Grateful

30 weeks gestational age+6 weeks in NICU=36 weeks

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
I got to put Emily to the breast today!
They had me clean my breast first then the charge nurse helped her latch on.
Emily gave a couple of fluttery sucks and fell asleep. She stayed latched on for half an hour but mostly slept very soundly.
The charge nurse said I can put her to the breast whenever I come in. I just need to cleanse the breast first.
Hooray!
They say it takes longer for preemies to learn how to breastfeed, so I know not to expect much the first several times.
The milk culture came back positive. I didn't ask what bacteria they found. I'm less upset by this since whe gets to start at the breast now.

She lost a little weight and is at 1478 grams.
I'm not surprised considering the two 100 gram days she had over the weekend. Also they increased the amount of Lasix, so she may have lost some excess water.

Her hair is so soft! I was stroking her to see if it would stimulate her to suck more.
I've been noticing lately that her tiny little hairs curl up at the ends on the back of her head. Speaking of hair, they had to shave hear head while she was sick to put an IV in her scalp so she doesn't have any in the front right now. I've been holding her skin to skin for 2 hours each day lately. When I'm holding her she sometimes opens her eyes and looks up at me. I'm feeling more of a sense of Emily belonging to me. I'm grateful that we finally hit this milestone and get to embark on this journey towards nursing.