#mightytilly

[babyginsideout]

It has been a full life since the last update. Matilda is growing, #praisethelord! Enough so that last week we actually didn't have any medical appointments - for the first time since early fall! It hasn't been without a lot of work for all of us, but work well worth it! As seen in the bottom left pic: pumping, feeding Matilda, and loving on all 3 kids have been our top priority. Typically feeding is by bottle as she just can't get enough calories from straight breast milk, a not-uncommon effect of the #gastroschisis. Matilda will likely continue to be small for a long time, but hopefully will maintain her own little growth curve. She's at the point now where full-length #preemie clothes are mostly too short, though the Made with Love 💕 onesie is a preemie and fits great. She's long but still so skinny so most newborn clothes she swims in! As you can see from the top pic, Matilda's belly is healing!! All that's left is an #umbilicalhernia which is relatively common and may not need to be surgically fixed for a long time. She has another surgeon appointment coming up next week where hopefully we'll learn more. It's been a very different journey than with our older kids. I myself had never bottle-fed either of them, & our 2nd never took a bottle at all! It is a blessing that Matilda can nurse, and does some each day, even though it's not enough to get her growing. It gives me new appreciation for those who bottlefeed, and especially those who #exclusively pump. SO MANY DISHES!!! Our schedule still revolves around a variation of the #triplefeeding but thankfully I'm able to pump enough milk in less sessions than I had been, so we've got some more time than we did. We're starting to make a new normal for ourselves! We're slowly starting back up with #homeschoolpreschool, getting outside, and mostly are looking forward to the New Year and getting to see Matilda grow! Oh yeah, and eventually (little by little) tackling the laundry mountain and general household chaos that has grown up while we're here in #newbornland! #growbabygrow #gastrowarrior #gastrofamily #mightytilly #smallbutmighty https://www.instagram.com/p/CJpfnaRrdVk/?igshid=185y3unbiuirt

[babyginsideout]

Happy 3 week birthday, baby! Baby girl is eating like a champ but still needs help with consistent good weight gains. So we began fortifying her milk and hoping that provides a temporary oomph to get her to the zoo! The zoo?!? NICU euphemism for h-o-m-e (shhh don't want to jinx it!). Everything has progressed so miraculously fast that it's hard to not get frustrated and anxious about this somewhat slowet step. But - we place this journey, including ups/downs/plateaus in God's hands. Thank you for praying with us that our little peanut grows and gains weight! And - check it out! Our first family photo, vis video chat!! #growbabygrow #gastrowarrier #gastroschisis #familyphoto #gastrofamily #NICUlife #mightytilly #miraclebaby #prayersappreciated https://www.instagram.com/p/CIKQAZErOlo/?igshid=3xnz7pu8l1jw

[babyginsideout]

Happy #oneweekold birthday baby! It's been such a BIG week! Matilda is definitely living up to her name's meaning: mighty in battle. Yesterday had some sudden, good but challenging and rather unexpected changes! Since she's been doing SO well on room air and can be swaddled they said she can be switched to a crib! That was all set up while we were doing #kangaroocare and then, before she got there, we learned she'd be changing rooms to a step down "pod!" We had heard that she would eventually move but it so suddenly occurred; glad both Dad and Mom just happened to be there! The pod is exciting because it means she doesn't need intense care but also exhausting because we just became comfortable in our routines and now its changing! We're switching from an individual room to a looooong room with 16 babies separated by curtains. I think it will be good for her to be surrounded by noise especially when we're not here: if she was still in utero it'd be pretty loud! But it requires us to figure out all the new things and readjust which is difficult when we haven't slept much 😴🤪. Goals for week 2: continued healing for baby, get all 3 of our babies some #familytime, and keep working on pumping strategies so as to be successful but also get some sleep! #gastrowarrior #Gastroschisis #changes #icandoallthingsthroughchrist #pumpingmom #tired #blessed #mightytilly (at Nationwide Children's Hospital Main Campus) https://www.instagram.com/p/CHlVTsFL2X5/?igshid=1tm0a4cemuzgi