Maisie Update - Day 6

Ever since I was released from my C-section, all I have wanted to do is spend my whole day with Maisie! I'm jealous of all the other parents of newborns who get to hold their babies round the clock. They probably get tired of it, but when you CAN'T hold your baby, it drives a new parent crazy!!!! We only get to hold her for a little bit at a time, and only for a couple of hours total per day- and Ross and I have to share our limited time taking turns. So not fair!!

Medically, Maisie is doing very well under her circumstances. So many complications are possible when babies are born this early, but she seems so healthy thus far! She does have a heart murmur, and an EKG showed the docs that this was caused by an open pulmonary alveolar duct. (Here's a very thorough site explaining the whole thing) Apparently it bypasses blood past the lungs in the womb and then closes when the baby is born, allowing blood to flow into the lungs when they’re actually needed. In preemies, sometimes it doesn’t close, and that’s the case with Maisie. Luckily for her it is small right now, so the plan is to watch it and see if it closes on its own. If not, next week the docs will assess if she needs some intervention- they can give meds to help, and final resort would be surgery- scary!!! So pray that it will close (and STAY closed since they can often reopen) on its own quickly!!!

She continues to have what the nurses call “Brady’s”- little bradycardia episodes or arrhythmia of the heart rate. She’ll be resting so snug, her heart rate will drop. Sometimes she brings it back up on her own, sometimes she needs rubbed on the back and reminded to breathe. The nurses say this isn’t really related to her PDA, just another complication of being born so early.

When Maisie first arrived at the NICU, they tried feeding her every 3 hours and she didn't react well. They slowed her down to feedings every 6 hours, and she did well so they started feeding her every 4. Now she is back up to eating every 3 hours. In addition, the amount of milk she gets at each feeding is also increasing. They tried her on formula to start and she hated it! She seems to be liking her Mama’s milk much better and it's helping her grow so fast!!! She has already outgrown her first tiny diapers and is up a size! She is still too little to eat on her own and has to get fed through a tube for now. The goal is eventually to be a fully nursing baby- I can't wait because in the meantime we have to deal with a nasty feeding tube down her throat (which she is fond of pulling out!)

She has excellent nurses, docs, and people watching her round the clock- she is in excellent hands (minus the snippy nurse that made a fuss over letting me hold her!) Ross and I are feeling SOOO blessed!!