Day 41

Wednesday 5/30

Every Wednesday my favorite sports radio talk show starts with an opening theme song, starring Mike the Camel from the Geico commercials. “Hey Mike, What day is it?”, to which the camel replies “Hump Day!”. Then the music starts and I kick back in my office chair and listen to the monotonous drivel of off-season Buffalo Bills sports radio. But hey, we are closer to the end of the week than the beginning, that camel sure does bring good news.

This week, in particular, we are starting to feel like we’ve reached the hump of the NICU rollercoaster, and while we might not be exactly halfway, Isabelle took a big step to eventually coming home. Yesterday afternoon Susan and I were relaxing with Izzy, reading The Little Blue Truck (quickly becoming my favorite), when our attending Doctor came in to deliver us the great news. Isabelle was tolerating the high flow oxygen so they decided to move her to the Growth and Development Unit! This is one of the milestones we’ve been looking forward to since Izzy was first admitted to the NICU and to making it here feels really good. Today she proved how strong she’s become and is now one step closer to coming home.

With respect to her care, not much will change in the GDU for the first week or two. Her same nursing team will follow her down the hall and she will still live in her incubator, eat with the feeding tube and will stay on the high flow oxygen. Over time, as she continues to grow they will introduce bottle feeding and have physical and swallowing therapy available if needed. Eventually, she will sleep in a crib and hang out in the bouncy chairs and strollers to prepare her to go home.

Isabelle is growing like a monster. Today her official weight is 1475g, or 3lbs, 4 oz. A few more outfits are on the brink of retirement and she is about to graduate to the next diaper size. Good news all around.