I have to admit, with Caroline’s arrival approaching I found myself thinking, “We’ve already done this once. The second time will be much easier.” Then she showed up pre-term and we had an all new set of things to be concerned about.
Although she is only nine days old, Caroline has travelled quite a few miles already, mainly between our house and the pediatrician’s office. She had been steadily losing weight, little by little, since she was born. All babies lose a little, but the doctors were watching her closely since she only started out at five and a half pounds. Her big issue is that she sleeps almost constantly. And when she wakes up hungry, eating soothes her back to sleep quickly so she doesn’t eat much.
Yesterday, when she dropped just barely below five pounds and her temperature was a little low, her doctor was a little more concerned than usual. After a long night of holding her, struggling to keep her awake, and having the thermostat set uncomfortably high, she was doing much better.
At this morning’s check-up, she’d gained one ounce back and her temperature was much better. She’ll be going back to the doctor for weight and temperature checks on Monday and Friday, and her official two-week check-up is a week from Tuesday.
She’s slowly getting a little more alert, and I think we found the right bottle-nipple combo that gets her to drink the breast milk out of it a little more enthusiastically. Keep her in your thoughts, tumblr friends, and hopefully I’ll be able to post more pictures of her with her eyes open soon.
