Tuesday, August 12th - 1st Full Bottle Feed

Kinley took her first full bottle feed (90ccs) this morning at her 8:00 am feeding. Nicely done baby girl! Unfortunately, neither Kevin nor I was there for it. Nancy, from occupational therapy, was the one with the magic touch.

Kinley's methadone dose is now down to 0.44 mg once daily and Kinley is still on track to be off of the methadone by the 25th of this month.

During rounds today, Dr. P asked if we had decided on a day that we would like to take Kinley home. I inform Dr. P that we thought Saturday would be a good day and Dr. P does not have any problems with that. Kevin and I will need to stay overnight in one of the parent care unit rooms on Friday night and then, if all goes as planned, we will be discharged on Saturday afternoon!! We need to stay in a parent room with Kinley overnight so that the doctors and nurses know that we can take care of Kinley on our own, but also so that they can answer any questions that we might have before we go home. All parents of kids leaving the NICU have to stay in a parent room before they are discharged. Kevin and I have tried to be as active in Kinley's care as possible, but it is hard to do while she is in the hospital. There are a few other things that Kevin, Kinley and I have to do before we can be discharged, so a Saturday departure date seemed the most practical. Kinley will have to pass her hearing screen and car seat screen. Kevin and I both have to take an infant CPR class at Children's Mercy Hospital. I have to place one more NG tube in Kinley and Kevin still have to place 2 NG tubes. There is also a car seat lady who will come out to our car to make sure Kinley's car seat is installed properly. Oh, and we also need to get set up with home health to deliver the supplies we need for Kinley's tube feedings, the home health nurses, occupational therapy from home, follow up appointments with occupational therapy at the hospital, follow up appointments with the surgery department at the hospital and a visit to Kinley's new pediatrician. We have been wanting to go home for a long time now, you think we would have been a little more prepared, but it still seems so unreal that we are actually going to get to take Kinley home soon. We have been in the NICU for over two and a half months, but somehow going home still snuck up on us.

The rest of the day's feedings did not go as well as the 8 am feed, but when you start off taking 100% of the bottle, there is not much room for improvement. Kinley took 42ccs at her 11 am feeding and 45ccs at her 2 pm feeding. The remainder of her feedings was given through her NG tube. She did a little better at her 5 pm feeding and took 68ccs from the bottle. Again, the rest was given through the tube.

Shannon was back tonight to take care of Kinley. When Kevin was allowed back at 8 pm, Shannon had already given Kinley a bath, weighed her, and started to give her bottle. Kinley weighed 10 lbs 15 oz! Keep gaining that weight like a champ! Kevin was allowed to try and feed Kinley the rest of her 8 pm feeding and she ate 60 ccs. The rest was given through her tube while she slept.