Miss Presley

Well I know that you have all been on the edge of your seats waiting for an update on Miss Presley!  She is doing wonderful!  About 2 weeks ago she had a barium swallow that showed a serious reflux problem.  It showed that she wasn't quite sure what to do when she takes in a large amount of milk and that it often enters her nasal area.  The recommended solution was to prescribe Prevacid and Bethanechol. She was originally on Prevacid for about 8 days before the Bethanechol and we didn't see a large difference. The bonus to having the Bethanechol is that it allows the food to move through her intestines quicker so that it doesn't have time to come back up. Because of the reflux she went from 6 of 8 feeds to 1 of 8 feeds very quickly.  She had figured out that eating was associated with her discomfort and pretty much refused to eat or take her pacifier.  It was very hard to see her shut down.  The wonderful OT began working with her on finger feeds.  This is where there is a tube on her finger and as Presley would suck she would give her a little bit of milk (through the tube) to assist her with her suck/swallow/breathe pattern and to teach her what to do with small amounts of milk.

After about a week of this they felt that she was ready to try a bottle again.  The first couple feeds were hit or miss which has been pretty consistent throughout her feedings.  We learned that she preferred to eat on her right side (opposite of what they normally do), didn't like more than 10cc in the bottle at a time and would stop eating if people walked by talking or if there were distractions.  She prefers a calm & quiet environment.  There are a lot of jokes that come with this like that she is high-maintenance or is a girl that knows what she wants but the bottom line is that this is very common for preemies.  She is very easily stressed and overstimulated.  Physical therapy has been working with her on this and she is also making great strides in this area as well.  We are so proud of her!  She is currently up to 3 oral feeds a day and has taken all of her bottles beautifully today!  She ate her bottle today on her back/left side and didn't mind and it was also a full bottle!  She is persistent though because she has been taking out her feeding tube daily so she is now wearing a sock on her left hand to prevent her from doing this.  She is currently weighing 6 lbs 15.5 oz so she is SO close to 7 lbs!!  We are often asked if we know when she will join us at home and there really is no way of knowing.  It is a game of patience at this point because we know that she is capable of eating so we're just waiting for her to be learn how to take all 8 feeds. Thank you so much for all of your prayers, sweet facebook comments, cards, and phone calls!  We can not wait to have them both home!

The babies also celebrated their 2 month birthday and although I did remember to take their photo in a more timely fashion I forgot to share it! 

This one just cracks me up!