Getting Jealous

I have watched several of John's roommates over the last month get discharged. Tomorrow morning John's old roommate from room 2 is going home. I know many of these babies weren't as early as John so they don't face as many challenges, but it's still a little depressing to watch these happy families go through the hectic and exciting discharge process when it feels like our day is forever away. It's even more difficult to watch babies whose parents never visit them get discharged. I practically live here, and some of these moms are nonexistant. The discharge process typically starts with the car seat test. When you see a baby sitting in a car seat next to their crib, you know they're going home soon. I have John's car seat all ready to bring in, but he's not even close to that point yet. The little bugger still won't eat!

We're now in the 5th week of feeding training and we're moving backward instead of forward. John has deveoped an oral aversion, and is now refusing anything that comes near his mouth. He was doing ok nursing, and had been doing taking a bottle at night. I finally reached a breaking point and told them to switch to bottles if he'll take them. Unfortunately he doesn't want those either most of the time.

The NNP evaluated him this morn and found a few white patches in his mouth so theyre going to treat him for Thrush, which is common after antibiotic treatment. Thrush is painful so he may not want to eat if this is the problem. The OT also worked with him and thinks he has a sensitivity problem which is uncommon and difficult to overcome. He panics when things get near his mouth and he can't seem to relax when things are going on around him. He eventually just shuts down and goes to sleep if he's bothered too much.

So now we're back to square one. Feeding training has stopped for the time being unless he actively seeks it, and we have to introduce it little by little. We have a new protocol in place where we have to create pleasurable experiences so he will calm down and be more trusting. This involves kisses, baths, massages, and the like. They've also moved him to room 8 where there are only 6 babies. It's much more quiet and less frantic in there.

He hit 6 pounds last night so he's growing like a weed. His oxygen desaturation fits are almost gone. His eye exams are still clear. Basically he's all ready to come home once we overcome this last hurdle. Unfortunately it's the biggest and most frustrating one. It will probably be several weeks before he can come home, so we're not going to make it by his due date. If he is in the hospital for much longer, I may get to go to the military ball this year, which will be a nice last night on the town before we become full-time parents again. I have a gut feeling he'll come home on the 29th since the ball is on the 30th. That's just the kind of kid little John Wayne is :-)

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