Finally back where she's supposed to be - my arms.

If I had to write one sentence about today and leave everything else out, I would say: "I got to hold Meagan today!" 

Today was a big day for Meagan - she was extubated! Yippee! (Taken OFF the ventilator).  She was breathing on her own the whole night, so, the doctor came by in the morning and helped the nurse take the tube out.  That said, she DID turn blue when the tube was taken out ... they were very close to putting it back in but decided to try some oxygen in her nose just to help stimulate her... that worked and so the tube stayed out.

Miss Meagan is still not peeing on her own.  They still have a Foley Catheter in her so they can make sure to keep her empty to avoid infection - but - even so, sometimes they are having to push on her belly to make that come out.  They will probably have a pediatric Urologist come look at her today if it still doesn't resolve on its own.  So hopefully she'll just fix it today - if not, the urologist will come so we at least know if it's a physical problem - or if it might be our first "hiccup" in her brain fluffing back out.  It was under such intense pressure for so many months, there are bound to be little setbacks here and there with functions the brain either doesn't remember how to do, or takes longer to remember how to do.

We also gave Meagan her first feeding since Sunday! The nurse prepared the bottle for me.. poured my milk into it and let me try to feed her.  We attempted to feed her for about 15-20 minutes .. different techniques..etc.. but the girl was NOT interested. She was interested in food - don't get me wrong.. but.. had no desire to suck. At. All.  So the nurse decided to put in a feeding tube.  We put the milk in a large syringe and she hooked it up to the machine and it pushed the milk on through.  I honestly don't care how Meagan gets her food at this point - Her little body has been through such a huge traumatic thing in a short time.. I probably wouldn't want to suck on a bottle either! So for now she'll receive her feedings through the tube -- she took another one last night and held down all the milk.  That's what's important so it's great to see her handling the milk. 

Other than that, I pretty much held her the ENTIRE day. We got there at 9am.. and we left at 6:30pm.  You know, before you have a child in the NICU, you probably wonder what parents do there all day.  The babies can't really do anything... and it's just so many hours of sitting ... but now that we have a daughter there, I completely understand. There is a LOT going on in all that "nothing" ... We forget in those first newborn  weeks how much we just hold our baby CONSTANTLY .. how much we talk to them .. how much we just sit and stare at them and do nothing at home.  So really, it's the same idea - and for these babies, it's so much more important because they don't have that normal flow of personal connection or human touch.  I could sit there all day and all night to be honest - but - I also have to be fair to my other girls and make it home in the evenings to have dinner and storytimes with them.   

I'm headed back tomorrow to see Meagan again and will update if anything changes!