ZJ is 1 month old!

11.6.11

ZJ has had an exciting first month…and not in a good way. She was born almost 5 weeks early at 5.5 pounds and we were quite lucky that she was perfect and healthy and didn’t require additional days in the hospital but roomed with me the entire time and was discharged at the same time. Despite this, due to a couple of low blood glucose readings within hours after birth I was threatened with having to give her formula or sending her to the NICU for an IV which would require her to stay there for at least 24 hours. I was able to delay this decision and the following glucose measurement was normal [side note: babies can go hours without any feeding and their glucose levels will regulate on their own, hers was likely low due to being premature but they would have regulated on their own eventually]. She also had some jaundice and we took her in for daily bilirubin blood tests the following 3 days after discharge until that final measure was in the normal range.

She did not seem to breastfeed efficiently after birth so I began hand expressing colostrum to feed her with and pumping when my mature milk began coming in. We supplemented her with syringe feedings. Once home I continued pumping every 3 hours but she took very little of this extra milk and continued to mostly just breastfeed directly. Regardless, I continued to pump to make sure I had a good milk supply. I was worried if she was taking in enough milk so I checked her weight at 1 week and 2 weeks. At 1 week old she weighed 5 pounds 4 ounces and at 2 weeks she was 6 pounds even. The goal is to have the baby regain their birth weight by 2 weeks so she was doing quite well with having gained a half pound over her birth weight by this point. She was no longer being supplemented yet I was still pumping and freezing enough milk to feed another baby. Over the next week I worked on decreasing my pumping frequency. At 1 month she weighs 7.5 pounds.

At 3 weeks old ZJ got sick and stopped asking to eat, stopped pooping, and developed a fever. We were told to take her to the ER at the childrens hospital and while there her fever spiked to 100.4. While in the ER she had blood drawn, urine collected, and a spinal tap and was admitted to the NICU for 48 hours of observation and treatment for possible bacterial meningitis. During this time everything was cultured and continually checked to see if bacteria would grow. Based on content of the CSF, she was diagnosed with meningitis, and since nothing ever grew on the cultures it was categorized as viral. Regardless, she had to undergo 48 hours of antibiotic treatment in case it had been bacterial. She was poked and prodded and it was miserable to watch. Her first IV, in her hand, started leaking and had to be removed and a second started in her foot. Her hand and arm were very swollen. She also had a chest xray when pneumonia was suspected, but it was clear. We left the hospital on Friday 11/4 and have spent the weekend catching up on sleep and trying to get back on track. ZJ finally started eating normally again today and seems to be feeling better.

She has spent the majority of this month sleeping, peeing, pooping and eating. She spends very little time awake and with her eyes open. She likes to pee during diaper changes far more than her brother ever did. She is also a better burper than he was. All of a sudden the last 2 days she has been having long periods of quiet alertness and staying awake with her eyes open. She is quite content to hang out and be held as long as she is not hungry. She enjoys being worn in my wrap and sleeps through everything that way. She has only had a couple of proper baths and seemed to enjoy the last one very much. When she is unhappy she squeals and fusses and even that is cute. She is lovely and delicious and great to cuddle with.