Although she’s not speaking in full sentences quite yet, if you could translate this, I think she would tell you she’s happy, healthy, and excited for her 1st Christmas. 🙂

Our family, including Peanut, has been pretty healthy so far this fall/early winter (fingers crossed), and we hope to keep it that way! Peanut has had two follow-up appointments in Iowa City since our last post, and she will have another one in two days. The doctors are thrilled with her growth – last visit she was 9lbs. 10oz. and 21 inches long. We’ll see if she can break the 10lbs mark at her next weigh-in on Thursday.

She’s still on a strict 3 hour feeding schedule, even through the night. We have to wake her for almost every evening/night feeding, so when she gets to the point where they let her skip a night feeding, we’re confident that she would sleep for a long stretch of time. We’re not far off from that goal.

Over the past four weeks, Peanut’s ostomy output and gas has steadily increased. Because of this, we cannot increase her oral feeds – she still at 75ml (2 1/2 ounces). Doc thinks the likely suspect for the increase is an overproduction of bacteria in her small intestine, causing her bowels to become irritated. So, she has been on an antibiotic called Flagyl for two weeks. However, it has not improved the symptoms, so we will go back to the drawing board at our appointment. We will probably do one of two things – either try another antibiotic, or decrease her oral intake. Neither Peanut nor us would be happy with the later of the two.

We have, however, taken a few steps closer to getting Peanut off of TPN. Since our last update, the doc has reduced the amount of TPN she is getting by 20% (from 118ml to 95ml), taken out all of the lipids, reduced the amount of dextrose, AND she has gone from 12 hrs a day to 8 hours a day. Really, the main thing keeping her on TPN at this point is her high output. She needs the extra fluids so she doesn’t become dehydrated.

At our last appointment, we stopped by the NICU and dropped off Peanut’s preemie and newborn clothes to donate. Walking through the doors to the NICU, I felt a wave of dejavu, seeing the anxious parents and family members in the waiting room. We were also able to visit with some of the nurse practitioners and a nurse who cared for Peanut while she was there. Actually, the nurse that we got to see, Jillian, was the nurse that was on duty caring for Peanut the morning that the NEC developed. Their reactions to seeing Peanut again, especially Jillian’s, brought joy to my heart. It really puts into prospective just how far she’s come in the past 4 months! Walking back out of the NICU with a baby who is now healthy…is priceless.