The Routine

We have our routine down now: We arrive at the hospital by 8:30 am and wait for rounds. During rounds we get to talk to the neonatologist in charge of caring for Ingrid. He and his team discuss Ingrid's progress and decide what needs to be done each day. The current focus is getting Ingrid used to food in her stomach.

On that front, Ingrid had three feedings while we were with her today, none by mouth. And she had easily half a dozen poopy diapers. That means her plumbing works!

During the time between feedings we hold Ingrid (and change diapers.)


At 3 pm we change the dressing on Ingrid's omphalocele - at this point we are quick and confident. Everyone agrees that her O looks smaller than it did last week. We use 2 pieces of Xeroform to cover it, but now we can almost cover the whole thing with just one piece. Each piece is 5" x 9".

We also met with a hematologist today because some of Ingrid’s blood tests suggest that she may not have a spleen or that it isn’t functioning properly. All the doctors assure us that this is not a big deal and if her spleen isn’t working (or if she doesn’t have one) it just means that she will need to be on prophylactic antibiotics for a number of years.

We are encouraged by days like today but we keep reminding ourselves that everything must happen at Ingrid’s pace.