Brooke's check-up on the 2nd went well. Doc was fairly happy with her weight gain. Really wanted more but happy overall. All other numbers looked good as well. Best part about the appointment this time... A pop-in visit from one of the other cardiologists who saw Brooke a lot during her recovery time in the CICU as well as the fetal care coordinator who checked on us nearly daily throughout our stay in St. Louis. So much fun. They literally heard that Brooke was in for an appointment and tracked us down as we waited in the room for our cardiologist. Our little one is well-loved by many...and we are so grateful for that! We also stopped in at the CICU to see if any of our favorite nurses were there. We got to say 'hi' to one of them as it was pretty busy at the time.
Brooke continues to gain weight well. She's gained about an ounce a day over the last week and a half. She hit 9 lbs on the 7th! Woohoo! We discussed the timing of the second surgery again with our cardiologist. She said it's ideal if we can get Brooke to 12 lbs. prior to that surgery, but she also reminded us that weight alone is not the determining factor of when the surgery happens. They will continue to closely monitor her oxygen saturation level and heart rate as she grows. Depending on those numbers as well as other "pressure numbers" that they will check when she has a pre-op heart cath, Brooke may have surgery before she reaches 12 lbs...or some time after. The age range is anywhere from 3 - 6 months on average. Sometimes even longer if her oxygen saturation stays at a good place. They warned us that as Brooke grows, her heart function will begin to decline as she outgrows the shunt in her heart and we near the second surgery.
For now, Brooke is on a continuous feed (always hooked up to the feeding pump and fed through her NG tube) 24/7 other than briefly coming off the pump to work in three bottles during the day. She does really well with bottle feeding, but she was spitting up a lot before we switched her feeding plan. And, she will only drink about an ounce at one feeding. For now, she seems to be gaining weight well and not spitting up nearly as much with the continuous feed. Huge relief for us...and huge praise!
Brooke has had a few visits from a speech therapist recently, too. The speech therapist indicated that Brooke is feeding really well from the bottle. Bottom line, as she reminded us, the priority is for Brooke to put on the ounces. If that happens best through the NG tube and continuous feed, that will be our focus. However, we will continue the bottle feeds a few times a day so that we can maintain or even improve upon good bottle feeding.
Brooke's personality is really starting to shine through her sweet face. She loves to watch her sisters play as well as follow me with her eyes if I walk through the room. She's making those sweet cooing noises more and more each day. She's a very content baby, only fussing when she loses her paci or has tummy trouble. One of my favorite things about her...she smiles at me every time I talk to her...just like she did in this photo. :) Melts my heart.
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