Natalie has been doing really well and it has just been sort of a holding pattern until her final surgery. Her reconnection surgery is scheduled for this Wednesday. I am excited to get this done and get her ready to come home. When she had her original surgery they cut out the dead part of her intestines in the highest area, but they also saw a decently sized portion of dead intestines lower. They obviously could not cut her intestines into three pieces, so on Wednesday, they are not only reconnecting her, but also cutting out the lower problem area and reconnecting there. I am just ready to have her put back together again (it sounds like I am talking about humpty dumpty), but soon after that she will finally be able to eat. I am excited to see her taste food for the first time, since it has only come through her feeding tube, but I am sure she will love it.
I cannot believe that this past Tuesday marked 10 weeks at the NICU. Today was day 73 and she is now 35 weeks gestation. It is just a crazy amount of time and I remember how far away it seemed back in January.
Natalie has officially hit the 5 lb mark, she is currently 5 lb 1.7 oz. She does not look like a preemie anymore, but just a small baby (trust me, there is a difference). She is still loving her pacifier, will grab and clutch any finger that comes close enough to her crib and chews on her shirt sleeves.
Her most recent roommate was born last week and ironically has the same exact due date as her. They were both due on May 8th, but obviously neither of them made it even close. It is amazing to watch how different it is to be born a 34 weeker compared to a 24 weeker. He is eating really well and needs no support otherwise. Them being the same exact gestation date is pretty unique and the new doctor that came on started talking to the mom about both of them (I was at work) assuming they were twins.
Natalie has always had pretty good respiratory stats, but since her PDA ligation, she has been even better. They had been talking about moving her off her CPAP and onto High Flow which is the next step. Yesterday, they discussed it and decided since she would have to go on the respirator for her surgery next week that they would just wait. So, I was rather surprised to walk in this morning and see that she wasn't just not on her CPAP, she wasn't on anything. Her nurse said when she took her off her CPAP for a couple of minutes to clean up her face and equipment (this is normal) that her stats were so good, she kept her off the CPAP for a few more minutes while she was there. Natalie continued to do real well, so she went and talked to the doctor and they decided to leave her off and see how she does. She did great and was so incredibly content to finally have that mask off her face.
Whenever she has gone on the respirator for her surgery we have always loved seeing her little face. It was so nice to not only see it, but it to be because she was doing well enough not to need the support and not because she was on the breathing vent because she was sick or in surgery.
So, everything is going as well as we could hope. Someone donated a bunch of brand new clothes to the NICU today and I got to pick out a cute little Easter outfit for her. I have run into so much goodwill there, it is quite amazing. I am hoping that after her surgery and recovery, it will be smooth sailing and just a few weeks of her getting stronger and that soon we can bring her home to reboot our life that has been on hold since she has been in the hospital.
Here is your (weekly) dose of Natalie:
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| So content without her CPAP |
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| Hanging out with Mama |
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| Watching everything going on around her - what a big girl! |
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