The other Big Event tonight was the arrival of Clare's cradle. Peggy was pushing it in as we were getting ready to leave. Clare will be moved into it tonight during her 11pm care. No more terrarium for our baby girl! We still have to monitor her temperature very closely. But we're cautiously optimistic about getting to change her diapers and clothes in the Outside World. This is particularly helpful because she's getting fussier about being changed and having her clothes taken off, so she's become a bit of a handful to diaper through two isolette portals.
We have been told many times that having a preemie means two steps forward, one step back...so we are, as I said above, cautiously optimistic. Clare still needs to learn to nurse or take a bottle, so her gavage tube will remain in for some time. She also needs to get to a point where she is "fed on demand," meaning that she recognizes her own hunger signals, cries to be fed, and nurses until she's full. Even if she woke up tomorrow and could suck down her 42 mls of milk from a bottle, we need to be sure she continues to put on weight, etc., before she gets to come home. Plus, we just ordered her car seat on line today--so she can't come home before it arrives. It would not shock us at all to arrive tomorrow morning and learn more bad news. It's how we've been conditioned. But we are looking toward a more immediate future, with our little girl home with us.
Speaking of putting on weight, she's now up to 5 lbs 3 or 4 oz.! That's a whole lb bigger than when she was born, and over a lb since her weight dropped below 4 lbs after her birth. That's 20% more baby than three weeks ago!
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