Jillian is 1 Week Old!

Thank you for your patience during our transition from the hospital to home. Lots of exciting things to share.

1. Jillian is continuing to breathe unassisted without complication.

2. The PICC line will most likely remain for about 3 to 4 weeks. She is receiving a 4 mL push of IV fluids and an additional supplement of lipids. The IV push will be reduced to 3.7 mL/hr tomorrow (Sunday)

3. She is being fed 9 mL of Mommy’s milk every 3 hours via an NG tube that enters into her nose and then travels down to her tummy. Her digestive system seems to be working wonderfully so they continue to increase the amount of Mommy's milk she is receiving by 1 mL at every other feeding. This will continue until she reaches a full feeding of about 50 to 60 mL (about 3 ounces). Mommy and Daddy coordinate with the NICU so Jillian is able to get fresh milk from Mommy every feeding.

4. Her bilirubin levels are now 4.4, the magnesium levels are now completely normal in the 2.0 – 3.0 range.

5. Dr. Woodman and the nursing staff heard a murmur during a routine exam on Thursday. As a precaution they ordered a sonogram of Jillian’s heart on Thursday morning. I met with Dr. Brownley on Friday @ 9:00am who is a cardiologist from San Antonio who visits the NICU once a week to check on the babies here. He determined the cause of the murmur and is not overly concerned. He would like to see her again when she is 6 months old. I will create a separate post addressing the technical details of the heart murmur for those who are interested. We just need to continue believing that Jillian’s body is perfect in every way!

6. Kangaroo care has been increased to 3 times per day. Daddy has been taking two of the three skin-to-skin hours at 8:00am and 2:00pm until Mommy has recovered. Mommy has been coming up to the NICU for the 8:00pm feedings. Eventually, Mommy will be here every 3 hours to nurse reserving a couple of bottle feedings for the early hours of the morning for sleep. It will be at this time that we may need some help from friends and family. As promised I’ll keep everyone posted.

God bless and thank you for your dedicated prayers.

James