Day 22: More Milestones

Well, Vivienne is still intubated, but today was still full of important milestones. After waiting three weeks, Dave and I finally got to hold our baby girl!

We each held her for about an hour and a half. The breathing tube makes things a bit difficult, and there were a few moments of discomfort, but overall it was an amazing experience. We can't wait to continue bonding and look forward to being able to cuddle her without all of the tubes and wires.

Vivienne did trade in one tube for another today. Her drainage tube (inserted through the nose into the stomach) was removed and replaced with a feeding tube. She received her first "meal" (5 ml of breastmilk) this evening around 6:00. The contents were still in her stomach when we left around 7:00 and she's set to be fed every three hours. Hopefully she keeps everything down and doesn't have too many issues. We shall see!

Viv sporting her new accessory.

In other news, the doctors continued to chip away at Viv's pain medication, and they turned off her nitric oxide. She wasn't thrilled with these changes but did well overall. We're hoping they can continue to wean the ventilator tonight and tomorrow morning. Extubation is still on the table; Viv is right on the edge. Hopefully she's able to get over the hump very soon!