Updates: January 29th - 27 days old

I think things are starting to click for the little man. This morning at his 6am and 9am feedings he took his whole bottle (48mL)! At noon we breastfed and at 3pm and 6pm he took 30-35mL. At 9pm we breastfed and at midnight he took 25mL. He also pulled out his feeding tube before the noon feeding and we've left it out to see how he does. I spoke with resident on call tonight and we came up with a plan. If Mario doesn't increase his volume taken in by bottle to closer to the whole bottle each time, we will have to put the tube back in to gavage feed him whatever he doesn't nipple. But, if he takes closer to his whole feed, then we can leave the tube out. So, we just watch and wait now. Even if we have to put the tube back in to make sure he gets the calories he needs to stay strong, I don't think it will be long now before he is nippling all of his feeds. Something clicked this morning and he's doing really well. We do still have to pace him, because he tends to gulp and then drop his heart and oxygen saturation rates. Sometimes he brings them up on his own, and sometimes he needs help. But, we're getting there. This is such an improvement!

He also didn't have any non-feed related episodes today. So, we're keeping our fingers crossed for that to continue to be the case. When he does have an non-feed related episode, that requires stimulation, that automatically makes him stay in the NICU for another 5-7 days. The feed related ones are still something to watch, but aren't quite as concerning because we know the cause. Those will also tend to go away as he gets better at the bottle feeding.

His weight tonight was only up a little bit to 5lbs, 10.6oz, a gain of .2oz from last night.

Obviously, Dom and I continue to spend much of our time at the hospital. I try to be there for 4 of his 8 daily feedings (noon, 3pm, 9pm and midnight) and Dom is there for the same except the 3pm during the week when he is working. Several people have commented on how big Mario is getting and how much he is changing.

We're moving in the right direction now. I think the little man is getting the idea that we can't bring him home until he gets the feeding down pat and is consistently nippling all of his feedings. Honestly, I don't think that will take much more than a few days. He's a smart, tough little guy who constantly shows us just how special he is!