The step down unit is more hands-on and it is meant to teach parents how to take care of their children when they go home. By the time Hope comes home I will know how to feed her, bathe her, give her medicine, and know if there are any problems. They will be spending a lot more time with me showing me how to do everything and I will be talking to someone every day when Hope comes home. I will need to track her feeding, her oxygen saturation, and her weight and I will receive a call every day to let them know what all the numbers are.
Today I spent the whole day holding Hope. They put her on a new monitor so I could actually carry her around. I did that for a few minutes and she fell right to sleep. I also fed her a little bit (17mls) and then she got tired and went to sleep. I am hoping she will be that easy to comfort when she comes home!
Danielle got Hope a cute pink pacifier and she loves it. The best part is that it is the same size as the nipple on her bottle, so the therapists told me it would help with her feedings too. It is so nice to get into her room and see her all decked out in pink. She was even dressed today and looks so cute!
It looks like they've got you guys on track to go home. Woohoo!! She's beautiful in pink!
ReplyDeleteAhh a new milestone. I still also remember finally being able to dress Alexa. It feels so good, so right. Hope is so sweet and has come a long way. I can see it already, you will soon be posting from home and things will be a lot more hectic. I also had to learn before leaving the hospital how to put in an NG tube, she was nursing after I pumped, because they thought she was silently aspirating. Ah, I wont bog you down with our details, but no matter what you find a way to get through it and do what you have to do for Hope. I have loved seeing her progress, warms my heart.
ReplyDeleteShe looks so wonderful! So glad to see so much progress being made. You are in my prayers. ~Angie Montgomery (fellow CHD Mommy)
ReplyDeleteI am so happy to see she is on her way to coming home with you. She looks beautiful and radiant. You and your family are so blessed and I am so happy to see that finally you are closer to bringing her home.
ReplyDeleteI know bringing her home is going to be exciting yet scary at the same time because her care has to be different, however with time you will get the hang of it and everything will seem normal to you. Hope is going to be running around with her brother's in no time, driving you crazy.
Sending hugs your way... Please give Hope a big and hug and kiss from Sami and I. Take care!!!
Well Paula & Jerry I Am sooo excited to see yr finally going to be taking yr little bundle of joy home soon. Its a blessing to see what an amazing little girl she is and she looks so BEAUTIFUL AND HEALTHY what a great wodzisz girl she is kisses all over her from Pam W in Columbus <3 <3 LOL LOVE TO YOU ALL TAKE CARE!!!!
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