Almost there!

Things are looking good for Natasha coming home tomorrow! She gained more weight, and is up to 5 lbs 4.1 ozs, and her heart is beating and she's breathing nice and consistent-like.

Dan and I spent a very long day at the NICU today, trying to get everything possible ready for her to be discharged tomorrow. I've seen 4 babies go home since we've been there, and not one of them left the hospital when they thought they would. Most made it out the same day, but not all.

We went over the list of things that have to happen with 3 nurses and the doctor, and got 1 or 2 more things checked off with each. She took her car seat test last night and did great, so there are only a couple more things to be done before she can be discharged.

We tried again to go to the infant CPR class we were signed up for, but the person who usually teaches the class had surgery last week and was out, and the person who was supposed to teach it today FORGOT and didn't show up!!! We made sure they understood that the class was a prerequisite for Natasha's discharge tomorrow, and that no, watching a DVD was not going to be an adequate solution. To make a long, aggravating story shorter, we watched the DVD and then had the instructor (who was on shift later in the day as a NICU nurse) sit down with us and give us a private tutorial including practical training on the dummies. It took the entire day, but we both feel much better having had the lesson.

The other lesson we got today was in bottle feeding. Natasha will be breastfed, but she has some vitamins to take every day that need to mixed into a bottle of milk, so she'll get a couple bottles a day.

Look at daddy looking like he's been doing this for years! Natasha is a very good eater, which makes things a little easier for us in this department, but Dan totally nailed bottle feeding on his first go. The nurse even called him a genius :)

Natasha hasn't quite gotten the hang of burping yet, but doesn't she look adorable trying?! I think that's a skill that Dan will be able to bring her up to speed on.

Dan is finally over his cold enough to go to the hospital, so he had to get his Natasha fix. Starting tomorrow, we should be able to spend all the time in the world with her!