Ok, so sorry for the delay in posting, but we have been waiting for some results of a brain scan on KelliAnne before we wanted to post news of tons of positive steps she has made in the last week. We have nothing but good news this week, starting with the brain scan. KelliAnne had a brain ultrasound on the 23rd that showed she had a slight hemorrhage in her ventricles. I can't remember all the technical details of this, but the doctors actually were quite positive about this, telling us it is very common for a baby born this early. They advised that instead of having a 1 month follow-up scan, that she would need one the following week (May 30). That day was Wednesday, until they literally forgot to do it (good sign they weren't too worried). They finally got around to the scan on Friday and it showed the swelling from the hemorrhage was decreasing as they hoped. There was a big sigh of relief from all of us that were waiting as this was the only thing going that was not extremely great and ahead of the game. So on to that news.
This little baby continues to amaze us with her strength. On her 30 week update I mentioned she was back to her birth weight of 2 lb 4 oz. As of her 31 week (yesterday) she had gained 8 oz and is up to 2 lb 12 oz. We leave the hospital each night around 7 or so and call in about 1030 before we go to bed for updates on her new weight and each night this week they kept giving us the great news. The reason for this is she is handling her feedings (still through a feeding tube) and they continued to increase by 1 mL every 12 hours. She is now getting 22 mL fortified with 4 extra calories, every 3 hours. This is actually enough to give her a very full belly and make her sleep 'like a baby'. They will continue to increase the feeding going forward based on her weight gain and ability to digest without issues.
I mentioned the brady's (b's) before, and those have really slowed down, likely because they figured out her caffeine dosage. She has a few per day, but that is all normal stuff. She has them when she is either very sound asleep or when she has a Desat (further known as d's). A desat is when her oxygen saturation dips below a targeted range. She is having these when she gets a really full belly because it is so hard to take a big breath! They are not worried, so we are learning not to worry.
Other great news: Her PICC line was removed. The PICC is a central IV that was providing her nutrition, but it is no longer needed because she is getting all she needs from the milk her mama is working hard to produce.
She is also now off temp control. We will see how she does with that, but that means she gets to start wearing clothes which makes Robin, the grandmas, and aunts very happy. Luckily, Robin had a shower this weekend with tons of good friends and family that netted lots of baby clothes that we have already cleaned (thanks Grandma Judy) and delivered to KelliAnne's nurses to dress her.
When we get some time, we will add more pics that were taken over the weekend. She continues to look more and more like a baby we are used to seeing. She just looks healthier every day and we love every minute we get to spend with her.
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