Just read this-hang in there! Glad she is doing ok, and so sorry you had to leave without her. Hang on to the fact that she is getting excellent care, and thank goodness you noticed her feeding issue right away-that comes from being an experienced mom. Thoughts and prayers for you!

Thanks for the update. It is great that she is getting breastmilk now, even if it is not the way you expected! I hope everything stabilizes for her soon, and in the meantime, it sounds like she is getting lots of good care. Keep us posted!

Oh SW, definitely praying for you and your family. Thanks for the update.

I can't imagine how hard it must have been to leave her, but it's great she is being cared for so carefully in the NICU. Everything probably feels extremely overwhelming right now- I will keep your family in my prayers.

SW - hang in there - keeping thoughts of you and your family.

one day at a time, mom. one day at a time. Good thoughts and hugs coming your way - and remember, your fan club is just a post away...

I'm thinking of you and your family. I hope your little one joins you at home soon.

Big hug to you and your family. Hope you can take her home soon, safe and healthy.

So quick update, as I have a ton of studying to catch up on...

Peanut is going in for surgery on Tuesday morning to extend her jaw (mandibular distraction). While she is not dropping her sats often, she is not gaining weight well and taking only about 25% of her feedings PO, the rest goes in via the NG tube. (She is slowing working on the edges of the tegaderm, BTW. She thinks she is sneaky and going to just rip out the NG tube again.) She is SO tired after only a few minutes into a feeding, and is hardly awake at all other than her diaper change and maybe 5 minutes into a feeding.

Bright side (where I am choosing to focus these days), she (while on her stomach, the only way she can lay) lifted her head and flipped it to the other side while I was there today. Smiles so sweetly in her sleep- I don't care if it is gas, those smiles are for me!

We are still waiting for the chromosome analysis to come back, but she doesn't have any physical features typical of any syndromes and we have no history of any in our families- she was born the same size as her siblings and other than my BPs toward the end, fairly uncomplicated pregnancy. All good things.

They are concerned that if things continue down this road, she will just gradually grow weaker, which would then make surgery a greater risk. While I am in favor of the surgery, I am also scared beyond belief- this is my 11 day old baby, and we are talking about a major surgery and lengthy hospital stay thereafter.

And can I say my class has been amazing? They sent flowers, with an extra sum of money that was donated, have been offering notes, tutoring session, homemade meals, etc., and have organized a group of people to help us move (we finally got a 3 bedroom apartment in student family housing, with a lease start date of 10/1- you've got it- we do everything the hard way!).

Thank you for the support- Continued thoughts and prayers appreciated- I will update as I can.

Sw-isn't it great to find out what amazing people you have around you? I am continuing to pray for you guys and your little peanut and will be thinking of you all on Tuesday! Hang in there!!