A lot of people ask me how big she needs to be to go home. The common myth is that she has to be 5lbs. Lucille was only 4lbs 2oz when she came home, and I too thought that they surely would not send such a tiny thing home with an inexperienced mother! So, my answer to the 'how big' question is "big enough to survive" because that is the reality. When she comes home she could be anywhere between 2lbs and 10lbs. It all depends on her. In every room in the NICU there is a sign with the 5 universal criteria for discharge.
It reads:
-No A/B spells for 7 days
-I am gaining weight nearly every day
-I am able to stay warm in a crib
-I wake up on my own to eat
-My medicines are ones I can take at home
A/B spells are A=apnea (not breathing for 15 seconds) and B=bradycardia (heartrate of less than 100 beats per-minute). A/B spells are very common in premature babies, and they don't always happen together. Penelope typically only has apnea spells, though the other day I made her so upset she held her breath causing her first bradycardia spell ever. She is able to self correct when it happens, but she surely sets off lots of alarms in the process.
We can check two things off our list. She gains weight nearly every day, and outside of the current round of antibiotics, the only medication she takes are vitamins. She will be able to regulate body temperature better once she gets bigger. As she matures she will also outgrow her A/B spells. So, the only one for us to work out is recognising hunger. I'm sure once we are feeding at full force, she will let us know.
As for Miss Penelope, she is having another quiet day. The only change made was to increase the calories in her IV. She weighs 991 grams, or 2lbs, 2.95oz. and is 1 month old! Which also means that I am no longer weight restricted from my surgery! So I will finally be able to pick up Lucille! I cheated when I was home yesterday and carried her around. I figured it was close enough!
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