1 month and 2 pounds

Caley is now one month old, and officially passed the 2-pound mark today. The day wasn't completely without incident though. She had a couple of bradycardia episodes, and her stomach is distended again. That means that the OG tube is back in her stomach to help vent some of the extra gas. We hope that, as she is able to wean off the high-flow oxygen, she won't have that problem. And we especially hope that the doctor won't decide to back off of her feeds -- she's so close to her full-feed goal!

To the good and fun news... Mommy made red velvet cupcakes for the nurses and staff at the hospital. Nurse Kodi stopped by to help us get the first footprints we have of Caley, which are headed straight for the scrapbook. And Caley got to end her day snuggling with Daddy (above). On balance, it was an okay day.

900 grams

Caley is up to 900 grams! (That's just 7 grams shy of 2 pounds, by the way.) Her milk volume is up to 4 ml per hour, which was going to be her initial "full feed" volume. But because she's doing so well growing, they're going to work her up to 5.5 ml per hour over the next few days. And then it should be time to consider removing her PICC (central) line, and stopping the TPN and lipid supplementation.

Caley's CRP level came back normal today, which means that whatever infection she had, it's gone. Her hematocrit was still pretty low even after a week of EPO, but her reticulocyte count was good. As best as we understand it, she's making red blood cells, but a lot of them aren't fully matured yet. They started her on iron today to help, trying to avoid another blood transfusion if possible.

Other than that, Caley had a good day. She's doing great on the cannula and her lungs seem to be stronger now. The nurse weaned her from 3L of oxygen flow to 2L with no apparent problem. And while Marie was holding Caley this afternoon, she weaned down to 24% oxygen.

Caley is starting to have more periods of alertness, and "looks" around a lot. (We know she can't actually see much at this point, but she does seem to follow light and shadows with her eyes, which is a good sign.) While she was being held this afternoon, we also got Caley to take a preemie pacifier for quite some time. This too is a good sign. Many preemies who are tube-fed for an extended time period later have an "oral aversion" and don't want to take a bottle. So we'll keep encouraging her to suck on a pacifier as much as possible, and hopefully reduce the chances of that problem arising later.

Finally, Caley definitely is back to being feisty! She keeps trying to pull out her feeding tube and her cannula (which was completely out of her nose when Marie got to the hospital today), so unless she's being held, she has lost "hand privileges" for now -- complete swaddling for Caley.

Tomorrow is Caley's one-month birthday, and we're hoping for another calm one.

meet Quackers

Today Caley again graduated from the CPAP mask to the nasal cannula. She's doing really well so far -- no apnea or bradycardia in the 8 hours since she switched over. Getting rid of the CPAP also meant that Caley got to be rid of one of the tubes down her throat. She also got rid of a port in her leg through which she was getting her EPO shots. So she's down to a cannula, a feeding tube, and a central line, plus multiple monitors (heart rate, pulse ox, respirations, and temperature). The central line will go once the doctor is confident that she's tolerating full feeds without any problems (she reaches full feed volume tomorrow, so maybe in a few days?).

And today Caley met Quackers for the first time:

Hi Quackers!

Quackers is a present from Mommy's bestest friend Sam, who was in town visiting for a few days. We plan to take a picture every week or so to measure Caley's growth against Quackers. Here's the foot-to-foot shot from today:

And while we were playing paparazzi, we took this shot too:

This is the first decent shot we have of Caley's face, and she gave us one eye open at least. Note Mommy's anniversary band on her right arm -- that's how small she is!

Overall, Caley is doing relatively well right now. The doctors are closely monitoring her feeding, and doing everything they can to guard against NEC (necrotizing enterocolitis - a bad bad thing), for which preemies face a high risk. We continue to hold our breaths and pray especially for a healthy digestive system, lungs, and brain.

BEEFCAKE*

Caley gained 2 ounces in the last day! And she's nearly at the 2 pound mark. We're happy to see that she's doing so well with her feedings right now.

Beyond that, not much to report. Caley finished up her antibiotics today, and will finish her course of EPO tomorrow. The doctors will check both her C-reactive protein and hematocrit levels on Wednesday, to ensure that both the antibiotics and EPO did their job -- she should be inflammation-free and have a better red blood cell count.

And Mommy managed to change a diaper without any disasters today. We're praying that our uneventful week continues.

* South Park fans enjoy.

31 weeks: the stats

Today Caley is 26 days old, with a gestational age of 31 weeks. She's up to a little over 1 pound, 12 ounces in weight and she's about 13.5 inches long. And she's had a very stable couple of days -- so we thought we'd give you a little more detail on her current condition.

Caley continues to be on the CPAP machine, but is slowly weaning down on the amount of air pressure she receives from it. The air she receives right now is anywhere between 24% and 32% oxygen, depending mostly on what position she's laying in and whether she's being held. (Room air is 21% oxygen, for the sake of comparison.) She's receiving continuous feeds of milk at a rate of 2.5 ml per hour and digesting appropriately. The milk continues to be supplemented with TPN and lipids, but once she's up to her full feed volume of milk, those will go away. Caley still is receiving antibiotics for the infection she developed last week, and also is receiving EPO, a drug that helps her body produce red blood cells. She continues to get her caffeine dose every 12 hours. 

Caley spends most of her days sleeping and growing. Now that she's more stable and not requiring so many tests and near-constant attention, the nurses try to minimize the number of times they disrupt her sleep. So every 4 to 6 hours, they change her diaper, measure the circumference of her stomach, check her temperature and other vitals, suction out her mouth, and do whatever other care she may need. If her stats drop in between those times (and it's usually her blood oxygen level that does), the nurses will check on her and possibly adjust her position or her oxygen. The only other disruptions in her day are generally when Mom and Dad hold her, though she sleeps while we hold her once she gets comfortable. And we do that as much as possible!

Looking forward to an uneventful journey to week 32.

Father's Day, delayed.

Kirk had been planning to spend some time holding Caley last Sunday. But that wasn't what happened -- see "Code Blue." We finally got daddy-daughter time today.

(Note: the scar/surgical glue you can see on Caley's back is from her heart surgery on June 1.) More updates on Caley's health tomorrow.

back to the CPAP mask

Caley was extubated late this afternoon and switched back to the CPAP mask. She did great with the transition and -- so far -- is doing just fine with the lesser support of the CPAP mask. We stopped in at the hospital again late tonight to check on her and she didn't have any true apnea spells during the entire hour and a half we were there. Yeah Caley! Of course, she's still a preemie and less than 34 weeks, so she'll almost certainly have apnea spells again. But hopefully fewer this time.

Caley's milk feedings are up to 1.5 ml per hour, and will increase by 0.5 ml per hour per day until she reaches her "full feed" volume, so long as she continues to do well. The doctors also increased the sugar content of Caley's TPN (http://preemies.about.com/od/glossary/g/tpn.htm) today, so she can work on gaining weight now. As of last night, she was up to 770 grams -- from her birth weight of 620 grams, that's nearly a 25% increase!

Finally, just a quick picture from yesterday to share (when Caley was still on the ventilator). She's still tiny, but her eyes are completely open, her hands are a little bigger, her head is a little bigger, her skin is less translucent, and we can see a little weight in her arms, legs, and belly now. And she's sporting a fancy new outfit from Aunt Sarah.

Praying for Caley to keep heading in the positive direction!

more small steps

Marie was able to hold Caley today for several hours, and Caley did really well. She's still on the ventilator, but assuming she does okay overnight, the doctor plans to extubate her tomorrow morning and put her back on the CPAP mask. They also continue to increase Caley's feedings gradually, and so far, she's doing well with that. There is some concern that the CPAP may interfere with her feedings, so she'll get a little different configuration for her feeding tube after she is extubated.

Unfortunately, Caley's chest x-rays aren't looking ideal. It's too soon to know, but there's a chance she may have some long-term lung damage. We're praying that will clear up and not be a permanent problem. Beyond that, it was a largely uneventful day. We're happy to have had a couple of those.

very small steps forward

Not a whole lot to report from today. Caley appears to be continuing to fight off the infection. Every culture and test they did was negative, so we will never know what the infection was/is, but they'll finish the 7-day course of antibiotics and hopefully knock it out of her for good.

The doctors restarted her feeds today, with tiny amounts -- 0.5 ml per hour, on a continuous feed schedule. She was also slowly weaning off of her oxygen and breathing support today. The hope/goal is to be able to extubate Caley by the weekend.

That's about it. We're thankful for a relatively uneventful day in the NICU today.

a little bit better

Caley is working on fighting off whatever infection she has. Her fever hasn't returned, and we're told she's making white blood cells appropriately. Her color is better, and she's back to being more ornery than she was the last two days. So as far as we can tell, the antibiotics are working and she is fighting off the infection.

We still don't know what the infection is/was, though. Her blood cultures are negative after 24 hours, her spinal fluid and urine showed no signs of infection, and the first sample of tracheal secretions were negative too. They took a second sample from the endotracheal tube today to test again, but so far, no hints on the source of her infection. Frankly, we don't care where it was, as long as it goes away!

Caley is still on the ventilator, but has been needing less and less oxygen all day. They've also been weaning her off the dopamine, and her blood pressure seems to be stable now. She's still sick, but seems to be heading in the right direction. Here's hoping for another day of small improvements tomorrow.

another rough day

So we know that Caley has some sort of infection. But we don't know what it is. They have blood cultures in the works, took a sample of her lung secretions and urine, and did a lumbar puncture for spinal fluid today. Once they can figure out what the infection is, they can treat it specifically. In the meantime, Caley is receiving broad-spectrum antibiotics.

New problems today (likely all related to the infection) include that Caley spiked a high fever overnight, and her blood pressure keeps dropping. The fever seems to have broken now, and she is receiving fluids and dopamine for her blood pressure. Her blood pressure hasn't stabilized yet though, and the alarms keep ringing. Caley's blood oxygen levels remain unsteady and she has frequent apnea spells. And she remains on the ventilator, and is letting it do a lot of the work for her.

Caley is a very sick little girl right now. We hope her feistiness will help her get through this quickly. In the meantime, though, please pray for her.

"Code Blue"

These are not words that you want to hear in person. And you especially don't want to hear them with respect to your baby. But that's what happened today.

Caley had a rough night and morning, with more and more apnea spells (not as many bradycardia events, but still a few). They changed her to continuous feeds, in case she was having trouble with reflux, and also increased her caffeine again. But by this afternoon, she was still having trouble, and they decided to put her back on the CPAP mask.

Marie was in the room, along with Nurse Janelle and the respiratory person Andrea (don't know if she's a doctor or a nurse or what, but she knows her stuff), when they were switching Caley from her cannula to the CPAP. They were "bagging" her in the meantime, when her stats suddenly dropped. And they didn't come back up. And she started turning blue. And then Marie left the room. And then she heard "Code Blue, Room 50."

The next hour is something of a blur, but the whole thing was extremely scary.

The doctor thinks that a build-up of mucus in Caley's trachea may have caused her to stop breathing. We knew she had been needing a lot more suctioning that normal, and perhaps it was even worse than the nurses and doctors realized at first. They're running some tests to see if she has any kind of infection in her lungs causing the excess mucus, and we should get the results tomorrow. The one good thing to report is that Caley's heart never stopped beating.

But Caley is back on a ventilator to help her breathe. Her lungs were largely collapsed, so she needs that support for now. They also paused her feeds for a little while, but hopefully can resume them later tonight. Everyone assures us this is a common setback with preemies - that their little lungs and the muscles that help them breathe just get tired and need a little more support. We're hoping she'll only be on the ventilator for a few days, and then work back up to the CPAP and then the cannula again. For now, though, we could use all of your prayers and well wishes to get Caley (and us) through this setback.

our little fashionista

Today Caley hit the mother lode of clothes. She got not one, but two, presents of micro-preemie clothes in the mail. Between Auntie Sarah and Nadia & Sarah, plus what the Spenglers already gifted Caley, she is going to be styling. Plus Grandma Nancy's friend Joan made 4 little hats for Caley. Everything is in the washing machine now - can't wait to take them to the hospital tomorrow and see what fits! (And believe it or not - she's probably still too small for some of the micro-preemie clothes.)

Speaking of her size, Caley is now officially weighing in at 680 grams -- up from her birth weight of 620 grams. She's 1.5 pounds of sassy!

Beyond that, today was mercifully uneventful. Caley only had 3 episodes of bradycardia in the last 24 hours (and one was while Marie was holding her, and resolved immediately), which is much better than she had been doing. Her lungs sound good, her glucose levels are good, and she's up to 3 ml of milk every 2 hours. We're praying for an equally uneventful and happy first Father's Day for Kirk tomorrow.

poop!

We've avoided talking about poop for more than two weeks. But it's time. Today, Marie was taking a turn changing Caley's diaper. During the changing process, Caley decided that it would be a good time to go. After a few moments of panic by one, and decidedly nervous laughter by onlookers, Caley decided that her point was made. The remainder of the diaper changing process continued without incident.

Less fecal news would be that Caley (again) has a new room, one with a much better view and much less construction noise; we are all happy about that. It should be her last move during her stay at Children's Hospital.

On the health front, Caley continues with her occasional A-B spells, but they seem to be happening less frequently. She really enjoys sleeping on her stomach and is more stable when she does so. She's also very stable when she's being held -- too bad we can't just hold her all day! Finally, Caley is doing well with her feeds, and the doctors are planning to increase the volume each day until she reaches a full feed (8 ml every 2 hours). We continue to pray that she doesn't have another setback with her belly.

the yellow hat has been found

Today was better than the last couple of days. Caley is still having A-B episodes periodically, but fewer than she had been having. Dr. Parker thinks the increased dose of caffeine has made a significant difference, and that nothing else needs to be done at this point -- she just needs to grow. He also thinks it is unlikely that Caley will need to receive any more blood, but we'll just have to wait and see.

Caley was able to begin receiving milk again this afternoon too, as the excess air in her stomach and bowel had dissipated. She's now on 1 ml (1/5 of a teaspoon, we're told) every 2 hours. She was definitely digesting after the first feed, so we hope she continues to do well with that.

And most importantly, Marie finally got to hold Caley again today. It had been since Monday night -- way too long. Here's a picture of Caley from today.

P.S. The yellow hat was given to Caley when she was born at Lutheran Hospital. It turned up in one of the drawers in her room today.

a new room, but more of the same

Caley was moved to a private room today. It will be good for her to have less stimulation around her, and it also will be easier for us to spend more time with her at the hospital. So that's all positive.

Beyond that, today was more of the same, unfortunately. Caley had a second blood transfusion today; she still isn't getting milk; and she continues to have apnea-bradycardia episodes. It's hard to see her go through all of this, and we haven't been able to hold her for the last two days because of it. The kind nurses keep reassuring us that this is all normal for a preemie, and she'll grow out of it, but we can't help but worry.

Please continue praying for Caley to grow stronger and healthier every day, and to grow out of all of this "preemie stuff." We appreciate all of your support.

a step (or three) back

It was a rough day. Caley had a blood transfusion to start her day because her hematocrit (red blood cell count) was dangerously low. She'll probably have another one tonight to get that level back where the doctors want it to be. The concern is that she may have a bleed somewhere - into her brain or lungs - causing the low hematocrit level. Or it could be nothing. We just don't know at this point.

Caley also was being a preemie, and kept forgetting to breathe today. The doctor called them apnea bradycardia spells - her heart rate, blood oxygen level, and respirations would all drop quickly and simultaneously. It happened four times while Marie was at the hospital this afternoon, and it was extremely stressful, as you might imagine. Dr. Parker has increased Caley's caffeine dose to see if that will help her, before exploring other options. But it's possible this could lead her to be back on the ventilator. (By the way, did you know that most preemies are given caffeine because it acts as a stimulant that helps them keep breathing?)

Caley's belly also was very gassy today, so they stopped feeding her any milk until that resolves. She already was doing better on that front by this evening, but it's a step back in the feeding arena. And finally, Caley was showing off her determined little personality this evening, and kept pulling the nasal cannula out of her nose, causing her blood oxygen levels to drop because she just wasn't getting the oxygen.

We've had better days. Please keep praying for our sweet little girl.

ah-choo!

Tonight we heard Caley sneeze for the first time. Of course, this led us to immediately worry that she was getting sick or something else awful was on the horizon. Nurse Sarah thinks it's just a little congestion from the cannula, and assures us that it's good for Caley to clear it on her own by sneezing, rather than just waiting to be suctioned. So we're going with that theory, but still praying it's not a cold.

Caley had another good day. She continues to do well with just the cannula. And her feedings have now been increased -- from 1 ml every 6 hours to 2 ml every 3 hours. We thought those volumes would give you a good idea of just how tiny she is!

And proving that she is just like any other baby (though in miniature), Caley peed all over her pretty pink gown when they were doing a diaper change today. So we're doing our first laundry load of many dirty baby clothes to come. It's kind of nice to have something normal like that to do.

preemie diapers: 3, marie: 0

Preemie diapers can hardly be called diapers at all. They're more like little tissues with some velcro tabs on them. The nurses in the NICU are now in the habit of asking me to change Caley's diaper if I'm around when it's time for a diaper change. It's a little daunting with all the lines and wires on her legs, but I'd been doing okay. Until this evening. Before I even started to change her diaper, I wrecked the first new diaper when I ripped off one of the velcro tabs. So I started with a second one and got it horribly tangled in the wires at first, but managed (with a little assistance) to get it positioned correctly. But by then, I had the velcro tabs attached to the old diaper, and made an inextricable mess. Then came the third diaper. It didn't get tangled in the wires and I got it in place, but then lost the velcro tabs under Caley. The nurse finally took mercy on me and finished it. That's when I knew it was time to go home.

Caley fared much better than Mommy today. She is off of the CPAP machine, and using only a nasal cannula with a little oxygen. We were warned several times that she may have to go back on the CPAP, but so far she's doing well with just the cannula. She also continues to work on opening her eyes - most of her left eye is open, and a little bit of her right eye is open. And she keeps trying very hard to get them open!

Caley also got to try out some stylish clothes today. In the picture below, she has on a little pink gown sent to us by the Spenglers, and a maroon bow that Nurse Kodi brought for her. (Which is glued to her head with surgical glue -- already a slave to fashion.) Her face is a little reddish and swollen right now from the CPAP machine (and the red is even more pronounced in the photo than it is in person), but here's our little girl.

Keep praying for strong lungs and a healthy digestive system!

Saturday in the NICU

Caley continues to make small steps forward. Her glucose levels seem to finally be stable, and she continues to do well with her trophic feeds. And... while we were at the hospital today, a little corner of Caley's right eye started to open! Hopefully her eyes will be fully open within the next week.

We spent quite a while at hospital today, while our favorite nurse Kodi was there. She had Marie help do two diaper changes and some of Caley's other care, and had us both hold Caley for quite a while. It was a surprisingly calming way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

(Mom helps with Caley's care)

The next goal is to get Caley off of the CPAP machine, and using only a nasal cannula for oxygen. This will require her to be able to regulate her breathing a little better, and to be a little more consistent. We're continuing to pray for strong lungs to get her through!

ninnies!

Caley had a good day today. Her oxygen was down to only 22 or 23% for much of the day, and she was regulating her own blood oxygen level pretty well. Her little intestines seem to be responding to the trophic feeds, which means real feeds are on the horizon.

One change we noticed right away is that there were a couple of pacifiers in Caley's "condo" with her. (Although in Marie's world, they're called "ninnies.") We asked the nurse about them, and she said they've started giving them to Caley to soothe herself. We thought that was pretty neat.

We stayed at the hospital for quite a while tonight, and saw Nurse Laura do a lot of Caley's routine care. Caley has definite opinions about what she likes and doesn't, and makes her opinions known. For such a tiny little baby, she can squeal awfully loud! (We think she takes after her Aunt Emily in that regard.) She also kept sticking her left foot out of her little papoose -- and she definitely takes after Daddy in that regard.

Finally, we both got to hold Caley again tonight. It's our favorite part of the visits!

Keep praying for more good days.

a long week

We were so exhausted last night, we forgot to post an update. This week has been a long one, as we try to get settled into something of a routine with visiting the hospital. We don't have it figured out just yet, but we're getting there.

Nothing much new to report on Caley from yesterday. Her glucose levels still are too high, so the doctors continue to work on adjusting her fluid levels. She seems to be tolerating the trophic feeds well, and they are going to start her on nutritive feeds soon. And we're still waiting for her eyes to open. The doctor assures us this is nothing to worry about, but for some reason, Marie is fixated on it.

One great thing to look forward to: we should be able to hold Caley again today!

happy birthday Daddy!

Today was Kirk's birthday. We celebrated with a dinner of Beau Jo's pizza and carrot cake (two of Daddy's favorites!), along with Caley's Grandma Nancy, Uncle Josh, Aunt Shelley, and cousins Dade and Dani. Then it was off to the hospital to visit Caley.

She had a pretty good day. She hasn't needed to go back on the ventilator yet, so hopefully her lungs are continuing to get stronger. Her glucose levels have been a little high in the last day, so the doctors are working on trying to balance out her fluid levels. And they've started doing "trophic feeds" - getting her little body ready to hopefully start nutritive feeds in a few days.

Marie also held Caley again today, though not for very long. The advice of holding her only every other day for now is probably wise - Caley didn't seem quite as comfortable today.

We also saw Dr. Parker this evening, who is Caley's current attending neonatologist. He helped to deliver Caley (though Marie has no memory of him), and transferred her to Children's. It was nice to get a download from him and hear him say that she's "doing okay."

Keep praying for strong lungs, good feedings, and for Caley to open those pretty eyes!

two marsupials in room 47

Caley had a room change today - we're glad we were there when they moved her, or we really would have freaked out!

The big news of the day is that we both got to hold Caley for the first time. Our nurse today was Codi, and she was so gentle and encouraging with us as we took a pretty big step. They call it "kangaroo care" and it was awesome. We won't be able to do it every day just yet, but it was so good for both of us to get to hold her after a week of waiting. Her blood oxygen level rose, her pulse steadied, and her respirations got stronger when we held her. We just hope we didn't hold her too long - she was a little cold when she went back into her little incubator.

On the health front, Caley is having some trouble with her lungs still. There's a chance she may have to go back on the ventilator, so we're really hoping that her lungs will strengthen up soon. Caley also hasn't opened her eyes yet, so we spent a lot of time today encouraging her to show us her peepers.

We have a long road ahead of us, but today it feels just a little bit better.

another of life's little challenges

This morning, we woke up to find that one of the water lines to our kitchen sink had burst overnight.  This is not how we planned to start the week.  Fortunately, it looks like very little damage was done, and Kirk can fix the line himself.

Caley continues to progress slowly.  Her oxygen has been slowly reduced over the last day or so.  She had another little tube inserted into her stomach, though, to release some gas built up in her abdomen.  As her vital signs stabilize, Caley should be able to start receiving breastmilk soon.  We spent about two and a half hours at the hospital this evening and got to help with some of her care.  Overall, a good day for the baby!

28 weeks

Today would have been the official beginning of Marie's third trimester.  That makes Caley's developmental age 28 weeks.  Marie visited Caley in the NICU for the first time today, and got to cradle her a little bit.  It was difficult, but good to see her.  She's so tiny and fragile.

Caley was removed from the ventilator today and is doing well breathing on her own.  The little monitors aren't always sensitive enough to pick up her respirations, so it's sometimes nerve-wracking to hear the monitors beep thinking she has stopped breathing, but nothing is wrong most of the time.  The next goal is to get Caley regulating her glucose level a little better.

The nurse today was Lorraine, and she indicated that within a few days, it may be possible for us to begin "kangarooing" Caley and actually cradling her to our chests.  We're praying for that day to come soon.

Marie is home

Today's big news is that Marie was discharged from her hospital, and is recovering back at home.  To be sure, she has a long road to recovery ahead of her... but she's ecstatic to be sleeping in her own bed again!  (And Kirk will be glad not to have to travel between two hospitals multiple times every day, though it was a small sacrifice.)

From Caley's world, today brought some more small encouraging news.  She went off of dopamine, which means she can maintain her own blood pressure appropriately.  Her glucose levels are pretty stable now.  And tomorrow, the doctors may even try to remove her from the ventilator if she is breathing okay.

Please say a prayer for strong baby lungs!

small changes

Today was a day where the doctors and nurses were starting to get to know Caley and were able to fine-tune her treatment by making smaller incremental changes to her medications.  It was also a day when the staff felt that Caley was entering into a growth and normalization period.  As much as the doctors are learning about how Caley reacts to things, Caley is also learning how to regulate her own body chemistry.  For example, the doctors were able to reduce dopamine levels 90-100% from yesterday's levels, helping Caley to not have such wide fluctuations in her blood pressure.  Her glucose levels continue to fluctuate a little, as the doctors try to fine-tune her nutritional needs.  The doctors are also using a special lamp to help break up any surface blood clots and pooling that may occur on Caley's skin.  Today's nurse was Kodi.

Please pray for Caley to continue to grow, get stronger, and have more "steps forward" than "steps back!"

tastes and smells

Today was a day of milestones. Caley got her first smell of mom via a cut-up piece of mom's shirt, as well as her first taste of mother's milk. While Caley is unable to actually ingest any food right now, what we can do is rub the inside of her mouth with it.  Daddy got to do that, and Aunt Shelley was the extra-special milk courier for us today.

Please continue to pray for more little milestones.

Big Surgery Day

Today Caley faced her first surgical procedure in the NICU. It was called a PDA Ligation, and while common in preemies, is still a very scary thing for someone one day old. The procedure took less than 45 minutes, and went off without a hitch. The rest of the day was spent just keeping Caley as comfortable as possible.