Bye Bye Daddy

Friday March 21
11:00 a.m.
There's not too much to blog yet. Daddy Mike has to return to work tonight so he (and me) are sleeping the day away. He'll leave today around 4 p.m. so he plans on going back to the hospital at 3 p.m. to be with Cayman before he leaves. We're going to miss him so much! We're thankful that he only has to work two nights instead of three. Normally he works 12 hour shifts (7 p.m. to 7 a.m.) Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. But since Sunday is Easter he has that day off. Since it's time for him to return to work what could be a more "perfect" time than a holiday weekend? Cayman and I are still really going to miss Daddy though, even if it's just for two nights and two days. I have found that I don't ever feel homesick as long as I am with Mike. My mom is coming up to stay with me. I am looking forward to that.

To assure sleep through the morning and part of the afternoon, Mike and I got up in the night and went over to the hospital to be with Cayman at 4 a.m. We of course held her. She had her first spit up all over Daddy :o). She didn't get him too bad actually. Her feedings are called Chimney feedings through her G-tube. It's where gravity drips the breast milk into her belly and it can come back out through the G-tube when there is air bubbles and then the food goes back into her belly without all the air bubbles. This eliminates her need to burp. However when we hold her the nurse has to disconnect the chimney part therefore her air bubbles can't escape. So when she did burp...or in her case more of a cough, she spit up with it. So we put her back into her bed so her belly could get out all the air bubbles through the chimney. The nurse (Robin) measured Cayman's head. At birth it was 48 cm, it is now 45 cm. It was a very exciting moment for us to hear this number. Since 20 weeks pregnant our lives had been centered around ultrasounds every 2-4 weeks measuring her head and watching it grow bigger and bigger. Now, for it to decrease in size and knowing that the fluid is not just building on her brain feels like I can breathe easier.

9:00 p.m.
Today has been a harder day for me. Not really sure why. Maybe it is because Mike is gone...or maybe because a baby died today in the NICU where Cayman is at. I'm sure it's a combination. Mom is here with me and I'm so glad about that. Ann Arbor is getting a lot of snow today. When Mom and I left the hospital today around 7 p.m. there was already so much snow we had a bit of trouble getting into the Ronald McDonald house's driveway. So we're kind of snowed in right now :o(, which makes me sad because I really want to go see Cayman.

Cayman's head bandage was removed today. The bumpy part on her head is the shunt. As she gets older, her scalp will thicken and it won't be so noticeable as well as her hair will cover it up. Also, her IV that was in her right arm was taken out. Each day she has less and less tubes it seems. Her feedings are up to 8 ml an hour. She's tolerating it very well...making lots of poopy diapers!