Baby Samarah Comes Home!
Just a quick note to let everyone know that Baby Samarah came home yesterday afternoon! Samarah was discharged from the NICU on Monday evening since her blood glucose level and temperature were holding steady. The three of us got to spend our first night together in our hospital room on Monday night. She did really well overnight and by mid-morning, the staff gave us the green light to go home.
Before we were officially discharged, we had to go see a lactation consultant at the breastfeeding clinic and also get Samarah a bath. Our lactation consultant, Anita, was really helpful and showed us a few tricks to get Samarah the food she needs. Because Samarah was slightly pre-term and so tiny, she doesn't yet have the required strength to maintain a steady latch, so we were shown the 'finger feeding' method. Essentially, you take a thin feeding tube attached to a syringe full of milk (breast or formula) and then tape it to your finger. You let the baby suck on your finger and you gently push the milk into her mouth through the tube. This helps babies build their 'suck' and minimizes the 'nipple confusion' that bottle feeding can cause. Boy, who knew that I'd get to know so much about this stuff!
Anyway, I've been done a number of finger feeds by now (Samarah's got quite the appetite!) and it's such a peaceful bonding experience. I know this will be shortlived since Samarah will be graduating full-time to feeding from her mom.
Now that Samarah is with us all day, it's been a bit more of a challenge to give any time to the blog or post pictures, but rest assured, more pictures are on their way!
Before we were officially discharged, we had to go see a lactation consultant at the breastfeeding clinic and also get Samarah a bath. Our lactation consultant, Anita, was really helpful and showed us a few tricks to get Samarah the food she needs. Because Samarah was slightly pre-term and so tiny, she doesn't yet have the required strength to maintain a steady latch, so we were shown the 'finger feeding' method. Essentially, you take a thin feeding tube attached to a syringe full of milk (breast or formula) and then tape it to your finger. You let the baby suck on your finger and you gently push the milk into her mouth through the tube. This helps babies build their 'suck' and minimizes the 'nipple confusion' that bottle feeding can cause. Boy, who knew that I'd get to know so much about this stuff!
Anyway, I've been done a number of finger feeds by now (Samarah's got quite the appetite!) and it's such a peaceful bonding experience. I know this will be shortlived since Samarah will be graduating full-time to feeding from her mom.
Now that Samarah is with us all day, it's been a bit more of a challenge to give any time to the blog or post pictures, but rest assured, more pictures are on their way!
Comments