Days 26 & 27

Yesterday Gary went down to see Tanzi before he had to go to work. He is such a GREAT daddy! Right now Gary is trying to finish up this semester of school AND he is working until midnight every night AND he plays with Kyri and Graysen when I'm at the hospital AND he goes to spend time with Tanzi! I often complain about being physically and emotionally drained, yet I have not ever heard him complain about any of that! I know he's not getting enough sleep, yet it's a sacrifice he is so willing to make...for his family....for us.

And I love him SO much for that!

Yesterday Gary was able to sit in on rounds. They were talking about how great Tanzi is doing and mentioned that they would increase her feeds again...TWICE!! And then the NP said that once we are up to full feeds the only thing that would keep us there would be the nurses...because they wouldn't let Tanzi leave because she's SO cute!! :)

Gary got to feed Tanzi a bottle for the first time....the first of MANY to come! How nice it will be to have a baby at home that takes bottles! (let's just hope she will ALSO breastfeed!)

And when I called the nurse last night Tanzi was up to 18mL (.6 ounces) on her feeds and they were planning on increasing that to 21mL at 2 am! She was not throwing up and was pooping...so YEA!!

Okay, I know she kind of looks like a pirate in this picture, but I just love how she's holding her hands! Plus, I love the hat she's wearing...it used to be Kyri's

Today when I got to the hospital Tanzi was still on 21mL feeds (.71 ounces) and during rounds they talked about increasing them twice again throughout the rest of the day. I forgot where that will put her, but I THINK it's about 29mL (30 mL's is one ounce). I'll check for sure when I call to check on her tonight before I go to bed. The MD said she would like to increase more, but is worried about pushing it too far. So, we will see how she does with her feeds through the night and increase again tomorrow if all goes well. They said that if Tanzi does well with feeds we should be up to full feeds (about 48 mL's) in about 3 days!! Once she's there they will let Tanzi eat however much she wants, when she wants (and I'm assuming we can start to introduce breastfeeding then too) and we will make sure she is still gaining weight and then we can start talking about coming HOME!! So, we are VERY optimistic that Tanzi will do well with her feeds! Our complete family of 5 is looking more and more possible!!

Tanzi is 4 weeks old today and is now up to 6 lbs 3 oz!!

PCMC got 8 new babies between Saturday night and Monday morning. They had to move Tanzi....which was fine with us because it meant McKell still got to be her nurse on Monday. We now have a window view (again), but we are in a much smaller space...and we miss our friends!! I went to group therapy today and a lot of those new baby's parents were there. One baby girl, Kylie, had a similar surgery Tanzi had. I didn't get a chance to talk to her parents after, so I will have to do that soon. Baby Megan's dad was at group therapy. It sounds like they might get to go home next week! I REALLY hope they do! It has been great making friends with the parents, but there is NOTHING better than hearing that a baby gets to go home...with their family. As lonely as the NICU seems at times, I am SO grateful for the wonderful smiling, friendly faces I see! Each day I feel less and less lonely and more concerned about the other babies and what their families are going through. I will be forever grateful for the wonderful moms and nurses I am meeting....Megan's parents, McKenzie's mom, Emma's mom, Sawyer's mom...and the many more who smile and say hi as we pass in the pump room, or in the hall. Not all memories from PCMC will be bad...thanks to all my new friends!