A++

If you are reading the blog I guess you know me, my husband, one of the grandparents or any combination of us. That being said, you know a type A personality, why do I point this out? Well Brenna is the result of the union of two type A personalities from a long line of type A personalities-what does this union get you-super special baby (I do believe that is the correct medical term) that's what. And it's not just a Mother's pride there, that would be adding that she may, in fact, be the worlds cutest baby too, but I digress. At this stage, 34 weeks, Brenna should start to show some interest in sucking/nippeling & start to take part of her feed from the bottle so that she starts to get used to it. She should be (hopefully) having very few apneas (forgets to breathe) maybe off of the nasal canula (oxygen) but still getting her daily dose of caffeine to help remind her to breathe. This is also the point where we would start to think about putting her in clothes & maybe start to think about turning down the temperature in her isolet to see if she can maintain her temperature & one day move on to an open-air bed. Well, all that is what a 'normal' girl her age would be doing, but not my super special girl!
Mom & Dad thought I was nuts when I told them that Brenna's countdown to going home has begun, but we are most likely looking at two weeks according to the Doctor, can you believe it? Brenna is not only breathing room air with no cannula, but they stopped her caffeine today as well. If she has no apnea in the next 9 days she will have checked off one of the criteria for her to go home. Not only is she breathing room air, she is maintaining her temperature at room air is well. In fact, she will be out of the isolet & in an open air crib tomorrow or Sunday at the latest-that will be one more check mark on the list. The final criteria? She needs to take all her feeds by bottle or nipple & have done so for at least a few days, a process we initiated a couple of days ago. Again, my little gourmand wanted to impress & has been taking every other feeding (the entire feed) from a bottle! This may not sound impressive, but keep in mind that babies do not develop the sucking muscles/intuition until they come to term (about 37 weeks). Yup, that's my girl-my super special incredibly cute girl-gosh, she reminds me of someone I know.....;)