Monday, March 22, 2010

day 6

I visited Kieran this morning, along with Josh's mom Gale, and it was such a great visit! I met the NICU doc-of-the-week (there is a practice of 7 that rotate weekly) and I really liked him. He talked about how Kieran's just been stable for awhile and holding steady, but that it's not necessarily a bad thing. He mentioned that little boys seems to have a harder time with all things prematurity and that can mean things just take a little longer.

Here's all the good news: Kieran gained a few grams since yesterday. He started breastmilk feedings today! He will be doing 2 mls/cc's every 2 hours to start. He is still doing well on the CPAP and since the mask was bugging his nose, they found a little nasal prong that he's tolerating well. He had a tiny procedure done while I was there: the nurse practitioner took out the IV line that went through his umbilical cord - he was previously receiving nutrition through there, but now he is getting it through the ET (endotrachial) tube - the green tube that goes through his mouth to his tummy. He does not appear to have an infection like they thought (yay!) His kidney ultrasound showed the right kidney is still enlarged, but he is peeing and that's all that matters now, and we will continue to check on that. Speaking of peeing, I got to change his diaper for the first time today! Oh my goodness, his butt is so tiny!

Changing his diaper
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And my favorite news of the day - I got to do skin-to-skin with him today! AND he tolerated it amazingly - in fact, his oximeter was beeping because his oxygen saturations got up to 94 & 95%! (Normally he sits around 85-90% - you and I take in close to 100% oxygen, for perspective.) The nurses turned on some soft music for us, which was lovely. He was so calm and relaxed on me and I got to just soak him in, stroking his sweet face and soft little blond head. It was awesome!

Skin-to-skin with mama
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Josh is hanging out with Kieran right now. I'd have loved to go again but I wanted to just rest today, as I was there quite a long time this morning. I need to remember that I'm still postpartum and I need to be resting when I can get the chance!
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4 comments:

  1. mamachristaMarch 22, 2010 at 6:25 PM

    so precious brittany...I'm so glad you got to do Kangaroo Care with him! :)

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  2. UnknownMarch 22, 2010 at 9:19 PM

    I read your blog everyday! Glad things are getting better and that you get to hold him now, and see him everyday :) Yay! You'll see, soon he will be stronger and you'll get to take him home :) take care Brittany!

    - Marcela Torres :)

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  3. AnonymousMarch 23, 2010 at 2:03 AM

    Oh my goodness, his teeny little bum! <3

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  4. MoDLinMarch 23, 2010 at 1:25 PM

    Oh, isn't he perfect! What a beautiful day you had. I know how much you want to be with him, but I'm glad to hear you're taking care of yourself, too. It's important to build up your strength for when he comes home.
    If you'd like to connect with other parents of preemies, you might want to visit the March of Dimes community called Share Your Story (http://www.shareyourstory.org/) It's very supportive.

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