Tuesday, March 9, 2010

long overdue update....

Whew, what a whirlwind! Charlotte spent 24 days in the NICU before she joined her family at home on January 8th. We were sooo happy to have her home with us! After two months of weight gain issues at home, and frustrations trying to get her to nurse (using every tool known to man, I think, including the SNS nursing supplementer), I finally admitted defeat. I still pump for her, and she gets about 1/3 of her milk from me. The rest is high calorie preemie formula. She is now doing wonderfully, and weighs 9.5 lbs at 3 months old.

She came home from the NICU on an apnea monitor, due to periodic heartrate decelerations and prilosec for her relux (common to preemies). She also gets a monthly shot of Synagis, which provides preemies with some protection from RSV (respiratory Syncatal Virus) which is very prevalent this time of year, and would likely end her back up in the hospital. We've cocooned her at home since her hospital discharge anyways, not wanting to expose her to germs :)

The dynamic duo make GREAT big sisters and adore little Charlotte. She's a pretty easy going baby, which is a relief as G was a SUPER high needs baby who never slept. CHarlotte sleeps great at night, and is usually a very happy baby. I'm very sad to have to be returning to work on Thursday of this week. Big sister M will be taking care of her while I'm at work, but I've never worked when I've had a baby this small, and it's still very hard for me.