Continued Progress Over the Weekend

Madeleine's progress continued over the weekend. Here's a list of bullet points:

- She was taken out of the baby warmer last Friday and placed in a crib. Additionally, we installed a mobile on the crib over the weekend. (Note to future parents: EVERYTHING related to children requires batteries. Start saving now. We'll be investing in rechargeable batteries soon.) Many of the nurses are surprised that she's done so well maintaining her own body temperature. Even so, one of the first nurses Madeleine had, stopped by yesterday and said "Let's see, we fixed the heart and now we're suprised that she's doing well? Seems pretty simple to me..."

- Madeleine was weaned completely off breathing support on Friday evening. The nurses expected this to take a lot longer but before weaning her lower than 2 mls, they just took the canula away and Madeleine's been breathing on her own ever since. The heart comment above applies here as well.

- Feeding continues to increase-- Madeleine is now getting 16cc's every 3 hours. At this pace (they're increasing by 1 cc every 12 hours), she'll be at full feeds (33 ccs every 3 hours) at this time next week. The full feed is determined as a calculation of Madeleine's weight. (as she gets bigger, the feeds get bigger.) Madeleine also continues to bottle feed and will be fed via bottle twice/day. She hasn't figured it all out yet-- sometimes she just plays with the bottle but she's slowly getting it. As anyone who knows me or my family, eating is one of the few things that everyone in my family does well.

- Infection: Its pretty much gone. She is still on a round of antibiotics that end on Wednesday but the blood tests show that the infection is resolved.

- Weight: This is the one area where progress isn't entirely clear. Madeleine was weighed last night and was down about 40 grams to 1800 grams (right about 4 lbs.) We were a little surprised by the weight loss but we think it is a combination of her still being on laseks-- a diuretic related to her heart surgery-- and also being out in a crib for the first time. Between losing water weight and burning calories to maintain her own temperature, Madeleine could have lost a few grams. Nevertheless, we're expecting her to start putting on weight (she already looks heavier to Kirsten and I) and we hope to report soon that she's a chubby little baby.

- General cuteness: I'm convinced she gets cuter each day. I took a bunch of pictures and, true to form, I left the camera in the car. Still, take my word for it-- she's ridiculously cute. (She even has dimples-- haven't gotten a picture yet.) I'll post pictures soon.

Here's the game plan for the next 1-2 weeks: (Hint: It's pretty simple.)

1) Wean her off laseks and antibiotics. These should be gone this week.
2) Continue to increase feeds by 1 cc every 12 hours.
3) Continue to bottle feed.
4) Keep Madeleine happy and fatten her up.
5) Figure out when the intestines should be reattached. Right now, here's the timeframe we're hoping for:
- May 26th: Reach full feeds.
- June 2 (week of): Re-attach intestines.
- End of June: Release from the hospital. (the long recovery time is expected as they'll start all over again weaning off breathing support and reintroducing food.)

It is possible that the surgery will be delayed a few weeks longer as the surgeons may not want to rush reattaching the intestines. Still, we think that once she proves that she can tolerate full feeds, there's no real need to wait much longer than early June. (Note: I won't provide the long explanation but it is possible that she won't reach full feeds as easily as we hope. If this is the case, the timeframe could be delayed a week or two. I won't explain further as we don't think this will happen.)

That's all the news we have right now. The typical disclaimers still apply: Infection can change everything in a heartbeat and our timeframes can be delayed significantly. While this is all true, Kirsten and I are increasingly confident in Madeleine's full recovery from all of her ailments and we're really enjoying the ability to just have fun with our daughter (even if we can't bring her home yet.)

Thanks again to everyone for your support.

Brent & Kirsten