Day 50

Aerin took 2 entire bottles today! Her first was at 11:00 a.m. and her second was at 11:00 p.m. The morning bottle was 29 cc's and the evening bottle was 30 cc's. It was amazing to watch such a teeny baby eating so much. She's really a natural. The speech therapist is going to teach me how to feed her tomorrow. You have to hold her in a very specific way, so that she is in the optimal position to swallow and breathe. You also have to burp in a specific way - not pat her on the back like you would with a term baby. I'm so happy to finally be able to feed her myself, instead of a pump or a nurse.

The goal is to replace all 8 tube feedings with bottle feedings.

She's at 2 bottle feedings a day and she'll move up to 3 in 2 days. Her tube feedings are only spaced out over an hour now, down from 90 minutes. It hasn't caused her reflux to increase, thank G-d. She has about the same amount of reflux (mild) with the bottle that she does with the tube. The bottle is hard work for her. She is exhausted when she's done and sleeps very deeply. That's great for her - she doesn't usually sleep that deeply. She lost an ounce, which is to be expected after all that hard work. She's 3 pounds, 5 ounces.

She still had her bath today and she did fine. I did most of it myself, with the nurse and Andrew looking on. Afterwards, I held her upright to help with her reflux. She looks extra adorable when she's all clean and dressed in fresh clothes and swaddled up in a soft blankie.