Day 78

We have had quite a busy week! They have decided to let Nate start oral feeding this week! They keep such a close eye on how much he is eating and pooing that I didn't think they'd ever really let us try it with him until after his surgery so we were very excited. We time how long he nurses and adjust his tube feeding based on how many minutes he goes. So far he is such a champ! He is pretty consistently eating half of his feeding by mouth. That's pretty darn good for a little guy. He has quickly learned though that Mom = food. Now every time I am there to change his diaper he thinks he is starving and can't possible wait even 5 minutes to eat. Yesterday, I was giving him a bath and he grabbed my finger, shoved it his mouth, started sucking, and then started screaming when he realized that it wasn't giving him any milk. I think I've created a monster :)

Starting feeding has been a full time job. I am now at the hospital more than ever and don't have much free time doing much else besides eat and sleep. It's wonderful to feel useful though. I love that I have a more active role in his care and feel more like a normal mom.

Nate also had another eye exam this week. So far he has stage 2 zone 2 ROP. Stage 2 refers to the severity of the diseased blood vessels. There are 5 stages and surgical treatment is usually required at stage 3. The zone refers to how mature his eyes are. Once the blood vessels have grown through zone 3 they are considered completely mature. The doctor told us that where he is right now there is a 50% chance he'll need surgery. Please keep praying for our little Nate's eyes. One less surgery to worry about would be so great.

Now picture time...

First of all...Happy Father's Day Todd!! 

The boys taking their Sunday afternoon nap.

                                    

This is how Nate sleeps after eye exams. No one is going anywhere near his peepers :)

We took a new dollar bill picture. I can't believe how big this kid is finally getting! 

11 weeks

7 weeks

2 days

Day 72

Nate is 4 lbs 1 oz today!! You know what that means...

He's in a crib! He's done well so far but is going to have to get used to all the noise and light. He's been in his dark quiet box for so long he doesn't quite know what to do yet. He's holding his temperature well though so they'll give him some time to adjust. 

I think he likes it :)

Day 70

Just wanted to share my new favorite picture of Nate. We got him dressed this morning in his cute elephant outfit and bear hat. I just happened to snap this picture during one of his silly smiles.

He is one funny little boy.

Day 69

Nate's had another great week! Here's what's been happening...

He's up to 1700 grams today. That's 3 lbs 12 oz!! He's working on growing a third chin on that cute little face of his and he's starting to grow into his clothes a little bit better. I think he's getting as sick of the NICU as we are because it sure seems like he's trying to grow and get out of here as soon as possible :) Over half way there...keep growing Nate!!

He's almost big enough to be taken out of his isolette. Once he hits 1800 grams, he can be moved to a big boy crib. He's been gaining 30-40 grams a day so that could be as early as this weekend! It will be so much easier to get him out to hold him in a crib. We can't wait!

Nate has starting nursing this week! They call it recreational breast feeding because he is still to young to coordinate his sucking, swallowing, and breathing. I pump first so he isn't actually getting much milk. It's all just for practice.  We have been diligent about working with his binki and holding skin to skin everyday which are both good preparation. All of it paid off because he was a champ! He knew exactly what to do. I am very proud of our little eating machine :)

He had another eye exam this week. This was his third one and I hate them! They dilate his eyes and then put these torturous spreaders in his eyes to keep them open while they look around. I haven't actually watched one because the nurses insist that I do NOT want to see it but I can hear him screaming from down the hall. He's always very grumpy afterward and his eyes are swollen for a day or so. They are starting to notice some changes so they are going to continue doing them once a week and maybe more often if things start to look worse. So far there isn't anything requiring surgery so we are hoping it stays that way and he'll only need glasses. Little baby glasses are cute anyway :)

Day 66

Nate hit a great milestone with his weight this weekend. He's over 1500 grams!! This brings lots of changes for our little monkey.

Sunday, he was able to be weaned a little bit more on his CPAP pressure. His doctor said he'd hope to have him on a regular oxygen cannula by 34 weeks. The CPAP cannula is much better than the mask he had before but it is very thick and stiff. It makes it uncomfortable for him to sleep because it runs right along the side of his face and laying on it leaves big dents in his face. It's also very hard to keep it in his little nose. It's size makes it very easy for Nate to grab hold of it and pull it out. His poor nurses struggled everyday to keep that thing in. He did so well on Sunday though that they were able to switch over to the regular cannula yesterday! It was 3 or 4 days sooner than they had expected. It's quite a bit less support for his little lungs so the transition is a little rough for his oxygen levels but overall he is doing pretty well with it. He is definitely much more comfortable and he looks like such a big boy :)

He also had to have a new PIC line put in on Sunday. He gets his IV nutrition through it. We were hoping that he would be on full oral feedings by the time he needed a new one but we didn't quite make it. He outgrew his old one and probably will still need it for another couple of weeks at least. It's a pretty easy procedure but it takes quite a long time. Todd and I weren't allowed to stay in the room since it is a sterile procedure. We knew he would do fine but it is still hard to not be nervous when you have to wait in the waiting room not knowing what's going on. He did amazing though. The nurse practitioner said he slept through the whole thing. Must not have been too painful I guess :)

My favorite milestone...1500 grams means Mr. Nate gets to finally wear clothes!!! I've been so excited for this day all week! Doesn't he look so stinking cute all dressed up in his puppy pajamas?

Day 62

Nate is 2 months old today!! He's had a big week...

• He passed the 3 lb mark! He's now 3 lbs 3 oz! Look how much he's grown! The nurses do a new set of footprints every month. I couldn't believe the difference this month!

Birth, 1 month, and 2 months

• He's up to 15 ml on his feeds and doing really well with them.

• He's breathing like a champ. He'll get weaned down a little more on his pressure  in the next few days.

• His daily hydrocortisone dose was stopped on Tuesday. He's done really well without it. That only leaves 1 medication left for him! He's still on his caffeine to help his breathing and probably will be for a while longer but only having 1 medication is an amazing accomplishment for him!

• He had his 2 month immunizations today. He was a very brave boy but has been pretty grumpy since. His nurse was so nice and gave him some extra, much needed, snuggle time.

• He had a bath on Wednesday night. He LOVES his baths! He is still not able to have tub baths yet but he loves to have warm water poured on his head. I think he's going to be a water baby :)

This is Nate after his bath. He was so alert and relaxed

                                       
I had a big week too. I was able to take a quick trip home. I have been trying to get back for weeks now but kept chickening out at the last minute. I finally got brave enough to go long enough to get a couple of things done. I called Nate's room every 3 hours and probably drove the nurses crazy but I made it through. It was really nice to go home but it definitely made me more anxious to get us ALL back home for good.