Kayla Opened Both of Her Eyes for the First Time

The last couple of days for Kayla have been pretty uneventful which is great. Her vital signs have remained pretty steady so hopefully they will try and start weaning her ventilator settings some more this week.

On Saturday (8/20) Kayla opened both of her eyes for the first time (we added a new photo). Her eyes are a beautiful hazel blue although who knows what color they will end up being. It was such a sweet moment to talk to her and have her look back at you like she understood what you were saying. Both my dad and sister were able to hold Kayla for the first time on Saturday.

On Sunday (8/21) Kayla slept for most of the day. My nieces Maya & Noelle were able to look at Kayla for the first time but only through a window. Visitors under the age of 12 have to be a sibling of Kayla. Even though it was hard for them to see her very well, they were still excited about seeing their new cousin for the first time.

Yesterday (8/22) Kayla slept most of the day while my mom and I were visiting. Just before we arrived she had finished physical therapy and seemed pretty worn out afterwards. She finally woke up in the evening when Jeff was visiting with her. Jeff said it looked like Kayla was trying to talk to him. She kept opening her mouth and sticking her tongue out. Too bad Jeff didn’t have the camera with him! Last night Kayla weighed in at 5 lbs. 15.5 oz. She has gained a full pound since she was born! Hopefully her weight will begin increasing faster now that she is finally getting milk. She also gained 1 ¼ inches in height and is now 19 ¼ inches tall. Kayla’s feedings were increased to 18 ml/hr and she seems to be tolerating the feedings well. The doctors have said that they want to keep feeding her through the tube until she gains some more weight but will hopefully try and test her stomach again when she is closer to full term in 4 weeks.

We are still waiting to hear back on her genetic testing but are hoping the results will be in this week. Please send some prayers for little Kayla that the tests come back negative.

All of our love,

Lisa