"Look guys, I can do this on my own!"
Belle loves her soos. We occasionally dip it in breast milk so that she can actually taste what she's getting through her tube. Each of her feeds go directly into her stomach, so we need to keep the natural sucking/swallowing instincts alive by using her soother.
Practice makes perfect.
Once Arabella doesn't need the constant air pressure from the mask she can start taking tiny amounts of milk by mouth. Right now the pressure would disrupt her stomach too much, so we have to finish battling her lung issues before we move onto feeding. Belle is still very pressure dependent.
Little by little, we'll get to where we need to be.
We spoke with an Occupational Therapist today and we discussed all sorts of these things in regards to Arabella's development.
Belle's not so tiny anymore so we need to start treating her more like a newborn and less like a fragile preemie. We need to sit her up more often, pick her up, kiss and hold her - do whatever make us (and her) feel good.
It's critical that Belle gets plenty of love as she grows. Being held, touched, and talked to are important aspects to any infants emotional and cognitive development. But it especially matters in the NICU, where negative experiences can also impact her profoundly into the future.
We want to make positive impacts on her development, and we're doing all that we can right now.
We're on the right track.
Belle is praying, "Please Lord, watch over me and all of the babies in the NICU tonight, along with all of the children fighting hard battles at Sick Kids and around the world. Amen."
Another busy but eventful day. This dad needs to get some sleep now too!
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