Cori Lou got to go home with her mommy and daddy on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 30th. On that day, she had gotten up to 7 pounds 3 0unces, up 1.5 ounces from the day before. She is still taking about 4 medications, the main one being the diuretic to keep her fluid levels balanced so that her heart is not working so hard. One other medication is to counteract side effects from that. Her parents will soon be asking if the other medications are still necessary, as they seem to be holdovers from NICU care.
It is unclear if Cori Lou will be a good traveler. She seems to think riding in the car seat is fine as long as they don’t stop at signals or stop signs. However, she seems to have adjusted to home life just fine. She shows no signs of being concerned that all her wires are missing and seems content with not needing multiple examinations every day.
Feeding her is still a main challenge for a few reasons.
- She is still not strong enough to take up nursing. She gets worn out and sleepy.
- She often has to be woken up to feed her and she does not wake up easily when she thinks she should be sleeping.
- Even with the easy flowing bottle, it can take up to an hour to encourage her to eat the amounts that she needs to keep growing.
- Heidi has to spend considerable time pumping in addition to the actual feeding time, during which time she cannot hold Cori Lou. Thankfully, the bouncy chair helps sometimes.
Cori Lou has not been weighed since she got home, but Heidi is considering a makeshift scale combining a food scale and hospital basin. Other than that, there will be follow-up visits during the next couple of weeks to check Cori Lou’s progress. What can be said for sure is that Cori is finally showing some signs of getting a cute little baby double chin, she likes to be held, and she is just beginning to really look at people. Welcome to the world outside of the NICU, Cori Lou!
