On day 35, Megan weighs 1595 grams (or a little over 3 lbs, 8 oz) and
is drinking all 35 mL of milk every three hours. However last Tuesday,
she had a blood transfusion because she was anemic. Megan has had her
good days and her bad. On Friday, she had trouble breathing while on
the cpap/respirator, but had no such breathing issues on Saturday or
Sunday. They are trying to wean her off the cpap completely but she
gets tired after a while and have to be put back on. Megan is now
starting to learn how to drink from a bottle while remembering to
breathe.

We are hopeful that Megan can come home with us in the next 3-4 weeks,
but she'll let us know when she's ready after she gains a little more
weight, can drink from a bottle, and is able to breathe by herself.

After 21 days, Megan finally passed her birth weight and now weighs
1420 grams (3 lbs, 2 oz). She is also drinking 15+ mL (almost 1/2 oz)
of milk per feeding and is doing well enough for us to hold on
occasion.

Megan still has episodes where she has trouble breathing, but everyone
is optimistic that it'll go away as she gains more weight. She is on
her last days of antibiotics for what looked like an infection, but
the biggest concern is that she has a low red blood cell/hemocrit
count. And if her levels drop further, she may need a blood
transfusion.

It seems that lot of Megan's complications are fairly typical in
premature babies, but they are all new and scary for first time
parents like Christine and I. All in all, Megan is doing well and has
already developed her own likes (e.g., someone tucking her legs in)
and dislikes (e.g., blood draws and the cpap in her nose).

Many have asked about visiting Megan. Unfortunately, only parents are
allowed to see her in the neonatal ICU. For those that have also
asked, her Chinese name is Àî³Ð‹Z.

To give you an update, Christine was discharged from the hospital last
Saturday and has been recovering at home. Christine had placenta
accreta and preterm labor which really complicated her c-section. But,
under the skillful hand of the gyn surgeon who happens to be her boss,
he was able to stop the bleeding.

On day 12 of her life, Megan is still having trouble breathing and is
currently on oxygen to help her breathe better but thankfully she is
not intubated. This is typical since lungs don't begin maturing until
the 32nd week and Megan is only now on her 31st week. She has bouts
where her heartrate and oxygen drops inexplicably which worry us.
Megan is still being primarily fed through an IV, but they are giving
her 3mL of breast milk through an oral-gastric tube every 3 hours.
Hopefully, they will start feeding her directly. The hospital's social
worker also sat down with us and recommended that we begin applying
for early intervention programs for Megan as a precaution.