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!