Day 43: Oh my GERD

Giving mom a little bit of attitude while rocking her "this girl is pretty amazing" onesie. 

Vivienne is six weeks old today! In some ways I can't believe it has been six weeks and in other ways I feel like it has been six years. Thankfully, Viv had a good day and was pretty content. Her team decided to hold off on the sedation weans for the second consecutive day. I'm assuming they will wean her tomorrow now that she's had a chance to recover from the last round.

The only changes today were related to feeding. Like the vast majority of CDH babies, Vivienne is suffering from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), which allows acid and fluids from the stomach to move up into the esophagus causing heartburn, vomiting, and feeding problems. Viv's team decided to put her on Zantac to help alleviate her discomfort. I'm hopeful that this addition will also make feeding a more positive experience for her.

The other feeding-related change had to do with the breastmilk itself. Viv is having trouble gaining weight, a problem that again is very common with CDH babies since they burn more calories trying to breathe. A whey-based fortifier is now being added to the breastmilk to increase her overall calorie consumption. I know for a fact that we won't be discharged until Viv is consistently gaining weight, so hopefully this does the trick. She lost 50 grams over the past two days and currently only weighs 7lbs 3oz. I think the pictures I post make her look a lot bigger than she actually is. She's definitely a little peanut!