Here's what has happened so far...

Babies born at 32 weeks gestation are expected to have difficulty maintaining their body temperature, remembering to breath, and learning to eat.  Therefore, shortly after she was born, Emerie was taken to the NICU and placed in an isolet that helps to keep her warm.  She was put on monitors to follow her heart rate, respiratory rate and oxygenation and had an IV placed keep her hydrated.

We were able to hold her for the first time mid-day on Wednesday and she spent most of that first day sleeping.  She wasn't allowed to eat her first few days because premature babies intestines are not fully developed and if they have too much food too soon they can develop something called Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) which can be life threatening.

Day #2 - 4lbs, 0oz
Emerie had a Percutaneous Central Venous Catheter (PCVC) placed.  This is a special IV that is put in a vein in her ankle, goes through her body and ends in the vein that runs into her heart.  Since she couldn't eat, the PCVC enables her to get Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) which is IV fluid that contains glucose, fat, protein, vitamins and minerals, basically everything her body needs to function. On her soecond day, Emerie was jaundiced as well.  Her bilirubin was elevated to 8.9 so she was started on bili lights to help her body metabolize the bilirubin.  She also had two apnea episodes.  Basically, this is when she just forgets to breath.  This causes her heart rate and oxygen levels to drop.  Babies usually "self-resolve"and just start breathing again on their own, however sometimes they need to be stimulated to remind them to breath.  Emerie self-resolved with one of these episodes and had to be stimulated with the other.

Day #3 - Food!! :) - 3lbs, 14oz
Emerie's bilirubin was 13.6 in the morning so she was started on "triple photo therapy."  This involved 2 bili lights shining down on her and a bili blanket that she lies on top of.   They started her on caffeine through her PCVC which is supposed to help prevent the apnea episodes.  She also got to start eating.....a whole 3mls of milk every 3 hours!!

Day #4 - 3lbs, 14oz
Emerie was able to take all of her feeds from a bottle without any trouble so she was increased to 7mls of milk every 3 hours.  Her bilirubin was down to 9.8 which is great.  Day 4 of life is when the bilirubin usually peaks so she stayed on all 3 bili lights to make sure the level keeps going down.

She's going to have the best tan in the family........