Business as Usual

Madeline had a good day again yesterday as she continues working on her feeding. At this point, her energy level determines how long she makes it before tiring out. Overnight she made it through a full bottle but when we were there during the day, she was finishing about a third. Her eye exam went as expected with her wailing throughout and very uncomfortable. Thankfully, there was no change in the disease and she's scheduled for another exam on next Friday. In talking with the eye doctor, he re-assured us that her diagnosis was very mild and and typically resolves itself. In the unlikely event that it progresses, the treatment is laser surgery which has a 90% success rate.

She was her usual active self throughout my time with her yesterday. She was wide awake, kicking and squirming until she finally got comfy and fell back asleep. She has a fun day in store with Mimi and Grandpa Esch in town and we're excited for them to see how big she's gotten.

Room with a View

The wily and elusive room 5 is now Madeline's resting place. She had a moving day yesterday as they switched her up to the best room in the NICU, room 5. What makes it so great? There's a small window in there so she's getting her first glimpses of the world outside of the hospital and has a lot more space to allow navigating around the other babies (and their families) much easier. Sometimes it really is the simple things.

She continues to work her way through feedings and stamina is the biggest issue right now. As of her latest nurse report, she's taking about half of her bottle before falling asleep which means she's making progress. Her weight from last night was 4 grams short of 4 pounds (1810 g) so she's now officially doubled her birth weight. Unfortunately, she has a crappy day coming up with the eye doctor coming back to do another exam but hopefully it'll be quick and the ROP will continue to be mild.

The light was on her room in new room so I was able to take a few pictures yesterday:

Racing for Madeline

As we continue to watch Madeline grow, I'm so thankful for how blessed our new family has been for such a relatively uneventful journey through the NICU. Throughout this adventure, I've been trying to think of a good way to do something to give back as I know how fortunate we've been and not every family is so lucky. So in thinking it all through, I kept going back to how often I hear about people enjoying this blog and recognized that I could have a great opportunity on my hands.

As I talked it over with Kristen she mentioned that the March of Dimes is the main charity for premature babies and that I might want to consider walking in their event. As much as I loved the idea of giving back to that charity, the idea of walking wasn't particularly appealing as I usually participate in lots of runs throughout the spring and summer and would rather do that. As luck would have it while I was sitting in the NICU one afternoon, I got one of my usual race advertisements for a run that I've never been able to make. This year's excuse was originally that race is day was 2 days after Maddy's original due date but for the first time, the stars aligned perfectly.

So on this Memorial Day weekend, I'll be running the Soldier Field 10 miler where I'll be crossing the 50 yard line in our honor of our little miracle and all of the other tiny babies out there. I've set up a fundraising site where it will take in donations and all proceeds will be going to the March of Dimes.

http://www.youcaring.com/nonprofits/racing-for-madeline/52676

Any and all donations are greatly appreciated!

Wednesday-schmednesday

Madeline had an OK day yesterday as she struggled with her feedings with Kristen and the bottle.It's such a blessing that when we have a day where everything doesn't go perfectly, it feels like it's a "bad" day even though a few weeks ago, yesterday would have been a huge success.  She tuckered out easily and from what I can tell, it seemed like she just needed a day off. I'm honestly surprised it's gone this long without her wearing out so this was to be expected and I wouldn't even call it a setback. More like a momentary pause until she gets back to her normal rockstar self. Of course, even on a off day, she mustered up the energy to fart and poop on me while I was holding her so thanks for that Maddy!

In visiting with one of her nurses yesterday, it was fun to hear all of the stories about how Madeline was completely done with the isolette. Apparently over the last week, she would scooch herself to the end of the bed and start pushing her legs against the end of the isolette trying to bust it out. Or she would try and stick her hands outside the doors, again trying to bust out. At that point, we started laughing because if she had born according to plan, she would have been doing that inside Kristen and I can't imagine it being any fun. 

As you can tell from the pictures and video, she's definitely looking like a regular baby now and as she keeps growing, it's been fun to see the progression. After a few days of going back and forth between whom she was starting to look like, I finally gave up and decided that she looked like Madeline, our beautiful daughter, instead of her Mom or Dad (tho if I had my druthers and it was only one of us, please please please be Kristen)

One Step Closer

Madeline continues to do well and is progressing with her feeding which is her last major hurdle until she gets to come home. Kristen and Maddy worked on feeding together yesterday and she continues to do well. She gets tired out sometimes before she finishes her bottle or with Kristen but she's getting there for sure. The doctor has opted to start weaning her from caffeine which is also one of the last steps. The caffeine was a helper for her heart and lungs and hopefully, she'll take to that change as well as the others from the past few days. Her growth spurt finally slowed down a little bit with her only gaining 30 g from Monday to Tuesday. My uneducated guess is that having her handle feedings on her own requires more calories so it might slow down for the next few days. Either way, 30 g is a great gain and more in line with her usual.

She was wide awake when I stopped by yesterday and in case you missed it, check out the video I posted from yesterday. The video was taken right after she had finished with Kristen and was about to start with the bottle. She had hiccups which is why she's a little bouncier but that cry you hear about half way through is one of the other babies. She's still pretty quiet (or at least, when we're there) and her cry isn't a foghorn yet.

Everyday is starting to feel like the light at the end of the tunnel is coming and Kristen and I are getting very excited to bring our little miracle home. While I'm not the best about responding to everyone's comments and well wishes, we really appreciate all of the support we've received and feel very blessed for such a strong support network.

Video Update - 6 Week Birthday

It's been awhile since I've posted a video and she was wide awake when I stopped by the NICU for lunch so here you go!

Madeline's First Crib

Madeline had a HUGE day yesterday! While Kristen and I were enjoying pre-gaming with Madeline for the Cubs home opener, she was really resting up for the afternoon to come. Once we were back from the game, we met with the doctor and nurse and it was decided that it was moving day. She has been regulating her temperature very well, so much so that they have to cool her room air, so the transition over from the isolette to a crib was an easy one. Here's a shot of her in her new digs (apologies for the graininess, the light wasn't on and I won't use flash on her):

While new digs makes it an awesome day for Maddy, the even bigger news is that she's started breastfeeding. She did very well in her first attempt with Kristen and the nurse believes that given how she handled it, we shouldn't expect any issues with her rejecting the bottle or Kristen. Just a few minutes ago, we got word that she took her full feeding from the bottle too.

Just an awesome day for a baby girl!