Notice Something?

Notice that something is missing in this picture...

No more feeding tube!

The doctors decided to pull Adeline's feeding tube this morning and let her fully eat on demand with no supplementing from the tube.  Adeline must have heard them because later when she was awake, and I went to get the nurse to pull her tube, Adeline decided to go ahead and pull the tube herself.  She definitely has her own little personality already!  She has to do well enough with taking the bottle to keep the tube out for good.  She's done well today of taking either full feeds or close to full feeds, but the hardest part will be tonight.  I'm hoping she'll wake some on her own, and I won't have to wake her to eat because then she tires out very quickly.  We're getting closer and closer to discharge - she simply has to prove she can eat enough by the bottle.  It's so wonderful to see her whole face now with no tubes!

Enjoying (well obviously sleeping through) a picnic outside with some special friends

Working hard to drink her whole bottle

This afternoon Adeline got to go into the Pea Pod.  This is part of the study she's in to see if giving breastmilk before surgery to cardiac babies helps with feeding issues post surgery.  Several of us watched because she was the first baby in the study to go into the peapod.  It looked almost like a mini spaceship.  A capsule popped out, and I put Adeline in it.  Then the capsule closed, and she stayed in there for about 90 seconds.  The Pea Pod has a clear window at the top so you can see in, and Adeline just looked around the whole time.  She seemed quite comfortable in there.  The Pea Pod tells you percentage of body fat, and Adeline is 13% body fat - just barely on the curve for normal!  Here's a link to a website that shows the peapod - pretty interesting.

Pea Pod

Another sign that discharge is hopefully soon - pharmacy brought up Adeline's medications for when we're home - yippee!!