March 27, 2012
Weight: 3 pounds 7 ounces
Labs: none
Alarms: 9 total, all self-resolved.
Oxyen/Lungs: Still doing great on room air
Belly/Bowels: Still having stinky poops from the milk fortifier!
Skin-to-Skin Time/Holding: I held him from 2-4, and then Alex held him from 5-6:45. Little E got lots of ma’ and pa’ time today.
Feedings: He’s getting 30ml (ONE whole ounce) every 3 hours. He’s doing so well!
March 25, 2012
Weight: 3 pounds 6 ounces. I think I had yesterday’s weight wrong, it was actually 3 pounds 5 ounces. Don’t wanna jip the little man of the ounce that he earned!
Alarms: 7 total alarms.
Labs: None.
Oxygen/Lungs: Still room air.
Belly/Bowels: One thing that is VERY noticeable is that now that he is on the human milk fortifier, his poop STINKS. It is not a pleasant smell when his diaper needs changed. Uck!
Skin-to-Skin Time/Holding: Alex went up around 11 with some family to hang out while I was at our first baby shower. E got to meet some more family. He met Uncle Sam, great grandpa Eddie, and also saw Grandpa Koehn and Grandpa Fast again. Everyone seems to love him : ) I went up about 5 and held him till his next feeding at 8. I absolutely love our skin-to-skin time. And today he started really “rooting,” (I hate that word) which means he is “looking around” to start breastfeeding. He is such a big boy! I can’t wait til he can actually breastfeed. I think I will feel like I am directly involved in his care, instead of an innocent bystander. Not that I don’t feel like I’m his mom, but it will just feel more “real” for me. Make sense?
Feedings: Up to 29 ml every 3 hours. Almost an ounce at a time!
Side Note: He is having a small amount of drainage from his left eye. Apparently their tear ducts can clog very easily and usually clears up on there own. The doctor is aware and wants to just watch it for now. The nurse also said that they sometimes massage the tear duct and it clears all the gunk out. Poor little buddy! She said it doesn’t usually bother the baby. Let’s hope not.
March 24, 2012
Weight: Lost 10 grams yesterday, gained it back today. Still 3 pounds 4 ounces.
Alarms: Only 2 in 24 hours. Yesssss!
Labs: Results of state adrenal function test back, everything within normal limits.
Oxygen/Lungs: Still no oxygen, only a few self-resolved de-sats. Doing well!
Belly/Bowels: No change.
Skin-to-Skin Time/Holding: Lots of family here today. Grandma and Grandpa Fast and Grandma and Grandpa Koehn. Grandma Fast got to hold Little E today. She loved it! Except when he decided to sneeze and out came a little milk from his nose. She promptly instructed me to take him back : )
Feedings: Up to 28 ml every 3 hours. Can you believe his little belly tolerates all that?
March 23, 2012
Weight: 3 pounds 4 ounces. Holding steady.
Alarms: Only 2 for the day shift, self resolved of course.
Labs: None today.
Oxygen/Lungs: Because he has had a lesser amount of alarms, the dr decided to try him off of oxygen. Yay! No more nasal cannula!
Belly/Bowels: Doing better with the human milk fortifier. No need to change it to the more hypoallergenic kind at this point.
Skin-to-Skin/Holding Time: It’s becoming the “norm” for me to arrive at the hospital around 2 or 3 and then get him out to hold him at the 5 o clock feeding. Then I keep him out until Alex gets there, and he usually gets another hour or so of holding before we go home at about 7:30 or 8. Yes, it is a long day at the hospital, but totally worth every second.
Feedings: Still continuing to increase on feedings and tolerating fine. Feedings are fortified with human milk fortifier for extra fat, protein and calories. He was also started on iron supplements today.
March 22, 2012
Weight: 3 pounds 4 ounces.
Alarms: Only 7 in the last 24 hours. Yeah buddy!
Labs: Hematocrit up to 29-no transfusion necessary. Yeah! Bilirubin down to 6.1. No phototherapy, either! Yeah, our child is a rockstar.
Oxygen/Lungs: Still on 21% 1L NC. He keeps pulling the cannula out of his nose. This must be a sign that he doesn’t need it!
Belly/Bowels: Still pooping, but showing signs that he may not be digesting the human milk fortifier quite right. They’ll continue to watch it for another day or so, but have to use a more hypoallergenic version for awhile until he can process the human milk version.
Skin-to-Skin Time/Holding: I only got about 30 minutes before Alex stole him from me. Poor me.
Feedings: Up to 24 ml of milk every 3 hours. He’ll fatten up in no time!
Also, because he doesn’t have an IV anymore, he gets to wear onesies now! When I showed up to the hospital today he had this cute little onesie on that the hospital provided. My little one is growing up!
March 21, 2012
Weight: 3 pounds 3 ounces. They took out his PICC line today, so they said to not be surprised if he doesn’t gain any weight tomorrow. This is because of the decreased IV fluids and the weight of the PICC line itself. [The PICC line is his IV access. It is a line that runs from his tiny little forearm all the way to his heart. It is a sturdy IV that doesn’t need replaced as often as a regular IV]
Alarms: Only 7 total. With that number decreasing, they will start considering weaning his oxygen off. Yay!
Labs: No labs today, but did have a one week follow-up head ultrasound. No head bleeds. Thank goodness.
Oxygen/Lungs: Will continue on the 21% 1L NC for now.
Belly/Bowels: Still having regular bowel movements on his own. Gettin that bilirubin out!
Skin-to-Skin Time/Holding: I held him only for about 30 minutes or so until Alex could get to the hospital after work. Then he held him so that he could hang out with his parents while I waited outside (only 3 visitors allowed at a time.) While I was gone, Alex’s mom got to hold him as well. She was thrilled about getting to do that, while I must say, I was a little nervous about it. I guess that’s what mom’s do, right? Worry? I had to run down to where I work while they were spending time together, so by the time I got back it had been a good hour that Alex got to spend with him. I think he really enjoyed that time : )
Feedings: Still increasing his feedings, up to 24 ml now. He also gets a human milk fortifier for extra calories in the feedings. So far, tolerating this fine.
March 20, 2012
Weight: 3 pounds 2 ounces. Still gaining!
Alarms: 11 total in the past 24 hours. Apparently this has been his standard number for several days. Hey, at least he’s consistent : )
Labs: Electrolytes all within normal limits. Bilirubin up to 6.6, however no need for more phototherapy yet. Hematocrit (Hct) down to 25. No transfusion yet, but may need in the next couple of days if it drops to 23-24. Also, at 2 weeks of age they can start him on iron supplementation. If he holds steady until Friday, we could possibly do just iron and not have to give him blood. Hold on tight, buddy! You can make it!
Oxygen/Lungs: Still on the 1L of 21% oxygen, doing fine.
Belly/Bowels: Had one feeding with a residual of 9 ml. They fed the residual back to him and held that feeding, but all others were given. Apparently he had a very large bowel movement right after that episode, so the dr was not too concerned about it : )
Skin-to-Skin/Holding Time: I held him for about and hour then Alex took over so I could pump. We both love this time. Alex always offers to take him so I can pump : ) He is such a great dad!
Feedings: Continuing to advance his feeding amount. Not sure what he is up to, but somewhere around 20 ml every 3 hours. Hard to believe his little tummy can tolerate all that!
