It has been crazy busy here the last several weeks! I feel like we have a Dr appointment every other day and meet ourselves coming and going. Steve had the week off work after Elijah came home, the next week my mom came and spent the night every night so last week was our first week of "normal," whatever that is with a 5 week old!
Really we are doing pretty well, Elijah is a great baby, he doesn't fuss unless he is hungry or getting his diaper changed and even then he calms down quickly. We are starting to settle into a pretty nice routine, the mornings are still a little crazy but evening and night time are nice. We have had a lot of Dr appts the last several weeks, weight checks, circumcision, more weight checks, Sleep disorder doctor and an appt for Reflux. Then Steve and I each had a Dr appointment in there as well, so we stay busy, thank god for good insurance!
Elijah was up to 6lbs 6 oz at his appt on Wednesday August 8th, I am sure by this weekend he will be over the 7lb mark. All of his preemie clothes have been packed away and he is on to newborn sizes. Its really hard to find preemie clothes so his wardrobe quadrupled when he went to newborn size! He is battling a reflux issue, the Dr says this is very common in preemies between 4 and 8 weeks when they hit a big growth spurt. We have some medicine we give him before bed and it seems to be helping a ton, he seems so much more comfortable and sleeps better at night after his feedings.
He is doing good on his breathing monitor, it has went off a hand full of times but they have all been false alarms according to the Dr. I have been next to or holding him for several of them and knew he was fine. We are hoping that this continues for the next two weeks and when we go back on August 27th they take him off the monitor but we shall see. Even with the false alarms its kind of a security blanket to have it.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Saturday, July 28, 2012
While I have some free time...
Hello! Who knew having a newborn in the house would keep someone so busy! So I last left off we were headed to the Care by parent room for two nights. Steve unfortunately had to work Friday night so he didn't get to stay with us for very long before he had to go home and get some sleep. While I wish Steve could have stayed with us this meant I got Elijah all to myself and I wasn't complaining about this! He did really good that first night, woke up every 2 hours to eat in the evening and then every 3-4 at night so I was able to get some sleep.
Elijah's day nurse came in first thing Saturday morning to see how we were and how the night went. I told her the night went great, no apnea alarms, feedings were great, he was having regular dirty diapers and I was in love! She asked how comfortable I felt, my response "I guess as comfortable as any first time parent can be!" She then broke the good news, she was almost certain we would be going home that day and not have to stay another night. I immediately called Steve and told him the good news, though I waited until after the Dr examined him to call and tell anyone else. We met with Dr. Edwards about 1 o'clock and he gave us the green light to take our little man home!
The car ride home was everything I had ever pictured it would be. I think Steve and I both had grins glued on our face from start to finish. We got out and quickly got Elijah inside because it was so hot outside, Steve would go back and get our bags in a minute. We brought the dogs inside one by one to meet our new family member, they couldn't have cared less, they just went and laid down. Now since things had been so crazy Steve hadn't had time to put Elijah's pack n play together, so he decided he would do that really quick while I got some stuff cleaned up. Before I knew it I had to pump, hmm where is my pump though? Oh yes its still in the car, that's when it dawned on us! The car was still running, we had forgot and never went back to turn it off! Good thing we remembered an hour later!
Our first night home went good, Elijah followed almost the exact same routine and timeline as he did at the hospital. I was able to get a good nights sleep in between feedings and pumping. Sunday my parents came over to visit for a few minutes and bring some pictures of me as a baby. I don't know but Elijah might look a little like me after all! I made my first solo trip out of the house and left Steve and Elijah alone Sunday afternoon so I could get the grocery shopping done. I came back to a sleeping baby in daddy's arms. Looks like they made it just fine without me!
Next... Elijah's first and second Dr appts, a late night trip to walmart and surviving the first week!
Elijah's day nurse came in first thing Saturday morning to see how we were and how the night went. I told her the night went great, no apnea alarms, feedings were great, he was having regular dirty diapers and I was in love! She asked how comfortable I felt, my response "I guess as comfortable as any first time parent can be!" She then broke the good news, she was almost certain we would be going home that day and not have to stay another night. I immediately called Steve and told him the good news, though I waited until after the Dr examined him to call and tell anyone else. We met with Dr. Edwards about 1 o'clock and he gave us the green light to take our little man home!
The car ride home was everything I had ever pictured it would be. I think Steve and I both had grins glued on our face from start to finish. We got out and quickly got Elijah inside because it was so hot outside, Steve would go back and get our bags in a minute. We brought the dogs inside one by one to meet our new family member, they couldn't have cared less, they just went and laid down. Now since things had been so crazy Steve hadn't had time to put Elijah's pack n play together, so he decided he would do that really quick while I got some stuff cleaned up. Before I knew it I had to pump, hmm where is my pump though? Oh yes its still in the car, that's when it dawned on us! The car was still running, we had forgot and never went back to turn it off! Good thing we remembered an hour later!
Our first night home went good, Elijah followed almost the exact same routine and timeline as he did at the hospital. I was able to get a good nights sleep in between feedings and pumping. Sunday my parents came over to visit for a few minutes and bring some pictures of me as a baby. I don't know but Elijah might look a little like me after all! I made my first solo trip out of the house and left Steve and Elijah alone Sunday afternoon so I could get the grocery shopping done. I came back to a sleeping baby in daddy's arms. Looks like they made it just fine without me!
Next... Elijah's first and second Dr appts, a late night trip to walmart and surviving the first week!
Sunday, July 22, 2012
It has been a crazy couple of days!
Whew! Sorry its been so long since I have posted, I feel like things went from crazy to insane in the last couple of days! On Tuesday Elijah started doing about 30-35 mils of out his bottle each feeding, I was thinking another few days and he would be work up to full feedings. To my surprise when I called to check on him after his 10pm feeding Tuesday night he had taken the whole bottle, that's a good start. I was expecting them to say he slept through his 1am feeding when I called, nope took the whole bottle!
When my mom and I went to see him Wednesday morning they told us he had also taken the whole bottle at his 4am feeding. As the day went on he kept taking his feedings all from the bottle, I was so excited but tried to keep calm in case he had a set back. By Thursday morning he hadn't had a bottle since 7pm Tuesday night and the Dr came by to see him and switch him to on demand feeds. She also told me we should go ahead and take the preemie CPR class, this is a class you have to take within a week of your baby going home. The Dr said she felt certain we were safe in taking the class now. The on demand feeding would hopefully transition him from being woke up to eat to waking himself up every 2-4 hours when he went home.
They had a kind of crazy day in the NICU with several new admits and we got our nurses switched for awhile. Our new nurse told me that I needed to plan on staying at the hospital all day since he was doing the on demand, just sit in the NICU and be there to feed him. Now mind you since I wasn't expecting this I had not ate anything all day, was wearing uncomfy clothes, my phone was dead and I had no charger, just generally unprepared. She was asking us about our pediatrician, car seat, monitor training, just a million questions coming at me and my head was swirling. Luckily we had to leave for CPR class and when we got back we had our nurse back! She told me I didn't have to stay there and could leave to eat lunch and just come back if I wanted to feed him and hold him since she couldn't guarantee his touch time every three hours. I went up to the hospital 6 times that day, thank goodness we live close!
Thursday night I was so tired I laid down as soon as Steve left, I set my alarm to wake up and pump but slept straight threw. I woke up at 8 o'clock, I never woke up to use the bathroom, call about Elijah, pump, I don't even know that I moved all night! When I called to check on him the nurse asked me how I felt about going to care by parent Friday night. I said yes of course! CBP is a transition room they have for families directly across from the NICU. They are like little hotel rooms, they give the parents a chance to take care of baby on their own but have a nurse close by if needed. I packed a bag and we headed off to monitor training for Elijah's breathing monitor he would be coming home with. After training I sat down to feed Elijah, they said we were set up in the room and we could take him over after this feeding. I was thrilled, excited and nervous all at the same time! We finished the feeding and headed over to get settled in!
To be continued, going to snuggle my baby now!
When my mom and I went to see him Wednesday morning they told us he had also taken the whole bottle at his 4am feeding. As the day went on he kept taking his feedings all from the bottle, I was so excited but tried to keep calm in case he had a set back. By Thursday morning he hadn't had a bottle since 7pm Tuesday night and the Dr came by to see him and switch him to on demand feeds. She also told me we should go ahead and take the preemie CPR class, this is a class you have to take within a week of your baby going home. The Dr said she felt certain we were safe in taking the class now. The on demand feeding would hopefully transition him from being woke up to eat to waking himself up every 2-4 hours when he went home.
They had a kind of crazy day in the NICU with several new admits and we got our nurses switched for awhile. Our new nurse told me that I needed to plan on staying at the hospital all day since he was doing the on demand, just sit in the NICU and be there to feed him. Now mind you since I wasn't expecting this I had not ate anything all day, was wearing uncomfy clothes, my phone was dead and I had no charger, just generally unprepared. She was asking us about our pediatrician, car seat, monitor training, just a million questions coming at me and my head was swirling. Luckily we had to leave for CPR class and when we got back we had our nurse back! She told me I didn't have to stay there and could leave to eat lunch and just come back if I wanted to feed him and hold him since she couldn't guarantee his touch time every three hours. I went up to the hospital 6 times that day, thank goodness we live close!
Thursday night I was so tired I laid down as soon as Steve left, I set my alarm to wake up and pump but slept straight threw. I woke up at 8 o'clock, I never woke up to use the bathroom, call about Elijah, pump, I don't even know that I moved all night! When I called to check on him the nurse asked me how I felt about going to care by parent Friday night. I said yes of course! CBP is a transition room they have for families directly across from the NICU. They are like little hotel rooms, they give the parents a chance to take care of baby on their own but have a nurse close by if needed. I packed a bag and we headed off to monitor training for Elijah's breathing monitor he would be coming home with. After training I sat down to feed Elijah, they said we were set up in the room and we could take him over after this feeding. I was thrilled, excited and nervous all at the same time! We finished the feeding and headed over to get settled in!
To be continued, going to snuggle my baby now!
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Thursday... a quick update
Sorry I haven't posted in two days! Elijah has been doing great and taking his feedings all by bottle since Tuesday night at 10pm. I didn't sleep well Tuesday night so I slept all day yesterday. Today they moved Elijah from feeding every 3 hours to on demand feeding, so when he wakes up and is hungry they feed him. Unless it has been 4 hours, then they wake him up, they don't want him going more than 4 hours without eating. So I will be making crazy random trips up to the hospital for the next 12 hours so that I can be there to feed him. We will also try breast feeding today and see how that goes.
I will update more this evening when we see how the on demand goes!
I will update more this evening when we see how the on demand goes!
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Monday July 16th
Steve is off on Sunday nights, since we had been going non stop this weekend we got a little extra sleep this morning and went to see Elijah at 10am. I called to see how he did at 7am and was very excited to hear he took his entire feeding via bottle! At his 10am feeding he was dressed in the most adorable pajamas, I can't get enough of him in clothes! He took about half of his feeding through his bottle, we still mark this in the plus column! Steve snuggled him while he took the rest of his feeding through the tube, he sure does like when daddy holds him! Elijah's bilirubin numbers went up again but so far they aren't putting him back under the lights. The nurse did say not to be surprised or discouraged if he was under them in the morning.
Steve and I are both drained today so we didn't go to his 1pm or 4 pm feedings, We actually planned on going home and watching a movie but made it about 10 minutes into the movie before we were both falling asleep. So we turned off the movie and took a little nap, I have never napped so much in my life but I wake up every few hours to pump and it usually takes me awhile to fall back asleep. So while I was used to getting up 6 times a night to use the restroom while pregnant it wasn't a 30 minutes trip every time! I did call to check and they said Elijah had taken 22mils and 27mils at his afternoon feedings, good news!
We went to see him at his 7pm feeding and he was pretty wide awake, he is much more alert than he was just a week ago. He did well at his feeding and took about 25mils through his bottle. He is holding steady at this half bottle so hopefully we can build on it little by little each day.
I called to check on him before his 10pm feeding, I thought since he had such a big day he would be tuckered out and I was right. Nurse said he was out, didn't move during the assessment so they just tubed his feeding. I went to sleep as soon as Steve left for work and only woke up to pump and check on Elijah. When I called they said he had taken 28mils and 35mils 1am and 4am feedings, so he has moved up on how much he is taking! My mom is going to come get me and take me to his 7am feeding so I will have much more to report later!
Steve and I are both drained today so we didn't go to his 1pm or 4 pm feedings, We actually planned on going home and watching a movie but made it about 10 minutes into the movie before we were both falling asleep. So we turned off the movie and took a little nap, I have never napped so much in my life but I wake up every few hours to pump and it usually takes me awhile to fall back asleep. So while I was used to getting up 6 times a night to use the restroom while pregnant it wasn't a 30 minutes trip every time! I did call to check and they said Elijah had taken 22mils and 27mils at his afternoon feedings, good news!
We went to see him at his 7pm feeding and he was pretty wide awake, he is much more alert than he was just a week ago. He did well at his feeding and took about 25mils through his bottle. He is holding steady at this half bottle so hopefully we can build on it little by little each day.
I called to check on him before his 10pm feeding, I thought since he had such a big day he would be tuckered out and I was right. Nurse said he was out, didn't move during the assessment so they just tubed his feeding. I went to sleep as soon as Steve left for work and only woke up to pump and check on Elijah. When I called they said he had taken 28mils and 35mils 1am and 4am feedings, so he has moved up on how much he is taking! My mom is going to come get me and take me to his 7am feeding so I will have much more to report later!
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Sunday July 15th
Today was a day with several firsts for the little man! Steve and I went to see Elijah at his 10am feeding this morning. He was awake and ready when we got there, he is really starting to know what his routine is! Elijah took half of his feeding through his bottle, when I was done feeding him Steve held him while he got his tube feeding. Never in my life have I seen anything more precious than my husband holding our son, its amazing to stare at the two most important people in my life and know how blessed I am.
My parents decided they would go see Elijah today and to help us out they went to Elijah's 4pm feeding. My dad hadn't seen Elijah up close so they finally got to have a proper meeting! The occupational therapist was there and fed Elijah, afterwards my mom held him. She said he let out a single squeal that was so loud and unexpected it startled her! Elijah also got dressed for the first time today! He is no longer a little naked baby, I take this as a good sign because it means he is holding his own temperature and hopefully will get moved to an open bed soon! These are all little steps on the road to home!
Steve and I made it to Elijah's 7pm feeding, again he took about 22 mils out of his bottle. At least he is staying steady, maybe tomorrow his numbers will go up little by little until he is taking the whole thing on his own! He looked so dang cute in his outfit! He is a handsome little man and daddy got lots of pictures! We really love the night nurse he has had the past 3 nights, she is the sweetest, most gentle and kind nurse I have ever seen. She talks to him like she would her own child and you can tell she really likes Elijah!
At his 10pm feeding it was kind of crazy in the NICU. Normally its very quiet and dark in there, not a lot of people moving around or talking and if they are its very hushed. I am not sure 100% what was going on but from what I could gather a pretty sick little baby had been brought in on the row behind us, there were lots of alarms going off and nurses, Dr's and EMTs talking. The baby next to Elijah had surgery on Friday and the nurses have to monitor him pretty closely too. Elijah wasn't super awake when we got there, add that to all the noise and he was pretty unhappy and restless. He didn't take a lot of his feeding so we gave most of it to him via NG tube. I called about 30 minutes after we left and his nurse said he had fussed for a few minutes but was sleeping quietly now. I am sure I will be calling to check on him after his 1am feeding!
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My parents decided they would go see Elijah today and to help us out they went to Elijah's 4pm feeding. My dad hadn't seen Elijah up close so they finally got to have a proper meeting! The occupational therapist was there and fed Elijah, afterwards my mom held him. She said he let out a single squeal that was so loud and unexpected it startled her! Elijah also got dressed for the first time today! He is no longer a little naked baby, I take this as a good sign because it means he is holding his own temperature and hopefully will get moved to an open bed soon! These are all little steps on the road to home!
Steve and I made it to Elijah's 7pm feeding, again he took about 22 mils out of his bottle. At least he is staying steady, maybe tomorrow his numbers will go up little by little until he is taking the whole thing on his own! He looked so dang cute in his outfit! He is a handsome little man and daddy got lots of pictures! We really love the night nurse he has had the past 3 nights, she is the sweetest, most gentle and kind nurse I have ever seen. She talks to him like she would her own child and you can tell she really likes Elijah!
At his 10pm feeding it was kind of crazy in the NICU. Normally its very quiet and dark in there, not a lot of people moving around or talking and if they are its very hushed. I am not sure 100% what was going on but from what I could gather a pretty sick little baby had been brought in on the row behind us, there were lots of alarms going off and nurses, Dr's and EMTs talking. The baby next to Elijah had surgery on Friday and the nurses have to monitor him pretty closely too. Elijah wasn't super awake when we got there, add that to all the noise and he was pretty unhappy and restless. He didn't take a lot of his feeding so we gave most of it to him via NG tube. I called about 30 minutes after we left and his nurse said he had fussed for a few minutes but was sleeping quietly now. I am sure I will be calling to check on him after his 1am feeding!
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Saturday July 14th
After a very long and stressful Friday, Saturday was a much better day in the Adkins world! I didn't go see Elijah after his 7pm feeding on Friday, he had been pretty cranky and hungry so I called before his touch time and they said he was sleeping so I let him be. Saturday morning I got up and went to his 7am feeding with my mom and my Aunt. My aunt had been worried and praying for Elijah and hadn't got to see him yet so I was happy she got to go with us and see him.
When we got there he still wasn't able to eat, they had to wait for the Dr's to do their rounds, he was sleeping so the nurse asked if we wanted to wake him. I told her yes because 12 hours was a long time to go without being held for a little guy and I thought he needed some love. He was kind of cranky at first but he settled quickly and looked around wide eyed and checking things out. The nurse said all of his blood work was looking good and his bilirubin numbers had went from 9.4 to an 8! Yay!! We snuggled him for about an hour and then put him back to bed when he went to sleep. I told her we would be back late this afternoon and would call to check in between.
I called after his 10 o'clock feeding time and she said the Dr's had decided to feed him again so she gave him his feeding at 9am and he took 8mils, she tubed the rest at 10 o'clock. At 1 o'clock I called back and she said he had taken 11 mils of his 30mil goal, so he is going up little by little.
We went to see him at his 4 o'clock feeding and he took his entire feeding through his bottle. Tummy is looking good and best thing yet he is no longer under the bilirubin lights. They said not to be discouraged if he has to go back under them for a day or two as its not uncommon. It was nice to see him just hanging out in the bed without his super hero shades!
We didn't go to his 7pm feeding but we did make his 10pm feeding and he was pretty wide awake for it. They had turned off the heat lamp and he was just wrapped up in a blanket. They said they would take his IV out in the morning, this makes us so happy, its hard moving around with the IVs. Looks like we are back on the road to progress though!
When we got there he still wasn't able to eat, they had to wait for the Dr's to do their rounds, he was sleeping so the nurse asked if we wanted to wake him. I told her yes because 12 hours was a long time to go without being held for a little guy and I thought he needed some love. He was kind of cranky at first but he settled quickly and looked around wide eyed and checking things out. The nurse said all of his blood work was looking good and his bilirubin numbers had went from 9.4 to an 8! Yay!! We snuggled him for about an hour and then put him back to bed when he went to sleep. I told her we would be back late this afternoon and would call to check in between.
I called after his 10 o'clock feeding time and she said the Dr's had decided to feed him again so she gave him his feeding at 9am and he took 8mils, she tubed the rest at 10 o'clock. At 1 o'clock I called back and she said he had taken 11 mils of his 30mil goal, so he is going up little by little.
We went to see him at his 4 o'clock feeding and he took his entire feeding through his bottle. Tummy is looking good and best thing yet he is no longer under the bilirubin lights. They said not to be discouraged if he has to go back under them for a day or two as its not uncommon. It was nice to see him just hanging out in the bed without his super hero shades!
We didn't go to his 7pm feeding but we did make his 10pm feeding and he was pretty wide awake for it. They had turned off the heat lamp and he was just wrapped up in a blanket. They said they would take his IV out in the morning, this makes us so happy, its hard moving around with the IVs. Looks like we are back on the road to progress though!
Friday, July 13, 2012
Friday July 13th
Its been a long day, last night I called to check on Elijah about 11 o'clock and the nurse said "I was just getting ready to call you." My heart immediately hit the floor and I knew this wasn't a good thing to hear. Evident;y she had noticed Elijah was having some periodic breathing and seemed to be getting close to having apnea, where they hold their breath for longer than 20 seconds. She moved over beside him and began counting his breathing, at 9:53 he had an apnea where he held his breath for 22 seconds and the alarms sounded.
Since then he hasn't had another apnea moment, he is still having some periodic breathing but no desats or desels of his heart rate which is good. They did an xray and blood culture right away and started an IV with antibiotics and fluids. They decided to stop feedings because his bowels had been aggravated and they didn't want further trouble with them. The blood culture won't come back for 48 hours so he will be on antibiotics until then, they like to take the precautionary measures to be safe.
I went to see him at 7am this morning and you could tell he was defiantly getting hungry and he knew he should be getting fed. I snuggled him up tight and rocked him, he was pretty awake for about 40 minutes before I got him to sleep. He wasn't fussing this whole time, just looking at me and hanging out.
I had been up most of the night so I took the morning to get some sleep and called to check on him about 12:30. The Dr's do their rounds between 9 and 11 and if they are in there you can't be, this was the problem we ran into when we came to see Elijah at 10 on Thursday. When I called the nurse practitioner got on the phone, I knew this was going to be a crying phone call for me. She explained that they had done the blood culture when he was born and everything had came back negative. They were of course repeating it but they wanted to go ahead and test his spinal fluid for meningitis just to be safe. She said she really didn't think he had it because he was awake, alert and wanting to eat and if he had meningitis he would be a very sick baby. But since I was GBS+ they wanted to air on the side of caution. I told them I would be there at his 4pm feeding to see him.
I went to see Elijah at 4 but didn't get to hold him, they had done the spinal and given him some pain medicine afterwards and he was sleeping. The nurse said he had been pretty fussy this afternoon because he was hungry. She said the Dr's had decided to keep him on fluids today and reevaluate feeding him after his next xray at 4am. I didn't mess with him since he had a long afternoon I just watched him for a while and let him sleep. Steve and I will be going back up to see him at 7pm tonight so hopefully we get some snuggle time.
Since then he hasn't had another apnea moment, he is still having some periodic breathing but no desats or desels of his heart rate which is good. They did an xray and blood culture right away and started an IV with antibiotics and fluids. They decided to stop feedings because his bowels had been aggravated and they didn't want further trouble with them. The blood culture won't come back for 48 hours so he will be on antibiotics until then, they like to take the precautionary measures to be safe.
I went to see him at 7am this morning and you could tell he was defiantly getting hungry and he knew he should be getting fed. I snuggled him up tight and rocked him, he was pretty awake for about 40 minutes before I got him to sleep. He wasn't fussing this whole time, just looking at me and hanging out.
I had been up most of the night so I took the morning to get some sleep and called to check on him about 12:30. The Dr's do their rounds between 9 and 11 and if they are in there you can't be, this was the problem we ran into when we came to see Elijah at 10 on Thursday. When I called the nurse practitioner got on the phone, I knew this was going to be a crying phone call for me. She explained that they had done the blood culture when he was born and everything had came back negative. They were of course repeating it but they wanted to go ahead and test his spinal fluid for meningitis just to be safe. She said she really didn't think he had it because he was awake, alert and wanting to eat and if he had meningitis he would be a very sick baby. But since I was GBS+ they wanted to air on the side of caution. I told them I would be there at his 4pm feeding to see him.
I went to see Elijah at 4 but didn't get to hold him, they had done the spinal and given him some pain medicine afterwards and he was sleeping. The nurse said he had been pretty fussy this afternoon because he was hungry. She said the Dr's had decided to keep him on fluids today and reevaluate feeding him after his next xray at 4am. I didn't mess with him since he had a long afternoon I just watched him for a while and let him sleep. Steve and I will be going back up to see him at 7pm tonight so hopefully we get some snuggle time.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Thursday July 12th
Elijah is officially a week old, it seems like its been a lot longer than just a week. My mom came to get me this morning for Elijah's 7am feeding, when we got there we got good news, he had taken 12 mils at his 1am feeding and 17 at his 4 am feeding. This was after not even waking up at his 10 pm feeding Wednesday night. Of course the good news made this momma very happy. His bilirubin numbers went down from 9.8 to 9.3, so not a huge loss but a loss nonetheless so we will take it!
Elijah was pretty alert and awake this morning, he was having a difficult time with his temperature. The nurse bundled him up in two blankets and said we would recheck his temp after his feeding. He took about 14 mils from his bottle and they finished the rest with the NG tube. I snuggled him while they fed him, but as soon as it was done I put him back in so we could recheck his temp. It was still a little low so they turned the heat up and she said she would recheck in 15 minutes and if it wasn't higher they would get with the Dr. I went home and waited about 30 minutes to call and check, she said it had came up and he was sleeping peacefully.
Steve made it home early again so we were able to make his 10am feeding, the Dr's were doing rounds so we had to wait for them to finish. We didn't get in there until about 10:30 and he was awake and seemed very eager to eat. The occupational therapist came over to meet us and sat with us while we fed him. She was extremely nice, I really can't say enough good things about 99% of the staff at the hospital .She gave us a plan for how to feed him to hopefully cut down on him getting fatigued so quickly. We are only supposed to lay him on his side facing out from the feeder and let him have 5 sucks at a time and then tilt the bottle so he takes a breath, then lift the bottle again and repeat. He did well with his feeding and took about 14 mils. We didn't get to snuggle him long since it was so late and we want to 1)keep him on his schedule and 2) get him as much time under his bilirubin lights as possible.
I called to check on him after his 1pm feeding and they said he wasn't even awake so they didn't attempt to feed him. I took a deep breath and decided not to panic myself and just hope that meant something good for his next feeding. When we got to the hospital for his 7pm feeding we had good news, seems his extra long nap did him good because he took 27mils at his 4pm feeding. So it looks like the plan is working, he napped and when it was feeding time he ate really good.
He was super awake at his 7pm feeding, he was looking around and taking things in, he didn't cry during his assessment at all. They said he is showing no signs of having any bowel loops and his temp was staying up nicely, both pieces of good news. We started out the feeding with his bottle and he took about 17mils before he decided he was done. He is really getting good at showing hunger signals and letting us know when he is done feeding. They assure us letting him take his time learning instead of pushing it is the best way to go and we really agree. It may take him a little longer to come home than we had originally hoped but as long as he is getting stronger we will do what we have to! After his bottle we held him while they fed him through the tube, he was looking around the entire time, they told us to give him his pacifier while he is getting his feeding so he associates the full feeling with sucking. He took his paci really well and actually started taking 5 sucks off the paci and then stopping.
I am taking this as a sign he is slowly starting to learn the process of eating and sucking. I did a lot of reading about preemies and eating last night and time and time again I read that this is a very common reason that babies have extended stays in the NICU. People said that fortunately when the babies get it they get it and never look back!
Elijah was pretty alert and awake this morning, he was having a difficult time with his temperature. The nurse bundled him up in two blankets and said we would recheck his temp after his feeding. He took about 14 mils from his bottle and they finished the rest with the NG tube. I snuggled him while they fed him, but as soon as it was done I put him back in so we could recheck his temp. It was still a little low so they turned the heat up and she said she would recheck in 15 minutes and if it wasn't higher they would get with the Dr. I went home and waited about 30 minutes to call and check, she said it had came up and he was sleeping peacefully.
Steve made it home early again so we were able to make his 10am feeding, the Dr's were doing rounds so we had to wait for them to finish. We didn't get in there until about 10:30 and he was awake and seemed very eager to eat. The occupational therapist came over to meet us and sat with us while we fed him. She was extremely nice, I really can't say enough good things about 99% of the staff at the hospital .She gave us a plan for how to feed him to hopefully cut down on him getting fatigued so quickly. We are only supposed to lay him on his side facing out from the feeder and let him have 5 sucks at a time and then tilt the bottle so he takes a breath, then lift the bottle again and repeat. He did well with his feeding and took about 14 mils. We didn't get to snuggle him long since it was so late and we want to 1)keep him on his schedule and 2) get him as much time under his bilirubin lights as possible.
I called to check on him after his 1pm feeding and they said he wasn't even awake so they didn't attempt to feed him. I took a deep breath and decided not to panic myself and just hope that meant something good for his next feeding. When we got to the hospital for his 7pm feeding we had good news, seems his extra long nap did him good because he took 27mils at his 4pm feeding. So it looks like the plan is working, he napped and when it was feeding time he ate really good.
He was super awake at his 7pm feeding, he was looking around and taking things in, he didn't cry during his assessment at all. They said he is showing no signs of having any bowel loops and his temp was staying up nicely, both pieces of good news. We started out the feeding with his bottle and he took about 17mils before he decided he was done. He is really getting good at showing hunger signals and letting us know when he is done feeding. They assure us letting him take his time learning instead of pushing it is the best way to go and we really agree. It may take him a little longer to come home than we had originally hoped but as long as he is getting stronger we will do what we have to! After his bottle we held him while they fed him through the tube, he was looking around the entire time, they told us to give him his pacifier while he is getting his feeding so he associates the full feeling with sucking. He took his paci really well and actually started taking 5 sucks off the paci and then stopping.
I am taking this as a sign he is slowly starting to learn the process of eating and sucking. I did a lot of reading about preemies and eating last night and time and time again I read that this is a very common reason that babies have extended stays in the NICU. People said that fortunately when the babies get it they get it and never look back!
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Wednesday July 11th
Sorry for the silence today, I think the exhaustion finally caught up with me last night and this morning. Elijah didn't have the overall best eating day yesterday and seems to have hit a wall with bottle feeding. Between the feedings, his bilirubin numbers going up instead of down and the bowel loop I was feeling pretty discouraged and it got the best of me.
I went to Elijah's 7am feeding this morning with my mom and he took about half of his feeding from the bottle and the rest from his NG tube. His nurse this morning was a different one again, she was kind of a scatter brained person but seemed pretty nice. Steve got off early and was able to make it to his 10am feeding with me, Elijah was pretty sleeping and only took about 10mils of his feeding from the bottle and the other 30mil from the NG tube. I pretty much hit my breaking point at this feeding and couldn't hold back the tears anymore. It didn't help that the nurse wasn't very helpful and told us we were feeding him wrong, which would be fine but she didn't offer any suggestions to help the situation. When we left I went home and pumped and went straight to bed, I got 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep and I woke up feeling much better.
When I called to check on his afternoon feedings they said he didn't do much better at his 1pm feeding than this mornings and the occupational therapist was there to do his 4pm feeding. She recommended that we go get preemie nipples from babies r us so I called immediately to have them hold some for us to pick up later.
Steve and I went to his 7pm feeding and brought the new nipples with us, again we had a nurse we had never seen before. Luckily she was very nice and explained things well. She said the O.T. had recommended that we not push feedings on Elijah, we will watch his hunger signals and if he seems awake, alert and interested in a feeding we will attempt the bottle. If he doesn't seem awake or interested we won't push it and will go ahead and feed through the tube. The hope is that he will save his energy and every few feedings have enough energy to take an entire feeding via bottle. We don't want to push the feeding and create an aversion to feeding that causes long term affects.
When the Dr first told us we could be looking at the 15th-20th for a coming home date I figured he was being cautious and it wouldn't be that long. Yesterday it hit me that in reality he probably won't be home until the 20th. It makes me cry just thinking about it but I know its whats best for him. I can't wait until I can just sit and hold him anytime I want, or go in his room and watch him sleep whenever I want. We did get some cute pictures of Elijah today and although he didn't eat I did get to snuggle him a lot!
I went to Elijah's 7am feeding this morning with my mom and he took about half of his feeding from the bottle and the rest from his NG tube. His nurse this morning was a different one again, she was kind of a scatter brained person but seemed pretty nice. Steve got off early and was able to make it to his 10am feeding with me, Elijah was pretty sleeping and only took about 10mils of his feeding from the bottle and the other 30mil from the NG tube. I pretty much hit my breaking point at this feeding and couldn't hold back the tears anymore. It didn't help that the nurse wasn't very helpful and told us we were feeding him wrong, which would be fine but she didn't offer any suggestions to help the situation. When we left I went home and pumped and went straight to bed, I got 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep and I woke up feeling much better.
When I called to check on his afternoon feedings they said he didn't do much better at his 1pm feeding than this mornings and the occupational therapist was there to do his 4pm feeding. She recommended that we go get preemie nipples from babies r us so I called immediately to have them hold some for us to pick up later.
Steve and I went to his 7pm feeding and brought the new nipples with us, again we had a nurse we had never seen before. Luckily she was very nice and explained things well. She said the O.T. had recommended that we not push feedings on Elijah, we will watch his hunger signals and if he seems awake, alert and interested in a feeding we will attempt the bottle. If he doesn't seem awake or interested we won't push it and will go ahead and feed through the tube. The hope is that he will save his energy and every few feedings have enough energy to take an entire feeding via bottle. We don't want to push the feeding and create an aversion to feeding that causes long term affects.
When the Dr first told us we could be looking at the 15th-20th for a coming home date I figured he was being cautious and it wouldn't be that long. Yesterday it hit me that in reality he probably won't be home until the 20th. It makes me cry just thinking about it but I know its whats best for him. I can't wait until I can just sit and hold him anytime I want, or go in his room and watch him sleep whenever I want. We did get some cute pictures of Elijah today and although he didn't eat I did get to snuggle him a lot!
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Tuesday July 10th
Good news to report this morning, Elijah did great with his overnight feedings and took them both by bottle. Steve was still working this morning so my mom came in to take me to see Elijah at his 7 am feeding. He was already starting to stir when we got there, luckily I had three pumping's worth of milk to take to him. I think this means I can stay one feeding ahead for now, I won't make the 10 am feeding but they will have milk for it and I will bring his 1 PM feeding when we go.
He was very wide awake and alert during his feeding and took almost the entire bottle, I think if he was given a little more time he would take the whole thing. He just gets tired and needs to take a break. They did say they are removing the IV today so I can take a hat from home for him to wear. I also get to bring our bottles and they will start using those so he can get used to them. I feel like these are both checks in the good news column! After he got done eating I was able to get about 20 minutes of good snuggle time in, he was wide awake and held my finger the whole time. My mom even held him for a few minutes, she hasn't held him yet, she kept saying she would wait until he got bigger. I think the cuteness got to her and she couldn't resist any longer!
Its hard to believe this time last week I was excited to be going to our third child birth class that night! Now a week later I am holding my beautiful little baby, life sure can throw you some unexpected (but truly delightful) curve balls! We will be going back to see Elijah for his 1 PM, 7 PM and 10 PM feedings so I will give updates on those feedings tonight! Here are a few pictures from today...
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He was very wide awake and alert during his feeding and took almost the entire bottle, I think if he was given a little more time he would take the whole thing. He just gets tired and needs to take a break. They did say they are removing the IV today so I can take a hat from home for him to wear. I also get to bring our bottles and they will start using those so he can get used to them. I feel like these are both checks in the good news column! After he got done eating I was able to get about 20 minutes of good snuggle time in, he was wide awake and held my finger the whole time. My mom even held him for a few minutes, she hasn't held him yet, she kept saying she would wait until he got bigger. I think the cuteness got to her and she couldn't resist any longer!
Its hard to believe this time last week I was excited to be going to our third child birth class that night! Now a week later I am holding my beautiful little baby, life sure can throw you some unexpected (but truly delightful) curve balls! We will be going back to see Elijah for his 1 PM, 7 PM and 10 PM feedings so I will give updates on those feedings tonight! Here are a few pictures from today...
Steve and I went to see Elijah for his 1 PM feeding, he was wide awake when we got there and seemed ready to eat. I had brought enough breast milk for that feeding plus his 4 o'clock feeding, this makes for one happy momma! We tried to give him his feeding out of one of our bottles from home but he did not seem to like the bottle at all. He got the hiccups really bad so we decided to switch back over to the hospital bottles. Even though he was super awake he didn't seem very interested in his bottle. We got him to take about 2/3rds of it and they finished the rest in his NG tube.
Since Steve has to work again tonight my cousin Kassie came over to take me to Elijah's 7 PM feeding. She hadn't got to see Elijah up close yet so she was very excited to go with me, I didn't have to twist her arm to much! He was awake and stirring when we got there and seemed pretty ready for his bottle. His temp was only 97.6 which was a little low so they put a hat on him and swaddled him up good. They always do an exam on him before we start the feeding, during the exam the nurse said she felt what is called a bowel loop. I don't know a lot about them yet but they said it didn't seem to be to bad so they would just watch them. He is still having bowel movements and his stomach hasn't changed in size so they aren't to worried at this time. He was pretty interested in his bottle and took 30 of 40 mils by bottle, they said not to be discouraged since he when he was taking his bottle he was taking it very well and lots of interest in it. I found out that at his 10 o'clock feeding we were going to give him a sponge bath. This isn't necessarily a check mark in the progress column but its something I am looking forward to! So again we are just taking it one day at a time and looking forward to 10 o'clock!
Well Elijah's 10 PM feeding was an experience! I got to give him a sponge bath and he was not a happy guy! He would have preferred that we left him alone, but a cute guy has got to be clean. They said the bowel loop hadn't changed any and they weren't overly concerned about it but they were being careful and watching it. His nurse tonight was a new nurse I hadn't seen before, she looked like she was maybe 12 years old but she was super sweet and knowledgeable. By the time we got done with his bath Elijah was almost tuckered out. He did take about half of his feeding with a bottle, they assure me not to worry because he is very interested and vigorously taking the bottle when he does eat. Since he had to take half the feeding in the pump I got to snuggle him while he was getting the feeding. He was so cute, he kept sticking his hand up and when I would put my finger down there he would hold my finger. I can't get enough of this little guy! I did take a few pictures while I was there so I will share those with you all!
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Monday July 9th
I woke up hoping that today would be a much better day than yesterday. I was hoping for some kind of good news, some progress, a nice nurse, really anything! I called first thing and was told that he had done fine overnight and taken both of his morning bottles. Steve had to go back to work tonight but he woke up to take me to Elijah's 1 PM feeding. Before we left I pumped twice, even though I hadn't gotten anything yet I have continued pumping over the last four days. Well this morning I got some good news right off the bat, my milk decided to come in over night! I pumped two times before we went to see Elijah and was so proud to take my little 24 mils of milk in!
Our day nurse had today off and I was of course nervous about the nurse we would have in her place. I shouldn't have been, we had the most wonderful nurse, she was answering my questions, volunteering information, asking us questions, it was a wonderful feeding. Its amazing how the nursing staff can make such a difference. She even offered me the opportunity to have some skin to skin time with Elijah, I of course said yes right away. This was something I was very much looking forward to doing immediately after he was born but didn't get the chance to do. I have to say even though it was only 15 minutes it was wonderful!!
My mom came over to take me to his 4 PM feeding so that Steve could get some sleep before work tonight. It was her first chance to get to see him for more than a few minutes and the first time she had seen him up and out of his bed. I was able to bring almost enough breast milk for an entire bottle. I think my mom really enjoyed the time she got to spend with Elijah, she didn't hold him but she held his hand and got to check out his head of hair and his long skinny feet. He did really well at his feeding this afternoon and seems to be getting interested in his bottle. He was opening his mouth and sticking his tongue down in order to engage with the bottle. They removed he line to his IV at the feeding and said they will remove the port in the morning, this will make daddy very happy!!
His 7 o'clock feeding I was again able to bring enough breast milk to make the majority of his bottle! I defiantly understand why they call breast milk liquid gold, its hard work to get that stuff!! Elijah was very sleepy at his evening feeding, very is putting it mildly, he was out! Daddy fed Elijah for the first time tonight, he did a great job at it! He didn't take all of his feeding by bottle at this one and they gave him the rest in his NG tube. They assured us this is normal, to have several good feedings and then be super tired for one and have to use the NG tube. It doesn't mean its a set back and we shouldn't get discouraged.
Since Steve had to go back to work I had to go to the 10 o'clock feeding by myself, my brother drove me though don't worry, I am not breaking any rules! It was different and scary to be there by myself, Steve always helps so much and remembers things I forget. Elijah did well at this feeding, he took all of it with a bottle so that a check in the plus column. I got to do skin to skin contact for about 20 minutes tonight, can't get enough of that! He was awake almost the entire time, in the last 5 minutes he started to fall asleep but before that he was awake looking around at me.
Tomorrow we are hoping to remove the IV port and also get out from under the bilirubin lights. Fingers crossed, if he does he will also get to move to an open bed, these are all great checks in the coming home soon column! I will add pictures to this post today, Steve didn't get a chance to upload them from his phone before work!
Our day nurse had today off and I was of course nervous about the nurse we would have in her place. I shouldn't have been, we had the most wonderful nurse, she was answering my questions, volunteering information, asking us questions, it was a wonderful feeding. Its amazing how the nursing staff can make such a difference. She even offered me the opportunity to have some skin to skin time with Elijah, I of course said yes right away. This was something I was very much looking forward to doing immediately after he was born but didn't get the chance to do. I have to say even though it was only 15 minutes it was wonderful!!
My mom came over to take me to his 4 PM feeding so that Steve could get some sleep before work tonight. It was her first chance to get to see him for more than a few minutes and the first time she had seen him up and out of his bed. I was able to bring almost enough breast milk for an entire bottle. I think my mom really enjoyed the time she got to spend with Elijah, she didn't hold him but she held his hand and got to check out his head of hair and his long skinny feet. He did really well at his feeding this afternoon and seems to be getting interested in his bottle. He was opening his mouth and sticking his tongue down in order to engage with the bottle. They removed he line to his IV at the feeding and said they will remove the port in the morning, this will make daddy very happy!!
His 7 o'clock feeding I was again able to bring enough breast milk to make the majority of his bottle! I defiantly understand why they call breast milk liquid gold, its hard work to get that stuff!! Elijah was very sleepy at his evening feeding, very is putting it mildly, he was out! Daddy fed Elijah for the first time tonight, he did a great job at it! He didn't take all of his feeding by bottle at this one and they gave him the rest in his NG tube. They assured us this is normal, to have several good feedings and then be super tired for one and have to use the NG tube. It doesn't mean its a set back and we shouldn't get discouraged.
Since Steve had to go back to work I had to go to the 10 o'clock feeding by myself, my brother drove me though don't worry, I am not breaking any rules! It was different and scary to be there by myself, Steve always helps so much and remembers things I forget. Elijah did well at this feeding, he took all of it with a bottle so that a check in the plus column. I got to do skin to skin contact for about 20 minutes tonight, can't get enough of that! He was awake almost the entire time, in the last 5 minutes he started to fall asleep but before that he was awake looking around at me.
Tomorrow we are hoping to remove the IV port and also get out from under the bilirubin lights. Fingers crossed, if he does he will also get to move to an open bed, these are all great checks in the coming home soon column! I will add pictures to this post today, Steve didn't get a chance to upload them from his phone before work!
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