Nate has had a stall on his weight gain the past couple of weeks. Just a couple of days after he started feeling better after his infection he got sick again. This time it was an infection in his blood. The poor kid just can't stay well long enough to gain any significant weight. He's at 5 pounds 6 ounces today. We are so close!!!
Since he has been slowing down on weight gain, his doctor has been trying to convince the surgeon to do his surgery early. Especially since he is doing SO well on everything else (more about that in a minute). Unfortunately, the surgeon said she wouldn't consider it :( We were pretty disappointed. These past couple of weeks Todd and I have come down with what they like to call NICUitis. Everyone has been warning us about it and it has finally shown up. We are SO ready to go home!
There has been plenty of good news to go along with the disappointments though. First is Nate's latest eye exam results. The doctor is pretty confident that Nate won't need surgery! We were so relieved! She has bumped his exams to every other week instead of weekly but she said that he will still need to be examined regularly for at least another 8 weeks. There is still a slight chance things would still get worse but it is looking very positive :)
Second huge improvement... Nate has been taking all of his feedings by mouth now for a whole week! No more feeding tube! He is an eating machine. His nurse yesterday told me that she has never seen a baby like Nate nurse so well. I only get to nurse him 3 times a day since they are still keeping close track of his input and output. He has figured out that he gets to eat as much as he wants at those times and takes complete advantage by feasting for 30 minutes! He loves his food :)
Third and best improvement....
Since he has been slowing down on weight gain, his doctor has been trying to convince the surgeon to do his surgery early. Especially since he is doing SO well on everything else (more about that in a minute). Unfortunately, the surgeon said she wouldn't consider it :( We were pretty disappointed. These past couple of weeks Todd and I have come down with what they like to call NICUitis. Everyone has been warning us about it and it has finally shown up. We are SO ready to go home!
There has been plenty of good news to go along with the disappointments though. First is Nate's latest eye exam results. The doctor is pretty confident that Nate won't need surgery! We were so relieved! She has bumped his exams to every other week instead of weekly but she said that he will still need to be examined regularly for at least another 8 weeks. There is still a slight chance things would still get worse but it is looking very positive :)
Second huge improvement... Nate has been taking all of his feedings by mouth now for a whole week! No more feeding tube! He is an eating machine. His nurse yesterday told me that she has never seen a baby like Nate nurse so well. I only get to nurse him 3 times a day since they are still keeping close track of his input and output. He has figured out that he gets to eat as much as he wants at those times and takes complete advantage by feasting for 30 minutes! He loves his food :)
Third and best improvement....
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| Notice anything different?? That's right...no oxygen!!!! He's been doing so well lately that they decided to try him without it. He's been going almost 48 hours now! This is the first time I've every seen his face with NOTHING on it. Can you even believe how big he looks?! |
Here are some of my favorite pictures of our big boy from the past week.
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| I love snuggling my boy :) |
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| Thank you so much Grandma O for the super cute new outfit! I look very handsome in stripes. |
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| He's getting so big that he gets to have toys in his bed now. He doesn't like the mobile but loves looking at himself in the mirror. |
He's adorable! And getting bigger, healthier and stronger by the looks of it too! You will get there before you know it--hang in there!
ReplyDeleteHe is adorable!!! We love the pictures!!! Thanks for sharing! Hang in there you are so close!!!
ReplyDeleteThat's so exciting! No tubes! Conner just barely finished his tube about a month ago and they're both still on oxygen at nights. I am so excited for you! He is doing so good!!!
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