Monday, March 16, 2009

25 days old

Faith turned 25 days old today! I haven't posted an update in a few days because I've been so preoccupied with her eating. I've always had trouble giving her enough milk by syringe but three days ago she took in almost none, two days ago she had a little but was having difficulty swallowing, and yesterday she stopped swallowing altogether. I decided that I couldn't let her go any longer without a tube feed, so today I took her to emerge at the hospital to see if they would insert one. It may seem like a shame to put a tube down a baby's nose, but it was either that or allow her to die of starvation. I think I made the right decision by continuing to feed her. I was expecting them to turn me away at the hospital because of her DNR order, but they didn't. In fact, the care was excellent! They didn't do anything to Faith that I didn't want them to (I told them not to "poke" her with anything). But they were right there with oxygen and warm blankets and anything else they could do to comfort us. We were brought to the pediatric unit and Faith's feeding tube was inserted. She was such a brave girl... didn't even cry. She barely complained at all. The dietitian and nurses gave me some education about how to feed her and check for tube placement, gave me some supplies, and then let us go. I was very happy that Faith didn't have to be admitted :) Well, I am going to snuggle up with my girl for a while... thanks for checking in. I'll try to update more often.