Raisin' the Roof!

It's official, Peanut is in an open crib! While we were in for Peanut's 2pm feeding the doctor ordered the roof on the isolette to be raised! This means he is doing a good job of regulating his own temperature. Hopefully he will continue this so that the roof never goes back down. Here is what is likely his very last picture of being in the isolette with the roof down.

Tomorrow there will be pictures of him in the open crib but we didn't have the camera on us when they raised it.

One other huge milestone today: Peanut made his first attempt at the breast and it's not surprising that nothing happened. As much as I want this to work, I'm not convinced he's ever going to latch onto anything other than a bottle. He's almost 3 weeks old and it is so much work for him just to use a bottle; and bottles are easier. But of course we will continue trying. I am thankful they are at least letting us try because they don't usually let you until they are on all bottle feeds and the feeding tube is gone. And Peanut isn't there yet.

Here are a few other pictures from today.

We say he is getting huge. (6lbs 6ozs now & the lowest he got to was 4lbs 15ozs) However, that is still a preemie onesie he's wearing.

One last picture. It's amazing to us how old Little Man looks now. I wonder if he'll still be smiling once the pictures of his little brother come to life? hehehe! In case you're wondering, Little Man still hasn't met or even seen Peanut (except in pictures). He is too young to go into NICU.

More Bottle Feedings

Today they started using a slower flow nipple for Peanut's feeds and they have increased his feeds back up to bottle, bottle, tube. As of our 11:30pm phone call he weighs 6lbs 6ozs and he didn't have any bradys for the last two bottle feeds! He also finished the bottles in a reasonable time.

Dare we say perhaps adding the rice cereal and slower nipples is working? If he continues to have the bradys he'll end up coming home on an apnea monitor. Once he gets to 37 weeks gestation (he's 35weeks 3 days today) then he'll be able to have the sleep test done and come home on the monitor.

The belief is that his brady episodes are caused by his reflux and not just having an immature brain. The hope is that by correcting the reflux it will make the bradys stop. (At this point that's being attempted by medication & adding rice to his bottles to thicken it up and using slower flow nipples that makes him pace himself.)

Our hope is that by adding the rice he will finally be feeling better and quit having the bradys so he won't have to come home on a monitor. Then maybe he'll be home before 37 weeks.

His next issue is feeding. He's got to be completely off the feeding tube to come home. At least that is headed back in the right direction since they were able to increase the feedings again. Hopefully he'll continue to do well with that.

His isolette is again back at the lowest setting and hopefully he'll do better at maintaining his temp this time around.

He is just the cutest little thing. I did have the realization today that we won't be bringing home a newborn and words can't beging to tell you how disappointed and robbed I feel about that (and losing 2 months of being pregnant - believe it or not.) Although at the same time, we're really just happy we'll be taking home a healthy baby.

A Busy Day

Today was a busy day in NICU for us.

Peanut's isolette had to have the temp turned back up just a tad today. Apparently he's not quite ready to regulate his own temperature.

Because he's still having the bradys they had to do an ultrasound of his head to make sure nothing was going on up there to cause it but thankfully all of that came back as normal.

They have now also started adding rice cereal to the breast milk and the formula he's supplemented with already has rice starch added. This is in an effort to try to keep the milk down and help with his reflux. By making it thicker and a bit heavier we're hoping it will stay down. The hope is that by making his reflux better he will quit having brady episodes. He just really struggles with coordinating breathing with eating. It appears that by cutting back his bottle feedings it's helping him to at least figure out the bottle a little better.

As far as the rice cereal goes, I'm really really hoping this works. If not it's going to mean more testing to get more answers. He's already on an oral medication but that just isn't enough at this point. Adding rice cereal did not work with Little Man, but I'm really hoping it will be enough for Peanut.

He weighs 6lbs 3ozs and they are no longer fortifying my milk. YAY!

I feel like I'm forgetting something here tonight but who knows. If I did, I'll come back and update it. Until then, enjoy the pictures of Peanut in his real clothes. He's just soooo cute!

The Onesie

So much for that extra ounce. He lost just a very small amount of weight but it was enough to make it drop back down to 6lbs 1oz. It's also not horribly surprising since he's been working so hard at the bottle.

His isolette is also now at the lowest temperature so he's having to regulate his own temperature as well. They aren't concerned with opening the isolette just yet though since it's a non-issue (meaning that's not what's keeping him in the hospital).

Of all days to not take my camera back into the NICU with me. I cannot believe I forgot! We both forgot. Anyhow, he's now wearing regular clothes. He's so cute in his little onesie and socks. I'll get pictures tomorrow!

35 weeks

NOTICE SOMETHING MISSING?!?! Yeah. Don't get too excited just yet. He yanked out his feeding tube today so I was able to snag a couple of pictures before they put it back in.

Turns out a small part of me is actually glad he pulled it out so that they were able to put it on the other side. His skin was really starting to be irritated by the tape.

The good news is that Peanut has found another ounce and he weighs 6lbs 2ozs. The not so good news is that they are having to reduce the number of bottle feeds because he's just not ready. So now he's getting every other feed as a bottle and then every other as a tube feeding.

He just wasn't handling the bottle as well as he needs to be. It's so much work for him and he was having a lot of trouble coordinating the breathing with the eating. We think this will be for the better for him and once he's got a better grip on bottle feeding they will up it again.

He is just 35 weeks today so our expectations are only so high anyway. He'll eventually get it but you can do more long term damage by trying to force it on him so we have to go at his pace.

They keep telling us that the feeding is often times like someone hit a switch and they'll just all of a sudden get it and take off. Let's hope his light bulb goes off very soon and that he quits having Bradys so that he can come home SOON.

I have to tell you this is especially hard because Little Man was born at 35w 5d and he came home from the hospital with me. Although in hindsight, he probably shouldn't have.

And just in case I don't get around to it, I want to wish all you moms a very Happy Mother's Day for tomorrow. We haven't gotten any cards out this year because things have been nuts. We're doing good to keep basic groceries in the house for Little Man right now, lol.

Six Pounds!!!!

Peanut went from 5lbs 13ozs last night to 6lbs 1oz tonight. The nurse said she weighed him twice, lol. Unfortunately he's still having the brady's. The good news is that it will only keep him in the hospital for so long. Once he's closer to term, say 36-37 weeks, if that is the only thing keeping him there they will be able to send him home with a monitor.

Of course, we'd prefer to have him home sooner and with no monitor so we're keeping our fingers crossed and continuing to say our prayers for him.

His bottle feeds were increased this afternoon so he's now getting 2 bottle feeds in a row followed by a tube feed. I have a feeling he's going to do fine with that. I can't wait to see his precious face with no tubes!

More pictures!! We actually got pictures of him with his eyes open today!!!

ISN'T HE CUTE?!?!?!?! (& tiny, lol)

Little Piggy!

Oh my goodness...Peanut is turning out to be quite the little piggy! We made our regular bedtime NICU phone call to check on him and he weighs 5lbs 11 ozs!!!!! His nurse also said he took his entire 8pm bottle feeding in only 8 minutes!!

I fed him his 2pm bottle and he struggled with the first half of it and then guzzled the 2nd half. He's doing so well. He has officially gone one full day with no Brady episodes. He's still not completely regulating his own temperature but the isolette is getting a little cooler each day, he's almost down to the lowest it goes.

As of today he is getting every other feed from a bottle! Once he's taking those just fine he will be upped to 2 bottles, 1 tube feed, etc.

YAY!

Day Ten

It's already been ten days since Peanut came into this world and the good news is that he's doing as well as we could hope for. He actually took his entire 45cc feeding from me in a bottle today. It's the first feeding he's ever finished by bottle and it almost brought me to tears. I was so proud of him.

He's still having the Brady episodes but he is almost always recovering from them on his own and his heartrate isn't dropping as low as it used to. He's still not down to the lowest temperature setting on the isolette which simply means he's not completely regulating his own temp just yet. All in time though, all in good time.

Today was Hubby's first day back at work in probably 2 weeks with everything going on. He's working the mornings in his office and then from his laptop and blackberry in the afternoons. We feel so blessed that his bosses have been so flexible and understanding.

Now for the picture!

I just love this picture of Peanut's hand laying in his daddy's hand.

The IV is gone!

Where to start?

First of all, I was wrong about the bottle feeds. He wasn't being fed every shift, but once a day. However, as of today it really is once per shift. He had his IV fluids removed today and after showing he could handle the bigger feed they have now completely removed his IV. We can't wait to get in there tomorrow and see his whole head without a tube hanging out of it! As for bottle feeds, he is slowly getting the point. He got almost half of his 5pm feed by bottle tonight. We're allowed to feed him the bottle for 30 min but after that it gets to the point that they are burning more calories than it's worth and the rest is fed through his feeding tube. We'll be so happy when that disappears.

He weighs 5lbs 6ozs. He is still having the Brady episodes and he must go 5 days without any before they can send him home. I did finally get an answer from the doctor today. My question was "Is there an average age at which they grow out of this?" The answer is 35-36 weeks and Peanut is 34 weeks today. Hopefully by the end of next week we'll be able to start the countdown. The good news is that he is recovering on his own more often than not now and they don't seem to be quite as often.

Today was the Heritage Gathering and the one thing we really wanted to make sure we did was take Little Man to ride a pony. We just knew he was going to like it and like it he did. He didn't want to leave. Bless his little heart.

And now about yesterday:

Yesterday was my birthday and I was sad because I wasn't able to celebrate it with both of my boys together. However, when I went in to see Peanut the nurses left me a surprise which brought me straight to tears.

I also found a sleeping angel :)

Here's a picture of Little Man from my birthday dinner. :)

And last but not least, Peanut finally has his name hanging on his isolette (incubator) and it's so cute!

Better Bottle Attempt

They are attempting a bottle feed once per shift (twice in a 24 hour period) and today I got to be around for the day shift attempt. He did SO much better than yesterday. He opened his mouth for the bottle and even tried to suck from it a couple of times. He didn't get anything out of it when he sucked but it's awesome that he tried.

He is back up to his birth weight (5lbs 4ozs). We're really hoping that in the next 24ish hours he'll be able to lose the IV. He's tolerating his feedings well and as they increase the feedings, they decrease the IV nutrition.

I realize this is redundant but just have to say, "WE CANNOT WAIT UNTIL HE CAN COME HOME!"