Day 34 NICU

 There's not a lot to report but just wanted to say hi!  We really appreciate all the family and friends who are keeping up with our beloved girl's progress.

Clarity has not had any problems with her stomach since they pulled the tubes.  She's got a  nasogastric tube  that runs directly to her stomach now (instead of her intestines)  and she's  getting 6 ml/hour of milk currently,  increasing by 1 ml/hr  every 12  hours until we get to 16 or 17.  We got to try a little bottle feeding over the weekend but it seemed like it was really tiring her out and causing stress so we've pulled back.  She's just over 6lbs.  now, so we know she's getting what she needs.  So funny that she still  weighs les than our little Wil did when she was born (6lb 10oz).

 Yesterday  she started having some tachypnea (fast breathing)  and  minor tachycardia (fast heartrate)  so they're keeping a close eye on her today.  Her lungs are nice and clear (chest x-ray)  so they're just doing everything to let her rest.  We're skipping the methadone step down that was due today and that's also why we went back to continuous feeds.  Her O2  had been at .4l  from the 100%  at the wall and they put her back up to 1l  flow at 40%  on the wall to give her a little extra support as she figures this out.  If it isn't one thing it's another.

 We had our first visit from  physical therapy (PT) yesterday.  It was near to see how they work with these little ones to release the muscle tension that results from her extra work of breathing and lying in her bed so much.  We're going to also start having visits from  occupational  therapy (OT)  as we start bottle feeding (known as "nippling"  around here).

 All that said,  she's spending more  time awake and watching us.  She's also started this adorable smiling thing. I  don't care what people say,  little ones do smile when they're happy (unless she only gets gas when she's looking at one of us).  Five weeks old tomorrow!