Put up your dukes

It's time to fight. Lily has taken 24 hours worth of feeds entirely by bottle and I was told that if she did that she could have the feeding tube removed. They are hedging again and saying, but if she doesn't take enough one time we'll put it back. I am going to speak to the doctors tomorrow and tell them we want a discharge plan and we want it to include her coming home this week. Enough is enough. She is out of heat, passed her hearing screen, will pass her development I'm sure, and all she needs to do is eat enough. She gained 3 ounces lasst night. So if she loses a little tonight or tomorrow, I'm SURE she isn't going to be "failing to thrive." The kid is the same age as Eve, who is "in perfect health" according to the pediatrician, so I don't see how Lily could be considered UNDERweight for her age! They are just making her conform to a formula of how much she needs to take and contradicted themselves hwen they consistantly say that every child is different. If every one is different, WHY do you force them to conform to a formula? If Lily is gaining enough, perhaps not EVERY night, but most every night, why not send her home? Eve is thriving and taking the bottles much better than ever now that she is home. So we think Lily will benefit from the consistancy in the feeding styles and the ability to be held more often.
But, as I said, it will be putting up our dukes and TELLING them, we know she is still volatile with her feedings, but if we are sure she is eating the same amount in 24 hours, perhaps not on a strict strict schedule, what difference does it make? She gets the calories and the volume, why does it matter if she does it every 2-3 hours versus every 4. Unless they have a very good reason, which I don't think they do, they have to listen to us. We know her well. She needs to be out of there, with no more tubes being placed, so she can get over her oral aversions. And I know they want to do more blood work tomorrow, and that will set her back more because she needs to continue making red blood cells and the more blood work they do, the lower that number tends to get because babies make those cells slower. Anyway, I guess I'll have to let you know how the arguments go. Lily is by no means "failing to thrive" and i say, enough is enough. If they refuse to let her go this week, they're are going to learn the meaning of angry mother...