We've been home from the hospital with Milayla for a few weeks now. It has been an eventful and busy couple of weeks. We knew it would be busy (as appointments would continue right up until Christmas and then continue afterwards), but I don't think we quite anticipated the turn of events that took place. We have a very determined, independent, and focused little girl, who is moving forward at an incredible pace. We had only been home for a few hours after being discharged when Milayla pulled out her feeding tube. Yes, pulled it right out in a split second. Since we were discharged from the hospital, they couldn't put it back in for us without first getting a reference from our doctor. The doctor was closed. We called the afterhours number. Our doctor chuckled (good to know someone still had a sense of humor in the heat of the moment) and told us to head into the office in the morning to see his colleague (as he would not be in until the afternoon) and that perhaps this was Milayla's way of saying she would figure out this feeding thing on her own.
Well, that night was one of very little sleep. Milayla was hungry but wouldn't eat much, and when you are used to hundreds of extra calories via a tube, mother milk and her small amounts she was eating just don't quite cut it anymore. We headed in to the doctor Tuesday morning, very tired and fully prepared to head to the hospital afterward and have the tube reinserted. They weighed her. She had lost weight. They tried to call the hospital, but the doctor that we had been seeing was busy so the pediatrician sent us home and said we could expect a call later to let us know when we would be heading in.
That call came in the late afternoon and it was from our usual pediatrician (not the one we had seen in the morning). He asked how things were going. That's when we got to tell him what happened at lunch time.
See, at lunch time, Milayla decided to eat more than the nibbles she had been eating. She devoured her lunch and then some (apparently she loves Palak Paneer.). The doctor said that sounded promising and that he would just see us at our appointment the following day instead of going to the hospital and we could see how things were progressing.
And, my, how things were progressing! Milayla was eating like a machine but still not drinking enough to account for her fluids. So, we all started drinking through straws to try to encourage Milayla to drink through one as well. And sure enough, while her and Keely were sitting at the table, with Keely dramatically drinking through her own straw, Milayla did it! It was a HUGE breakthrough. It was the missing piece to her truly being able to go without the tube and she did it. We were all so impressed and incredibly relieved.
There are still appointments and life is still pretty out of schedule, but Milayla is progressing at an incredible pace and we are so happy to see her enjoying it so much. Now, with the eating and drinking coming along so wonderfully, it is time to try and get her sleeping habits under control (which are nearly nonexistent since being in the hospital).
All this has made for quite an interesting month, and I don't know how we would have done it with the incredible support and prayers of family and friends. The meals, the calls, the well wishes, the visits and the extra child care (THANKS KEELY!); they have all made a huge difference and have allowed us the ability to really focus in on seeing Milayla get better - and get better she has! Still quite a bit of road for us to travel in front of us, but we are on our way. And with Milayla's determination we'll be there in no time.
And through it all, that always smiling, happy face of hers has kept us all in optimistic spirits. She's awesome and all this eating has certainly given her even more energy for dancing, conducting, playing peek a boo, building duplo and cuddling up on the couch for books. How fortunate and blessed we are to be her parents and have her incredible personality to add to our family dynamic.
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