Pinky Swear

I've gained over one kilogram since I was born! I am now 1,905 grams (birth weight 880 grams) which is 4 lbs 3 ounces. I made Daddy "pinky swear" that the Biggest Loser/Gainer Challenge is still on. Daddy's been trying hard to find time to workout but he's back to work and also comes visit me everyday, so I might cut him a little slack and change the 5 to 1 ratio. But it still won't help him...we might as well stick a fork in him (or better yet Daddy should take the fork our of his mouth)...this contest is in the bag for me!




I got upgraded and moved out of the Giraffe incubator and into an open air bassinet this weekend. I have been able to gain weight and maintain my body temperature so I don't need to be in a controlled environment anymore. All the other cool kids around me are all in bassinet's too!

I am back on 100% Mommy's milk! This week the doctors want to start trying to bolus feed me and stop the continuous feeding via my NG tube. If that goes well, I might get to go home sooner and then come back later to have my surgery to reattach my intestines.

Hey...bet you didn't know you have a stoma too!

I learned today that everyone has a stoma. In anatomy, a natural stoma is any opening in the body, such as the mouth. So I guess the opening at the other end of your gastrointestinal tract is also a stoma.




That red button on the right side of my belly is my stoma. It's actually my small intestine (terminal ileum) and where I now poop from...Daddy says it looks like a cat's butt. Mommy told Daddy, "Don't be such a stoma!"






If you want to see what an ostomy bag look like...play the video. It kind of looks like a tiny camelbak hydration bag filled with chicken tikka masala sauce. The nurses have had to change my ostomy bag a lot due to leaking. It's hard to get a good seal against my skin because I have a hernia and the ostomy barrier ring they put around my stoma to protect my skin from my poop, gets folded.




Daddy said it probably feels like after you have too much "spicy chicken tikka masala" and the next day when it's coming out his stoma he makes this face and starts singing a song by Johnny Cash..."Ring of Fire"...that's why in the first picture you see my skin is red and a bit irritated.

Gift Basket

I got the coolest gift basket from Auntie Karen. There are not many choices for gift baskets for preemies...we can't really eat fruit or crackers and you can't have planets or flowers in the NICU. So Auntie Karen made me a basket of baby clothes...onesies, shirts and socks! A girl can never get enough clothes....especially us babies since we slobber and pee all the time. Plus I have an ostomy bag that had a tendency to leak so I need to be changed all the time.




Below I am modeling my favorite pink onesie....Auntie Karen hand stitched a little "ducky" on the front!

Baby Burrito

I've gained about half a pound in the last week....about the weight of a "Baby Burrito".

The doctors switched my formula from Pregestimil to Elecare (which is an amino acid based formula) because I was still dumping once in a while into my ostomy bag. They thought a formula that is even more elemental would be better for me so I wouldn't have to break down the proteins. So now, I am getting a continuous feed via my NG (nasalgastric) tube which is helping my tummy not get overwhelmed with too much formula, all at once during a feeding. Mommy said it's like the reverse of when someone says something funny when you are taking a drink and shoot water out your nose.


So far so good because I have been steadily gaining weight everyday. I am now 1790 grams, which is 3 lbs and 15 ounces....I've gained 2 lbs since I was born. That means Daddy needs to lose 10 lbs! Daddy says his weight yo-yo's between 201 to 203 lbs. I think he needs to be reminded to just get a "Baby Burrito" instead of the "Super Burrito" from now on.

Raising the Roof

"Put your hand up in the air and wave them like you just don't care"....I got a "Pink Bunny" today!

Uncle Jarrod and Auntie Melissa came to visit with Kennedy and MacKenzie this weekend and brought me a pink bunny! It's all organic but not from Prada.

They also brought me some USC onesies (again not Prada) but I maybe a bit embarrassed to wear them since USC Football is suspended from bowl games for the next two years...GO BEARS!

Big 50

I've hit the BIG 50....today was Day 50 in NICU. Seems like yesterday that I screamed out "Look out world...here I come!" Many things have happened and Mommy and Daddy have been by my side every day taking care of me. First off...I am growing and gaining weight. I have put on 760 grams since I was born, an increase of 86%. I've already gotten my first scar, from my surgery on June 13 and had 10 cm of intestine removed....can't wait for my first tattoo...maybe it will say "Daddy's Girl". I've had countless pokes and needles, all my limbs have had IV and a few times in my scalp. I've had two courses of antibiotics. I've had three bad haircuts and one manicure. But like Gloria Gaynor said...."I WILL SURVIVE!!!"

And on my Big 50 Day...I got another surprise present in the mail from Auntie Tanya, Uncle Dick, Lana, Chloe and Avery the dog! They sent me a really pretty dress from Janie and Jack....thank you so much! I love it but not as much as I love the cute card.

Just another day at the spa....

Today Mommy gave me a manicure. My fingernails were getting long and I was scratching up my face. You can't really find nail clippers for my small fingers, so Mommy filed them with an emery board. I am hoping that next time I can get a french manicure or get some pink nail polish.

Daddy was telling me that a nail is a horn-like envelop covering the dorsal aspect of the terminal phalanges of fingers and toes. Nails are also present in several other primates. Although not exclusive to primates, the development of nails is extremely rare in other mammels. Nails are similar to claws, which are found on numerous other animals.

Daddy also said that Mommy was once the Lamisil girl on a promotional aid for Novartis Pharmaceuticals. Lamisil is a drug used to treat nail fungus.

If you're happy and you know it...

If your happy and you know it...clap your hands!

What makes a girl happy is surprise presents! Mommy and Daddy brought in a present I received from Catie, Jack, Uncle Patrick and Auntie Michelle. They gave me a beautiful dress with strawberries on it, a gorgeous matching pink headbow, pink socks and hat. Daddy told me that Catie picked it out for me and I love it!!! Thank you so much and I can't wait to wear it.



Do they have a reality show for baby models? Maybe I can be the first America's Next Top "Baby" Model....maybe Daddy can pitch the idea to Tyra Banks.

Or maybe they can make doll that looks like me in this outfit and I can be the first Asian Strawberry Shortcake.

Screaming = Feeding

I've discovered that if I scream and cry really loud I can get a feeding. Dr. Terri restarted my feeding yesterday, but instead of Mommy's milk I am going to ease back to feeding with a predigested formula. Yes...it does sound kind of gross but it's not that bad and better than getting feed TPN via a tube in my scalp. You see that clear plastic cup on my head....look closely and see the green tip...well that is a IV needle...Daddy said I look like I have a lawn dart stuck in my head.

I am not experiencing "dumping syndrome" anymore (Mommy says I inherited that from Daddy)...which is when my feeding enters my small intestine too quickly....that is why there was white milky liquid in my ostomy bag and Dr. Terri was worried that I wasn't absorbing nutrients, so she wanted my intestines to rest a bit. Dr. Terri explained to Daddy that because I didn't feed for two weeks after my surgery, my intestines were not producing the same amount of digestive enzymes to be able to handle the amount of milk I was getting. So we needed to ease back into the milk feeding so I am getting Pregestimil, which is easier on my intestines.


Daddy said it's like his lactose intolerance, if he eats just a bit of cheese or ice cream everything is fine but if he eats too much or drinks milk....he gets "dumping syndrome." But I find it hard to believe he just eats a little bit of cheese or ice cream by the size of his belly.

NPO - nil per os

Today sucks! The doctors ordered me NPO which means nothing by mouth...it doesn't sound as bad when you say it in Latin "nil per os" but no matter how you say it...I'm hungry and you can trick me only for so long with that purple binky.

As you can see I take after Mommy when I am hungry...I get grumpy!

Maybe I was gulping too much milk but some of it was going right through me undigested into my ostomy bag...Daddy said it happens to him after he has too much spicy Indian food or when he eats dairy because he's lactose intolerant. But because I am still little and my GI tract is still developing and recovering from my surgery, the doctors want to be a bit cautious and give my intestines a bit of a rest. So back on the TPN...at least I was free of IV needles for the weekend.

Hitting the Bottle

I've been binge drinking the milk lately. My feeding have increased so much the last few days that I am now up to 30mL (one ounce) every three hours. On Friday July 2, I started hitting the bottle. The nurses are teaching Mommy and Daddy the correct techniques to feed me with a bottle because I get so excited when I taste the sweat nectar that I forget to breathe. So I have to remember not to gulp the milk like I was funneling a beer but to slowly savor and enjoy it like a fine wine.

So I practice between feedings on my purple binky.

July 1 vs. July 4....lots to celebrate!

I've had a lot to celebrate the last few days...so I am just catching up on my blog.

On July 1st, my blood cultures came back negative so my antibiotics were stopped....yippee!



And I got so excited when Mommy brought me a new mini blanket that she made so I could have something inside the Giraffe Isolette so it feels more homey. It's just the perfect size for me and matches the pretty pink preemie top that Max, Benjie, Auntie Colleen and Uncle Dirk gave me.







Max sent me this nice picture he drew of a cute bunny in a pink top with "I love Audrey"....





I don't think Daddy likes bunnies because I heard him mumbling something about if he ever caught me playing with boys in bunny ears and a cotton tail when I grew up he'd be very upset.

I also got to celebrate Canada Day, which is like the 4th of July. Canada Day celebrates the anniversary of the enactment of the British North America Act, on July 1, 1867, which united the two British colonies, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and a province of the British Empire called Province of Canada (divided in the process into Ontario and Quebec) into a single country, called Canada.

Daddy explained to me that today is Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, which celebrates the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 from the Kingdom of Great Britain.

But I think July 1st is a bit more special to me because it is also Grandma Florence's birthday!