Speaking of Arwen, she is one week old today! This week has gone by quickly and slowly, all at the same time. I wish I could say that meant we would be bringing our baby girl home soon. But I can't say that.
As far as how she is doing overall, she is great! She is a healthy baby girl. And for that we are so thankful!
But being able to leave the hospital is not as simple as that, sometimes. Since Arwen was born so early, her body is still finishing developing. If she were still in the womb, she would be receiving everything she needs from me, without having to work for it. Mostly she would be sleeping. Which is exactly what she is doing now. Sleeping. The hard part is getting her to wake up enough to eat. Which at times, is actually impossible. Her little body just gets worn out. So in order to make sure she is growing, and not losing weight or getting dehydrated, we had to put in a feeding tube. So now, if she is too tired to eat, she can still get fed without her having to exert any effort.
This is really our main set back at the moment. Her blood sugar seems to be doing fine now, and she is doing very well holding her body temperature. However, we are still going to keep her in an isolette for now. Moving her to a crib would require her to burn calories keeping her temperature regulated. And since we don't want her losing anymore weight, we are going to wait to make her work. Keeping her in the isolette allows her to keep growing without burning calories.
So while it doesn't seem like a lot, it still means she will have to stay in the NICU. She won't be able to come home until she can hold her body temperature, is gaining weight everyday, and can take all of her feedings. Since she seems to be progressing at a turtle's pace, this could still mean a few weeks. But we won't know for certain. Arwen is the guide, we're just along for the ride.
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