The BIG Day! (Recovery: Day #4)

Today was the day we've been waiting for!  72 hours post surgery means a lot of things... we got to take Claire's repogle, nasal cannula, and catheter out and introduce colostrum for the very first time AND having food in her tummy means she will generate more body heat so hopefully she'll be able to keep her temperature up without having to be under the warmer within the next couple of days as well.

First time eating!

Claire was slow in figuring out the bottle at first and took some "suck training" they called it ... but she finally finished it (her nurse and I both cried) AND she pooped a normal poop for the first time!!  Who would have thought that we would get so excited about poop?!  The second [and third] feedings went increasingly faster.  Although still slow, she is getting the hang of it!  We are one giant step closer to being able to go home.  Today they limited the amount of colostrum that she could have at one time so that they could see how she tolerated it (great so far!) but over the next couple of days, they will begin to increase the amount that she is getting and then, eventually, let her decide how much she wants to eat and once she is able to get all of her nutrition by breast milk alone, we will be ready for home!  It's all up to her now.