NICU - Day 39

Date: December 31st

Gestational Age: 33 weeks 5 days

Weight: 1715 grams or about 3 lbs 12.5 oz

Madelyn had more excitement today. I was here for much of the night/morning but left to go hang out with Renae and Kate for a few hours when I got a call that Maddie was going to have a test done to see if her lower intestines are working. They put a barium mixture into her lower section of intestines and took x-ray video of how things moved. She got to go on her first ride outside of the NICU, all the way to radiology with her nurse. They were backed up down there and Maddie was very patient with the process. It was a success too as she pooped all over the table. Apparently the list of people wanting to take her home with them has grown as the radiology techs really thought she was adorable.

Ready to go to radiology!

As a result of this test, they will try, in a few days, taking output from her upper intestines and putting it into her lower intestines to see if she will absorb more of it. It was also decided that she will stay on just breast milk for now. All of this is to prepare her for when she will be completely hooked back up inside. Also to help all of her intestines grow. "Grow, baby, grow!" 

This afternoon, I fell asleep in Maddie's room and she managed to have four alarms all going off at once. She was fine, it was just that her feeding was done, her fluids machine's battery was dying, she pulled off a heart monitor sticker and had kicked off her oxygen monitor. She apparently thought it was the perfect time to do this as her nurse had gone to print off pictures of her from this afternoon. Also, she probably wanted to wake me to let me know that I had fallen asleep while pumping and had spilled milk all over myself. Maddie managed to pull off all her heart monitor stickers at some point this evening. 

Maddie was super prepared to ring in the new year. She's hoping for a lot more socializing now that she is getting bigger. Also, starting to get dressed. Maddie has been becoming more and more awake each day and is constantly seeking new things to look at.

She's high fashion