Daddy's Turn!

It's been a good week! Cailin has continued to gradually improve, and we've continued to get to interact with her more. Lauren got to hold for the second time on Friday--this time for an hour. What joy! Sadly, I was working and missed it, but Grandmom (Lauren's Mom) was there for the big event. Cailin loved every minute of it, and even got to be fed while in Mommy's arms (through a tube but she still seemed to enjoy it). And the good news for me was that I had agreed to a 2 to 1 ratio of holding her (Mom's need priority), so that meant I was next!

On Friday night they continued to move the ventilation settings down gradually, but this time they reached a challenging point for little Caili. She started to struggle just a little more. She made it through Saturday with nearly continuous "comfort holds"--which is just a light, steady touch on her head and rump.

On Sunday morning Caili was struggling a bit more. They actually had to move back to Friday's ventilator settings--not an ideal step, but a necessary one. That, in conjunction with several other changes, allowed Caili's day to improve significantly. And it got better.

Midday yesterday, her nurse took down her "TPN," the IV fluid that's been providing her nutrition. Her feeding is going so well that they were able to stop her IV fluids, meaning that she's now getting basically all of her sustenance from breast milk! They may give her some vitamins from time to time, but otherwise she'll be digesting all her food. This also means she's getting all those anti-bodies from the breast milk, which is incredibly valuable as her immune system still isn't terribly strong. Lauren and I were thrilled with this news.

There was a thought I might get to hold her yesterday, but since she'd had a bad morning, my suspicion was that holding her was off the table. To my delight, her nurse said that she had recovered so well that holding her would be just fine. So, at roughly 4:15 yesterday afternoon, my daughter was placed in my arms for the very first time:

I can't begin to describe the joy of holding her. I was scared as they were preparing her--it's a bit daunting to watch them re-route all the tubes and lines--but the fear evaporated the moment she was in my arms. It took her a little bit to warm up to me, but after a couple of minutes, her stats began to improve, and soon she was sound asleep.

I held her for nearly an hour, and it was time for her feeding and "care," which is when they change her diaper, take her temperature, etc. The nurse decided to take her temperature while I held her, and it was normal, which was great--were she cold I'd definitely have to stop. The nurse suggested that she feed Caili while I held her. Caili seemed to love that. And I continued to hold her after her feeding was done. The rest of her care could wait.

After over 90 minutes of holding her, the nurse suggested that Lauren take a turn. Much as I was loving it, I couldn't deprive Lauren of that joy, so I carefully handed her to the nurse, who then put her in Lauren's arms. Lauren continued to hold her for close to another hour, and of course Caili loved every minute of it. Caili had to go back in her isolette just before 7, as the nurses change shifts at 7, and parents have to leave the NICU. In total, Caili was in our arms for more than 2 and a half hours.

What a day!