Well obviously I haven't updated this blog any since we got our first ultrasound of Claire. Here's some general info about our little Claire Bear.
-Born at 29 weeks weighing only 1 lb 130z.
- Full name is Claire Elizabeth-Anne (which I love and am happy daddy agreed to) Claire, is my mom's middle name (although I spelled it differently), Elizabeth is my middle name and my great grandmother's middle name, and Anne is Troy's mom's middle name (although spelled differently)
-Claire is progressing along nicely. Her biggest issues are . . . .
Brady's, where her heartbeat drops really low and she can stop breathing ( these are scary when you are holding her and the monitor goes off) She should outgrown these episodes once her brain develops more, usually around 34 or 35 weeks.
Gaining weight, Claire is what the doctor's refer to as growth retarded. For example at 28 weeks she measured the size of a 25 week baby and fell into only the 12th percentage. The reason for this is that I developed preclamsya and the nutrition getting to Claire via the placenta was limited. To help baby achieve this she is getting supplements that add extra calories to her breast milk and extra protein.
Drinking from a bottle, The suck, swallow, breath skill is not usually developed until around the 34 week mark. It is very hard for a little one to cordinate all those different actions at once. We've tried a few bottles this week (32 weeks) and she had no interest. She looked at us like we were crazy and why was this pacifier thing putting liquid in her mouth.
Maintaining her temperature, there are so many functions our body does that we take for granted. Claire can not maintain her temperature right now because she has no body fat. This is another criteria she needs to meet before she can come home.
It's definatly a learning experience for us, and as the nurses keep reminding me she shouldn't even be here yet, so everything she does right now is amazing. Patience is the key to having a baby in the nicu, and I am not a very patient person!
