One Week Later

Yesterday morning marked a week since we were told that Alaina had developed NEC. We were terrified to hear it but I assumed at this point she'd be through 7 days of antibiotics and on her way to feeling better. I never in my wildest dreams imagined my little girl would have undergone a surgery to remove two pieces of her intestines. But here we are and thankfully, she's doing well.

Alaina spent most of yesterday sleeping peacefully and it was so quiet in her room (no alarms going off!) that her daddy and I actually napped with her. You'd never know by looking at her that she's had major gastrointestinal surgery and the doctors and surgeons are very happy with her progress. We're hoping that they'll start feeding her milk soon (she's on TPN now) and Alaina is obviously ready for it - she's constantly rooting, which means she's making sucking motions with her mouth looking for a nipple. Feeding her milk will get her stomach and intestines working again and help her gain weight. The surgeon wants her to be double the weight she is now before the second surgery to reconnect her intestines. We're thinking that will happen in 8 weeks or so. By then, the girls will be full gestation so, God willing, Gabrielle will already be home. We're hoping Alaina will be home for Christmas but I think that may be optimistic.

We're getting into a routine now that Alaina seems to be stabilizing. We spend the day with her and if her last blood work comes back looking good, we go to visit Gabrielle. Last night, we got to St. Vincent's in time to see her being weighed. The nurse stripped her down and took her CPAP off so DH and I got to see Gaby's face for the first time since I can remember. She's so adorable! The little diva wasn't happy about being naked and moved around and let everyone know it with some angry screams and we couldn't help but laugh. It looks like Gabrielle's ritual of spending the day napping is paying off -- she's up to 2 pound 6 ounces! Since she doesn't burn many calories during the day, this little one should keep gaining weight at a good pace. We asked the doctor when she'd be off the CPAP and she said it could happen when she reaches 33 weeks gestational age which is less than two weeks from now. Gabrielle will be very happy once that comes off!

So that makes three good days in a row. I have a feeling the doctors are starting to think DH and I are nuts because we keep asking questions looking for the bad that no one's telling us but it seems like Gabrielle and Alaina are doing everything they should be. The last week has been the most draining we've ever had but I'm hoping the really bad days are finally behind us.