up the netbook to blog whenever I feel cranky and frustrated and I use the blog to get these feelings off my chest. Then I read my words, gain perspective, and feel much better afterwards. (The simple act of writing and reading your own words is really quite eye opening and clarifying.) Unfortunately, I don't usually go back and add postscripts to my blog.

The truth is that yes, this is all quite difficult and frustrating. But that is not the umbrella emotion under which I dwell. I have three beautiful daughters who are unique and amazing in their own ways and who remind me of how blessed I am every single day. I have a husband who loves us, is super overprotective, takes care of us, tells corney jokes, and is also amazing. Chloe is our little miracle and we're lucky to have her.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that: -I thank you sincerely and wholeheartedly for your encouragement and kind words and ask you to keep them coming! - I love that it's important to you that Chloe comes home safe and sound. -I will continue to use the blog as a sort of self-therapy AND keep in mind that I have an audience.

Love to you all!

Day 138 - ...

Are you getting tired of reading this blog? Because, I'll tell you what, I'm getting tired of writing it...

Chloe's back on oxygen. She lasted a good day but then it just got to be too much for her.

She was having some trouble with feedings last night and this morning - they did another kind of upper GI on her today because they suspected she was aspirating (breathing in) her milk during feeds. They determined that the milk's hitting the back of her nose. She's now getting a thickener in her milk that she'll probably come home on. She probably also has some reflux but they're hesitant to put her on medication for it. I think the doctors want to avoid more medication, if possible. They just want to watch and assess for now.

Solana and I made it in to the hospital this morning before the snow really piled up but I'm stuck at home tonight. It probably wouldn't be sooo bad if Colt McCoy hadn't gotten injured. :-(

Day 137 - Restart Feeds / DC Oxygen

The Upper GI report says there's no obstruction. They started feeding Chloe again today. She's getting 15cc's every 3 hours. This is 1/3 of what she was getting before she got sick. The latest theory, by the way, is that a virus got her and ran its course. I'm actually hoping that's correct because that would mean she's fine now. All she has to do is figure out this eating thing again. And as ravenous as she was last night, she should do well. The princess was held almost all night and our most favorite nurse, Gena, even held her royal highness for almost two hours after her 12hr shift ended (while she charted). While receiving all this indvidual attention the nurses noticed that Chloe's canula was often out of her nose and that she didn't seem to need it. So they spoke to the NP who agreed to try her without it. It's now 11pm and she's been without oxygen since 9am. Pretty cool! Of course, she may get it back whe she's up to full feeds again (it's harder to breathe when you have full belly - just think about how you feel after Thanksgiving). So we seem to be on the right track again. Praying that we can take some quick steps forward, toward, and out the door!

Day 136 - Upper GI - Updated

It started snowing pretty heavily yesterday afternoon so I didn't make it to the hospital for my evening visit. I never really minded the snow until now. The worst the snow ever did to me was to turn my one hour commute in Denver into a 3.5 hour commute on occassion. That wasn't so bad. If I was carpooling it just meant more time to hang out with my friend and something to brag/complain about at work. Keeping me from Chloe, on the other hand. That's bad.

The first picture is our Front Yard/Street and the next two are our Backyard. Solana is aching to get out there and play in it. With a temperature that currently feels like 6 degrees Farenheit, I'm procrastinating.

3:00am - Chloe's primary nurse wasn't happy with the swelling around her IV so she put in a new one. The last nurse sidestepped my question about the new IV placement and didn't tell me that she had at least one failed attempt in Chloe's hand before putting it in her foot (I saw the mark when I visited Chloe yesterday at noon). Chloe's primary nurse, who I LOVE, made sure to tell me that she got the new one in on the first try.

7:30am - Still no news on the schedule for her Upper GI. It's super snowy out there! Dave's colleage called from the highway and said it's a parking lot out there!

10:45am - Chloe just went down for her Upper GI. They're feeding the barium to her from a bottle. The nurse said the flavor's ok and Chloe should be thrilled to eat something again. I've never tasted barium. I hope she's right. They'll do a few x-rays down there (in radiology) and then bring her back up to the NICU for hourly x-rays. It could take anywhere between 12 and 24 hours for the barium to make its way through Chloe's intestines.

The NICU receptionist said that the roads aren't so bad. I'll probably head out there with Solana after lunch.

1:00pm Chloe is back up in the NICU and did well drinking the barium. They said that they noticed she swallowed a lot of air with the breastflow bottle. How easy of a fix would it be if that were the problem? Of course, the breastflow bottle was specifically designed so that babies do not swallow air. I asked for clarification as to how they made that determination. If it's true I'm more than happy to throw out the bottles. Solana and I will head over in a couple of hours.

4:30pm Solana and I made it to the hospital. She loves being a big sister so much. Chloe kept smiling whenever Solana stroked her forehead and sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to her. We're going to have so much fun when she comes home :-) The Upper GI test is going well. The barium is moving through at a good pace. We have received a preliminary report from the radiologists and it looks good. There doesn't seem to be any blockage. We have to wait until tomorrow for the final x-rays and report.

Day 135 - Barium..Enema - Updated

6:30am I missed my 3am pumping alarm. Ouch! Called the hospital and Chloe's IV finally gave out. Thankful it lasted as long as it did but still sad thinking of her getting another one. (Seems trivial since she's already had like 30 IV pokes but I probably won't ever get used to it...) We're still on for 9:30 upper GI barium.

9:15am Dave stopped by the hospital on his way to work (I can't get there until I drop Solana off at school at noon). Chloe was already downstairs in radiology. Instead of doing an Upper GI Barium like they said they were doing a barium Enema. He said he'll call me when he gets more information. Prayers, please.

12:30pm I finally made it to the hospital after dropping off Solana at school. The enema went well and her lower GI looks good. They'll do the upper GI barium tomorrow. Results will take longer. We're hoping the test goes well tomorrow so she can maybe start eating again on Wednesday.

The little princess has been upgraded to an open crib with bouncy seat option. From this new throne she welcomed her royal audience (rounds) today.

"Gather around. Gather around. State your business, please."

Day 134 - Padre Pio do your thing!

Chloe had a couple of nice visits from Grammy and Mommy today. She cozied up to Grammy and slept for an hour and a half. After that I took my mom to the airport :-( since she had to go back home. I then returned to the hospital and spent a wonderful hour and a half with a fully awake and cute-tastic alert Chloe.

So I submit to you these Chloe-rific photos (and no complaining about the poor quality - you should be used to my lack of photography skills by now ;-) :

I took these three pictures today during Chloe's marathon 1.5hour alert period. Unfortunately, I only had my phone handy so they're pretty dark. Fortunately, Chloe's cuteness shines though!
































Here's Chloe giggling at Grammy jokes. Chloe smiles ALL the time! I just never have a camera in hand when she does it.















My mom enjoying some quality time with her smallest grandchild right before her return to Houston.
















I love this picture that I took yesterday. Dave doesn't spend nearly as much time as me at the hospital so he's not quite as used to Chloe's magic. I walked out of the lactation room to find him in the position - obviously overcome by Chloe's calming effect.


















The last thing I did before leaving Chloe tonight was to bless her with some sacred oil that has touched the glove of Padre Pio. Our new friends/neighbors lent the oil to us and tell us that a family member's cancer disappeared after a blessing with this oil. We Catholics are a superstitious bunch - me included. I will take any special blessings sent our way! Chloe's Upper GI barium is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 9:30amET. Come on Padre Pio! Do your thing!

Day 133 - Bowel Rest

Chloe is on her fourth day of bowel rest (or "starvation," as I like to call it). My poor baby! She's soooo huuuungy! They actually have her on TPN IV nutrition so she's not actally "starving" but her little belly is definitely grumbly.

They still haven't figured out exactly why her bowels became dilated and she stopped digesting her feeds. But they have ruled out infection. Her antibiotics were discontinued today since none of the cultures yielded any growth. It seems like the possibilities are now either 1. it was nothing and they'll restart feeds again after seven days of starvation - I mean bowel rest, or 2. she has a partial or complete blockage in her intestines. They'll do another barium study on Monday or Tuesday. Hopefully, the barium study will show us whether or not she has a blockage.

I keep telling everyone that I think she just had trouble with the similac forula they were giving her. She got really gassy and her stools started coming at inconsistent intervals as soon as they put her on it. Nobody is taking me seriously, though, so I'm sure my theory has no basis. If her barium study shows a blockage then that's obviously the problem. If not, I'll make sure we're really careful when we start her on feedings again. I sure wish she could be on just breast milk!