Days 49-52: Back in the Saddle

"Oh hey guys...nice of you to show up!"

We're back in Camden after a short stay back at home. It was amazing to be in our house again, though of course we missed Vivienne. Our visit was a productive one, and we are officially ready to bring our little girl home.

While we were away Viv's team continued to wean her morphine. Overall she's been doing really well and only needed one rescue dose. The nurses did an amazing job keeping her happy during our absence. She's currently getting morphine every 12 hours, and she may be cutoff completely (except for rescues as needed) as early as tomorrow. Discharge will be on the table once she proves she can go at least 48 hours without needing a rescue. 

In other news, Viv continues to work on her feeding and is getting better at it every day. The quality of her feeds is very good; she just isn't taking very much. It seems like the reflux is the main issue when it comes to quantity. She does really well at first but then stops as soon as she refluxes and is in pain. We traveled up to fluroscopy today for an upper GI study. Viv consumed some barium so the doctors could observe her function and the extent of the reflux. We haven't received detailed results yet, but it sounds like everything is working like it should and the reflux is definitely present but isn't a cause for major concern. The team will continue to monitor her reflux and may end up trying another medicine in place of the Zantac if they feel it would be more effective. 

It's looking more and more like we'll be heading home for good sometime next week. We are so excited to bust Viv out of here. She's changing so much and growing so fast - we can't wait to expose her to life outside of the NICU and make up for lost time!