The Odyssey Ends.

Penelope is almost five months old.  It's hard to believe that this amazing, emotionally exhausting, life-changing and somehow incredibly rewarding journey began so long ago.

When Trent and I chose the name "Penelope", we named her for Odysseus' wife in The Odyssey but we had no idea how fitting the name would become.  Odysseus' Penelope was patient, strong, faithful and brave as she waited for her husband to return to her.  Developing those qualities got us through this experience.  And,  just as Odysseus battled forces larger than himself to get home, our little Penelope defeated the conditions under which she was born and finally came home.  

We made it to back home to Houston on August 14.  Two weeks later we were reunited with our pets, Harold and Rufus, who had stayed with my parents since the end of April, and finally our little family became complete.  We have reconnected with our family and friends and Penelope has met so many of the special people in our lives.  

Penelope is doing so well and is just thriving.  She now weighs over 9lbs and is developing and changing every day.  She has started to smile and coo and (sometimes) sleep through the night.  Often, Trent and I are overwhelmed when we look at our beautiful little girl and reflect upon how far she has come.  Essentially all of her prematurity-related health problems have dissipated and now she is just like any other baby.  However, she will never be just like any other baby to us.  

So now Penelope's odyssey ends, as does this blog.  Our little one finally made it home to Texas.  And while Texas may not be Ithaca, which scholars believe was in the Greek isles (although some of my fellow Texans will argue that Ithaca may not be Texas),  we couldn't be happier.

This first phase of our life as a family closes.  We never could have made it without the overwhelming support, love and friendship of all of you.  

And so, Trent, Penelope and I say...

The Odyssey Ends.

Penelope is almost five months old.  It's hard to believe that this amazing, emotionally exhausting, life-changing and somehow incredibly rewarding journey began so long ago.

When Trent and I chose the name "Penelope", we named her for Odysseus' wife in The Odyssey but we had no idea how fitting the name would become.  Odysseus' Penelope was patient, strong, faithful and brave as she waited for her husband to return to her.  Developing those qualities got us through this experience.  And,  just as Odysseus battled forces larger than himself to get home, our little Penelope defeated the conditions under which she was born and finally came home.  

We made it to back home to Houston on August 14.  Two weeks later we were reunited with our pets, Harold and Rufus, who had stayed with my parents since the end of April, and finally our little family became complete.  We have reconnected with our family and friends and Penelope has met so many of the special people in our lives.  

Penelope is doing so well and is just thriving.  She now weighs over 9lbs and is developing and changing every day.  She has started to smile and coo and (sometimes) sleep through the night.  Often, Trent and I are overwhelmed when we look at our beautiful little girl and reflect upon how far she has come.  Essentially all of her prematurity-related health problems have dissipated and now she is just like any other baby.  However, she will never be just like any other baby to us.  

So now Penelope's odyssey ends, as does this blog.  Our little one finally made it home to Texas.  And while Texas may not be Ithaca, which scholars believe was in the Greek isles (although some of my fellow Texans will argue that Ithaca may not be Texas),  we couldn't be happier.

This first phase of our life as a family closes.  We never could have made it without the overwhelming support, love and friendship of all of you.  

And so, Trent, Penelope and I say...

Brunchin' at bubby's

Tired after tummy time

Penelope and grandad

Penelope and Nana

First week home

Penelope has been home for a week now.  It's been so wonderful and so exhausting.  It's been so exhausting that we've had to enlist help.  We had been naive enough to think that since we already knew how to care for her (feeding, diapering, bathing, etc.) and she was on a schedule, that we would be able to do the whole new baby at home thing on our own.  By day two, we realized that we were wrong.  She has been a very easy baby so far but Trent wasn't able to take time off of work.  My mom came up this week, some of our friends are coming up next week and then Trent's mom is coming.  And a few weeks later we finally go home.  Yea!

The transition from life in the NICU to life at home seems to have been an easy one for Penelope.  She is enjoying being held almost all the time.  I have to wonder if she misses the almost constant attention from so many people though.  She was a favorite with the nurses, practitioners and doctors at the hospital and they would stop by and visit her a lot.  

The transition for Trent and me has been pretty easy, too.  It's nice not having to go to the hospital every day.  We are really enjoying getting to know our little girl and being with her all the time.  Trent is proving to be a wonderful dad and partner in caring for her.  

Baby's crying.  Have to go.

Thanks for checking in.  I'll update more later.  

First trip out of house!

At pediatrician

Not sure about this

Going home!!!!!!!

Unplugged and ready to go!

Sleeping soundly, no idea what's coming

Penelope is 77 days old

Penelope was born 11 weeks ago today and she is still about a week shy of her due date.  She had a good night and it looks like she will be coming home today.  Trent and I are still in disbelief about her homecoming and it probably won't sink in until we are walking out of the hospital - with our baby.

Although I am so happy our baby will finally be coming home, this ending is a little bittersweet.  All the nurses and doctors have been so wonderful and supportive and in a way I will miss them very much.  Their hard work and dedication has brought Penelope to this point.  We will never be able to thank them enough. 

I plan to continue updating this blog, although I don't know how regular the updates will be.  The next few weeks are going to be unpredictable as our little girl turns our lives upside down - again. 

I will post photos of Penelope's last day in the NICU.

Thanks for checking in.  I'll update more later.

Penelope is 76 days old

D day approaches. If she continues to have no episodes, we can take
Penelope home tomorrow. We are holding our breath and keeping our
fingers crossed that she has actually outgrown the bradies and desats.

We are busy making sure all our preparations are complete and we are
as ready for her as we can be.

Wish us luck!

Thanks for checking in. I'll update more later.

It's way too loud mom

Penelope is 74 days old

Penelope's surgery went great and she's pretty much fully recovered.
She is eating milk again and sleeping in her basinnet.

She gained over 100g yesterday but most of that was water weigh from
her iv fluids. When she was able to eat again yesterday she didn't
have any bradies. Of course she missed half her meals yesterday due to
the surgery so I'm not sure if it counts.

Besides the surgery, Penelope had been doing so well. Some of the
nurses who weren't aware of the surgery have asked Trent why she
hasn't been sent home yet. Our best guess is that she could come home
as early as late next week. We will just have to wait and see though;
she's already shown us that we can't always make plans for her.

Thanks for checking in. I'll update more later.

Penelope post op

Doing fine

Penelope is 73 days old

Late this morning, Penelope was wheeled down to the OR for surgery.  I was able to walk down with the nurses and left her as she was getting anesthesia.  Several of the doctors and nurses kept saying how cute she is.  I have to say that although I may be biased, I agree.  She should be back in the NICU in a couple of hours. 

When I got the the NICU this morning, her nurse had already moved her into an isolette and she was hooked up to an IV.  It gave me such a weird sense of deja vu.  She should be back in her bassinet and off the IV by late this afternoon, though. 

Penelope gained 90g overnight and weighs 2.54kg, or about 5.56lbs.  She didn't have any bradies yesterday.  Her feeds were cut off at midnight last night, so although she didn't have any bradies overnight, she only had one real feeding.  She should be able to have oral feeds by the end of the day.  Hopefully she won't have any bradies. 

Thanks for checking in.  If I have time, I'll update again today to say how the surgery went.

Ready for surgery

Sweet P prepped for surgery

Penelope is 72 days old

It is a new month, which means Penelope has a new attending physician. July's physician was Penelope's very first doctor.  He was hoping she would be discharged before this month, but Trent and I are happy he is back.  He has been following her throughout her course and it's nice to have a doctor who already knows her so well and has taken such an interest in her. 

Penelope had a couple of bradies yesterday - once when I was feeding her and once when Trent was feeding her.  Basically what happens is when she is eating sometimes she gulps down her milk too quickly and she tries to take a breath while it is in her mouth, which can cause it to go down the wrong pipe.  Whereas an adult would just cough when this happens, her muscles aren't strong enough to cough it out.  She holds her breath to keep the milk from going down the wrong pipe and into her lungs.  When she holds her breath, her heart rate drops, which is the brady.  This is something that she will outgrow when she is stronger. 

With the continuing bradies and surgery tomorrow, any talk of her being discharged has been suspended for a few days at least.  Her due date was July 11 and we are hoping she will be discharged by then.  Of course, that is all out of our control and it is probably unwise to have expectations about discharge dates.  She will come home when her little body is strong enough.  She is growing every day and is just so adorable.  It is easy to stay positive when she is doing so well in all other aspects. 

Thanks for checking in.  I'll update more later. 

Fwd: Cute!

>

Penelope is pretty in pink

Penelope is 10 weeks and 1 day

Penelope turned 10 weeks old yesterday.  In a couple of weeks she will actually reach her due date. 

Trent and I did "care by parent" on Monday night.  It went really well and we enjoyed  being able to spend so much time with our little girl.  We had our own room with a bed, bathroom, etc. and the nurse wheeled Penelope into the room in her bassinet.  We were in charge of all of her care throughout the night, although the nurse checked in on us every few hours to make sure everything was ok.  We did all the feeding, changing, comforting, etc.  As soon as we turned out the light to go to sleep, she wailed.  Luckily, it turned out she just had a really wet diaper and wanted to be changed.  Otherwise, she slept a lot.  Trent and I were both really tired yesterday.  He had to go to work but I was able to go home and sleep for a few hours. 

Earlier this week, the nurse practitioner discovered Penelope has a little hernia. The hernia occured because her abdominal cavity didn't have a chance to close up before she was born.  This is really common in preemies, although it is a little less common in girls than boys.  She will have surgery on Friday to fix it.  This surgery is one of the most common pediatric operations that are performed and it is really simple and quick;  the surgeon will just close it up.  This is usually an outpatient surgery but obviously she will go back down to the NICU when it is done.  I'm thankful that her nurses will be in charge of her post op care and not me - better to leave that to the professionals when you have the chance.  I can choose to be in the OR with her during the surgery.  I haven't completely decided if I want to watch it or not.  That is more of my sister's thing. 

Otherwise, she is doing really well.  She hasn't had any episodes in a couple of days.  The team is hoping that she will be able to go home after she stabilizes from the surgery. So she may be home by mid to late next week.  Of course, if she bradies again, that is all out the window.  It all depends if her little body is strong enough yet.

Thanks for checking in.  I'll update more soon.

Sucking her thumb

Penelope is 69 days old; weekend update

Uncle Mookie left this afternoon and we were all sad to see him go.
Trent especially enjoyed having him visit.

Penelope had a good weekend although she had a couple of desats and
bradies on saturday night. It's just her body's way of telling us she
isn't ready to go home yet. We definetly feel like we are on the home
stretch though.
This morning she was moved into the feeders and growers room. This is
the room where the healthiest babies are and it's usually the last
stop before discharge. We've been waiting 69 days for her to be in
this room.

Tonight Trent and I are doing "care by parent". There is a little room
connected to one of the main nicu nurseries with a bed, bathroom, etc
and the parents can spend the night there with the baby to practice.
She will still be hooked up to all the monitors so we will know if she
is having an episode and a nurse will check in on us periodically.
Otherwise we are taking care of her all night by ourselves. Wish us
luck!

Thanks for checking in. I'll update more later.

Penelope is 67 days old

Uncle Mookie is visiting this weekend and we are so happy he is here,
especially Trent.

This morning I sang "The Final Countdown" to Penelope to motivate
her to stop having bradies. She spit up on my hand. Not exactly the
response I was looking for.

She's doing really well today. She gained 35g and now weighs 2.415kg
(about 5 1/3lbs). She hasn't had any episodes in the last 48hrs. The
attending physician says she isn't sure if she believes Penelope is
out of the woods yet and I don't really, either. This isn't the first
time she's gone a couple of days without episodes.

Today has been a good day so far and we are cautiously hoping that the
no-episodes trend continues.

Thanks for checking in. I'll update more later.

Purr-fect Penelope

Penelope is 65 days old

Penelope had an exciting morning.  She usually goes back to sleep after breakfast but today she decided to stay awake and check out what she had been missing.  She was very alert during rounds and charmed everyone with her beautiful eyes.  One of my girlfriends stopped by for a visit later in the morning and Penelope got to have lunch with her (really, Penelope ate and my friend watched).  Also, the hospital's music therapist stopped by with her guitar and sang some songs for Penelope.  That last part was a little strange but very interesting.  Penelope's morning was so exciting that she couldn't stay awake for her mid afternoon feeding. 

She had an excellent night without any episodes, although she's had a couple today.  Earlier this week she was having several episodes per feeding and today she has only had one each time.  At least this is an improvement.  She gained 20g and now weighs 2390g, which is about 5.25lbs. 

Thanks for checking in.  I'll update more later. 

Little peanut

Congratulations Mommy and Daddy Evans!

Congratulations to Greg and Stephanie Evans on the birth of their baby boy!!!

Penelope is 64 days old

"The waiting is the hardest part." - Tom Petty

The game of waiting out the bradycardia and desats continues.  Yesterday evening, she had several bradies after I gave her a bottle.  She had a few today as well.  Her team has a couple of theories as to what may be causing them and will test them one at a time.  The most likely cause, however, is just that she is premature and the episodes will go away with time (follow this link for an explanation of bradycardia and this link for an explanation of desaturation).  Otherwise, she is doing great!

Penelope's weight didn't increase so she weighs the same as yesterday.  Her cuteness does increase by the day, though.  Her cheeks are enormous; she's our little chipmunk. 

At the apartment, we continue to make preparations and have boxes of baby items all over the living room.  She won't need much when she gets home, but what she will need is consuming quite a bit of our tiny space. 

And so, the waiting game continues....

Thanks for checking in.  I'll update more later.

Penelope is 9 weeks old today

This morning at rounds, the attending physician said the last hurdle Penelope needs to over come is the bradycardia/desaturation issue.  Penelope needs to go about 5 days without an episode before the team will start discussing discharge.  The doctor warned this could drag on for weeks and said we should try not to get frustrated because Penelope will outgrow these.  Penelope has 2-4 bradies/desats a day right now, mostly around feedings.

Other than the above, which really is not that big of a deal, Penelope is doing really well.  Her weight is up to 2.37kg (5.22lbs).  This morning, the opthamologist examined her eyes for ROP (he does this every 1-2 weeks) and her eyes look great.  She is acting much more like a newborn now; basically she just eats, sleeps and dirties her diapers. 

She discovered her cry over the weekend.  Generally preemies don't cry that much because their lungs aren't very strong.  Boy, are her lungs strong now!  She had her first set of vaccinations over the weekend and she let it wail! 

So for right now, we just have to be patient and be thankful for how far she has come.  And keep in mind she still would be premature if she was born today.

Thanks for checking in.  I'll update more later.

Fwd: Penelope pondering life this morning

Penelope is 62 days old

Happy belated Father's Day, especially to Trent's fellow first-time dads (Josh, Demetri, Taylor, Kevin).  Trent celebrated by sleeping in and watching the US Open.  A volunteer group also provided massages to the dads at the NICU, which he also enjoyed.

Penelope had a big weekend. She turned two months old yesterday.  She is still in the bassinet and holding her temperature well. Her body is still a little immature (she is 37 gestational weeks) and she has had about 1 or 2 brady/desats a day.  The team wants her to have about 5 days without any before they will start talking about discharge. So, it looks like she may be home by the 4th of July, but probably not before.  That is okay because we still have so much to do to prepare for her arrival.  We want her to be 100% ready when she leaves the hospital. 

In some ways, these past couple of months have gone by very quickly.  I think this last period will drag on a bit, especially once we've finished preparing for her and have gotten used to the idea that she will leave the hospital.  We need to continue to stay positive and concentrate on all that she has accomplished. 

Thanks for checking in. I'll update more later. 

Happy father's day!

Baby's come a long way

Keep your fingers crossed.

Penelope is 60 days old

We just had rounds and there is so much news to tell.  Time to dig up your lucky rabbit's feet, green clovers, yellow moons, orange stars and purple horse shoes....

Last night/early this morning, the nurse removed Penelope's feeding tube.  Her last gavage feeding (through tube) was Wednesday at 3pm.  She has successfully had all her meals through breast or bottle since then.  Today she will be moved from her isolette to a crib/bassinet (whatever happens to be available).  She had one brady last night.  If she doesn't have any more bradies or desats for the next 10 days or so, and she continues on this path (eating, regulating body temperature, not getting sick), she'll be discharged.  If she does have any episodes or other problems, the 10 day clock will restart.  Things are going so well that it is really, really scaring us.  We are so worried that something will happen because this almost seems too good to be true. 

I have so much to do before she is discharged.  I need to find a pediatrician in New York and one in Houston and a preemie clinic in Houston that will track her development.  I need to make sure the apartment is ready for her arrival.  I need to make sure we have everything she will need when she gets there.  We need to decide how to get her from the hospital to home (subway and cab is out of the question).  I need to stock up on sleep, if that is possible. This is all very exciting and terrifying. 

Thanks for checking in.  I'll update more later. 

Penelope is 59 days old

During lunch, Trent and I went to a support group for nicu parents led
by former nicu parents. It's so reasurring to meet people on the other
side of this and to hear that their kids are doing well.

Today has been an exciting day. Penelope has had all of her feedings
via breast or bottle since 6pm yesterday. That makes 8 in a row. It
seems to be wearing her out, though, and I suspect she may need to
rest during at least one of her feeds tonight. But it shows she is
getting much stronger. She is also still off the canula. She's made
quite a bit of progress.

Thanks for checking in. I'll update more later.

Penelope is 58 days old

Penelope is doing well today and we are starting to feel like we may
possibly be approaching the halfway point. I'm starting to put
together a list of baby things we will need while we are still in New
York.

She gained a tiny bit of weight yesterday and is 2.7kg. We are
continuing to work on oral feedings. The nurse removed the canula this
morning. It's still off but if she still needs it she will let us
know. It isnt a big deal if she needs it again. She's doing well with
the feedings and the team is more concerned that she masters eating
than whether she needs the canula.

Thanks for checking in. I'll update more later.

Penelope is 8 weeks old!

Penelope is 36 gestational weeks. Still 4 weeks from full term. Yikes.

She is doing so well today. She gained 85g and is just over 2kg
(4.75lb). I gave her a bottle at lunchtime and she just guzzled it
down. Trent will feed her at dinnertime and the night nurse will give
her a midnight snack.

She had another retinopathy eye exam today; she will have them every
other week until she is "full term" or discharged, whichever comes
first. The opthalmology team hasn't sought me out, so it is probably
safe to assume they didn't find anything.

We've been doing this for 8 weeks now and are starting to get anxious
for her to come home. We have to keep reminding ourselves and each
other that she is still really little and she has made so much
progress. If you look at the photos from the first blog entry and
compare them to today, the difference is astounding and very
frightening. We have to continue to be patient and optimistic.

Thanks for checking in. I'll update more later.

Penelope is 56 days old

One of our friends is visiting from
Houston. Trent and I have really enjoyed having her here. Little
Penelope seems to really like her too.

Penelope weighs 2.07kg which is roughly 4.5lbs. Things are pretty much
the same today. She's still on canula and working on bottle and
breastfeeding. This afternoon she took a bottle in less than 5
minutes. Ot seems like she's becoming a good eater. She was very alert
this morning and showed off her beautiful eyes for Miss Amber.

Thanks for checking in. I'll update more later.

Penelope and Miss Amber

Rubber duckie, you're the one!

Pretty clothes from my grandmas

Eating sure does make me tired

Penelope is 52 days old

As I said in yesterday's post, they removed Penelope's nasal canula yesterday.  Around 1am this morning her nurse saw she was breathing too hard and put the canula back on.  So yesterday was not the day.  The team are not concerned and feel confident that in time she will not need it.  The doctor says it is really just a matter of her getting bigger and older.  If they aren't concerned then I know that we shouldn't be, either. 

She keeps gaining weight.  Today she weighs in at 1955g, which is 4.3lbs.  She's already outgrown some of her smaller preemie clothes and I've passed them on to other NICU moms. 

Thanks for checking in.  I'll update more later.

Look Ma, no canula!

Penelope is 51 days old

Penelope is about 35 gestational weeks old, meaning she still wouldn't
be full term if she had been born today. Unbelievable.

She weighs 1835g, so she has doubled her birth weight!
Developmentally, this doesn't mean anything but it feels like a big
step to us.

The team took her off canula this afternoon. So far she is doing ok
but is breathing rapidly. This could mean she's working too hard and
will need the canula again. If she does need it again, the team says
it won't be concerned until she needs it past her due date. She was
due July 11, so we still have about a month to go.

She is feeding and growing and looking precious. That's about all she
will do for the rest of her stay and, I guess, after she leaves the
hospital, too.

Thanks for checking in. I'll update more later.

Penelope is 7 weeks old

The BP oil debacle happened 50 days ago, which means Penelope is 50
days old. April 20 was such a big day!

Penelope is doing well today. She weighs 1900g, which is about
4.18lbs. She has grown so much and looks so chubby! She is getting
really close to doubling her birth weight. Other than her weight,
nothing has really changed. We are definetly in "hurry up and wait"
mode right now.

Thanks for checking in. I'll update more later.

The night nurses have a sense of humor

Penelope is 49 days old

We are on day 49 of this journey and Penelope is chugging along
steadily.

She gained 15g overnight and is now 1835g, which is barely over
4lbs. She is still nippling (eating via breast or bottle) 3 times a
day. Trent and I each get 1 feed and the night nurse does the last
one. It really wears her out so she does it every 6 hours and rests in
between.

It's been a quiet day in the nicu and I hope tomorrow is, too.

Thanks for checking in. I'll update more later.

Learning to eat makes Penelope tired

Penelope is 48 days old

Penelope hit the 1800g/4lb mark!  We've been waiting for this weight milestone.  Now that she is getting to be a big girl, she should start regulating her body temperature and eating orally.  All this will still take time and she'll do it on her own schedule. 

There are several important skills Penelope will have to master before she can be discharged from the hospital.  She has to be able to handle getting all of her feedings orally, meaning by breast or bottle, and not through a feeding tube.  She has to be able to regulate her body temperature at room temperature.  Right now her isolette keeps her warm; it's set to about 85ish degrees.  She has to go a certain period of time (at least a few days) without any brady/apnea/desat episodes.  Lately she's been averaging about 2-4 episodes a day.  I know there are other milestones, but I'm not sure what they are.  We haven't reached a point where it is relevant to discuss them in rounds. 

Yesterday Trent and I both fed her. That really wiped her out and when she was not eating, she was sleeping.  She pretty much slept all day.  That made a boring day for us, but a good day for her.  Boring days are good. 

Hopefully today will be another boring day!

Thanks for checking in.  I'll update more later. 

Penelope & little Harold

Saturday morning sleep in

Holding dad's hand Friday night

Saturday morning update

Penelope gained another 15 grams last night and is now 1,760...she's a
weight gaining machine!

She had no bradys or desats overnight, which is fantastic!  She's also
handling bottle and breast feeding really well and all of the nurses
seem impressed.  No real plans for today...going to keep the nasal
canula air humidity the same and increase feedlings slightly.  They
also moved the orogastric feeding tube (in mouth) to a nasogastric
feeding tube (in nose)...this will make it easier for her to eat from
bottle, etc.  It the picture above, it's certainly nice not to see
tubes in her mouth.

That's all for now!

Trent learning to feed Penelope

Penelope is 46 days old

It's been almost 7 weeks since Penelope was born and we have really
settled into a routine. During the week, I get to the hospital in the
morning and stay there all day. Trent joins me after work and we stay
until visiting hours end. It really feels like a job to me. But in a
good way.

Penelope is doing well today. She gained 15g. Yesterday we tried
breastfeeding three times and bottle feeding once. She took to both
but it really made her tired. So today she will only do one of each.
She's mostly been sleeping all day, which is now a little unusual for
her, so I feel a bit bad for pushing her to do so much yesterday. I
guess that is just part of being a parent though - pushing, but not
too much.

Thanks for checking in. I'll update more later.

So sleepy

Miss Penelope is 45 days old

I made a typo on the last update.  Yesterday she weighed 1675g, not 1575.  And today she weighs 1675g, which is 3.8lbs.  It looks like she'll reach the 4lbs mark really soon!

Today was a big day for Penelope.  We tried bottle feeding for the first time and she took to it like a champ.  She finished her entire bottle without spitting up or any other problems.  It can be difficult for preemies to coordinate the suck-breathe-swallow technique needed to drink from a bottle, so it's really great that she was able to finish the bottle easily. We have also been trying breast feeding over the past week and she is doing really well with that, too.  She still gets most of her food through her feeding tube, though.  She needs to use her calories for growing, and learning how to eat can use up a lot of calories.  The test for retinopathy of prematurity came back negative, which means so far her eyes are just fine. 

We have no idea when Penelope will be discharged from the hospital, but it looks like the three of us will (hopefully) finally make it to Houston in mid-late August.  We are still trying to figure out if it will be better to drive or fly and will ask her team for advice when it gets closer. 

Thanks for checking in.  I'll update more later.

Reachin' out, touching me, touching you ....

Penelope is 44 days old

Penelope just keeps growing! Today she weighs 1575g (3.5lbs). She
actually outgrew one of her little hats! The team thinks she has also
outgrown the apnea and stopped the apnea medication. This is a big step.

Today we are working on her self regulating her temperature and trying
oral feeding. She still has a feeding tube and is on the canula but
eventually she will outgrow those, too.

Thanks for checking in. I'll update more later.

Penelope is 6 weeks old

Penelope is 34 gestational weeks old today.

She couldn't handle breathing on her own yesterday, so she is back on
the nasal canula. She was breathing really fast and burning valuable
calories breathing when she really needs to use all those calories for
growing. It looks like we may try again tomorrow.

Today she has an eye exam to follow up to the one she had a couple of
weeks ago. The doctor is going to check her retinas. We should know
the results sometime this afternoon.

Thanks for checking in. I'll update more later.

Breathing all by myself!

Happy Memorial Day - Day 42

Happy Memorial Day to AJ and Jane Koudelka and Dave Evans.  Thank you for your service!

Also, congratulations to Dr. Mertz!!!  My sister graduated from medical school on Saturday and is now officially an MD.  She starts her residency in pediatrics later this summer.  Andrea is the reason why I have been able to understand and explain so much of Penelope's medical issues.  She's explained everything in such a clear and accessible way.  Andrea, thank you for all your help and support.  We can never thank you enough.  You're going to be an amazing doctor.

On to Penelope....

Penelope is doing so well today.  To paraphrase Trent, we need to go to the hardware store to buy the biggest piece of wood to knock on.  She's doing so well that we're kind of scared that she is due for a bad day.  She keeps growing and looks so good.  Today she weighs 1575g.  This morning, the team decided to remove the nasal canula and let her try breathing on her own again.  Unlike the other attempts, I have a pretty good feeling it will stick this time.  But if it doesn't, that's ok.  She'll breathe on her own when she's ready.  Even if today is not the day, that day is coming soon. 

Basically that is all the news today.  In the NICU world, little news is good news. 

Thanks for checking in.  I'll update more later. 

Little cupcake

Penelope and dad

Houdini baby

Penelope trying to make a break for it.