Eating Again!

A quick update; Caili's test on Tuesday went well. It showed that she was very "coordinated" with her swallowing and that she did "protect" her airway. So on Wednesday they removed the tube to her small intestine and replaced it with one that goes into her stomach. Now instead of feeding her constantly they're now feeding her every 4 hours, and running the feed over 3 hours, giving her one hour's rest before they start again. It's still not as satisfying as eating her full feed over a short time like would be normal, but she certainly is quite a bit more content...unless it's that one hour where she's not getting any food! Lauren calls that the "witching hour."

After a day of monitoring the feedings in her stomach, they were comfortable with feeding her by mouth, so on Thursday they fed her a small amount from a bottle. Caili drank it down like a pro, but wasn't pleased when she realized that was all she was getting. She drank the same amount yesterday (Friday) and seemed to enjoy it even more. The plan next week is that they will steadily increase both her frequency and quantity.

As for her respiratory status, not only is she still on the high flow cannula, but her oxygen flow is down to the lowest level ever--the lowest they go on the "high flow." We're astounded by her strength and overjoyed by it.

While this has been a trying couple of weeks for both Caili and Lauren--who now spends every minute possible at the NICU--it is obviously critical that we take the feeding process slowly to be safe. Hopefully the weekend will continue with good results and we'll have even better news next week.

Have a wonderful weekend!