Kymani NICU Update 7/7/2017: Photos, Progress, & Daily News

by Lyn Lomasi, Write W.A.V.E. Media Staff

All Images   7/7/2017 © Lyn Lomasi & Richard Rowell; All Rights Reserved

Find out how Kymani is doing in the NICU on 7/7/2017 via the photos, slideshows, and info below! More awesome news!

Progress In Feeding, Weight Gain, And BRADY Events

All Images   7/7/2017 © Lyn Lomasi & Richard Rowell; All Rights Reserved

Feeding 

Kymani has been doing so well with feedings. She had a bit of a backslide yesterday, due to the stress from her vision exam. But that's very normal and she has seemed to pick right back up since yesterday evening. She has been drinking at least some of her bottles every feeding, finishing (or getting close to finishing) most of them.

Once she is nippling (drinking the breast milk on her own via the bottle) 80% of her feedings, the feeding tube will come out and what she doesn't finished will no longer be given via the tube. We will soon find out what her current percentage is and how close she is to that eighty percent.

The other big feeding news today is that she has been switched to Dr. Brown's bottles with preemie nipples because the slow flow disposable hospital nipples with the breast milk containers were a bit too fast for her. She choked a bit on them a few times and we felt that this was hindering her progress. The doctors agree. It was their idea to switch the bottles.

But the funny thing is we talked about asking them before they did it and coincidentally wanted to use those same bottles. They are the ones we bought Kymani before she was even born. Once she switched, she looked so much more comfortable during feeding. Everyone feels this should help.

Weight Gain - Kymani lost 20 grams yesterday, but that is a small amount and doesn't affect her overall progress. She is likely to show a gain after the way she ate today. But if she doesn't, that's normal too. The loss is likely due to the stress of having her vision exam yesterday, coupled with trying to feed with a nipple that was a little fast for her. She also had the immunization the day before yesterday. So that's a lot of stress in a row for a little baby.

BRADY Events - If you read yesterday's update, you'll know that Kymani had a small BRADY in response to her vision screening. The good news is that one doesn't count toward the amount of BRADY events that affects her going home. That's because it was small and quick and was in response to a stressful action. So, she still hasn't had a true BRADY since June 28th. That means she has gone 9 days since having one and it only takes 5 non-BRADY days in a row to be safe enough to go home.

Other News

You may have noticed that Kymani seems more aware and awake as the days go by. She is! That's a very good thing. It means she is doing what a baby should do. She can lift her head on her own. She turns her head all the way toward voices and sounds. She smiles in response to smiles and laughter. She knows her name and recognizes various voices and sounds.

She especially likes the voices of mommy, daddy, and siblings - of course! She also really likes Dave & Ava, just like Nova does. There's a lot more. Simply put, she is progressing extremely well for a preemie baby born at 30 weeks that is only 4 weeks old. She hasn't even reached the gestational age of a term newborn baby and already she is doing so much! What a superstar!

Some of the doctors and nurses have mentioned some interesting facts to us regarding her success rate. Apparently, African Americans who are born prematurely often fare better and thrive more quickly than others. This is also true for females. She has some African American blood in her and is a girl, so that gives her a better chance, statistically. We looked it up and sure enough, it's definitely been scientifically proven that African American baby girls do the best as preemies. Is this why she's doing so well? Who knows for sure? But it definitely can't hurt.

What Does This All Mean For Going Home?

Basically, it's all up to Kymani now. Once she nipples eighty percent and gets the tube taken out, she will be going home soon after that. She needs to nipple closer to  a hundred percent and then she gets to come home.

So, please continue to send positive vibes, pray, light candles, cast a white spell, meditate, whatever it is you do that is positive toward Kymani feeding consistently so that we can bring our sweet baby girl home.

Don't forget to enter our contest regarding when Kymani goes home! Hurry, before she goes home and you can't guess anymore! Will you win?

All Photos From July 7, 2017

All Images   7/7/2017 © Lyn Lomasi & Richard Rowell; All Rights Reserved