Gaining Weight

Miss Avery is 5 weeks old today!

So I know I've been slacking on the blog the last few days and it is partially intentionally. Miss Avery Kate has been doing well and has been gaining weight. She is up to 2 lbs and almost 3 ozs! I've been scared to jinx her by writing about it! She has had several days of gaining in a row now. She is on the 24 cal fortifier and I guess it is working!

She had a few days where she was having a few more heart rate drops then normal, however that has all seemed to stop and she is back to being herself again. It sounds like in a couple days they may even try her without a bump rate on her cpapp again.

Her nurse DW says she can tell Avery is getting bigger. I know she is, but it is hard for me to tell since I see her everyday, however when you compare old and new pictures it is definitely obvious.

Avery looked so sweet and peaceful sleeping today. Avery likes to have her hands free and is usually either sleeping on her hand or has her hand near her face. Today we caught a few of these moments one while she was in her condo and another while she was doing kangaroo care with Daddy.

Daddy really enjoyed kangaroo care. It was his reward for changing not only a poopy diaper but a stinky one at that. It was the first stinky diaper Daddy has had to change. I had my first stinky diaper yesterday and just like Daddy I was rewarded with kangaroo care which made me very happy.

Since Miss Avery had been acting kind of sketchy the past few days we had not been taking her out to hold since we did not want to stress her. We still got to touch her on these days which is great but we did not get to have the close contact that comes with holding her or especially with kangaroo care. I can't speak for Daddy but I know for me personally kangaroo care was such a stress reliever. I felt like all my worries and anxieties that had been building up over the past week or so were gone after getting to feel her so close. It was so reassuring.

The heart rate drops and apnea may be normal for a baby her age but that doesn't make it any less stressful. And when she has not so great days Mom and Dad tend to have not so great days too. Take a few of those in a row and it can result in an exhausting week. So good days with kangaroo turn out to be a great way to rejuvenate after a few tiring days in a row.