Changes

Avery is getting bigger every day! As of tonight she was up to 2lbs 7.5ozs! WOW!

She is getting so big the shirts Pat and I wear for kangaroo care are getting too small. I actually had to go out and buy shirts especially for kangaroo care so that Avery would fit. And I have to say it was worth it because it was much easier to get her in and out tonight.

Avery is getting so big that today they even changed the way she is being fed! Initially Avery was getting fed every 3 hours, however early on they switched her to continuous feed. Continuous feeds means she has been getting small amounts of food round the clock. The main purpose of continuous feed is to be able to give the small babies more food than they could typically digest if consumed at one time. Well, that has changed for Miss Avery! They no longer think Avery is that small baby that can not digest all that food at one time. So now Avery is back to being fed every 3 hours. She still has the tube in her mouth that goes to her stomach just like when she was on time release, however now when it is feeding time they put her food in a little bottle and attach it to her tube and it slowly goes down. Mommy and Daddy can actually help with feedings now! We get to hold the bottles.

As of today Avery is 6 weeks old which is important! Now she is old enough to reproduce her own blood cells, which means the need for another transfusion has significantly dropped. And another important thing that occurs at 6 weeks of age is that Avery has an eye exam to check for ROP.

They did Avery's eye exam today. Poor baby even had to have her eyes dilated. We were told no signs of ROP (retinopathy of prematurity), which is abnormal growth of the blood vessels in the baby's eye. ROP can lead to a baby needing glasses or can be sever and lead to blindness, which is why they watch for it very closely. Miss Avery's next eye exam will be in 2 weeks.

They also did another brain scan today. I think this is the 4th scan. They watch for brain bleeds and thus far Avery has been in the clear. I was there when they did this one today and the tech thought it looked good, but of course we won't get an official reading until the doctor looks at it.

Yesterday Avery was taken off her diflucan which is nice just because it is one less thing she is on. The diflucan was being given to Avery as a preventative measure. There are types of infections that in the past have been pretty common with preemies, but giving diflucan when a preemie is born now helps prevent these infections.

Oh and Avery has a new pillow. DW thought she just looked too uncomfortable so she gave it back and I agree she did look uncomfortable. She said she can still use it for awhile. Matter of fact, here is a picture of Avery looking snug as a bug in a rug with greasy hair and all after her ultrasound. Just like when the do an ultrasound on your stomach or anywhere else they have to use gel. So little miss Avery's head was covered with it. Poor baby! DW couldn't stand it so she came over and washed it all out of course. When DW is there you can be assured Avery will look nothing but pretty, DW just won't have it any other way (lol).