Cori Lou Where Are You in the NICU Day 1 (There is a new photo of the omphalocele up on this post. I was having trouble getting it to upload yesterday.)
Cori Lou is going with the flow. She is not fussy, but she’s not depressed. She sleeps peacefully, then when she wakes, she is generally just looking around with interest mixed with a touch of disbelief. The two major events in her life today were
-
first real food – colostrum, yum! She got some of her mommy’s milk swabbed into her mouth. This was apparently very much enjoyed. Great Grandma Kathy was around loving on her for the afternoon and told us about it. A small swab was moistened with sterile water, then put up to Cori’s lips. Then, the tip of the syringe with colostrum in it was put next to the swab and colostrum was pushed out onto the swab. The idea was to not have Cori sucking hard, and thus get the undesired air in her abdomen, but still get a little colostrum.
- Her mommy got to hold her while her bedding was changed – it wasn’t a cuddling hold, but it was nice.
Mommy holds Cori Lou for the first time
Cori Lou was not a completely cooperative patient, though. In her excitement of responding to her rooting reflex (as her hand or bedding touched her checks), she snagged the little tube going down through her esophagus (that is there to keep her digestive tract free of bubbles) and pulled it out. Fortunately, neither the pulling out or the reinserting seemed to cause her any discomfort. The nurse thinks the new taping job may work better.
Surgery on the omphalocele is scheduled for 11:30 am Monday morning, pending a follow-up echocardiogram on Cori Lou’s heart, specifically around her aorta. They are still waiting for a visit from another of the surgeons tonight, but it could be pretty late tonight that he gets there.
Heidi is on her feet more, disconnected from tubes. She is cleared to try to walk to see Cori, 6 floors and an elevator ride away. However, she does it with a wheel chair handy. She is eating well and sleeping in between doctor conferences and sessions of pumping milk for Cori Lou. Heidi’s youngest sister got to spend a few hours sitting in the room while Heidi slept. Rich is able to sleep on a convertible chair in the room at night. Says it’s better than his bed at home…. Touches of family life.