Updates January 5th - 3 days old

Mario continues to show us just how much of a little fighter he is. Our little peanut is improving steadily and continues to make us very proud.

He started the morning with an oxygen leven of .7L/min and was weaned down to .4mL/min throughout the day. The nurses and resident are optimistic that he could come off of the oxygen and have the cannula removed as early as the end of the weekend. Of course, that all depends on Mario and we'll let him tell us how long he needs that extra help.

He still has episodes of apnea and bradycardia spells (click the link for more info), but that is to be expected at this age. His nurses have reassured me that this is all typical of his age and he should grow out of that over the next few weeks (usually 32-34 weeks). These are episodes where, for whatever reason, he forgets to breath and his oxygen saturation rates, respiration rates, and heart rate drop. Sometimes he recovers it on his own, other times he needs a little stimulation. I think sometimes he just gets so relaxed he forgets to breathe.

The nurse had to move his IV from his hand to his scalp and commented that he was a hard stick (i.e., hard to place the IV), so we are watching that very closely. He is currently receiving IV fluids, including lipids and dextrose. But, we are hopeful that we may be able to wean him off of those this weekend as well and get rid of the IV.

He had more bloodwork done today and everything looks good. His bilirubin levels have gone up to a 9.1 and his light level (when he would require phototherapy) is 12. So, they will recheck him in the morning and just monitor that. They also discontinued his antibiotics because his blood cultures came back negative.

They are also rapidly increasing his feeding amounts. The last feeding I was there for he was given 13mL of breastmilk. As long as his tummy and digestive system handle it, they will increase the feeds. This will aid us in getting rid of the IV line. Once his cannula is removed, they will move his feeding tube to his nose, which should be a little more comfortable for him and make him feed a little better.

This evening I got to help with all of his care. From taking temperature, to weighing him, to changing his diaper, to bathing (basically a sponge bath), to changing his clothes, I've been doing it all. He is such a good boy while mommy is learning all about preemie care.

He actually gained some weight back this evening. His weight was at 3lbs, 13 oz. . .so he gained about 2 oz in 24 hours. As his feedings increase this number should go up, which is what we want to see ;)

Both Dom and I got to spend lots of time holding him today. This afternoon we held him all swaddled up and this evening I spent an hour or so kangaroo cuddling with him. I also spoke with the lactation consultant about the best way to move him to breastfeeding so we can work towards that milestone. As soon as he gets his IV out, I will start nuzzling with him and go from there. The only reason we're waiting on the IV is because we don't want to risk too much movement with him and cause IV troubles, since he has been a hard stick.

Mario also got visits from Grandpa Phil, Aunt Brynn, and Grandma and Grandpa Ferreri this evening. He is becoming a little more alert and has periods for 5 minutes or so when he's got his eyes open and shows alertness. He is working on his sucking reflex by sucking on his pacifier. He is also pretty expressive and makes faces, moves his hands around, makes noises and even hiccups.

Finally, we have determined that our boy is quite the little flirt. Several of the nurses have commented on him and his day nurse today said he's the best baby in the NICU (though, I don't know if she told the parents of her other babies that too ;) ). His resident told us she loves his hair and how cute he is. And, our little man always has other nurses coming to visit him. It doesn't seem to matter if he's been under their care or not, he draws them in.