So we're trying the eating thing again today. The docs think his belly accidentally got filled with air because they've had some faulty devices on their high-flow equipment. Sometimes the high-flow gets turned way up on accident because it's really touchy. They've replaced the equipment a few times, but we still catch it accidentally turning up, especially when we take him out of his bed to hold him. The extra air, combined with backed-up bowels, is hopefully the culprit with his latest eating drama. They gave him a suppository last night and he apparently had the biggest poop ever, and suctioned out all the air from his tummy, so hopefully that gets things moving along again and he can continue eating and growing.
He was really sweet today when I held him. When doing Kangaroo Care, you hold your naked little baby vertically on your bare chest with their ear over your heart. Usually he gets really active and does push-ups on my chest so he can arch waaaay back to see my face, so I have to lay him at an angle, if not completely horizontal so he can look at me. This boy is so strong. If I don't have a good hold on him, he could push himself all the way out until he falls over backward. The nurses are always commenting on how strong he is, that is after they've commented on how cute he is :-) Today I held him at an angle and he kept smiling at me until he went to sleep. I know we can't help him much on the medical side, but I'm happy I can be there to give him a positive experience with all the negativity he has to go through, like repeated IV pokes and other procedures. He did really well when I held him today--if he stops breathing or his heart slows down, they basically say he doesn't want to be held, and he has to go back to The Box. I'm glad he did well because I was about to go to blows in order to hold him today. If his nurse had told me no, I would've gone off. They're constantly changing his IVs, drawing blood, doing eye exams, suctioning his belly, giving ultrasounds, etc., so I get mad when they tell me that holding him may be "too stressful". Thankfully his nurse today didn't tell me no, so I didn't have to whip out my hamster style.
Though his oxygen saturation levels were stable, he was breathing rapidly. That made me nervous, as everything makes me nervous these days, but they're not too worried about it yet. I just hope he's only a little stressed with everything they're doing, and he calms down in the next day. If not, they'll start looking at his lungs to check for fluid.
As of tonight he's up to exactly 3 1/2 pounds. He's very, very swollen from the IV fluids so I expect him to lose a few ounces once he's off the fluids, which will be once they work him back up to his full milk feedings. I'm just glad to know that he's gaining some weight even while he's not getting milk. I hope in a week when he's feeling all better he'll be at that 4 pound level where he'll start getting weaned to an open bed. I can't wait!!!!!
Tomorrow he'll be 33 gestational weeks, only about 7 more weeks to go! I'm hoping he has a fantastic day so we can all relax and enjoy our Friday. I'm sad that tomorrow is the last time John and I will visit him together during the week for a while since John is going back to the day shift for the next two weeks. At least I get a break from riding Trax for 2 weeks. As much as I enjoy not having to deal with traffic, I don't really know how I feel about the people of public transit. Oh who am I kidding? I'm gonna miss these weirdos: http://www.peopleofpublictransit.com/
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