The milk and the fury

Blaise has hit the 5-pound mark (2270 grams =4.994 lbs; we're going to let her round up). As of yesterday, she was receiving 10 mL (about 2 teaspoons) of milk by mouth every 4 hours and 4 mL/hour through her g-tube for a grand total of 156 mL (just over 5 ounces) for the day. She's using enough milk that they've asked me to bring in some of our frozen stash twice now, in addition to keeping the milk that I pump at the hospital. This is a long way from 1700 grams and 0 mL of milk. Her weight gain is almost all due to her TPN, not the milk itself, but it's gratifying to have her getting the milk. I think we're about to hit a wall on her feeds and that we may have to back off for a while and try again, but that's the game here: Not a sprint, not even a marathon. Marathon training.

She would be gaining a lot more weight, but our soon-to-be-former preemie has developed a serious case of newborn rage. Her lovely quiet alert periods after bottles have turned into loud aimless crying fits. Remember my post about being glad to hear her cry? Well, five weeks later, the novelty has worn off. The nurses, the doctors, the other parents, everyone keeps telling us that this is a great sign. Only healthy babies can cry like that. Of course, all I can think sometimes is "No! Stop crying! You're burning calories!"