3 weeks

Wow, 3 weeks have gone by? Kieran's NICU stay is really flying by; he'll be home before we know it! Kieran has had 2 wonderful days since I last posted! He really hasn't had many stop-breathing episodes, and each one he has had, he's remedied himself quite quickly. This is good news! If he keeps this pattern up he won't have to go back on caffeine or other medicine. One of his nurses thought that perhaps the starting of protein plus the increase in feedings - he went from 26 to 28 ml every 3 hours - might have increased the reflux and thus, more stop-breathing episodes. But as he is getting used to it, perhaps that's a reason they've calmed down. He's also gaining so well still: on Tuesday he was 3.44 lbs - he gained 2 ounces in one day! Today he was up to 3.52 lbs. Also, I just learned that he was 17 1/3 inches long on Sunday. That's up from 15 3/4 inches at birth. He has had some pretty impressive growth and it's so exciting to see!

Today was a particularly awesome day for a few reasons. I gave Kieran a bath for the first time & it was so fun! He was quiet in the beginning, but once I got him in the little tub for his rinse he started crying pretty loudly, which made me laugh because it was so stinkin' cute! I'm not a bad mom for laughing at that, right? ;)

Then, the absolute best part of the day came next! After his bath we got set up for his 2pm feeding (which is still given through the tube in his nose) while doing kangaroo care. Since sometime last week I have been introducing Kieran to the breast and I've just been trying to get him interested by putting a little milk on his lips, letting him nuzzle, putting milk on my finger and giving that to him, etc. Most of the time he hasn't been interested in sucking at all but he does seem to like the milk I give him on his tongue. Anyways, today he was wide awake post-bath and opening up his mouth, so I positioned him in a cross-cradle hold (you nursing mama friends of mine will know what that is - it's a position that allows me to support his head/neck with my hand, as his neck muscles are not very strong at this point) and for the first time, he opened his mouth and had a great latch! He stayed on for 2 full minutes - when previously he had only stayed on for seconds - and during these 2 minutes his jaw was moving and I actually saw and heard him swallowing! During this time he would suck a little, then take a break, and then start sucking again. When I peeked at his monitor during these 2 minutes, I noticed that he was taking in 99-100% oxygen! SO awesome! I started tearing up and could not stop smiling!!! I called his nurse over and she cheered for me - the nurses are all so supportive of breastfeeding and are cheering Kieran & I on. :)

Most of my friends and family know how important, wonderful & special breastfeeding is to me, so you may know how eagerly I awaited this day - a very special day for us! And I'm so proud of him to be sucking - possibly nutritive sucking - at 32w4d/21 days old. Oh man, I'm tearing up again...someday I'll be able to say goodbye to this breast pump and just hold my son close & nurse him whenever he wants - I can't wait! And I can't wait for tomorrow when we get to do it again!!!!!!!