OT Update on Maya from Deb_M

Hi All,

Here is the Maya latest update I got from Deb. Be sure to scroll down to the bottom so you can see the sweetheart herself!

Barb

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Maya – 10 Weeks Old

All is well in Duke’s Transitional Care Nursery.  One of Maya’s neighbors went home so we requested to be moved to her quiet little corner spot, and it’s great.  We’ve been bathing her all on our own now.  Baths are twice a week and something we look forward to.  She’s so expressive in the water, it’s quite funny.

The biggest change these past few weeks is that they started nipple training with her.  She took to it like a champ, and quickly moved to one bottle a day.  She ate an average of 3 cc’s with her first few bottles, but has now jumped to 10-12 cc’s at a time.  She grasped the suck, swallow, breathe concept really well.  Most babies have to be paced, but Maya does a great job of pacing herself.  She takes 3-4 sucks, then rests for a few breaths, then starts sucking again.  That’s just want they want.  Yesterday the docs decided she was ready to start trying breast-feeding once a day.  “Take it slow,” they said.  “Don’t expect her to take to it right away like she did with the bottle.”  Ha!  She proved them wrong.  She knew just what to do, and now all the nurses are calling her a Rock Star!

Hopefully all of this feeding won’t be too much of a calorie drag for her.  She had a few days of no weight-gain (even lost a few grams) this week, and it was determined that she needed another blood transfusion.  I think that did the trick, because she’s all pink again, and gained another ounce last night.

With all of this great news, we are experiencing another down-hill on this roller-coaster.  The bi-weekly eye exams started showing a mild case of Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP.)  They moved the exams to weekly, and now her ROP is considered a moderate case that seems to be getting a little worse each week.  This is something she could grow out of, so we’re keeping up hope for that.  If it gets worse, it can be corrected with laser surgery.  Looking at the big picture, she may end up with glasses some day.  Considering where this all started back in December, if that’s the worst she has to deal with she’s one lucky girl!

 

My friend Tyler threw me a baby shower on Saturday.  It was beautiful, and I had a great time.  Some friends planned to surprise me by coming in from out of town (thanks Lisa & Tammy) and surprise me, they did!  Although poor Tammy came down with a cold, so couldn’t make the trip in the end…I appreciate the attempt!  It was soooo nice to finally be at a baby shower for me!  What an honor to have my name tag say “Maya’s Mom.”  Thanks Tyler for going through all the trouble, it really was a special day.  

 

I’m sending two pictures today.  One is of her first bottle-feed and the other is a great camera catch of her smiling.  

All in all, I’d say she’s doing really well.  She’s quite a calm, happy baby and only fusses if something is really bothering her.  Hopefully that’s a personality trait that will remain, for our sake early on, and for her sake as she gets older.

Love from us all,

Ryan, Deb and Maya

Maya's first bottle.jpg (37KB)

Barb,
Thanks for posting this but I can't see anything but a box with a red x in the corner on the pictures.

I'm not sure what to do because I can see the photos... Sorry. I'll see what I can do and let you know if I can make it work.

Barb

P.S. You can go to her profile and see some photos of her and Maya taken about a month ago.

Barb,
try posting those pics again.
Thxs for the update all sounds great and makes my heart fill with joy for Deb and Maya and ryan.
                                             Annie

Thanks for the update Barb! Glad to hear Deb is hanging in there!!

Darcie

Sounds like they're doing great!  Thanks for the update!!!!!

Sheryl