Day 39

Nate had a much better day today. When I got to the hospital he was getting 22% oxygen. That's much better than the 40% he was up to yesterday. I think it was his way of saying sorry for giving me a heart attack and a lot more gray hairs yesterday :) He had a follow up chest x-ray this morning which looked a lot better so he will stay on the diuretics long term to help keep the fluid in his lungs under control. The doctor also started his feeds back up again. He is pretty sure what happened yesterday was just normal baby spit up that went the wrong direction. That's reassuring because throwing up can be a sign that his tummy is not tolerating his feeds and they would have to stop them long term. He can get all of his nutrition through his IV but it is hard on his little liver so oral feeds are the best for him. Although it's unlikely, getting to all oral feeds without any IV nutrition is ideal for him. As far as weight gain, the doctor didn't expect any yesterday because he was given the diuretic and would lose all of his water weight. He anticipated about a 2 oz loss for him. Good news is he only dropped about an ounce! 2 pounds, here we come :) This evening we were able to meet a family that was in a very similar situation as us 3 years ago. They volunteer to help other parents cope with their stay in the NICU. They had twin girls born at 25 weeks and lost one. Their little girl is now 3. We have visited with them at the hospital before but tonight they came over to the house with their little girl. It was so great to talk with them and be able to ask them questions. Having someone to talk to that has been in the same situation has helped me more than anything else. We are so grateful to them for taking the time to help us.