Baby Shook 3.0: September 28 (Day 13)

After our first kid-free night at home since Oliver was born we headed up to the NICU. We met Chris, Julia's first NICU nurse who happens to be awesome. She told us that Julia ate 45 ml from her at the 8:00 am feeding! Naturally we asked a bunch of questions about what she did and how she did it. She said it took Julia about 10 minutes to get warmed up, she ate well for about 20 minutes and then stopped the feeding (NICU feeding period is 30 minutes). She told us that she supported her cheek very gently and encouraged her to use her muscles and that Julia responded positively. We were *so* very excited at this news and asked if we could watch her for the next feeding. Unfortunately, she headed out to a research talk, but said she would be back for the 5:00 feeding. Full of excitement we started the 11:00 feeding and Julia ate 31 ml from Sara! We thought it was possible Julia was turning a corner and starting to figure out feeding. After her feeding we held her during the rest of her 59 ml feeding through her NG tube (she is still at 90 ml of milk for each feeding) and then headed down to the cafeteria for lunch.

We had a nice lunch and went back for her 2:00 feeding. We met with the occupational therapist before her feeding. She told us that Julia's core muscle tone seemed good, meaning that she could move her arms and legs into her body which is what they like to see. She also said that we could do "tummy time" with Julia on our chest, but she would avoid it directly on her bed until her umbilical cord heals further. Julia was slightly tired after the occupational therapist visit, and only ate 7 ml at this feeding. That was a little bit of a bummer, but since she wasn't very awake we didn't think she would eat well. After her feeding we went home to pick up and wash dishes/sheets.

We returned to the NICU for her 5:00 feeding. Unfortunately, Chris couldn't meet with us because she was pulled for another baby - the NICU is very busy right now so we understood, but a bit bummed. We hope that she will be with Julia tomorrow so we can get some tips from her and watch her baby whispering magic :). At this feeding Julia ate 8 ml from Sara. She was completely zonked, and we were somewhat surprised she woke up to eat anything. Once she woke up a little bit, it seemed like she had a good latch, but ended up not eating a lot. We headed for home after this feeding and decided to pick up a pizza from Monicals (a BBQ chicken pizza). The pizza was delicious and we sat in the living room watching Shark Tank and Fringe.

We are hoping that tomorrow morning is another great feeding. We'll let everyone know tomorrow!