Bit more

Kaia crashed out on my lap.

While sitting in the waiting room at the docs today, a nurse called
out for Kaia to come back to a patient room. Of course we started to
get up, but so did another little girl and her father. That was not
expected so soon!

Making progress

Just returned home from the doctor's office. They are very happy with her condition.
She is now about 8lbs, and she finally made it to the milestone chart, albeit, the bottom of graph. Her weight and length are at 10%, while her head is 6%. Before, she didn't even register! Contrast that to Riley, who was in the 80-90'th percentile right after birth. But, forget the numbers, she's at 90% to us.
The best part, her next appointment is in two weeks, then she will be due for a wellness appointment in another two weeks. Folks, that is just two appointments in 30 days.

Be back shortly after I change her diaper.

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7lbs 12oz

Still gaining weight, keep your fingers crossed!
Her legs are starting to fill out a bit now, and she has cheeks too.

Don't forget me!

7lbs 10oz

This morning's weight. Surely it will go down again, but the trend is upward, and I am looking to 8lbs in April.

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On the spit up

Pretty sure it is from the intestinal virus she has, rather than acid reflux.

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Happy 36th birthday Kaia

She is now 36 days old! Boy does time fly.

We brought her home last Tuesday evening with the hope that everything would be fine from then on out. But, things never go as planned.
First, she got diarrhea, and it was bad. This caused her diaper rash to get so bad that it would bleed. She needed a diaper change at least every 20 minutes, and on top of that, she had terrible gas which really caused her discomfort. She would then cry and be awake almost the entire night.
At the same time, everyone else in the house was sick too, either diarrhea or sore throat, or upset stomach, or all of them. No fun at all.
But, despite the diarrhea, with the feeding tube, she was still able to keep or even gain a little bit of weight, so we were resigned to waiting out her illness. However, we were still required to go in for a weight and wellness check every day.
On Friday, she pulled her NG tube out. Then, later that day at our regular visit, her weight was down a bit, so we had to schedule visit with the GI doctor to get another tube inserted. By this time, she was starting to spit up her food again. This made her a bit hungry and fussy, such that the GI doc couldn't get the tube in, even after several tries with the help of several people. I should note that it took 6 people to get the first tube in at the hospital. Rather than stress her out more, or even injure her, we decided to put off the tube for the weekend and try on Monday if she still wasn't gaining weight.
Now she is spitting up quite a bit, just like before she went on the reflux medication. We aren't really sure why, but, we do have an appointment tomorrow......

On the plus side of things:
She gained several ounces over the weekend. That is very good.
The most amazing thing is that she is becoming much more aware of us and her surroundings. I can talk to her from a few feet away, and she will get a huge grin. Or, I can talk to her where she can't see me, and she will turn her head and look right at me. She also enjoys looking at lights and the dots on her bedroom wall. She is also quite talkative.
She is also very strong. She can stand herself up, and stay up for quite a while. She is already trying to hold her bottle or binky by herself. She has an amazing grip. And, she can hold her head up without support (though we always have a hand in position, just in case). I am simply amazed at how well she is developing beyond the lack of weight gain.
Finally, the best part for us, she doesn't cry for hours on end. When she does, it is usually because she is hungry, poopy, gassy, tired, or in need of a hug, just like a baby is supposed to be.

Notes and Observations

A random collection of thoughts and observations:

Of Hospitals:
You go to the hospital for treatment of one illness, you leave with another.
Never leave a hospital by car right after a shift change.

Of being Pregnant
The woman gains weight during pregnancy, then loses it after birth.
The man gains weight after birth, and usually never loses it.

On Babies
They are completely and utterly dependent, yet they tend to rule the house.

Going home today

Kaia's weight continues to increase. This morning it was 7lbs 5.1oz.
That is about 10oz in the past two days.

Test Results

After the testing and evaluation, it was determined that Kaia has some asperation issues when swallowing. The OT thinks it is due to coordination problems rather than physical or neurological. We watched the swallow test. Very interesting.
It, of course, isn't that simple. She still has to take meds for reflux. She is still getting food via the tube for a bit. She still feeds at night in a panicy manor, and is awake way too many hours in the day.
We are supplementing the tube feeding with formula that has been thickened, and she does pretty well with it. With luck, we can remove it in a few days and she will start to feed in a more relaxed way.
There is more that I can't remember right now, been up too long.

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Hospital Madness

So today Kaia was to have her video swallow and upper GI tract analysis starting at 9 am. This meant she couldn't eat for three hours prior. So, at 6am, they stopped the NG feed. By 7, she was getting fussy, and we were wondering when the docs would come by. By 9, we were getting angry and Kaia was screening. After talking with the doc and nurse for our floor, we discovered that no test had been scheduled! This was supposed to be done on Friday. To make a long story short, Colleen called in the head docs from everyone involved, and let loose on them. They said that they probably could schedule the tests on Tuesday and Wednesday. No way did we want to stay another day or two. With a little persistance, we were able to get both scheduled for three today.

God willing, we will be home tomorrow with answers.

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Seven

Kaia just weighed in at 7lbs 1 oz this morning. That is a huge milestone considering that she should be over 12 pounds right now.
Too bad she was up all night in her "feed me too much now!" zone.

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Night at the hospital

This is the worst time of the day here. Every time I get Kaia to sleep, a nurse comes in to check her vitals, or checks on the roomates baby. That always wakes her, and we go through another 20 to 30 minutes of comforting. Wouldn't be such an issue, but Kaia's normal sleep time is the day, and she can sleep through all sorts of noise, including Univision!

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Fever scare

Kaia had a temp of 102 last night, which scared everyone into a mess of tests, none of which Kaia enjoyed.
She had x-ray, blood and urine workups, sinus sample, and an IV added in case they need to give antibiotics (that is the glove on her left hand).
On top of that, she wasn't alowed to eat for four hours. It took me a while to calm her down from that.
She has been sleeping since, and her temp has been normal. Initial test results are negative for both bacterial and viral infections.
Now, time to settle in for a long Sunday.

Kaia update

Kaia is now on a feeding tube to try and regulate her caloric intake since she isn't able to eat enough at a time without spitting up.
Also, they speculate that her stomach isn't expanding enough. Monday we they will check her upper GI and do a swallow test.

1 month old

At Childrens Hospital, Friday the 13th, one month after we went to the
hospital for her birth, also a Friday the 13th. She is being admitted
due to her lack of weight gain.
She was born at 6lbs 3.5 ounces, and as of today has only gained about
8 ounces where she should have gained about 6lbs! That is about 10
grams per day. Normally, they gain 20 to 30 grams.
Now the intensive testing begins.

She's my little girl

What a beautiful little one we have.