Sleepy girl and a BIG step!

Bella was a sleepy girl today! Here are a few pics of her snoozing. :) I'd say she's pretty relaxed! (PS. This picture of her hair color is very true to her real color. The pics usually make it look a little more strawberry/red looking that it is in person).

And yawning...
She's doing pretty well. She gained only 5 grams in the last 48 hours. She's still 3 lbs 13.something oz. Part of that is probably due to the fact that she had her IV taken out. That provided her with lots of fluids, so before, she had the IV fluids plus the breast milk. But, now, she's only got the milk. The other issue is that for the past two days, she has spit up a few times. Yesterday, she only did it once, but today was 3 times. :( Don't really want her to be doing that, cause she needs all the calories she can get! She gets 1 oz. of breast milk every 3 hours. There are only 20 calories per oz. of breast milk...so, you can see how important it is that she keeps all of it IN her little body!

They "fortified" the breast milk with a powder that provides more fat and nutrients which brought it up to 24 calories per oz. But, they had to back off to 22 because of the spitting up. If she continues to spit up, they'll go back to regular, unfortified breast milk and then try again in day or two. They said it could just be a little too rich for her tummy just yet. They described it as going from water to a milkshake- a big change. Also, the pyloric sphincter (which prevents food from coming back up) can be weak and/or under developed in preemies...even full term babies. So, that could also be contributing to that. She isn't bothered by the spitting up at all- she actually sleeps right through it. So, please just say a prayer that she will start to tolerate the increased calorie feedings so she has a better chance of growing fast!

In wonderful news, today was the second day that I attempted nursing Bella...knowing full well that it is still very early....just an intro! But, she latched on today and actually got a few tastes! Her nurse was so amazed that she went out of the room and said to the other nurses, "you've got to see her!" It was so wonderful and brought a HUGE smile to my face. (Sorry if that's too much info for some of you, but for a nursing mom, this is HUGE and I couldn't leave it out)!! So, hopefully this is just the beginning of having a great nursing baby! Keep your fingers crossed!