Closer and Closer

I'm on dialysis right now and I did okay with my weight gain this weekend. I gained about 3 kilos, one a day. That's what we're shooting for. I'm hoping the doctor comes around today because he's got me on for four and a half hours and I'm hoping he'll bring me back down to four. Three and a half would be ideal, but a stretch I think.

I go for a follow-up chest x-ray today, too. Since they drained the fluid from my lung I've been breathing really well. That means I've been sleeping well, too. As much as has gone wrong lately, I feel lucky that I have recovered from the c-section before the baby comes home. I think it will make the long nights a little easier to handle.

Speaking of...

Anna continues to make amazing progress. They started bottle feeding her this weekend. During our last update, the doctors said she was taking 50% of her feeding through bottles. The rest they give her through her feeding tube. I even got to feed her yesterday! She only took half of her bottle, but she had already taken her midnight, 3 am, 6am and 9 am feedings through bottles. She was a bit tuckered out when I tried to feed her at noon.

Her oxygen is down to 0.2. Instead of dropping it to 0.1 they are just going to try her off of the oxygen today. The doctors say that at 0.1 the nasal cannula is more in the way than helpful.

So there are two things that we've got to get settled before she can come home: feeding and breathing. I asked the doctor for a time frame. Of course, they don't really like to give them. But, he said realistically we could be bringing her home early next week! If she can go an entire day off oxygen and meets her feeding goals then we get to bring her home. It's hard to believe that it will be only 4 weeks. Of course, if she has any issues (like she stops breathing or her heart stops) that require intervention, then she buys herself another 5 days for observation. These have never been problems before, so I'm not too worried. And, her room was painted this weekend. Her name is on the wall, her curtains are up and we're all ready!

Alli

I'm starting to wonder how Alli's going to handle things when the baby is home. She's been pretty crabby lately. I'm sure it has something to do with school. She's beat at the end of the school day. But we're still dragging her to the hospital alot and as long as she's holding the baby she is fine. But Jason and I like to hold her too, so there's always a stretch of time when she's bored. The hospital offers babysitting in the waiting room on Tuesday and Thursday nights, and she'd rather be out there than in the NICU. There are days when we'll work it out so she doesn't have to come with us. I've been trying really hard to focus on Alli when we're at home. I'll talk to her about school, her friends, etc. and ask few questions like, "Are you excited about Anna coming home?" Or, "What are you going to teach Anna when she comes home?"

Alli is excited to show her off whens he comes home. She is already planning on bringing the baby out to the porch for all of her friends to see her. I'm sure Alli will be fine for a while, but once the novelty fades, I'm not so sure.