Stumped

Well, we were closer to coming home as this week was ending. Harper is almost off of the morphine, and is able to go over 24 hours at a time without it now. Today was supposed to be the start of having her meds transferred from iV to orally (or through the feeding tube, in her case).

Unfortunately, as we have learned with Harper, things rarely go as planned. She is below birth-weight and is not gaining weight, and has decided to keep vomiting after feeds. She has now been weaned back to continuous feeds through her tube, which is a major step back because she cannot begin to take a bottle if she's only able to handle continuous feeds. (That means they give her the same amount of milk, but very slowly through her tube so that she is constantly getting just a little bit and her stomach doesn't have to hold larger amounts). Everyone today has old us that a baby of her age and size should not have to be fed this way, so she once again has stumped her medical team. They already did a reflux test and decided that she does not have reflux, and now she will undergo a GI study on Monday to check her intestines and her digestive rates.

We met with her physical therapist again today, and she is doing great muscular-wise. Her head shape is improving, and we are continuing to work on her neck muscles so that she will be more comfortable turning to the left. We also attempted to work with her speech therapist, but Harper was too drowsy to get anything accomplished. On a fun note, they are ready for her to start trying a swing or bouncy seat, so Mommy and Daddy have some more shopping to do!