Tuesday was a big day for us! After 14 days in the NICU (yes, I know I had the wrong arrangement of letters in my last post…sorry!), we FINALLY got to come home! It was not without work though. Nina had to pass a hearing test, car seat test, and the process for proving she could eat on her own was intense.
First the doctor wanted to see her eat a full bottle on her own. She did this for Nate, and then they needed to see that she ate at least 60% of her food from the bottle in a 24-hour period of time. We were at 51%, and Nina was cueing on her own to eat, so I used my mad selling skills to talk the doctor into letting us try the next step of feeding, even though we were a bit under the requirements.
The next step is called cue based feeding. Nina got to go off her schedule feeding, but had to meet certain amounts of milk every 8 hours within a 24-hour period. As soon as she could eat when she wanted, this took off with eating. We easily passed this step!
Next came, adlib feeding. This is basically what you do at home. Nina got to eat what she wanted, when she wanted and all she had to do was gain weight. We also easily reached this and bam….we got to come home!
Some of the big firsts we’ve experienced while at home are: Nina’s first time in her bassinet and all her chairs, meeting Dexter, our first all nighter, first stroller ride, first doctor’s appointment, first ice cream run (drive through style, she can’t go into public places yet with a lot of people, because a preemie’s immune system is fragile), and visitors!
It has been amazing being home; we are enjoying it so much! Right now Nate is here with us and will be for at least another week. Both Nina and I are so happy to have lots of time and help from him!
Right now we are just adjusting to our new routine and enjoying our time with family. It truly is a wonderful time in life!
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