Had a poopy diaper? Applaud and remind the nurses how your kid's intestines are the freaking most AWESOME intestines out there (being the angels that the nurses are, they will, of course, agree). Accept a pacifier? Stop and call the presses. I'm sure that a newspaper out there (somewhere) will find this fact to be front page material.
This week, we're celebrating two things.
First, Corinne has graduated from the enclosed incubator to an open incubator (under warming lights). The idea is to slowly turn down the warming lights by a bit each day until she is maintaining her own body temperature. Then, when that happens, she'll move into an actual crib (and yes, I'm sure I will make a blog post about it, sit back, and let the "ZOMG congrats!" roll in with a smug, smug look on my face).
Old bed:
Her jaundice levels have been back up (up, down, up, down). Yesterday, they were at 10.1. Anything 10+ means she goes back under the jaundice lights. However, when she's in the warmer bed (or big-girl bed, as I like to call it), they wrap her in a jaundice light blanket (and makes her look like something out of Aliens or Cocoon). She is now weighing in at 3lbs, 3oz, which means that she's gained a whole pound from her birth weight!
The second thing we're celebrating so far this week (I've already call the WSJ to see if they want to cover this new development; we're still in negotiations for front page space) is that she is now taking the pacifier and sucking the life out of that rubbery oral soother. This is good news as it means that her little cheeks can now do a suck reflex, so she'll be able to start taking breastmilk orally. One of the criteria for her being able to go home is that she takes 8 feedings a day orally (either breast or bottle). I'm still not a fan of the pacifier for long term use, but taking the pacifier is more of an indication for great things to come (feeding orally).
Holding and sucking on the pacifier in her jaundice blanket:
