Day 28

I used to look forward to weekends for the same reasons everyone else does. Now, I've found that I actually dread the weekends a bit because it means trying to juggle taking care of Riley all day with hospital visits. Blaine and I traded off visiting Brynn every 3 hours today while the other one stayed at home with Riley. By the time we leave our house to get to the hospital, hold her for an hour during a feeding, and drive back home, there's really only 45 minutes or so before the next person needs to leave. But, I'll take this schedule any day if it means that Brynn continues to be stable.

Brynn was getting fed 15 ml today and will probably reach her maximum feeds in another day or so. Her belly continues to look good and she has been pooping regularly with the help of a glycerin suppository. It would be better if she didn't need the suppository, but after last week's scares, we'd rather avoid any amount of "backup." She was wide awake for the entire time I was holding her at noon today. She just looked around wide-eyed for over an hour.

I found out that Brynn has her first eye exam on Tuesday. One of the common and serious problems with early babies is called retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Basically, it's a problem in the development of the retina which can lead to vision loss or blindness. Evidently,
ROP is much more common in babies that have needed oxygen for prolonged periods of time. Since Brynn hasn't ever required oxygen, her doctors have said that they would be very surprised if she has any problems with ROP. It will be great when/if we can cross that off our list of things to worry about. We're slowly making our way down the list of hurdles that the doctors all warned us about in the beginning including bleeding in the brain (she's had 2 clear head ultrasounds), NEC, and ROP (hopefully!).

I haven't found out her weight for tonight. We're crossing our fingers for at least a slight gain, but I'll have to update everyone tomorrow.