Tough day.

The tube came out AGAIN. While replacing the initial, temporary tape job, the tube was jostled quite a bit and Stella had the worst screaming fit ever. It was heartbreaking. I have to dig deep to unearth any positives at the moment. But they are there. Here goes…

I’m thankful that Stella and I were able to fit in our daily walk to Fuel Coffee. As usual, Stella watched intently as Noah made my tall hazelnut latte. I got my glazed Mighty O donut to go with it. We were able to enjoy some fresh air and even, believe it or not, a bit of sunshine. 

Stella took almost twice as much from the bottle today as she did yesterday. Granted, yesterday saw a very low total, but we can be glad that she rebounded. Hopefully, her intake will continue climbing.

While Stella did complain quite a bit at the beginning of her bottle feedings, she did get through it, relax and accept the bottle. I put thickened formula in all but one of her bottles. We’re going to give it at least one more day to see how it goes before we judge whether thickening is the way to go.

As usual, Stella was a very happy girl for the vast majority of the day. A total delight. She really only got cranky or upset today for obvious reasons: tiredness, hunger, and the disaster with the tape job on the tube during which we ALL lost our cool.

And the bottom line, when I’m really desperate to find some glimmer of hope? She is still eating from the bottle. It may not be as much as we would like, but she IS eating. And we can build on that.

I’ll try to make a habit of taking inventory of any and all positives. It’s the fuel that keeps us going on days like today. (Note the attempt to tie in “fuel” again as the theme of the post. I’m trying, people.)

Tomorrow, we have her weekly doctor’s appointment. Mainly, it’s a weigh-in. I’m certain that she won’t have gained the ounce per day that the doctor would prefer to see. We’re finding it so hard to fit in eight feedings. We like to give her a chance to be hungry instead of solely using the clock as our guide and feeding her every three hours. And because we’re so exhausted at night, sometimes we wake up late for a feeding and that puts us behind before the day even starts. We may add a third nighttime pump feeding to get her more calories. We’ll see what the doctor says about her weight.

That’s not her only appointment for tomorrow. I’m excited to report that we will also see a doctor specializing in Cranial Osteopathy. Apparently, this doctor has successfully treated many babies for feeding issues. I’m eager to see what she can do for Stella!

Tomorrow is a new day. Here’s to all the positives and progress to come!