In the Home Stretch!

Lucy is up to 45 mls per feeding and will hit her target feeding volume in the next day or two.  She's pooping on her own (without the help of suppositories).  She's gaining a couple of ounces a day and now weighs 6 lbs, 3 oz.  The hole is looking great.  Finally, after all this time, we are starting to hear mention of the word every NICU parent dreams of: DISCHARGE!!!  Barring any unusual developments, it is looking like Lucy will go home next week, possibly even as early as Monday!!!  This weekend we'll try breastfeeding to see how she does with "on demand" feedings.  Even if the breastfeeding takes a while she could still go home because she's successfully drinking from the bottle.  They will also remove her only remaining IV, the PIC line that gives her intravenous food, some time this weekend.  Today the surgeon taught me how to change the dressing and gave me supplies to practice at home.  They also scheduled her hearing exam (which every newborn gets before they go home) and a car seat test.  The wheels are officially in motion to get this baby home! 

To be honest, I don't think it's registered yet that Lucy could be home in a matter of days.  I feel like my brain won't let me get too excited until the moment we walk out of the hospital.  When you've been waiting for something this big for this long, it's hard to switch out of survival mode and into celebration mode.  The fact that she might make it home so quickly (less than 4 weeks, when most gastro babies take 6-8 weeks) still seems too good to be true.  I'm sure it will hit me once we get her home, but until then I'm staying cautiously optimistic and trying not to get my hopes up too much.  

Stay tuned for some (hopefully!) major updates in the next few days! 

Snuggling after breakfast