Hi baby girl! You’re doing great! It’s been a pretty rocky couple of days for mom and dad. You’ve actually been doing awesome; it’s just been very difficult for us to watch, feeling so helpless. You were officially 5 days old as of a couple of hours ago. It’s hard to believe, it feels like weeks to us.

Your blood sugars really started to stabilize about 72 hours ago. The nurses were able to drop your IV by 1ML every 3 hours for an entire day (Thursday). You started at 12ML, but when you hit 3ML you plateaued a little bit. You had to be at 3ml for almost another day (Friday) when your arm started to swell from the IV. That’s fairly common, but that meant you weren’t getting your IV fluids the way you should. Since this was the second time that happened, Nurse Teresa decided to pull the IV out to see how your little body would do. Your mom and I were on pins and needles for the next 3 hours.

Teresa checked your sugars 3 hours later. They weren’t as high as they had been…but they were well above the acceptable levels!!! Because your levels dropped and your first-time mom and dad were so worried, we were on pins and needles of another 3 hours. But once again our little princess reacted like a champ and your sugars were back up! Yeah Hailey!!!

Today is Sunday – the day we thought you’d be home. As of right now it looks like your little body has fully adjusted and your blood sugars are all normal according to the doctor. The good news, they officially think that you are recovered from your blood sugar issues and that there should be NO long-term side effects.

The bad news is that you haven’t quite mastered how to eat yet. For most babies this isn’t an issue. They can miss a feeding or two or not get quite as much food as they should and be okay. But because your body is still trying to find balance you need every drop of nourishment you can get. So until you master your eating skills, it’s going to be another few days in the NICU for you. 🙁 This has truly been the longest and most stressful week of our lives.

Mom plans on breast feeding you, but because of all your issues you’ve had to be bottle fed so far. We’ve been giving you some of mom’s milk along with some formula to supplement. The doctor has been increasing your food almost daily. The more food in your belly the easier it is for you to create the sugars your little body needs. Your eating slowed down on Friday; you weren’t able to eat everything you needed to in 30 minutes, so they had to give you a feeding tube. It was extremely sad for us to see. Though you honestly didn’t seem to mind at all once it was in, Friday was definitely the hardest day for your mom & I.

You had a tiny tube coming out of your nose that went to your belly. You were able to cry, sneeze, hiccup, and do all the normal baby stuff and you seemed as happy and as content as could be. Actually, you could even eat normally. The tube was just there for the times you didn’t get all of your food down in one 30 minute sitting. One of the nurses got a little zealous when she came in Saturday morning after the night shift nurse had gotten you to successfully eat for 4 straight feedings. She pulled the tube, but then she didn’t have quite the same touch with you as the night nurse, so the tube had to go back in. We were upset, because while the tube doesn’t bother you once it’s in, the process of placing the tube is very uncomfortable. It’s just so hard to see you going through so much…but you’ve been a trouper and are a super strong little girl!

Since then, you’ve gone another 6 or 7 feedings without the tube, so that’s a GREAT sign. Mom and I just got home from the hospital…we’ve been going to see you every 3 hours since we’ve been home. You took the bottle today much better than you have been; daddy fed you this time. It still takes the full 30 minutes, but you’re gettin’ better!

That’s all for now. Grandpa Bruce and Grandma Karen are in town to see you. Grandpa and I are off to see to see the new Star Trek movie while Grandma and Mommy take a nap. Mommy’s VERY sleepy right now, but more about that in another post.

We’ll see you in a few hours for your dinner feeding!

We love you so very much,
Mom and Dad!