1 month old!

Happy 1 Month to our beautiful little miracle!  I can't believe its been a month already. It feels like yesterday but it also feels like she's been in the NICU forever.

We'll start with the good news. Kennedy is doing good!  She's gaining weight and handling her feeds well. She's up to 17 mls every 3 hours.  They consider this full feeds so they're going to start taking some of her I V's away. As of last night she was 3 lbs 2 oz!!! She's really starting to fill out and she looks cuter than ever! The Dr was happy with her weight.  He called her a "big baby" for her age! She's like her Mama, no problem packing on those pounds!  And she's very strong.  She picks up her head and tries to turn it to the other side! Not a good thing since she has a vent tube stuck up her nose! She also pushes down with her legs when she's on her belly and picks her butt up in the air. I think if she had it her way she'd try to crawl out of the NICU!

She had an eye exam and another CAT scan and the Dr said everything looked good which is great news!

However, she's still on the vent and although it has helped her, it also causes damage. The longer she stays on it the more she gets used to it and the harder it will be to get her off. They have tried to ween her off but her lungs are still so weak and premature that when they lower the vent settings she struggles so they have to take it very slow with her. I was speaking with the Dr yesterday and his plan is to work on building up her nutrition over the next 3-4 days to get her stronger and then they're really going to push her to get her off. They started her on Lasix yesterday which makes her pee alot and gets rid of the fluids that she's retaining. It also helps dry out her lungs so we'll see today how that worked. If she continues to struggle they're going to consider giving her medication (a steroid) to help make her lungs stronger. His goal is to have her off in a week or two.

So right now that is our biggest concern, building up the strength of her lungs. I can't wait until she's off that damn machine! She's doing so well with her weight I just want her breathing to catch up. I want her home. Easter was so hard not having her with us. Especially since Kenzie still can't come up to see her. It's just gut wrenching.

I did get a little Easter surprise.  Since she's been on the vent I haven't been able to hold her and I've been very upset about it lately. Over 10 days now and I haven't been able to cuddle with her or hug her or give her kisses. I see her every day and I just want to scoop her up and comfort her. Do you have any idea what it's like to not be able to pick up your child whenever you want to? When she's crying or when it looks like she's in pain? Its the worst feeling. But when Art and I were there Easter Sunday the nurse had to change her incubator and she asked if I wanted to hold her while they did that. It was so nice to be able to hold my little girl again! It was only for a little while but Art and I got to shower her with kisses and snuggle with her. It just made a very tough day so much brighter!!