Updates: January 27th - 25 days old

Our little man had a rough morning this morning. He did well at his midnight and 3am feeds, just having his typical little spells that come with trying to gulp from the bottle and getting a little choked up. He got written up for one of them, but that isn't too concerning, because we know the cause and he will get better at it with maturity and practice. However, starting with his 6am feed and continuing through the noon feed, he didn't do well at all. He wasn't nippling well at all, in fact it was like he'd never taken a bottle before. He also had two episodes that he got written up for this morning that weren't related to feeds. Overall, he just wasn't acting quite right. We started to get a little concerned that perhaps we pushed him a little too much, or perhaps he was getting sick or something. We talked things over with the resident and his nurse and decided to just watch and wait for a bit. Dom and I spent most of the day and night at the NICU. We got there around noon and stayed through the midnight feeding, only leaving to grab a quick bite to eat at dinner. We wanted to be there to see how he was doing firsthand.

I didn't breastfeed at noon because Dom and I had an infant CPR class to attend. But, I did breastfeed for the 3pm and 9pm feedings and he did awesome at both of those. He really prefers breastfeeding and I think that helped to turn him around. We gave him the bottle for his 6pm feeding and switched to a different kind of bottle, a Dr. Brown's bottle (that's the brand name). We used it again at the most recent feeding at midnight and he did well with that bottle. However, he still managed to gulp and have his episodes. He brought all but the last one up himself and needed a little blow-by to help him with the last one. We (the nurse and I) gave him quite a while to try and bring it up on his own, but he just wasn't able to get his sats up and keep them up. Again, while it would be best for him not to need help at all, the episodes with feeding aren't as concerning as the ones that happen for no know reason.

He was also sounding kind of congested today, so we suctioned him a few times and finally got some boogers out this last time that will hopefully help him. He also got his tube changed to a new one, also a slightly bigger one. The original plan was to try removing his tube today because he had been nipple feeding so well, but with how poorly he did during the first part of the day we all agreed that it needed to stay in. Since he's doing a little better now, the plan is to watch him through the day tomorrow and then, if he does well, try removing it Monday. Of course, the big "if" is up to the Mario man.

His weight was up again tonight to 5lbs, 9.2oz, a gain of 1 oz from last night. Sarah, his day nurse, did mention that his breath sounds weren't as good as they had been, but were still ok. However, when Katie, his night nurse tonight, listened to him at 9pm she said she thought they were sounding better. Sarah also mentioned that his heart murmur was back, but very soft. Katie said she could hear it, but it was very faint. Everyone said at this stage it's just something to note and monitor, but not to get overly concerned with. He had a murmur when he was born, but it went away and it's not uncommon for it to come and go as he gets bigger.

I spoke with his resident several times today and she didn't seem overly worried about his rough morning. In fact, this evening she mentioned that he must have just needed a breastfeeding session. She is very much a supporter of that and is letting me breastfeed whenever I am there and want to. I hadn't wanted to do it too much, because we can't measure his intake. But, she indicated that since he does so well at the breast she's not as worried about the numbers and we can judge things like his weight and his output to know if he's getting enough.

So, all in all it was a day with ups and downs. However, it ended on an up note, which is what we like. I don't know if he wasn't feeling well (perhaps gassy or snotty or something?) or if he was in a funk. But, whatever it was it looks to be getting out of his system. All we can do is watch and wait and let him tell us what he needs. As hard and frustrating as the rough morning was, and as happy as I am that he seems to be doing better, I know he is in the right place and they will do whatever needs to be done for him.