The week before I brought her home I spent a lot time at the hospital. Kate was pretty much a surprise to everyone there that she was going home so early! They all loved to tell me how she was so amazing because she was an A-typical preemie. They rarely see preemies born that early that don't have any hiccups (problems or setbacks). Most preemies have to have surgeries, or have a few different complications, or sicknesses, and even just the rigorous task of eating is a hold up- but Kate seemed to surpass everything. She is one tough little girl- she is Kate the Great!
She came home on a trace of oxygen- 1/8th through a nasal cannula. Her heart echo showed she has a little hole in her heart that is between the two valves. (not the PDA that we were first worried about) It's not much of a concern because it's not causing problems, it's very little and should close on its own. She'll have to go see a cardiologist for it in about a month. I took her to a follow-up eye appointment last week at Utah Valley and her eyes have completely developed, so we don't have to worry about ROP anymore. They did a head ultrasound before she was released and it looked great- no brain bleeds or concerns. She does have a Hemagioma (sp?) on the top of her head which is not much of a worry either. It is typical in preemies and from what I understand it is a bunch of red blood cells that have built up and formed a patch. When she was born-it just looked like a freckle on the top of her head, but now it has grown into a bump that is about the size of a dime. We just have to watch it for any weird appearances and can take her to a dermatologist if it changes too much. She might have it for 1 to 2 years and it will most likely get bigger, but then it dissolves on its own. The kids call it her strawberry.
I think the biggest concerns the NICU had with sending her home was her nutrition. She wasn't absorbing the protein she needed to grow. She was consistent at staying on the uphill curve of the 10th percentile in weight and height, but they wanted to keep her on a higher calorie diet. I was sent home with a months supply of preemie formula because of the protein it would give her and was also given human milk fortifier to increase her calorie intake. Usually they just send home babies on a formula called Neosure, if they aren't receiving mother's milk. She will most likely switch over to that in about a month. Mixing her bottle is still quite the recipe. We prepare a days worth of milk each evening. It's a half and half mixture with my milk and the formula. Then we add a packet of fortifier for every 25 mils we make. When she's ready to eat we dump 2 oz. of that in a bottle and then add one and a half mils of banana for every 10 mils of milk to thicken it and Whalla it's meal time. She eats 1 oz some of her feedings and other times she'll eat 2 oz. A lot of it depends on the time span between feedings which is consistently between 3 1/2 to 4 hrs. At night she's a good girl and will go a stretch of 5 hrs:) I took her in to see her pediatrician- my dad- a week ago and she had gained weight and length. She was 5.2 lbs. and 17.5". I'm anxious to take her in again next week and see what she is- although I really don't want to take her out in public!
She has pretty much been confined to my room in her bassinet. That is her bubble. She's been taken out of the house 2x for doctor appointments. She usually only leaves my room for bath time, but I have taken her downstairs once while we watched a movie. Right now it is easy to keep her in my sanitary room, because all she does is eat and sleep. She's probably only awake for an hour the whole day (like 10 minutes of each feeding and little bit afterward sometimes). It's also such a pain to take her out of my room because of all the supplies she needs with the oxygen tank and monitor. This is a good thing for now- I just wish it would get her through the RSV season. I know soon enough she will be more alert and want to be out and about where all the germs are lurking in my house. My boys held her for the first time at home last night- they loved it. Kinnli has held her 2x now because she is home more and always by my side when I'm feeding Kate. She's always begging to hold her and can't keep her hands off Kate. She tells me repeatedly all day how much she loves baby Kate:) Kennadi, my other baby, doesn't quite know what to think. One minute she is so sweet and soft to Kate. She tries to touch her so carefully on the foot or top of the head and the next minute she's jealous and tries to rip Kate's toes off. Often times when I'm feeding Kate I have her on one side and Kennadi is on the other side- she loves to rest her head on my shoulder and cuddle with me to look at Kate. She gets so excited when Kate squeals. She runs in the room whenever she hears Kate. I'm excited for those two to grow up together. HOPEFULLY- they will be best friends and not arch enemies!
