Is That The End Of The Tunnel?
We have been very, very busy lately.
Micah has made amazing progress on her O2 support. She is now "on the wall," taking a small flow of oxygen with no added pressure behind it and doing very well. In fact, one doctor said she has surprised them all in very good ways the whole time.
She has begun bottle feeding (for the additives she needs as a micro-preemie). We were nervous about this, but it had to be done. After a few rough days, she has started doing well whether she bottle feeds or breastfeeds. As of today, 6 of her 8 meals are done without a tube.
We are going to "room in" with her a few days, so we can practice taking care of her (with back up if we need it). Doing it during the day for a few days means we don't have to stay overnight right before we try to move home. She is off of all her meds and we feed her almost all of her meals anyway, so why not do it with a little privacy?
Her regular tests (weight, etc.) have all gone to once or twice a week instead of every day. Most have gone away completely. She will probably have one more eye exam before we leave, and we will begin slowly introducing vaccinations into her plan. (We strongly believe that most children are over-vaccinated.)
So, Micah is on her way. In fact, today her doctor mentioned the idea of shooting for next week as a departure date. This may not happen, but after more than 4 months of living here, the fact that they even suggested it actually sort of feels like a shock.
We are really ready to be home. Of course, we will be on our own when we get there, but unless you've lived in a NICU for as long as we have, you cannot imagine how much you want to leave as soon as you can. It's like Olivia told some friends of ours when they left last month. It was something like this: "Just drive. Get in the car, start driving, and don't look back."
We will have months of doctors visits, shots, exams, and driving over the months to come. We will have a very regimented schedule. We will have some serious limitations on Micah's exposure to other (especially after living so openly for so long.) But, it looks like it may finally be time to bring our little Ahava home before too long.
Micah has made amazing progress on her O2 support. She is now "on the wall," taking a small flow of oxygen with no added pressure behind it and doing very well. In fact, one doctor said she has surprised them all in very good ways the whole time.
She has begun bottle feeding (for the additives she needs as a micro-preemie). We were nervous about this, but it had to be done. After a few rough days, she has started doing well whether she bottle feeds or breastfeeds. As of today, 6 of her 8 meals are done without a tube.
We are going to "room in" with her a few days, so we can practice taking care of her (with back up if we need it). Doing it during the day for a few days means we don't have to stay overnight right before we try to move home. She is off of all her meds and we feed her almost all of her meals anyway, so why not do it with a little privacy?
Her regular tests (weight, etc.) have all gone to once or twice a week instead of every day. Most have gone away completely. She will probably have one more eye exam before we leave, and we will begin slowly introducing vaccinations into her plan. (We strongly believe that most children are over-vaccinated.)
So, Micah is on her way. In fact, today her doctor mentioned the idea of shooting for next week as a departure date. This may not happen, but after more than 4 months of living here, the fact that they even suggested it actually sort of feels like a shock.
We are really ready to be home. Of course, we will be on our own when we get there, but unless you've lived in a NICU for as long as we have, you cannot imagine how much you want to leave as soon as you can. It's like Olivia told some friends of ours when they left last month. It was something like this: "Just drive. Get in the car, start driving, and don't look back."
We will have months of doctors visits, shots, exams, and driving over the months to come. We will have a very regimented schedule. We will have some serious limitations on Micah's exposure to other (especially after living so openly for so long.) But, it looks like it may finally be time to bring our little Ahava home before too long.
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