What's Charlotte Up to?


Charlotte is 2 weeks old now and has made tremendous progress. She loves to grab any tubes attached to her and pulled off her canulla in the night, but her oxygen saturation didn't go down, so it was decided she didn't need it anymore. 

Charlotte with her mittens taped to her arms because she loves to pull on all her tubes.

She moved out of the isolette (her "condo" as the neonatologist fondly referred to it) because she can now regulate her body temperature. 


Charlott'es vacated "condo"

She is now in a regular crib and wears clothes.  In order to take her home she has to be breathing without help, able to regulate her own temperature and getting all her nutrition orally.  So, she's good on the first two and now we just work on eating.  She still gets most of her nutrition through her feeding tube.  Being a preemie, she just doesn't have the muscle for sucking yet, and she doesn't have the coordination of sucking, swallowing and breathing.  We work on nursing a few times each day.  At first, she would just suck and swallow and forget to breathe (and one time turned blue).  Then she was able to nurse for a few minutes before she fell into a deep sleep.  Now we go for about 10 minutes before she is worn out and she is getting more efficient.  She gained about 8 ounces since she was born and has increased her feedings.  Everyday, we are closer to bringing her home.

As parents, Mike and I also made tremendous progress.  We gave her a bath for the first time (there is a video somewhere.....).  I had my first freak-out as a mom - about baby poop.  I didn't read the last chapters of the baby books and I don't know what's normal for a newborn.  I may have babysat a lot as a teen, but never newborns.  Anyway, the very patient neonatology nurse practitioner assured me that Charlotte and her poo were totally normal.  Well, that's a relief.  I swore I would never be one of if those people whose facebook status updates are about baby poo.  I think this is the appropriate venue, if there is one, for such information.