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.