Hitting the Wall

So, when you're training for a marathon, you can't just train up in a weekend and call it good. You have to work your way up to it over time. That's how the speech and language woman, Linda, put it today. Silje was doing great and meeting all sorts of goals, but then she just ran out of steam. Last night for the 2:00am and the 5:00am feedings, she would only take about half of what she needed by mouth before she was too pooped out to continue and so they had to put the tube back in her nose. This morning she tried nursing for a bit, but she was just too tuckered out, and so we gave her the rest by tube. And at 11:00 we just gave her the whole thing by tube and let her sleep and rest up.

At 2:00, she nursed and did fine. Then at 5:00 she nursed and seemed to do fine, but she fell asleep again. By 6:45 when it was time for us to go (we can't be there from 7:00 to 8:00 during shift change), she was fussing and got hiccups and was inconsoleable. The nurse told Jeni that she could go ahead and nurse Silje for ten or fifteen minutes if she thought that would help. It sure seemed to. By the time we left, Silje was quiet and ready for bed.

Let's hope it goes well tonight with the feedings. But, if it takes a bit longer, that's OK. Nursing is an aerobic activity. And, while perhaps not a marathon, it still takes time and effort to build up the stamina and ability to keep going.

Also, Pam and Don came down from Battle Ground for a visit today. We mostly took turns holding Silje, and had lunch in the hospital cafeteria.