Saturday, March 29, 2008

3/29 A Good Day

Today was a very uneventful day in the life of Madeleine. In other words, today was a very good day. Joe and Sarah (my twin brother and sister-in-law) flew in last night and we spent the morning with Madeleine. We noticed a marked difference with Madeleine post feeding-- she's very calm and subdued-- and it appears that her energy is focused on digesting. (this is a very good thing). Kirsten, Sarah, and Joe all held her for extended periods today and she seemed extremely content to be held and to be eating again. The doctors and nurses seemed very pleased-- they've weaned her down to 2 mls on a nasal canula (rather low level) and seem content to just continue her feeds and allow her to grow over the next few days. With all of the uncertainty and tension over the past week, the past 48 hours have been very cathartic-- we're just watching Madeleine eat and slowly grow. They took her weight last night and she weighed 1320 grams-- an 80 gram weight gain since last Tuesday. (For those of you more comfortable with the English system, 1320 is approximately 2 lbs 15 oz.) Its dangerous to take too much from this weight gain as it is possible that the nurses held her various cords differently, thereby influencing the scale. Still, it does indicate that Madeleine is trending in the right direction.

In any case, I don't want to get too far ahead as it is a bumpy road in the NICU but today has been a very good day for Madeleine as well as for our extended network of friends. Nancy and Matt Sharai- friends from Flint-- were able to bring their twin boys-- born in late December-- home for the first time. They're still pretty small-- under 5 lbs-- but I'm fairly familiar with twins from the Flint area that weren't hampered long term by their small size. :) Additionally, our good friends Mike and Kim Jackson (yes, we have a friend named Michael Jackson) are the proud parents of healthy twins as Sophia and Calvin Jackson (hope the spelling is correct) were born today. Obviously, the good will directed to us is not only benefitting us-- its spilling over to those close to us.

Okay, that's enough good news for one post. We hope to post continued good news tomorrow.

1 comment:

Becky's Blog said...

Sarah- It was GREAT to finally get to meet you!Yes Joe, it was nice to see you again too ( steve made me write that) just kiddin' :)
So Glad you got to spend time with your new niece. Brent and Kirsten really light up when family is in town- it is wonderful to watch. You are a great family, your strength and support are amazing especially when together! Kay & Rick- you guys did a great job with those boys- they are really something.
We love you Bushey Family- hang in there- Becky & Steve