Page 38 - Journey of Hope by Raymond Moldenhauer

DAY71

PLAYTIME WITH MOM

Heidi spent 2 full hours feeding, holding, and playing with her
very alert and very active daughter today. She was so excited to
tell us about the special bonding time, especially because of the
extended length of time that Alyssa was so wide awake. Alyssa
would breastfeed, take a break, burp, and then go back to get
more. After the feeding, Heidi held her on her lap as Alyssa
kicked her legs, reached for her mom, grabbed Heidi’s finger,
looked into her eyes, listened to her voice, smiled, and clearly
enjoyed the time as much as Heidi did. Alternate feedings were
with a bottle in conjunction with the tube feeding. It must be
very difficult to know exactly how much milk Alyssa is getting! I
guess the only real way to know is when they weigh her next.

Apparently, all of the activity during the day totally pooped
Alyssa out for her 8:00 PM feeding. Two sucks and she fell sound
asleep in Heidi’s arms. As a result, the feeding needed to be
totally through the Nasal Gastric Tube.

Heidi and Jim when back to the Ronald McDonald House with
Alyssa soundly and peacefully sleeping.