Better Day

Miss Avery had a much better day yesterday and we had really good visits with her. Daddy got to hold her in her condo. He practiced his diapering skills and he even put on her gel. Miss Avery seemed to love it all, maybe not the diapering, but she loved the rest of it. There is no doubt this little one is going to be a daddy's girl. In addition to getting to interact with Avery another thing that made the visit so nice was that not only was she being good but I guess the other babies in her pod were as well because it was rather quiet. Normally if her machines are not beeping another babies are. It seems like there are always machines going off in every direction. We joke that once she does come home we are going to have to buy her a cd of nothing but sirens and beeping noises in order for her to sleep. It can be overwhelming sometimes. So having a reprieve from the more hectic days is nice.

Yesterday she was actually the most alert we have seen her yet. On both visits she had her eyes open a good bit and seemed to be looking around. We were told to buy or make her some developmental cards that they can put up inside her condo since she is getting more alert. So we will take that as a sign of progress. Heck, we will take whatever we can as a sign of progress.

Avery is due to have her picc line evaluated. This is kind of like an IV, however it can stay in longer. Instead of having to be changed out every 3-4 days the picc line can stay in around 10-14 days. Miss Avery is not going to like having her picc line changed so we are not sure what kind of day she will have after they change it out so this makes me kind of nervous. Only good thing is her second one will most likely be her last one. Avery is on IV fluids which is one of the main reasons for the picc line. My understanding is that as they increase her feeding amount they are able to decrease the fluids. And in another 10-14 days she should be receiving a high enough feeding dose so as to not need the additional fluids which is why her picc line should be able to come out.

And last but not least we are happy to report that Miss Avery did not lose anymore weight yesterday. She weighed in at 850 grams just like she did the night before. We are going to take this as a good sign because we were expecting weight loss due to the diuretic. Plus we were told she had two large diapers, however she didn't go down. So I am going to take that to mean that maybe she was putting on some real weight which offset the loss of the bad weight (water and waste). We will see what she does tonight. If her weight goes down that will be ok, but it would be so nice to see it go up.

Having Miss Avery in NICU is definitely a roller coaster ride. She has her good days and bad days and so does Mom and Dad. I have to say some days even when she is doing great I am completely emotional and just thinking about her or looking at a picture makes me cry. The one thing that keeps me sane is getting to see her. Even if all I get to do is sit next to her little condo and watch her sleep I at least get to be close to her. Dad seems to be a little better at keeping it together, but he has his days too. We are fortunate Miss Avery is doing so well.