Phyllis & Katie, photo by Harold Davis.

When Phyllis holds Katie Rose, first Katie explores. She touches Phyllis with her hands, squeals, and makes little grunts. Her eyes open. She tries to look around. But it’s hard work for her to keep those eyes open, and pretty soon Katie is fast asleep. Phyllis drifts off pretty quickly too, a smile of contentment on her face.

In this photo, the nurse held Katie for me in the process of putting her back in the isolette. As you can see, Katie keeps on growing. She’s over 3 pounds 9 ounces. She’s got some pudge and is a far cry from the tiny little thing of only a few weeks ago.

Some of this growth can be attributed to the merits of Phyllis’s milk, which they feed to Katie using gavage (a feeding tube) and a pump. Probiotic bacteria are added to the milk to aid digestion. Katie also gets shots of Epogen, a biotech blockbuster drug from Amgen primarily used for anemic patients. In Katie, the drug is used to help the growth of red blood cells.

Phyllis pumps alot of milk for Katie. She pumps milk every two hours or so. She is running a surplus. She recently gave literally gallons of milk to the San Jose Mothers Milk Bank, where it will help feed other preemies who are not as lucky as Katie with their mother’s milk supply.