1 Month

Paige turned one month old yesterday and of course she is as sweet as ever.  Not much has changed since the last post, but I couldn't skip the month post.  We're still just waiting for her to prove she can gain weight consistently so that we can go home.  This last week she had a poor start and lost weight from Saturday to Tuesday, then gained Wednesday, lost Thursday, gained Friday.  She is getting "fortified" breastmilk which just increases the calories in the breastmilk she has from bottles.  We started that on Tuesday and are increasing the calories even more today so hopefully we can see some consistency.  (For those who are interested, average breastmilk is 20 calories per ounce, we upped her to a 22 cal Neosure and today is a 24 calorie.)  Her system is just not quite mature enough yet to use her calories to grow, instead she uses them to keep warm, digest, grunt, hiccup and be cute.  Hopefully soon she'll be willing to eat more so she gets more calories naturally, and her system will be a little more efficient at digesting so she can just nurse and doesn't need the extras... but until then we are just trying to beef her up so we can go grow at home.  Overall she is doing great.  This is just a little waiting game we get to play to help us learn patience.  We love this girl.  We're beyond ready to be at home, but we are so grateful for the tender moments we have shared here.  The big kids (and their amazing Grandma) come back from Washington today and hopefully a visit from the kids to the hospital will convince Paige that she really wants to be home. We're crossing our fingers and saying our prayers.  And don't worry, we'll keep you posted when we head home... That will be a postworthy day!  Thank you for thinking of us and praying for Paige and our family... and for checking in through the blog.