Monday

Delaney has so far done a pretty good job with her low-flow cannula. She still has her ups and downs but is able to recover on her own (most of the time). We have definitely learned that Delaney hates her vitamin supplement; after she gets them she gags and refluxes a lot which leads to hypoxia. Overall we've had some pretty good days in the NICU lately.

The big news today was that Delaney had her first nipple evaluation. That means that one of the occupational therapists sat down and tried to give her a bottle of milk to see how she would do. Delaney did surprisingly well for her first time, which absolutely thrilled us. She almost ate her entire meal from the bottle before finishing it off through her feeding tube (Jennifer got a turn during the second half of the feeding). All this may sound like no big deal, but for a preemie, nipple feeding can be a major undertaking that requires practice (that is- sucking, swallowing, and breathing at the same time). It also sets the stage for their future feeding success. Delaney is allowed two bottles a day now, so tonight we went in and Brandon worked her through another full feeding. Bottle feeding little Delaney is a whole different can of worms compared to Meredith, but with practice hopefully we'll get better at it. Finally getting the chance to feed her like a "normal" baby was a wonderful experience.