Wednesday, October 01, 2008

First Cuddles!

Charlotte is now a week old. She is off the ventilator and off the morphine. The chest drain is gone, and the dressing comes off the surgery site soon. The only tubes attached are the tube down her throat (for feeding and keeping the oesophagus open) and a canula in her foot (for nutrient feeds in addition to milk).


Today I got to cuddle her and I held her while the nurse gave her 5ml of breast milk through the tube (see photo). This is the first milk she has ever had in her tummy, as my attempts at feeding on her first day actually went into her lungs. Apparently reflux is a common problem with repairs such as Charlotte's, but she kept it all down.





Much as I hate pacifiers/dummies, Charlotte has one to suck on when feeding so that she associates sucking with a full tummy. This should help the transition to breastfeeding in about 4 days when the tube comes out. The hospital has lent us an electric pump for expressing at home, which is great because the hand operated one just doesn't cut it for 5-6 milking sessions a day, especially at 3am!


I am getting through a lot of reading right now. Like one book every 2 days. I fear I will never have so much free time ever again, so I'm making the most of it!

7 comments:

d3vo said...

That is super awesome news, I'm so glad for the both of you that you get to hold her again!

strong light said...

I second that. Super Awesome news!

Anonymous said...

What good news that she is doing so well.

Dummies aren't all that bad :) they are excellent for babies with reflux, this I know first hand.

elderflowerpressee said...

Wonderful news - just checked your blog for the first time in ages (via Morgue) and found you'd had the baby. Welcome Charlotte! I hope everything goes better for you from now on. She's beautiful!
lots of love from Heather

Anonymous said...

That is fantastic news - What alovely piccie Mwaah! Nice top!!!

Love you - Me and Bump

Pachyderm said...

So cool to hear that you're all doing well and that Charlotte is feeding at last. Hope you don't have the reflux thing - we had that with K for 9 months and it ain't fun.

See you soon.

Love
R&C

Nekhrimah said...

I used to think that way about dummies myself, now I've completely changed my mind. We only try to use the dummy to settle P for sleep, or if she's in a strange place and upset. But in those cases, it's really helpful. Nothing like getting out of bed at 5am, slipping the dummy in and getting another hour of peace!

Glad to hear everything else is proceeding as well as can be hoped. My thoughts are with you three!