Day 26

Another good day! No news was evidently good news on her latest blood culture, so as of today we are declaring her infection-free! Her weight was up again to 2 lbs 7 oz but the nurse warned us that she was weighed while receiving her blood transfusion last night which means there was an extra IV line and a cord being weighed with her. So, we might not stay at the same weight tonight but she's probably going to stay at the 2 lb 6 oz mark at least. Who knew I could become emotionally attached to an ounce! She had to receive her second blood transfusion last night because premies aren't capable of replacing blood very quickly or easily and they've had to draw so much blood for various tests that she was getting low. The low blood count also contributes to "events" when she stops breathing and her heart rate drops momentarily. We've been present for several "events" and it's always a trigger for our hearts to stop beating as well.

I got to hold her for her 9:00 AM feeding and her 3:00 PM feeding while Blaine went in on his lunch for the 12:00 PM feeding. Blaine teaches a late night class on Thursdays so I'll have to stay at home with Riley and miss the 9:00 PM feeding. People have been asking me if I'm exhausted over the past few weeks. Actually, after getting over some initial insomnia, I've been getting plenty of sleep and it was difficult to spend hours at a time at the hospital peering in at her darkened isolette. I think the exhausting part is probably beginning now since I feel like I really want to be there for as many feedings as possible. That urge will get even stronger once they start bottle feeds. The NICU allows us to list 4 additional people besides Blaine and me who can participate in holding and feeding which is going to be great.

The other good news is that I finally resolved some insurance issues. I read online that really premature babies are sometimes referred to as "million dollar babies" because their NICU care can be so expensive and go on so long. This caught my attention particularly because I was just informed that my insurance policy has a million dollar lifetime limit. We started scrambling to look into alternative coverage options until I found out that if she maxes out her policy she can automatically be covered under Blaine's policy. Wheww. We also found out that she is covered under Medicaid and will receive disability benefits while in the hospital because of her "very low birth weight." Social Security states that she is "presumed disabled" on the basis of her weight--not exactly something that was easy to hear, but we certainly won't turn down the extra coverage. I'm just glad to stop thinking about the insurance stuff for a while and focus all my stress on other things!

As of today, Brynn is 34 weeks gestational age. When we first landed in the NICU, I found it funny that they continue to count weeks as if I were still pregnant. There are lots of markers based on gestational age and 34 weeks is a great place to reach. When I first discovered that there were some problems with the pregnancy, my primary goal was to get to 34 weeks....well, we're there now but it wasn't quite the way I had hoped. Regardless, I still feel like we've made it to an important marker.