Caring for a preemie

Well, little baby C is here! She came home last night. All the girls, including our other foster baby, (baby L) were so excited to meet her! You should have seen baby L as she made a mad dash to her with this huge smile on her face, and tried to grab her before I was able to take her out of her car seat. The older girls were just amazed at how tiny and cute she is. They just wanted to touch her, and when they did, they couldn't believe how soft she was. Jeff is a bit apprehensive as he just looked at her and said she looks too fragile for him. Well, technically, she should be in her momma's tummy for another month. She weighs 5 lbs. She eats between 1/2 an ounce and 2 ounces at each feeding. Her muscles are not that strong yet, so getting enough to eat is difficult before she gets tired out, and falls asleep, then there's no waking her up. She sleeps all the time, and is only briefly awake during feeding times. Feeding her today was a challenge, as she is supposed to take in 2 ounces at each feeding, but there were times she would take no more than 1/2 an ounce, and even when she drinks what looks like a full ounce, she is loosing a lot of it out of the corners of her mouth. I tried a lot of different things today, and was finally able to get her to take close to 2 ounces tonight. If she has another difficult day tomorrow, I am planning on calling the NICU to ask them what they recommend.

Other than that, things are running smoothly! I took all 4 of them out once today, and it was a bit difficult, but we managed. I will just have to get used to it, if she remains with us long term! More soon!