Updates January 3 - 4, 2007

I'm combining updates on Mario's progress for the past few days into one post, to try and catch things up a bit.

First of all, thank you to everyone for all of your concerns, prayers, thoughts, flowers, etc. They mean a lot to all three of us.

January 3rd updates:
Today, Mario made a lot of progress. He was transitioned from the CPAP machine (click on the link to learn more about CPAP) to a cannula oxygen delivery system (two prongs in his nostrils). They started him out on 1L of oxygen/minute and will wean him off of it gradually, as he tolerates it. They also inserted a feeding tube into his stomach, via his mouth, to begin feeding him the breastmilk I have been pumping for him. He has been started on a feeding schedule of 3mL every 3 hours and the amount will be increased as he tolerates it and I get my milk supply in. All of his bloodwork is looking very good and he is settling in nicely.

I also got to change his diaper for the first time. It's very different than any diapers I've changed in the past. Getting used to doing it through the incubator portals and dealing with such a tiny guy was an adjustment.

This afternoon, I got to enjoy an hour of kangaroo cuddling time with my son. During a kangaroo cuddle the baby, wearing only a diaper, is placed on my bare chest and we snuggle up together. This promotes bonding, breastmilk production, help to stabilize the baby's vitals, etc.

This evening, Mario got a little bath and got his hair washed. It looks so cute and fuzzy now. He also had his weight checked and lost 85 grams (90 grams = 3 oz), but that is to be expected as his body flushes excess fluid (even babies born full term lose weight in their first few days).

Dom got to spend an hour of kangaroo cuddling with him late in the night and thoroughly enjoyed the bonding session.

Grandma Tina was back to visit with him today. He also got visits from my Aunt Jean, Uncle Fred and Azieta.

January 4th updates:
Today has been another awesome day of progression for little Mario. They are weaning him off of his oxygen levels and he was at a .8L/min rate when we left him around 9pm. They will continue to wean him off the oxygen as he tolerates it (likely a few tenths of a liter/day) until they can remove the cannula all together. If he continues to progress the way he has, that won't take much time at all. Of course, he will let us know if he still needs the oxygen or needs more and we'll move forward at his pace.

They are also working with him at maintaining his body temperature. They gradually turn down the temperature in his incubator, as he tolerates it. The goal is to get the incubator to the same temperature as the room temperature and have him keep his body temperature constant. Once he can do this, clothed and swaddled, they will move him from the incubator to a "big boy bed" (small crib or bassinet). This evening, before I left to come home, we put him in his first little sleeper and tucked him in for a snooze.

Mario is eating very well and is now up to 5mL of breastmilk every 3 hours. As long as he digests everything they will ramp up the amount he gets. Thank goodness my milk supply is starting to come in nicely!

Mario's weight this evening showed he had only lost 10 grams, so he's now down to ~ 3lbs, 11oz. That is very good, because all babies lose weight initially. Now we just look forward to him gaining some.

This morning both Dom and I got to hold him, all swaddled up for a bit. And, this afternoon, I spent close to 2 hours kangaroo cuddling him.

All in all, Mario is progressing beautifully. The resident in charge of his care is very pleased and noted that clinically he is showing great progress. At this point, it's up to him to tell us what he's ready for.

I was released from the hospital this evening, so Dom and I are going to be figuring out what works for us as far as a schedule for being at home and at the NICU. It will take a few days to figure it out, but we will. Hopefully I'll be able to get some good rest in my own bed. It's important for me to keep up my rest for Mario. It's hard to be home without him, but we know he is where he needs to be right now and every day is one day closer to his homecoming.