Update on Mackenzie Reese Osika...

Andy and I will be getting discharged from the hospital later today. LGH has been great in that they allow NICU mom's to stay as long as they want on their discharge day as long as the census is low and the room is available. With that, Andy and I are trying to spend some quality time with Mackenzie today prior to leaving as we know once we leave the visits aren't going to be as easy as just walking down the hall to pop in and say "hi" to her. But, with me not being able to drive for 2 weeks post-surgery, I am already lining up some "drivers" to transport me back and forth while Andy heads back to work on Monday. He has 2 vacation days left until the new year and he hopes to save them for Mackenzie's big welcome home!

As for Mackenzie, she continues to make Mommy and Daddy proud every day.....

On Friday morning we got an updated report stating that her antibiotic's were discontinued since all of her lab results came back ok. We were also informed that her feedings were getting doubled from 3mL to 6mL. Lastly, her oxygen assistance was removed and she was only getting forced room air through her cannula.

On Saturday morning, we found out that her IV got taken out in the middle of the night. So, as long as her blood sugar remains stable, she will not need her IV! With the loss of the IV, she got her feedings increased once again from 6mL to 10mL. After speaking with the doctor, they are going to continue to increase her feedings over the next day or so. She will get 14mL for 3 feedings, followed by 18 mL for 3 feedings, and ending up with 22mL for 3 feedings. The progression is dependent on how well she is able to maintain the food in her tummy. So, we are keeping our fingers crossed. Mackenzie is surely putting the pressure on Mommy to continue to produce the necessary milk supply for all of these big feedings. Another big step for her was getting her forced air through the cannula decreased from 2mL to 1 1/2 mL.

We were absolutely glowing when we received all this great news. We hope she continues to do well the rest of the day and it will give us a great note to leave on this evening.

Things to come....

Mackenzie has a little bit of a heart murmur that the doctors are keeping a close eye on. A heart murmur is very common in preemies and just needs to be monitored. Full term babies are actually born with this murmur that closes within a few days after birth. However, preemies aren't always strong enough to get this job done. They will continue to monitor it over the weekend and if necessary she'll have an echo done on Monday to see how it looks. The first method of fixing the problem is medication given through an IV. At this point, we are hoping she gets better on her own or that a little medication is all she'll need.

The NICU nurse also thought that by the end of next week I should be able to try to breastfeed Mackenzie. Right now I continue to use an electric pump to provide Mackenzie with lots of good nutrients.

Andy and I want to thank everyone for all of their well wishes and prayers. Your love and support has been greatly appreciated. Mackenzie is lucky to have such wonderful people in her life.

We will continue to provide updates on the status of our little girl....